Sir – Oxfordshire county councillors and Oxford city councillors have been denied access to agendas, refused the right to attend meetings and not given minutes until after they have been approved by the next meeting of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) – when it is too late to do anything about the decisions which have been made.
OxLEP, which is responsible for spending millions of public money, is undemocratic and unaccountable. Its board members are nominated, not elected. The board consists mainly of representatives of business and the universities with a single nominated councillor from each local authority in the county.
OxLEP’s strategic economic plan states they will decide how to spend £95m of local and national public sector investment i.e. your tax money, as part of the City Deal and about £20m from the European Structural and Investment Fund for 2014 to 2020.
Because it is not a ‘public body’ OxLEP does not have to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests, nor does it have to allow the public to attend its meetings. A body responsible for that level of spending of public money should be held fully accountable under the Nolan principles for public life which include transparency and openness.
Please sign the petition asking the Secretary of State to make LEPs subject to the Nolan principles. You can find it at https://www.change.org/p/greg-clark-mp-the-secretary-of-state-for-communities-and-local-government-make-local-enterprise-partnerships-accountable-to-the-public
Dr Hazel Dawe
Treasurer, Oxfordshire Green Party
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