Decision details

Consideration was given to a report of the Senior Finance Manager which sought to;

a)    Secure the necessary agreements on behalf of Oldham Council, which together with similar agreements from all the other participating Authorities and bodies, would enable the full fibre provider to be contracted by 1 October 2019, and

b)    Gain approval to appoint a dedicated project management resource for Oldham to manage the interface between the various Council services that would need to be involved, the appointed contractor, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TFGM).

The Cabinet was informed that, following the successful Greater Manchester (GM) bid to Central Government’s Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) for £23.8m of Local Full Fibre Networks funding (LFFN) in March 2018, a considerable amount of work had been undertaken to finalise this large complex project.

The LFFN Programme would have a transformational impact on digital infrastructure in GM and, at its conclusion the region should have the best high-speed digital infrastructure coverage of any city-region in the UK. The programme was also expected to deliver cost benefits to public sector partners over the medium term.

The Cabinet noted that the Council had been working very closely with the TfGM LFFN Team who had been drawing on local technical, financial, procurement and highways expertise to ensure that the LFFN Full Fibre Programme was delivered within the tight timeframe and met local

needs.

The grant offer from DCMS required GM to spend the £21.3m DCMS LFFN funding by the end of March 2021. This was a challenging timescale, which required the LFFN to be procured during the first half of 2019/20. Therefore, Oldham, together with all the other participants needed formal financial approvals to be in place before the scheduled date for contracts to be awarded in October 2019.

As the GM-wide initiative had been under consideration for some time, the approved 2019/20 to 2023/24 Capital Strategy made provision for the Council’s inclusion in the scheme, with an initial investment of £1.5m being set aside. The commitment and cost to the Council had therefore been anticipated and included in both the revenue and capital financial plans.

Options/Alternatives considered:

·       Approve the recommendations

·       Not to approve the recommendations

RESOLVED that:

1.     Approval was granted to delegate authority to the Leader of the Council and Deputy Chief Executive (People and Place) to approve the final capital funding commitment up to a maximum of £1.525m, which would fund the connection of at least 63 mandatory sites within the Oldham area and up to 36 additional sites.

2.     Approval was granted to delegate authority to the Leader of the Council and Deputy Chief Executive (People and Place) to enter into a contract with the preferred supplier for the fibre connection of public sites and premises in Oldham under the GM Local Full Fibre Networks Programme.

3.     Approval was granted to delegate authority to the Leader of the Council and Deputy Chief Executive (People and Place) to enter into the Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) that will set out the local authority role and processes for the implementation of the LFFN Programme.

4.     The acceptance the Oldham share of the DCMS LFFN grant funding, which will be distributed by the GMCA, be approved.

5.     The engagement of a dedicated project management resource, at a maximum cost of £60k for a period of up to 36 months, be approved.

6.     The increase in the capital allocation within the currently approved Capital Programme, by £0.085m from the currently approved £1.500m to £1.585m with the utilisation of Funds for Emerging Priorities, to fully fund the proposals contained within this report be agreed.