On Wednesday night, Labour’s City Council budget was passed. Despite a cut in the government grant of 47% between 2010 and 2015/16, Labour have passed a wide-ranging budget which invests in our communities and strives for a fairer, greener, tolerant, more equal Oxford. 

• The biggest programme of council house building in a generation, with funding for nearly 1,000 new council homes, to be let as proper, social rents;
• Major investment in the regeneration of the existing Barton estate, and also central Blackbird Leys;
• A free home energy audit for every council tenant, investment in the energy efficiency of our council housing stock and council buildings, and the adoption of a new, higher “Oxford Standard” for Council properties;
• Full continuation of our programme of community and voluntary sector grants, including funding for money, welfare and housing advice – earmarked for the full four years of our medium term plan;
• Continuation in full of our funding of homelessness prevention work, including support for single homeless people and organisations like the Oxford Homeless Pathway, in spite of government cutbacks;
• Full continuation of council tax support for those on low incomes
• A new pavilion for Quarry, and improvements to football pitch drainage;
• Funding for the City Council contribution Western Conveyance Channel to prevent flooding, and to make a success of the Thames Water catchment study to deal with foul water in Oxford,
• Full continuation of our award-winning Youth Ambition Programme;
• Continued commitment to the Oxford Living Wage for staff and contractors;
• No programme of privatisation of services, and indeed support for “in-sourcing” work from outside.