The Deputy Chief Executive - Place decides as follows:

To award £20,000 revenue grant funding to OSEP CIC to work with local partners on the delivery of the Social Economy Business Support Programme.

The project has already been delivered and saw considerable positive outcomes for the City’s wider economy and social enterprise network.

OSEP CIC has demonstrated its strong anchoring in Oxford’s social enterprise landscape and is best placed to utilise its network of businesses to deliver a project of equal impact.

The Council has committed, under its Economy Strategy, to support social enterprise, co-op businesses and civil society sectors, and pursue a more prominent role for them in the city’s economy. This includes through the continuation of work with OSEP.

This approach has already been endorsed through the agreement of the Council’s UKSPF programme for 2025-26.

Open tender – as the grant funding is under the £20,000 procurement threshold, a full open tender would lead to delays in starting the programme, which needs to be completed by the end of March 2026.

Alternative supplier – OSEP CIC has committed to sub-contracting other social enterprise partners based in the City. It is therefore felt that these organisations are best placed within the City to deliver the programme together.