There were no declarations.

The SJVG is asked to note the decision of the Leader of the Council on 28 September 2021to:

·         Appoint Stephen Gabriel in place of Ian Wright as a Director on the ODSL Board with effect from 25th October 2021; and

·         Appoint Stephen Gabriel in place of Ian Wright as a Director on the ODSTL Board with effect from 25th October 2021.

The decision was notified to members of Council and was published and is available on the website.

The SJVG noted the decision of the Leader of the Council on 28 September 2021 to:

·          Appoint Stephen Gabriel in place of Ian Wright as a Director on the ODSL Board with effect from 25th October 2021; and

·          Appoint Stephen Gabriel in place of Ian Wright as a Director on the ODSTL Board with effect from 25th October 2021.

and thanked Ian Wright for his work as a director on the company boards.

If the SJVG wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any of the items on the exempt from publication part of the agenda, it will be necessary for the SJVG to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The SJVG may maintain the exemption if and so long as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The SJVG passed a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 to exclude the press and members of the public on the grounds that their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Group is asked to consider any comments and/or recommendations from the Companies’ Scrutiny Panel meeting.

Cllr Fry presented the recommendations from the Companies Scrutiny Panel meeting on 18 October 2021.

The Panel supported restructuring the joint venture as an LLP with the structure as recommended in the confidential report. They noted the need to safeguard the Council’s interests during the transition.

The Panel noted that an LLP may be a suitable structure for any future joint ventures the Council.

The SJVG is asked to consider the restructure of the Joint Venture between Oxford City Council and Nuffield College (University of Oxford)

[report to follow]

The SJVG considered the report of the Head of Financial Services setting out recommendations to restructure the current Joint Venture between Oxford City Council and Nuffield College to develop land at Oxpens and create a new Limited Liability Partnership.

The SJVG noted that the proposed change from the current Limited Company to an LLP structure would reduce tax payments incurred as a result of the current structure to the level which the two shareholding organisations would normally incur.  The High Court’s ruling in the case of Peters v London Borough of Haringey (2018) confirmed that in certain circumstances a local authority may legitimately use a Limited Liability Partnership structure to create joint ventures to promote regeneration objectives.

The Shareholder and Joint Venture Group agreed a detailed set of recommendations to Cabinet on 10 November including:

·         the recommended structure of the transaction in relation to the restructure of the Joint Venture between Oxford City Council and Nuffield College in the University of Oxford;

·         recommendations to correctly authorise and complete the financial transactions, and to delegate authority to complete the legal transactions.

Recommendation: to approve the public and private minutes of the Shareholder and Joint Venture Group meeting on 27 July and 28 July 2021 as a true and correct record.

The public and private minutes of Shareholder and Joint Venture Group meetings held on 27 July and 28 July 2021were agreed as true and accurate records.