To authorise spend to fund the Council’s response to the Covid 19 pandemic.

To authorise the following spend which is outside the budget agreed by Council on 13 February 2020 to fund the Council’s response to the Covid 19 pandemic:

·       Providing accommodation for rough sleepers and provision of meals at an estimated additional cost of £532k (this is based on initial 3 month lockdown period and does not reflect potential future requirements for rough sleepers)

·       Additional one-off ICT software and equipment and mobile handsets to accommodate remote working £455k

·       Provision of food parcels and other costs in supporting vulnerable people through the locality hubs - £115k

·       One off additional costs in the Benefits Team to process increased numbers of Housing benefits claims and changes in circumstances. - £50k  

Note: the date of decision relates to the principle of releasing additional funding. A number of financial orders were issued over a period of time spanning April and May 2020.

The decision was made to furlough Oxford City Council staff who, because of the effects of Covid-19, were unable to fulfil their usual roles and could not, immediately, be redeployed to other Council work. This decision immediately impacts 20 staff for an initial period of three weeks and may impact further staff members in due course.

The decision was informed by the Government’s jobs protection scheme. This enables people to be laid off, on a temporary basis, because of the exceptional circumstances caused by Covid-19 and who are not among those being  redeployed into areas where the Council is seeing increased activity such as Revenues and Benefits, the Contact Centre, and the new Locality Resource Hubs.

Furloughing is designed to protect jobs by avoiding the need for redundancy through Government support of £80% of an employee’s salary up to £2,500 a month. The Council intends to make up the difference, so providing full income to those affected. 

The decision follows careful consideration of the Council’s  need to continue delivering essential services, redeployment to service the new areas of demand, and a prudent approach to resilience of the organisation. 

Annual review of the pay policy statement

The previous policy statement came into effect on 1st April 2019. This replaces this previous statement.

Decision made:

To approve the Pay Policy Statement 2020/21. The Council is required by the Localism Act 2011 to approve its pay policy statement by 31 March each year. This decision was taken by the Head of Paid Service using emergency powers on 31 March 2020 following the cancellation of a Council meeting scheduled for 30 March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The financial implications of this Pay Policy Statement and the current 3 year pay agreement have been included within the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Cabinet, on 11 March 2020, resolved to:

1.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director Development to sign off the Pre-Planning Viability Condition and all other Stage One requirements of the Development Agreement detailed in this report, and confirm the project can move past Gateway One and into Stage Two (detailed design & planning submission) of the Development Agreement;

2.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Development, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Leisure & Housing and the Cabinet Member for Affordable Housing, to approve moving through the remaining Gateways of the Development Agreement and subsequently entering into a lease for the land with Catalyst Housing Limited, subject to the approved budget;

3.    Note that the Development Agreement sets out that if the scheme does not move forward to delivery, that the Council will incur 50% of the Stage 2 costs, an estimate of which is set out in the report. (paragraph 73);

4.    Approve the use the CIL receipts generated to facilitate the delivery of the community and infrastructure works set out in the concept plan and to recommend to Full Council that this commitment is recognised in the Capital Programme in 2022/23 and beyond as a potential future earmarked CIL receipt (for investment in strategic infrastructure and community facilities at Blackbird Leys) and subject to planning;

5.    Recommend to Council to allocate a budget of up to £21.528 million to deliver the scheme for new affordable and market housing, community and retail facilities and new and enhanced public space (paragraphs 11-19) and in line with the funding sources and viability assessment set out in this report. (paragraphs 57 – 62);

6.    Recommend to  Council to allocate the HRA and General Fund spend in accordance with the profile set out in the report.(paragraphs 63-64) and which will supersede any current budget held for this project; and

7.    Commit to the fullest ongoing engagement with the local community as part of the detailed design and planning stage and prior to submission of the planning application.

Decision taken

1.     Allocate a budget of up to £21.528 million to deliver the scheme for new affordable and market housing, community and retail facilities and new and enhanced public space (paragraphs 11-19) and in line with the funding sources and viability assessment set out in this report. (paragraphs 57 – 62);

2.     Allocate the HRA and General Fund spend in accordance with the profile set out in the report.(paragraphs 63-64) and which will supersede any current budget held for this project.

Paragraph numbers refer to the report considered by Cabinet on 11 March 2020.

All documents relating to this decision are published as part of the papers for the 11 March Cabinet meeting.

February 2019 - The initial report will set out the timetable for the community governance review in the area covered by the Headington neighbourhood plan. The request has come from the Forum asking the Council to consult on setting up a new parish following the yes vote in the plan referendum in 2017.

October/ November 2019 - Report to Council on consultation outcomes and recommendation.

Delayed due to General Election preparation December 2019, then re-scheduled for March 2020.

Decision taken under emergency powers end March 2020.

Decision taken:

To not create a community council for the Headington area, following the results of the consultation undertaken and taking into consideration the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, the Guidance and the recommendations from the Community Governance Review Working Group.

Decision made to implement a Protocol for rental queries from the Council’s commercial tenants. The Protocol is an exempt document and will be applied on a case by case basis.

To:

1.      Adopt for a temporary period while business continuity measures are invoked during the Covid 19 pandemic a revised version of the Oxford City Council Constitution using the emergency powers delegated in Part 9.3(c) of the Constitution, based on the revisions to the Constitution adopted by Council on 27 January 2020 set out in Appendix 1 that:

i. Authorise the Chief Executive to cancel and to call meetings of Council without consultation (Parts 11.5 and 11.6).

ii.  Authorise the Head of Law and Governance to cancel and to call meetings of non-executive committees and sub- committees without consultation, including cancelling meetings where there would be sufficient business for a meeting to take place (Parts 13.4 & 14.6).

iii.  Clarify the arrangements for single Cabinet Member decision making, should the Leader choose to delegate any executive decisions currently reserved to Cabinet to individual Cabinet Members.

iv.   Authorise the Head of Planning Services to determine planning applications normally reserved to area planning committees (Part 5.3) in accordance with a protocol (Appendix 2), until such a time as meetings can be convened.

v.   Suspend the call in procedures (Part 17) for all executive and planning decisions until such a time as meetings can be convened.

vi.   Authorise the Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety to determine all licensing applications (Parts 5.6 and 5.7) with the exception of any applications that require a hearing and cannot be delegated in law, until such a time as meetings can be convened.

2.   Delegate authority to the Head of Law and Governance to make minor textual changes to the proposed wording of the revised business continuity version of the Constitution set out in Appendix 1 and to make any other consequential amendments that may berequired.

3.   Instruct the Head of Law and Governance to publish the revised business continuity version of the Constitution (as amended) on the Councilwebsite.

4.   Delegate authority to the Head of Law and Governance to amend the business continuity version of the Constitution as required in response to events or following the implementation of regulations brought forward under the Coronavirus Act 2020 or changes to such regulations, for example facilitate virtual meetings or to reinstate normal constitutional arrangements where physical meetings can be legally and safely convened, and, if necessary, to revert back to the arrangements set out in Appendix 1 if restrictions on public gatherings are re-imposed infuture.

Temporarily increasing the Safe & Secure grant by £1,000 will facilitate hospital discharge and falls reduction during the virus.

To temporarily increase the Safe & Secure grant by £1,000.  

To create consistent and well-connected cycling and walking routes linking surrounding towns and villages with Oxford’s city centre.

Oxfordshire County Council and the University of Oxford will be contributing similar amounts as partners in the project, in order to create a total project budget of £100,000. Funding agreements will be entered into with both partner funders. Additional project funds may be received as donations from relevant stakeholders.

The overall budget will enable the procurement of a specialist consultancy, which will create a “bid-ready” document over the course of 12 to 18 months. Success for the project looks like the creation of a feasible vision, which is compelling to funders and the public alike, so that future phases of work (detailed design and delivery) can be achieved.

To contribute £33,000 towards the cost of a concept masterplan for a network of safe, consistent and well-connected cycling and walking routes linking surrounding towns and villages with Oxford’s city centre.