The Head of Business Improvement had submitted a report which seeks project approval and delegated authority for the Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services to award a contract for refresh of end user devices for City Council Officers.

Councillor Susan Brown, Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Customer and Corporate Services, explained that the majority of the Council’s end user devices needed to be updated; necessary software changes were imminent; and there were economies of scale to be derived from large scale purchasing. All of which led to the preferred option of replacing all relevant assets in one go and in 2018/19.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.     Give project approval for the Procurement of End User Devices for City Council Officers; and

2.     Delegate to the Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services, in consultation with the portfolio holder, authority to award a contract for the supply and implementation of End User Devices for City Council Officers.

The Managing Director Oxford Direct Services had submitted a report to seek project approval and delegated authority for the Executive Director of Sustainable City to award a contract for the Supply of Kitchen Units, Worktops and Accessories.

Councillor Mike Rowley, Lead Member for Housing, said that the Council spent c. £300k per annum on kitchen units, worktops and associated accessories. The report proposed a change in the current invoicing route which had the potential to save c. £45k per annum.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.     Give project approval for the Supply of Kitchen Units, Worktops and Accessories; and

2.     Delegate to the Executive Director of Sustainable City, authority to award a contract for the Supply of Kitchen Units, Worktops and Accessories to the Council.

Councillor Smith arrived at the start of this item.

The Head of Housing Services had submitted a report which notes the amendments made to the draft Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2018-21 following 6 weeks of public consultation and seeks the City Executive Board’s approval of the amended draft Strategy (and its associated appendices).

Councillor Rowley, Lead Member for Housing, reminded the Board that the pre-consultation version of the strategy had come to a previous meeting of the Board. The Strategy which had an emphasis on joint working with partners and service users now took account, among other things, of the Homelessness Reduction Act.  He had been pleased to accept some helpful suggestions of detail put forward by the Housing Panel.

The Strategy & Service Development Manager noted that the significant size of the Strategy was a result of having combined three previous Strategies into one.

The ‘City Conversation’ in November, while too late to contribute substantively to the Strategy, had been useful in informing Members’ and officers’ thinking about these matters. Cllr Rowley said that a steering group of partners had been formed after the City Conversation which was due to report back in April. Information about the City Conversation had been published on the Council’s website. He confirmed that it was intended that there should be a military veterans’ representative on the Steering Group.

Cllr Hollingsworth thought that the aspiration of getting to the point where people do not have to be homeless or sleep rough in the City if they do not want to should be made explicit. This aspiration had emerged from the City Conversation. It was agreed that the first bullet point of section 5 of the Strategy should be amended to reflect the views expressed in the City Conversation.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Note the amendments made to the draft Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2018-21 in response to feedback from the public consultation; and

2.    Recommend to Council to adopt the amended draft Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2018-21 and its associated appendices.

3.    Delegate authority to the Head of Housing Services to make minor editorial changes as recommended by the Housing Panel of the Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 16 January and by the City Executive Board at its meeting on 23 January, and to update the Strategy and Action Plan as required in accordance with the monitoring and review process set out in Chapter 10 of the Strategy

The report for December CEB seeks approval for the transfer of the freehold interest in Lucy Faithfull House to the Council’s Housing Group of companies and making available the necessary loan finance for the development of the site to proceed.

CEB October 2017; previous decision was to

1.     Approve  the demolition of Lucy Faithfull House.

2.     Authorise officers to investigate the viability of undertaking the development of the site as outlined below with Oxford City Housing Limited (OCHL) as part of its overall development programme.

The Head of Housing Services had submitted a report to seek approval in the first instance for the transfer of the freehold interest in Lucy Faithfull House to the Council’s Housing Group of companies and making available the necessary loan finance for the development of the site to proceed, whilst leaving the possibility to develop the site within the HRA as a secondary option.

Councillor Mike Rowley, Lead Member for Housing, reminded Members  that the principles of the proposals in the report had been previously agreed by the Board.

The Board were pleased to support the recommendations which would result in a welcome increase to the City’s affordable housing opportunities while noting the importance of giving careful thought to allocations to these properties. Smaller units might present opportunities to move tenants from elsewhere in the City, so freeing up larger properties.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.     Approve the disposal of the freehold interest in Lucy Faithfull House to the appropriate company within  the Council’s Housing Group  (“OCHL”) and delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and the Head of Financial Services to approve the terms of the disposal;

2.     Recommend to Council to include a budget of £13m in the General Fund Capital Programme for the provision of a loan to OCHL for the purpose of developing the site for residential accommodation as detailed in the Council’s Consultation Budget Report presented elsewhere on the agenda; and

3.     Recommend that if progress of the preferred option of development within OCHL is deferred for whatever reason then the option of development using the HRA as the delivery vehicle is considered.

The City Executive Board on 16  October 2017 resolved to approve the draft Housing Assistance and Disabled Adaptation Policy for a City wide consultation.

CEB is now asked to approve the policy post- consultation.  

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services has submitted a report which seeks approval from the City Executive Board to implement the proposed changes to the Housing Assistance and Disabled Adaptation Policy.

Cllr Rowley, Board Member for Housing, introduced the report by explaining that its purpose was to expand the existing policy and increase the number of residents able to remain in their homes and to facilitate speedier hospital discharges than would otherwise be the case.  Among other things the policy would increase the maximum Adapted Homes Grant to £8,000.

The Chair noted the importance of ensuring that the changes were well communicated and sight should not be lost of the importance of paper based communications in Community Centres, doctors’ surgeries etc.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.       Approve the draft Housing Assistance and Disabled Adaptation Policy.

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development & Regulatory Services has submitted a report to seek approval to consult on a new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule.

Introducing the report Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Lead Member for Planning and Regulatory Services said there was often confusion between the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106  funding. Developers can ask for one to be applied but not both. CIL was the government’s preferred method of collecting pooled contributions to fund  infrastructure and had the advantage of accessing the money at the outset.

The Planning Policy Team Leader said that consultation about the development of the wide “Regulation 123” list could be as wide or as narrow as the Council wished.  Cllr Hollingsworth  said that it  was not a ‘wish list’ but rather a list of projects to which money can be put. Prioritisation was  important given the significant funding gap (over £130m) between the projected CIL income and the aggregate funding gap of infrastructure.

The Planning Policy Team Leader said that the economic viability study mentioned in the report was important as it would allow developers to see the impact of CIL and, therefore, whether or not a development would be viable.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.               Approve the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule (PDCS) for consultation; and

2.               Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections not materially affecting the document prior to publication.