Leader of Oxford City Council to join 'Science Cities' this January

Image: courtesy of Oxford City Council

Future Cities Forum is delighted to be welcoming back the Leader of Oxford City Council, Cllr Susan Brown, to contribute to our 'Science Cities' discussion event at Said Business School, University of Oxford, this month.

The city of Oxford, as a growing and global science hub, is facing the need to build more homes to house international talent as well as key workers. It faces rail infrastructure issues as well as traffic congestion. Oxford City Council states that 'despite a backdrop of austerity, pandemic, inflation and councils going bankrupt across the UK, (we have) announced a balanced budget for the next four years. A key proposal is the funding for almost 1,600 new council homes in the next eight years.

Cllr Brown joined our 'Science Cities' discussion event at St John's College in September 2023, where she warned:

'One of the important actions we have taken is over wages. Despite having a strong economy there are areas of deprivation, so we have set up our own living wage. It is one of the most expensive cities in the country to live in with housing being the most expensive issue. We have set the living wage at 95% and we pay this to all our employees and encourage other employers in the city to do the same. St John's College, where this event is taking place today is paying it and the introduction of the living wage is making significant improvements for the city.

'Investors in the city must realise that there is a recruitment and retention issue in Oxford and they therefore have to pay the living wage to attract and keep employees. This is a city that is leading in research and we are providing good lab spaces and science parks but there is a responsibility to think about employees and how they are able to afford to live locally. Our local plan consultations are making it easier for employers to build housing and as a council we are doing much to provide affordable homes.'

Cllr Brown was then asked about the difficulties of meeting UK government expectations on biodiversity gain when building housing and the latest announcements by the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on scaling back on this:

'We are very proud of the green spaces in our city and our planning requirements are as good as we can get. We have taken the lead on the carbon zero agenda, including around biodiversity, and how we bring that together and make it work for everyone. There is a good cross-county partnership which means that this is really changing for the better in all the spaces that we need for new homes. There are challenges in terms of the skills we need to tackle this but we want to be part of this new thinking.'

Cllr Brown has welcomed the current Government’s proposal to introduce mayoral combined authorities at the regional level across England.

She said:

'Devolution of some of the powers and funding currently held centrally by Government, and a clear framework to enable local authorities to coordinate delivery of housing, planning, transport and economic growth, puts decision making closer to local people and should ensure a better approach.

'This also presents a real opportunity to secure the investment in infrastructure required to support sustainable growth and deliver more affordable homes that Oxford clearly needs

'In anticipation of the White Paper, we have already been engaging in discussions with neighbouring councils in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and elsewhere about the potential creation of a Thames Valley Mayoral Combined Authority. 

'Government has also indicated it is seeking to introduce a single tier of local authorities – so-called unitary councils, as part of this process. The white paper mentions a population of around 500,000 as an appropriate size for unitaries in most areas, but also highlights there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area, including for devolution, and that decisions will be on a case-by-case basis. 500,000 would be bigger than Oxford, but smaller than Oxfordshire, and also much bigger than most existing unitary councils.'