This decision was delegated to officers under Part 4.4 of the Council’s Constitution: all executive functions except those in Part 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7 are delegated to the officers in the senior management structure.

To continue the co-location of the City Council’s face to face customer services with those of the County Council and Citizens Advice Oxford at the Westgate Library on a new 3 year licence.

The existing agreement with Oxfordshire County Council for Oxford City Council and Citizens Advice to work in the Westgate library finishes at the end of July.  Following on from a successful 12 month pilot, agreement has been reached for the City Council’s Customer Services Centre to continue to operate from the Westgate Library.  The Council will enter into a 3-year licence with Oxfordshire County Council.

In order to continue to realise the benefits of close collaboration in a city centre location, a new proposal has been drawn up to move OCC Customer Services to a space in the corner of the library on the 2nd floor, directly to the right of reception.

Maintaining the Customer Service Centre at the Westgate Library is aimed at delivering improved services to residents by co-locating more face to face customer services provision in one place. This should be more convenient for residents, as well as providing opportunities for more effective triage and co-ordination between services and partner organisations.

The option to move Oxford City Council’s Customer Services Centre to the Town Hall was rejected. This was because of capacity issues at the Town Hall, as the Customer Service Centre would need to be sited in an accessible area which could accommodate the increased footfall. This option would also not provide the benefits of co-location which have been experienced over the last 12 months.

Decision taken by Tom Bridgman, Executive Director (Development) in consultation with Helen Bishop, Head of Business Improvement, and Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services.