The Chief Executive decides as follows:

1.             To appoint Clive Tritton to position of Interim Programme Director, Cowley Branch Line from 3rd March for up to 12 months.

Given the importance and complexity of working with Network Rail on the delivery of a major rail project, plus the delivery of the place and infrastructure work and the spatial framework, a joint City and County team is to be established. It is expected that this team would be in place until 2029/30 albeit that employment would be with a new unitary council.

The CBL is a major priority project for the city, and we need to act quickly to maintain momentum and secure funding. As the work around the CBL is a multi-million-pound programme, with significant public and private sector partners to report to. As such, an urgent skills gap has been identified in the need to secure a Programme Director to manage this team.

The decision to appoint Clive Tritton for between 6-12 months plugs that gap and provides the time for the councils to make a longer-term appointment. The initial contract will be for 6 months, but this decision provides for the option of a further 6 months if needed.

The interim Programme Director will establish this team and associated governance and move forward with the delivery of all aspects of the project. The post will report jointly to the City and County Council. The post does not sit on CLT or have other line management responsibilities within the City Council.  The post will be funded by S106 money secured to deliver the Cowley Branch Line and held by the County Council.

Doing nothing would put the project delivery at risk as there is not the officer capacity to lead a project of this complexity without having a detrimental impact on other priorities.

Waiting to appoint via a recruitment process would have left a gap in senior oversight of the project team at a critical stage when the project need momentum. This could lead to failure to meet milestones and the failure of the project to move forward to delivery. Appointing an interim Programme Director allows for the recruitment of a longer-term replacement to now take place in the coming months.