The Executive Director (Development) has submitted a report to seek approval to enter into a £1.875m Funding Agreement with Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to support the ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…’ project and to procure an operator to identify fit out and let vacant commercial units across the county.

Recommendation: That Cabinet resolves to:

1.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director-Development, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Leader of the Council, to agree and enter into grant funding arrangements and contractual terms with OxLEP for £1.875m in Getting Building Fund funds for the delivery of‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…’;

2.    Draw down the £1.875m and delegate authority to the Executive Director – Development, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Leader of the Council toenter into contract with an operator, subject to an appropriate procurement process; and to allocate appropriate internal project management resource to deliver the project from the allocated funding; and

3.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director-Development to take any further steps necessary to comply with the grant funding conditions and to deliver the project within the identified budget in order to meet the challenging timescales of the project including explicit permission to enter into an OJEU compliant procurement process and taking account of any prevailing UK legislation at time of procurement to contract a Meanwhile Operator.

The Executive Director (Development) had submitted a report to seek approval to enter into a £1.875m Funding Agreement with Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to support the ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…’ project and to procure an operator to identify fit out and let vacant commercial units across the county.

The Chair introduced the report which sought to take advantage of funding to make good use of premises likely to become vacant because of the impact of Covid-19 on the local economy with a particular focus on the potential use by emerging small businesses and social enterprises. This was an exciting project but one with the challenging timescale for completion of March 2022.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director-Development, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Leader of the Council, to agree and enter into grant funding arrangements and contractual terms with OxLEP for £1.875m in Getting Building Fund funds for the delivery of‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…’;

2.    Draw down the £1.875m and delegate authority to the Executive Director – Development, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Head of Law and Governance and the Leader of the Council toenter into contract with an operator, subject to an appropriate procurement process; and to allocate appropriate internal project management resource to deliver the project from the allocated funding; and

3.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director-Development to take any further steps necessary to comply with the grant funding conditions and to deliver the project within the identified budget in order to meet the challenging timescales of the project including explicit permission to enter into an OJEU compliant procurement process and taking account of any prevailing UK legislation at time of procurement to contract a Meanwhile Operator.