Mike Day joined the meeting at this point. The Panel were introduced to him as the newly appointed Managing Director, and he was welcomed.

Stephen Clarke introduced a report detailing the end of year financial outturn and changes in budget spend in-year.

David Watt, Finance Business Partner joined the meeting at this point.  

Councillors Craig Simmons and Tom Landell Mills left the meeting at this point.

The Panel requested that greater focus be given in future reports of wider value considerations of delivery of different housing sites, not simply focus on timescale-related KPIs. It also welcomed the news of reworking the business plan to get a more realistic assessment of timescales and the means by which OCHL could support the Council’s MTFP.

The Panel NOTED the appointment of a new Managing Director for OCHL and expressed thanks to the outgoing Managing Director for offering to remain as a non-executive director and Chair of the Board to ensure continuity of handover.

OCHL Company Directors Stephen Clarke and Jane Winfield were joined by Lindsay Cane, Company Secretary, and David Watt, Strategic Finance Director. Chair of the Board, Richard Connolly, was unable to attend.

Housing Group Governance

Governance Update

Stephen Clarke reported that the Housing Group had successfully appointed two non-executive directors, both with significant experience in residential development within the private sector and housing associations, one with a finance specialism and the other with a greater development focus.

The report was NOTED.

Register of Directors’ Interests

Lindsay Cane, Company Secretary, presented to the Panel a report proposing that the Shareholder, in light of the recent additions to the Board of the Housing Company, update its register of interests. Doing so was endorsed as a good time to refresh the register to ensure transparency and would be good practice. The report was NOTED with the Panel’s support.

Housing Group Performance Report

Non Financial Performance

For the purposes of ease of comparison, the Housing Group had adopted the same key performance monitors as the Council for their management of properties.

The development programme was highlighted to have changes within specific elements of the business plan, but that the overall numbers within the business plan had remained stable from its original publication.

Financial Performance

David Watt introduced to the Panel the financial elements of the performance report.

The debt repayment and dividend strategy was reaffirmed and confirmed as still being considered deliverable. Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services, confirmed he was satisfied that the company was on track to deliver its requirements to the shareholder.

The report was NOTED.

Item 5A Housing Group Strategic Business Plan

Richard Connolly, Managing Director of the Oxford City Housing Limited (OCHL), introduced a report in which the Shareholder was asked to review and endorse the strategic business plan, and to agree schedules for debt repayment and dividends.

A number of threats and challenges were identified, including the continuing uncertainty regarding Brexit and the decision of central government to raise interest rates on borrowing from the PWLB by 1%

Councillor Munkonge joined the meeting at this point.

It was stressed that the strategic plan would need to remain fluid due to the number of external factors which could influence the number of houses which could be built. Planning was cited as one uncertainty (both to the upside and downside).

Nigel Kennedy, Oxford City Council Head of Finance, addressed the Panel regarding the impact of the HRA’s borrowing to the Council and the projected repayment and dividend schedule. It was reiterated that the Council had the ability not to progress with further investment beyond the term of the Medium Term Financial Plan.

The Panel discussed the options for alternative borrowing.

The Panel discussed corporate branding expenses. The costs were explained as supporting the work of the company in a number of different ways, such as maximising revenue potential through the use of CGI imaging for marketing, to support the purchase of land for the later years, to convey what the company’s purpose, and to help internal staff recognise the division between the company and the Council.

Discussion was held by the Panel regarding means of raising the level of energy efficiency in the homes delivered.

Discussion was held over the prevention of slippage in the programme, particularly through planning. A service level agreement with the Council’s Planning department had been agreed, and through the experienced garnered in planning to date a positive relationship had been fostered between OCHL and the Planning department. A significant amount of work was being done in the pre, pre-application phase of developments to ensure that not too many steps were being taken prior to discovering a planning issue in need of resolution, allowing much less work to require redesign.

Item 5b  Quarterly Financial Performance Report

David Watt, Strategic Finance Manager OCHL, introduced a report on OCHL’s financial and other performance. It was noted that there was little to report under operations because only 35 properties were currently in the hands of OCHL, but this would grow as the stock grew. KPIs were in the process of being developed around this area of performance management. The changes made since the previous iteration of the strategic plan were highlighted in terms of the schemes, the number of houses, and the tenure types to be delivered. Financially, how the rate of interest used in the strategic plan was calculated and covenants were addressed.

Scrutiny was provided over the level of build quality in that of the 35 properties realised to date, there had been a complaint. It was agreed that more attention would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13