Cabinet, at its meeting on 12 July 2023, will consider a report from the Executive Director (Development) seeking Cabinet approval to participate in the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP) Charter and endorsement of a series of Oxford City Council pledges. Cllr Susan Brown, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy and Partnerships, Clayton Lavallin, Economic Development Team Leader and Emma Coles, Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership Manager, have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Clayton Lavallin, Economic Development Team Leader and Emma Coles, Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership Manager, presented the report which sought Cabinet approval to participate in the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership (OIEP) Charter and the endorsement of a series of Oxford City Council pledges.  It was further highlighted that the partnership was a county-wide group that brought together employers, business, education, community groups and local government, aimed to reduce economic inequality across the county and was supported and funded by all of the Councils across Oxfordshire.

Oxford City Council had set out thirteen pledges across five of the six available themes of which it was already engaging with through its respective service areas under the Council’s corporate plan.

Clayton Lavallin and Emma Coles answered questions as follows:

·         A full list of pledges was available on the Future Oxfordshire Partnership website.

·         It was proposed that the Council initially focus on a range of already identified activities as pledges in order to greater enhance successful outcomes.  Service Heads had focused on areas where evidenced improvement could be shown, rather than signing up to all pledges where the Council was successful in its current working practices.

·         The proposed pledges aligned with the main corporate objectives and would support the Council in developing good practice across the County.

·         Pledges would be reviewed regularly, and more could be agreed as part of improving services across the Council.

·         A further review of the 39 pledges could be undertaken with Service Heads to ensure that opportunities had not been missed and better communication regarding the process of how pledges had been determined would be beneficial.

·         The Working Group could review pledges that include only buying from organisations that have trade union recognition included within their procurement policies as any work with Unions was especially welcomed by the OIEP.

·         An impact report would be produced on the pledges, and the employees and the communities that they work with.

·         The Council’s companies have made separate pledges, recognising the different opportunities presented by their different working practices.

Cllr Corais joined the meeting.

The Committee resolved to make the following recommendations on the report for Cabinet:

1.    That the Council requests that the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership ensures the full list of possible pledges is easily and prominently available online.

2.    That the Council reviews the full list of possible pledges to see if it could sign-up to additional pledges; including whether the Council could sign-up to any pledges within the ‘recruit inclusively’ theme.

3.    That the Council undertakes a RAG rating audit for the full list of potential pledges outlining what it could do against each one, whether there are any additional budget or resource implications, whether the Council is currently meeting a pledge or if more work needs to be done and then prioritises pledges on the basis of that audit, to provide assurance that the Council is doing as much as possible to ensure an inclusive economy.

4.    That the Council engages with the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership to understand whether it has a preferred approach for organisations’ pledge selection approach, or whether there is flexibility for organisations to determine their own approach; and requests that this be clearly articulated in an appropriate location.

5.    That the Council improves its communications on how its pledge commitments are framed to ensure clarity around whether they are a checklist of work already completed or underway, or whether they represent a more aspirational ‘to do’ list; and clearly articulates this locally.

6.    That the Council suggests to the Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership the addition of pledges relating to the inclusion of organisations with Trade Union Recognition Agreements as a preference during procurement exercises.