To authorise the transfer by purchase by Oxford City Council of the extended and refurbished 4 bedroom property delivered through the OCHDL Extensions programme. Contributing to the Council’s overall Affordable Housing provision.

To authorise the purchase by way of transfer the two affordable housing units at 9/9a Pauling Road, resulting from the Oxford City Housing Development Ltd Extensions Programme.

Authority was granted for the HRA to purchase units for £575,000 in total.

The decision looks to deliver a more flexible approach to recruiting temporary staff to the Council and its companies. Having a variety of suppliers will cover a greater range of the market and should help improve the chances of efficiently filling hard to source roles.

This decision has the potential to generate savings in the region of £1.5 million pounds over 5 years, based on historical spend and usage.

The decision is to approve the award of 4 contracts across 2 lots.

Lot 1 - Professional and Business Support - Reed Specialist Recruitment Ltd (£1.8m per annum).

Lot 2 - Housing, Property and Regulatory Services – Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd, Opus People Solutions Ltd and Matchtech Group (UK) Ltd. (£900k per annum).

In April 2017, the non-household water supply market opened up for businesses, charities and public sector organisations in England meaning they are no longer restricted to buying water from their regional monopoly.  Thames Water had exited the non-household market ahead of this opening up and transferred their non-household customer base over to Castle Water. 

Contracting with a retailer means the council can secure value for money on the purchase of non-household water and wastewater services, whilst minimising the administrative burden through electronic billing capability along with collaborative work to reduce the council’s water footprint.

To award the contract to Wave Utilities for the supply of non-household water and wastewater services at Oxford City Council sites for an initial three year period from 2020 with the possibility of a two year contract extension.

The new 1.35m high close board fence will allow the Environment agency to access Mill stream from the access road off old Abingdon road.

The decision was made to approve the expenditure of £15,455.31 to Supply and Install 120m x 1.8m wide x 1.35m high wooden close board fence panels complete with concrete slotted posts and gravel board and to take down and dispose of the existing fencing.

Hogacre ditch will be cleared and the watercourse will be able to run unobstructed.

The decision was made to approve the expenditure of £16,248.70 to De-silt up to 300mm from the channel of Hogacre ditch.

Cabinet at its meeting on 16 June 2021 delegated authority to the Head of Corporate

Strategy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford to enter

into a loan agreement with Low Carbon Hub on terms to be agreed by the Head of

Financial Services/Section 151 Officer; and the Councils Monitoring Officer.

A previous decision was made, at decision point A (06/04/2021), to appoint a Tier 1 Contractor to provide specialist Pre-Construction service under a Pre-Construction Service Agreement (PSCA) for the decarbonisation of the following properties.

·       Hinksey Outdoor Pool

·       Leys Pool & Leisure Centre

·       Barton Leisure Centre

·       Rose Hill Community Centre

·       Oxford Ice Rink

·       Ferry Leisure Centre (Replaced Town Hall as back-up site).

The contractor was sourced from an appropriate Framework in accordance with Procurement policy.

Decision was to incur expenditure to get to next decision point B (10 May 2021) estimated to be up to a £300K in order to progress the consultant and Contractors work necessary to meet the grant conditions.

This work has enabled the project to successfully reach Decision Point B which is the next stage of the project to which this delegated decision relates.

The work from Decision Point B is set out in the sections below.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 09 September 2020, delegated authority to:

1. The Director of Housing*, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Affordable Housing; the Head of Financial Services/Section 151 Officer; and the Council’s Monitoring Officer, to enter into agreements for the purchase of land, and any other necessary agreements or contracts and/or spend within the identified budget, for the provision of additional affordable housing; and

2. The Chief Executive, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Finance and Asset Management, and Affordable Housing, to approve any property or development purchases over £500,000 for affordable housing, within this project approval and budget envelope.

*This delegation is now within the remit of the Executive Director (Communities and People).

To contract with consultants to provide commercial advice on a programme of affordable housing sites.

The funding for this agreement to be paid initially from the HRA revenue budget – using the HRA scheme feasibility budget.  As schemes progress into delivery, the costs of this advice, on a scheme by scheme basis, will then be capitalised into the acquisition cost of that scheme, as it brought into the HRA.

To ensure timely and appropriate use of available Additional Restrictions Grant Funding in-line with the guidance and local economic need.

The decision has been made to:

a)    Increase the budget to the full £5,394,374 allocation of ARG, subject to the Council receiving additional funding of £991,374 (current budget £4,403,000).

b)    Authorise spending over the £2.8m already committed up to a maximum of £5,394,374, subject to additional funding of £991,374 being received, or if not up to a maximum spend of £4,403,000.

c)    Note the projected allocation for schemes (below).

d)    Delegate decisions to increase and decrease specific scheme budgets, within the total ARG allocation, to the Director of Development, in consultation with the Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Partnerships.

Removal of 14 rotten timber posts to be replaced with air dried oak treated posts.

The decision was made to approve the expenditure of £10,779.38 for the repairs to the handrails on the Caroline Street to Angel Meadow Bridge, Oxford.

This will be paid for from BN44 Corporate Property Maintenance Programme.

Contained in Exempt Appendix 1.

To approve the recommendation made within Exempt Appendix 1 to enable the Council to provide guidance and support to Commercial Tenants in regard to rent queries.

To set a rent for 25 new shared ownership properties, at 2% of the value of the unsold equity share.

The Chief Executive, in consultation with the cabinet members for Finance and Affordable Housing, used her urgent powers to make the decision to set the rent levels for the 25 shared ownership properties at Rose Hill site at 2% of the value of the unsold equity share.

To provide funds for the supply of more affordable housing with the Growth Deal.

To enter into the funding agreement to receive grant from Oxfordshire County Council, for the remaining years of the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal  (Years 2 to 4 of programme) for the delivery of affordable housing within the programme.