Approval of the appointment of new non-executive director of Oxford City Housing

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Partnership Working decides as follows:

The Shareholder of Oxford City Housing Limited (“OCHL”):

1.1      Ian Cox be appointed as a non-executive director of OCHL.

The consent of the sole shareholder is required prior to the appointment of any board of director of Oxford City Housing Limited.

The appointment of Ian Cox is an additional NED to the Board means that there are three ‘Independent NEDs’ and two ‘Council Officer NEDs’. The current practice is to have an equal balance between Independent and Council Officers on the Board, however at this time it wouldn’t be appropriate to appoint an additional Council Officer until a review of the Board has been completed.

As discussed at SJVG meeting on 19^th March, the OCHL Board is seeking the sole shareholder to approve the appointment of the non-executive directors (“NEDs”) as soon as possible to allow them to be inducted and attend the next OCHL Board meeting on 6 June 2025.

As a result, the OCHL Board is seeking approval through the delegated process rather than at the next Shareholder’s meeting to held at the end of June 2025. 

The appointment or use of Council officers to fill all NED positions would be going against best practice. Council officers can be NEDs however it is recommended this is limited in numbers and that the majority of NEDs are independent. External NEDs will generally have more commercial experience, as has been sought in the recruitment exercise.

The Shareholder could choose to not appoint Ian Cox as a NED, leaving the post vacant. However, as the best practice is that a wholly owned company has an appropriate structure, size and balance of skills and experience to support the strategic objectives and values of OCHL this would not be recommended’.