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The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Head of Business Intelligence which provided a review of Council performance to December 2018.

The report provided the Cabinet with an overview of the Council’s performance against priorities outlined within the Corporate Plan, which had been monitored in the period October to December 2018.

Options/Alternatives considered

To note the Council performance October to December 2018.

RESOLVED – That the Council Performance Report December 2018 be noted.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Interim Director of Public Health which sought an extension to the sexual health integrated service contract provided by Virgin Care Ltd.

The Cabinet were informed that the Council was mandated to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services. Virgin Care Ltd held the contract for the delivery of integrated sexual health services across Oldham. The contract was awarded on 19th August 2015 following a collaborative procurement with Rochdale and Bury Councils and the service went live in

Oldham on 1^st January 2016. Rochdale Council were the lead commissioner of this cluster arrangement and held the contract with Virgin Care Ltd, under a tripartite legal agreement. Oldham and Bury Councils were associates to the contract.

Cabinet noted that the contract was awarded for 3 years and 3 months and would end on 31^st March 2019 with an option to activate + 1 years + 1 years extension. The report outlined the proposal to activate a two-year extension once the contract ended, with the intention to re–tender a cluster integrated sexual health service for April 2021. This collaborative approach to the

procurement enabled maximum efficiencies and therefore significant savings.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option1 - Request that Rochdale Council enact a +1 year extension to the contract

Option 2 - Request that Rochdale Council enact a +2 year extension to the contract. This was the recommended option

RESOLVED - That the Cabinet would consider the commercially

sensitive information contained at Item 14 of the agenda.

Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Director Safeguarding and Partnerships which sought approval to extend the contract for the delivery of Oldham’s Integrated Support Services for Young People with the current provider Positive Steps for the period 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2020.

The Cabinet was informed that the Council currently commissioned Positive Steps to deliver a range of services to support Oldham’s young people under the overarching banner of Targeted Youth Services. Whilst Positive Steps had been the provider of some of these services for some considerable time,

the current contractual arrangement commenced in April 2015. The service offer consisted of

·       support to young people around sexual health and substance misuse;

·       services for young carers;

·       delivery of missing from home return interviews;

·       careers information advice and guidance to vulnerable groups and

·       Youth Justice Service.

The Cabinet noted that many of these services had their basis in statutory requirements of the local authority and stakeholders within the Council ranged across public health, education and children’s social care.

Contract monitoring and performance data showed overall good performance against the contract, particularly when considered against budget reductions over the four years it had been in place. Both the SEND review in October 2017 and the independently-led review into children’s social care in January 2018 highlighted positive aspects of delivery.

An example of the success of the integrated model across Positive Steps was the education, employment and training (EET) outcomes for young people involved in the criminal justice system. The addition of a resettlement and education co-ordinator to the team had continued to evidence a positive impact on outcomes.

The Council was close to completing a strategic review of the approach to

early intervention and prevention. This review would make recommendations about investment in, commissioning and design of preventative services for both adults and children on a place-based footing that may have direct relevance to this contract(s) and how, going forward, the range of services currently provided would integrate with preventative activity taking place in

communities.

An extension of twelve months to the current contract with Positive Steps would allow the implications of these recommendations to be worked through and implemented.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option1 - exercise the option to extend the current contract for twelve months.

Option 2 - cease commissioning arrangements with Positive Steps.

RESOLVED - That the Cabinet would consider the commercially

sensitive information contained at Item 16 of the agenda.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Assistant Director Safeguarding and Partnerships which sought an extension to the Early Help Service contract with Positive Steps contract for one year, to March 2020.

The Early Help Service was established in April 2015. Some of the Early Help delivery was in-house, however a significant element of it was delivered through a contract with Positive Steps. The contract was let for three years (to March 2018), with an option to extend for up to a further additional year. This option was exercised and the contract ends on 31st March 2019.

The Council was close to completing a strategic review of the Council and key partners approach to early intervention and prevention. This review would make recommendations about investment in, commissioning and design of preventative services for both adults and children on a place-based footing that may have direct relevance to this contract(s) and how, going forward, the service provided integrated with other preventative activity taking place in communities. An extension of twelve months to the current contract with Positive Steps would allow the implications of these recommendations to be worked through and implemented.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option1 - Extend the existing Positive Steps contract.

Option 2 - Allow the contract to end on March 31st 2019.

RESOLVED - That the Cabinet would consider the commercially

sensitive information contained at Item 15 of the agenda.

Consideration was given to a report of the Fleet and Workshop Manager which sought approval for the purchase of new vehicles in financial years 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 as part of the Councils existing Fleet Replacement Programme. The vehicles were required to replace existing vehicles as they came to the end of their economic life.

The Cabinet was informed that the Council introduced the Fleet Replacement Programme (FRP) in 2012/13 in accordance with the strategy approved by Cabinet on 6^th February 2012. The objective was to replace leased and hired vehicles gradually with purchased vehicles that would have a useful economical life ranging from 3 to 7 years. Since then Fleet Management had carried out this policy whenever a vehicle was due to be replaced.

The programme was now in its seventh year of operation and the purpose of acquiring vehicles by purchasing rather than leasing had been fully realised. A requirement for hired vehicles still existed but this was restricted to shorter term vehicle needs i.e. normally of six months duration or less. This gave flexibility to the programme of vehicle usage and allowed the service to meet business needs in a dynamic, supportive manner.

The point had now been reached where a significant number of Fleet vehicles needed to be replaced because they had reached the end of their economic useful lives. Replacement was due to begin in 2019/20 and a 5-year vehicle programme and associated funding requirement was proposed. The need for increased capital investment from 2019/20 onwards was highlighted.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option1 - approval be given to commence procurement of vehicles in 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 in line with the vehicle replacement programme.

Option 2 - Do not approve the report and delay the procurement of vehicles, which would mean no other option than to continue with the current Fleet and to hire in vehicles to cover breakdowns/ downtime at a premium cost to the Council.

RESOLVED – That the proposals be approved and new vehicles be purchased from 2019/20 onwards.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Operations Manager which sought approval to purchase 18 waste collection vehicles. A quote had been obtained from Dennis Eagle Ltd, via a Mini Competition run by St Helens Council under the YPO framework for Specialist Vehicles (00652) (FC0526). This quote best met the specification issued by the Council via the Chest,

which had been assessed by Waste Management, Fleet Management and Commercial Services.

The Cabinet was informed that Waste Management Service had been running a fleet of Dennis Eagle (narrow track) vehicles for the last 6 years. This fleet of vehicles would reach their planned ‘end of life’ in 2019 and a vehicle fleet replacement procurement process has been undertaken. The Service had been using a narrow track Dennis Eagle vehicle due to access issues when

collecting from terrace property and rural village areas. Standard fleet vehicles would significantly increase the amount of ‘none access’ missed collections experienced. The Service had, during the life-span of the fleet trialled a number of vehicles and lifting machinery (different manufacturers) to challenge their current Dennis Eagle (vehicle) and Terberg (lifting machinery) option. However after considering a number of factors and considerations (cost, vehicle reliability, fleet/repair experience, driver experience and

maintaining efficient collections) the Service wished to renew its current vehicle model/option.

A fleet of 18 new vehicles was required to maintain efficient and effective waste collections across the Borough.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option1 - Delay replacing the vehicle fleet.

Option 2 - Purchase other vehicles options (vehicles & lifting machinery).

RESOLVED - That the proposal to purchase 18 new waste collection vehicles via a Mini Competition run by St Helens Council under the YPO framework for Specialist Vehicles (00652) (FC0526), be approved.

Consideration was given to a report of the Team Leader, Housing Strategy which sought approval to implement a new allocations scheme following a comprehensive review of the way social housing is allocated in the borough and consultation with partners, elected members and residents.

Cabinet was informed that Oldham Council’s Housing Strategy was in its final stages of development. The new Strategy had a clear focus on providing a good quality Oldham housing offer that met the needs of different sections of the population at different times of their lives. The registered social landlord partners shared in this ambition, and wanted to help achieve and sustain the

greatest and fastest possible improvement in the health and wellbeing of Oldham’s residents.

The aim was to achieve this by assisting residents to secure the right type of housing at the right time. This approach would see a positive outcome for some of the most vulnerable residents.

To assist with the aspirations of the new Housing Strategy, the current Allocations Scheme had been reviewed. The Allocations Scheme set out how Council-owned properties and nominations to housing association properties within the Borough were let to applicants on the Housing Needs Register.

The Cabinet was informed that the new proposals for the Allocations Scheme would support the Council and its partners in delivering these aspirations by:

·       Enabling the Council and its housing association partners to make more efficient use of existing and new resources.

·       Providing a clearer and stronger focus on meeting the needs of those households in the greatest housing need.

·       Better managing customer expectation.

·       Reducing pressure on the homelessness service.

Since the last review, the Council and its housing association partners had seen an unprecedented demand for social housing in the borough. The latest proposals aimed to tackle this issue as well as enable the Council to better manage the expectation of households on its Housing Needs Register.

The Cabinet was informed that there were currently over 24,000 households on the Council’s Housing Register, but only around 5,000 of these were in recognised housing need who had been awarded ‘reasonable preference’ by the Council; in other words, they had been given priority in line with the

principles set out in Section 167 of the Housing Act 1996.

The Cabinet noted the new proposals for the Allocations Scheme had a clearer focus on supporting households who had been identified as having a recognised housing need and who fell within the reasonable preference categories as defined. This focus aligned with the new housing strategy by delivering a more sustainable approach to effectively managing resources which in turn could be used to support the more vulnerable residents.

The new proposals would also support the Council’s co-operative principles in encouraging households to take greater responsibility on the choices they made of where they wanted to live.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option1 - Amend the Allocations Scheme as detailed in Appendix 1 to ensure it meets all legislative requirements and responds to the current operating environment.

Option 2 - Do nothing. Do not update the Council’s Allocations Scheme.

RESOLVED – That:

1.     The contents of the new scheme be noted.

2.     The new Allocations Scheme for implementation and distribution be approved.