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Cllr Thomas spoke on item 10, Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19

(minute 36). He had been minded to speak against option 10 (introducing a minimum charge) but after reading the Board Member’s response to the Scrutiny Panel was content to let the matter rest.

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(may follow)

Cllr Fry,Chair of the Scrutiny Shareholder Group and Finance Panel presented the report. He said that he was pleased with the protections given to  employees, but felt that the report didn’t sufficiently emphasise the benefits of the trading model for the Council. The Board approved the Scrutiny recommendation.

Report to follow

Cllr Fry, Chair of the Scrutiny Shareholder Group and Finance Panel presented the report. He noted that the benefits of the scheme were potentially greater for the County  Council. He suggested that the scheme was of sufficient significance to warrant that the wider community be consulted about its introduction. Cllr Brown, Board member for Customer and Corporate Services agreed that all those affected should be consulted.

The Executive Director for Sustainable City has submitted a progress report on the establishment of the Local Authority Trading Company.

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Approve the revised LATCo company structure as set out in this report, i.e. the creation of a “Teckal” company (to provide Council services – “the Teckal Company”) and a trading company (to trade with external customers – “the Trading Company”)

2.    Note that the Interim Chief Executive in consultation with the Council’s section 151 officer, Monitoring Officer and the Leader will be developing a full update report to be considered by the Board in September or October, which will contain recommendations on  the following issues:

a.    A date (“the Transfer Date”), on which all service delivery currently carried out by the Council’s Direct Services will be transferred to the two new LATCo companies. :

b.    In regard to the Teckal Company, the terms of the Council’s entry  into an appropriate agreement with the company (“the Service Contract”) under which the Teckal Company would undertake from the Transfer Date all relevant  Council statutory functions and related work, as currently undertaken by Direct Services;

c.    The  arrangements to transfer all Direct Services staff engaged in service delivery immediately prior to the Transfer Date to the Teckal Company, such transfer being subject to the TUPE regulations;

d.    The arrangements  to ensure that all transferring staff will continue to have access to the Local Government Pension Scheme;

e.    The terms  of the contract between the two LATCo companies and the Council (“the Support Contract”) under which the Council would provide support services to both companies;

f.     The terms under which the Council would enter into  leases or licences  with the two LATCO companies covering their occupation of relevant Council premises and use of Council resources;

g.    The arrangements made to  transfer to the Trading Company of all contracts with third parties in existence on the Transfer Date

h.    The terms of the Shareholder’s  Agreement to be made  between the companies and the Council (acting though its Shareholder Group)

i.      The provisions of an initial Business Plan (or Plans) for the Companies.

3.    Agree to the transfer on the Transfer Date of all Direct Services staff engaged in service delivery immediately prior to the  Transfer Date to the Teckal Company in accordance with all relevant employment law protecting terms and conditions of employment including pension, and for this to be reflected in the contract. This proposal being subject to consultation having taken place with the Trades Union concerned.

4.    Recommend to the Teckal company that it incorporates the new Council  three year pay deal (if endorsed by a ballot of Trades Union members) into the employment contracts of the transferring staff for the three year period following its implementation by the Council.

5.    Agree to a transfer to the Trading company of the Council’s order book/external customer list, on terms to be agreed.

6.    Agree to grant a licence to the LATCo companies to  ...  view the full agenda text for item 40.

The Executive Director for Sustainable City submitted a progress report on the establishment of the Local Authority Trading Company.

Cllr Ed Turner, Board Member for Finance, Asset Management and Public Health presented the report.

The Service Transformation Manager presented the report. He said that  work was progressing well and there was verbal agreement that the Local Government Pension Scheme would be available to those staff transferring to the new company.  There had been productive discussions with the trade unions and financial modelling was well underway and a shareholders’ agreement had been drafted.  Notwithstanding the progress, this was a complex matter and much operational detail had yet to be determined.

The Chair reaffirmed that, at this stage, the Board was just being asked for approval in principle, looking to a further report in October. The business plan element of the proposal would be critical.

The Executive Director for Sustainable City reminded those present that the proposal was underpinned by the strong conviction that the proposal was in the best interests of the Council. 

The Interim Chief Executive was pleased that the work done had been able to give confidence to staff. He reaffirmed the importance of the Business Plan and the work now needed to progress it. Successful implementation had the potential to generate considerable new business for the Council. The two companies had been established as legal entities which would be  distinct from the Council but care would need to be taken to ensure that Council values and aims were not lost in the process.  While there was a clear ambition to have the new arrangements in place by 01 November it should be recognised that  (and it did not matter if) not every detail  was sorted by then.

Cllr Brown, Board Member for Customer and Corporate Services welcomed the Interim Chief Executive’s comments,  particularly the recognition of the desirability of a shared  ethos with the new companies.

Cllr Tanner, Board Member for A Clean and Green Oxford reminded those present that a failure to proceed on the lines  proposed would almost certainly result in the need for the Council to curtail its current level of activity. The Board thanked staff for their work on the project to date .

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Approve the revised LATCo company structure as set out in this report, i.e. the creation of a “Teckal” company (to provide Council services – “the Teckal Company”) and a trading company (to trade with external customers – “the Trading Company”)

2.    Note that the Interim Chief Executive in consultation with the Council’s section 151 officer, Monitoring Officer and the Leader will be developing a full update report to be considered by the Board in September or October, which will contain recommendations on the following issues:

a.    A date (“the Transfer Date”), on which all service delivery currently carried out by the Council’s Direct Services will be transferred to the two new LATCo companies. :

b.    In regard to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

The Director for Sustainable City has submitted a report which seeks project approval to spend capital funding of £370k granted by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The funding is to deliver electric vehicle charging points for Hackney Carriages and Private Hire vehicles operating in Oxford. Further funding may be available depending on degree of uptake of ultra-low emission taxis. The total project value may therefore exceed £500k in total.

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Grant project approval for the electric vehicle charging for taxis project referred to in this report;

2.    Delegate authority to the Director for  Sustainable City  to complete negotiations with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles with a view to the Council being appointed as the accountable body for, and receiving grant funding under a funding agreement with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles;

3.    Delegate authority to the Director for Sustainable City, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 officer, the authority within the funding envelope provided by the Council to enter into:

a)     a grant agreement with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles; 

b)    appropriate agreements with our bid partners; and third parties required to deliver the project subject to their being selected under an appropriate procurement process.

The Director for Sustainable City submitted a report which sought project approval to spend capital funding of £370k granted by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The funding is to deliver electric vehicle charging points for Hackney Carriages and Private Hire vehicles operating in Oxford. Further funding may be available depending on degree of uptake of ultra-low emission taxis. The total project value may therefore exceed £500k in total.

Cllr John Tanner, Board Member for A Clean, Green Oxford presented the report. At a time of austerity, it was particularly gratifying to have secured government funds to contribute to the introduction of this scheme.  The development of a network of rapid charging points would mean that Oxford taxis  would be leading the way in the introduction of cleaner and cheaper transport in the City. A meeting with taxi drivers was being arranged and while the costs of new electric vehicles was greater than for others, the running costs were significantly less.

Cllr Rowley noted the significant increase in the proportion of diesel  vehicles over the last decade and  anything  that  contributed to a reduction in consequent pollution levels was very welcome.

The Executive Director for Community Services  said that the taxi trade sought certainty and timetables for implementation. They understood that cabs would be more expensive but want to know when the proposal was going ahead. This was a matter that had been discussed for some time so the present scheme was very welcome.

Cllr Hollingsworth asked about the distinction between Hackney Carriages and private cabs for this purpose. The scheme was primarily aimed at Hackney Carriages but Cllr Tanner said that the meeting referred to above was with all taxi providers.  He noted that an increasing number of private hire vehicles  were either  already electric or  hybrid.

The Board thanked officers for their effective work at bringing the scheme to this point.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Grant project approval for the electric vehicle charging for taxis project referred to in this report;

2.    Delegate authority to the Director for  Sustainable City  to complete negotiations with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles with a view to the Council being appointed as the accountable body for, and receiving grant funding under a funding agreement with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles;

3.    Delegate authority to the Director for Sustainable City, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 officer, the authority within the funding envelope provided by the Council to enter into:

a)     a grant agreement with the Office of Low Emission Vehicles; 

b)    appropriate agreements with our bid partners; and third parties required to deliver the project subject to their being selected under an appropriate procurement process.

The Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services has submitted a report to approve the proposals made for consultation on changes to the Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.    Agree which options as set out in the table at paragraph 9 should be subject to public consultation.

2.    Agree to consult on the proposals for an 8 week period form 19 July 2017 and;

3.    Instruct the Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services to bring a further report to December CEB subject to the outcome of the consultation process.

The Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services submitted a report which approved the proposals made for consultation on changes to the Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2018/19.

Cllr Susan Brown, Board Member for Customer & Corporate Services presented the report. She said the scheme reflected the Council’s believe in financial inclusion and a recognition that  seeking to secure money owed from residents who do not have much is rarely cost-effective as it cost more in officer time to chase late payments than the money collected. The reviewed scheme takes into account the changes in the benefit system, in particular, the introduction of Universal Credit.

Having spoken to Cllrs there is a clear view that it would not be preferable to consult on all the options given in the paper but, rather, to focus only on those which the Council would countenance.

She recommended the Council consult on the following options

The consultation document will acknowledge the existence of options which have, effectively, been ruled out. 

The Programme Manager for Revenue and Benefits said the proposed consultation document would be amended to reflect the options agreed by the Board.  The consultation will run for  2 months and papers will be available on the Council’s website, in Templar Square shopping centre and the Town Hall.

The Board  discussed  the nature of the consultation and made the following suggestions:

·         The consultation document needs to be sufficiently ‘user friendly’ to engage the wider community without, at the same time simplifying this complex matter to a degree that it ceased to become meaningful. 

·         Workshop activities to promote the consultation in community centres

·         Council’s Communications team could create a video to explain the complex concepts.

·         Briefing note for councillors so they can explain the proposals to constituents

·         Focus groups sessions to get people’s feedback.

Cllr Brown agreed to set up a focus group with a cross section of key customers to complement the wider consultation. The Programme Manager for Revenue and  Benefits agreed to review the consultation document to make it more user friendly,  and  agreed that all Councillors would be a provided with a ‘one page’ briefing note to inform conversations with constituents.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Agree that  options 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9  as set out in the table at paragraph 9 should be subject to public consultation.

2.    Agree to consult on the proposals for an 8 week period form 19 July 2017 and;

3.    Instruct the Executive Director of Organisational Development and Corporate Services to bring a further report to December CEB subject to the outcome of the consultation process.

Minutes of the meetings held on 15 June 2017 and 20 June 2017

Recommendation: The City Executive Board:

NOTES the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June2017 as a true and accurate record.

NOTES the minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2017 as a true and accurate record.

The Board resolved to

APPROVE the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2017 as a true and accurate record.

APPROVE the amended minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2017 as a true and accurate record.

Meetings are scheduled for the following dates:

15 August 2017

19 September 2017

17 October 2017

21 November 2017

19 December 2017

All meetings start at 5pm.

The Board noted that the next meeting was scheduled for 15 August 2017.