Finalisation of lease and licensing agreements with the LATCo covering the LATCo companies’ occupation of relevant Council premises and use of Council resources.

The Head of Direct Services has submitted a report which presents the business case and seeks approval for the establishment of a Local Authority Trading Company.

Councillor Turner, Finance, Asset Management and Public Health presented the report. He thanked senior officers and union representatives for their work towards the establishment of the company.

The Board noted the exempt appendix to this report which contained legal opinion about the creation of a trading company.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.            Agree in principle the setting up of a Local Authority wholly owned trading group of companies (‘the company’) from April 2017.

2.            Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Council’s statutory officers and Board member for Finance, Asset Management and Public Health, authority to set up an appropriate company structure, including:

•      Selection of the name of the company(s)

•      Approval of the type of company, the articles of the company and the size and composition of its board

•      Recommending to the Shareholder Committee appointments to the posts of Managing Director, Directors, Company Secretary and Non-Executive Directors of the company

•      Preparation  of a shareholder’s agreement to be entered into between the company and the Council for consideration by the Shareholder Committee

•      Ensuring that the company holds appropriate insurances and/or benefit from insurances that the Council holds

3.            Agree that new externally traded work is managed and accounted for through the new company once appropriate arrangements are in place and it is practical to do so.

4.            Approve provision of an initial loan of £250k for working capital at state aid compliant interest rates.

5.            Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Council’s statutory officers, to undertake further work and report back to the City Executive Board on matters including:-

•      Which services should be transferred or not and if so into which part of the structure principally having regard to the financial impact on the Council.

•      Which if any staff should transfer from the Council to the Local Authority Trading Company.

•      Client side arrangements as appropriate.

6.            Note the establishment of a Shareholder Committee (comprising the members of the City Executive Board) which will represent the Council as shareholder in the company.