Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

The Chair agreed to accept an Item of Business, New Theatre as a matter of urgency in accordance with S.100 B (4) of the Local Government Act 1972; Urgent Cabinet approval was required to enable the Council to ensure the detail and approvals were considered as soon as possible and the decision could not reasonably wait until the next Cabinet meeting.

The Item was considered at Item 6 of the agenda

Councillor Brownridge declared an other interest in Items 6 and 11 Investing in a New Theatre in Oldham, by virtue of her Council appointment as a trustee of the Coliseum Board.

To receive Questions from the Public, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

There were three public questions received:

1.    The first question was submitted by Jane Barker.

The details of the new theatre proposal has just been announced. The plans are nothing like what was originally promised, which was a theatre with capacity similar to that of the Coliseum. The proposal contains half the seating capacity of the Coliseum, and that is not good enough. How will any theatre company be able to produce financially viable theatre with such a small capacity? Last year Oldham Coliseum sold 33000 tickets for the pantomime, but the new venue will only be able to cater for half that number. That is hundreds of thousands of pounds of lost income, not to mention thousands less visitors spending money in cafes and bars in the town. Where is the ambition and aspiration of Oldham Labour Councillors to put Oldham on the map and create a visitor attraction that we can be proud of?

The Leader responded:

Our latest proposals include a 300-350 seat auditorium which has been developed over a long period of time and many conversations, with the Coliseum itself, the Arts Council, other arts and culture organisations, and members of the community.  We’ve also looked at comparable well-performing producing theatres in other towns across the country many of whom have similar or even fewer numbers of seats.

We’re still developing the final designs with local arts companies but also with external experts in theatre who will help us scrutinise the detailed plans to make sure they can be profitable and it is workable. We’ll keep having conversations with technical experts ahead of submitting a planning application.

For a local authority to be committing £24 million, in this climate of austerity and challenge to our budgets, this is an absolute marker of our ambition and aspiration for arts in this town. We’re investing because we know a theatre is an important part of a thriving successful Oldham town centre and because our local communities have made this really clear when talking to us about what they want in their town. But we have to be realistic - the new theatre also has to be sustainable. Its operator has to be able to make money all year round – not just from one production a year.

On the specific issue of the pantomime – which I know is close to the hearts of lots of Oldhamers, the council has offered the use of the new event space in the Spindles with a capacity of 750 for panto in the future. This would enable the Coliseum to up capacity for that production should they need to. Obviously, their recent announcement has put this on hold but the offer is still available.

2.    The second question was submitted by Kevin Leach:

I am a resident in the Borough and have worked in the arts and at the Coliseum for 17 years.I am passionate for Oldham and its people.

Given the ineptitude of the council over the years  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on 23rd January 2023 and 13th February 2023 be approved.

Councillor Brownridge declared an other interest in Items 6 and 11 Investing in a New Theatre in Oldham, by virtue of her Council appointment as a trustee of the Coliseum Board. She left the room and took no part in the vote thereon.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director, Place and Economic Growth. Director of Public Health (with responsibility for Culture) and Assistant Chief Executive which provided details of the delivery of a new theatre in Oldham Town Centre.

The planned new theatre building was successful in gaining Towns Deal funding from central government in June 2021 and work had progressed significantly with detailed plans well advanced.  It was proposed that the new theatre be progressed through a further consultation ahead of submitting a planning application, and funding arrangements confirmed, including the use of Towns Deal.

Alongside this, Oldham had been offered access to £1.845 million of Arts Council funding to provide performance, arts and culture across the borough over the next three-years. In order to access this funding, Oldham Council had a requirement to indicate its acceptance of this funding and to recommit to the development of a new theatre for the borough.

Oldham Coliseum began as a circus on Henshaw Street dating back to 1885, known then as the Colosseum. Built in 1887, the current theatre building based on Fairbottom Street, off Yorkshire Street, in Oldham Town Centre, had been used as a music hall and a cinema, before reopening in 1938, as the Oldham Repertory Theatre.  The Oldham Rep lasted until 1978 when it was reconstituted as the Oldham Coliseum Theatre.

The current Fairbottom Street building, the adjacent office building and car park are leased by the Coliseum from the Council on a rent-free arrangement.

In 2012 Oldham Council invested £2 million into the Fairbottom Street theatre, upgrading audience areas, replacing seating, improving heating and updating ventilation. However, even with this level of investment, both the Coliseum Board and Management Team, and Oldham Council agreed that the current building could not meet the long-term needs of the theatre: it’s performers, staff and its audiences deserved better.

Problems with accessibility, a lack of quality back-stage and front of house facilities and a growing list of maintenance issues common to old buildings were evident (including asbestos and lack of provision for disabled performers and visitors). A full building survey, undertaken at the time (2012), gave the building a ten-year lifespan.

The scale of the issues found and Oldham Coliseum’s requirement for better facilities meant that renovating, refurbishing, repurposing or re-investing in the building was not possible. In addition, the size and topography of the site meant that rebuilding on the current site would be restrictive and very expensive as a result. In 2012, both Oldham Coliseum and Oldham Council agreed that a new theatre building on a new site was required.

Since this time, the Council has continued to undertake and pay for structural maintenance required to the building (c.£20k per year for the last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Environment which sought to notify Cabinet of the value of a grant the Council Oldham Council had secured for additional funding for the refurbishment of Manchester Street Viaduct, via the Department for Transport (DfT) City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) and to notify Cabinet of the intention to bring this additional resource into the transport capital programme to design and undertake refurbishment works to Manchester Street Viaduct.

The Greater Manchester CRSTS programme business case was submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) in September 2021 by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on behalf of themselves and all 10 GM districts.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) received confirmation of the full CRSTS allocation of £1.07bn for spend across 2022/23-2026/27 on the 1st of April 2022.

On the 29 July 2022, the DfT, as the funders of the CRSTS, confirmed the delivery plans and funding allocations to each city region and sent a funding letter to each City Region Mayor.

One scheme included in the delivery plan, is the Strategic Maintenance scheme - Manchester Street Viaduct refurbishment.

This scheme had been developed over the past year and had now secured Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) assurance through TfGM processes to move to scheme design and delivery, utilising the now approved DfT CRSTS capital budget.

The next steps included

• The approval goes through GMCA on 27 January 2023.
• Oldham Council accept the grant offer of £4.5m to deliver the Manchester Street Viaduct refurbishment scheme.
• Oldham Council bring the additional resource into the transport capital programme in 2022/23 and programme across subsequent financial years, and commence design development for the scheme.
• Completion of design development in 2024/25.
• Construction of the Manchester Street Viaduct Refurbishment works in 2025/26.
• Monitoring and Evaluation Plus 1 Year Assessment completed in 2027/28.

External support required included:

• Structural investigations, testing, assessment and reporting.
• Procurement and commissioning of design consultants and Early Supply Chain Involvement (ESI) contractor.
• Surveys, site investigations and Traffic Management proposals.
• Preliminary design development of refurbishment works.
• Detailed design of refurbishment works.
• Procurement of main works contractor.
• Construction of refurbishment works.

Options/alternatives considered

Option 1 - Undertake works that would extend the life of the structure and retain the essential link

Option 2: Refuse the grant – leading to the eventual closure of the bypass with severe consequences to Oldham and the surrounding area.

1.    RESOLVED – That:

2.    The grant offer of £4.5m from the CRSTS for the refurbishment of Manchester Street Viaduct be accepted. This would contribute to the overall scheme budget of £6.5m (£4.5m CRSTS grant plus £2m local highways maintenance contribution from Oldham's allocation across 2024/25 and 2025/26).

3.    The intention to bring the additional resource into the transport capital programme in 2022/23, and profile across subsequent financial years, to complete development of the scheme in the appropriate timescales be noted.

4.    The approval to procure and make tender awards relating to the necessary external support required to design and deliver the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Consideration was given to a report of the Managing Director, Children’s Services and the Director for Education, Early Years and Skills that sought approval of a high quality, flexible and inclusive statutory Short Breaks Play and Leisure offer for children and young people with SEND and their families in place from 1 April 2023.

Local authorities had a statutory responsibility to provide a range of Short Breaks Play and Leisure (SBPL) opportunities for children and young people with SEND and their families. A Short Breaks Duty Statement giving details of the local range of services and how they can be accessed, including any eligibility criteria must be published as a statutory responsibility under The Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011.

The SBPL offer must provide opportunities enabling children and young people to access development and leisure activities suitable to meet their needs. The broad aims of SBPL were to provide:

•           respite for families preventing breakdown and escalation to higher cost intensive services

•           a safe place for children and young people to develop independence skills, build self-esteem and self-confidence and engage and interact with their peers.

•           an alternative to more costly one to one Personal Advisor support where appropriate to meet individual needs.

Under the existing contractual arrangements, three providers currently delivered SBPL activities for children, young people and their families. They are Ability Wheelz, Sports Works and Starfish Swim, all within contract until 31st March 2023. This arrangement had been extended on an annual basis previously within a funding envelope which had seen no increase since 2017. During this time, demand had continued to rise, this was predicted to be a continuing trend. Data demonstrated that within this same period, demand for Education Health and Care plans had grown by 80% and this was expected to continue.

As part of the commissioning intentions and following discussions at a senior strategic level between Oldham Council and the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP previously known as the CCG), there was now an agreed funding envelope in place.

In order to develop commissioning intentions from 1 April 2023 onwards and as part of governance arrangements, a project group consisting of young people from Barrier Breakers supported by the Youth Service, Parent Carer Forum, Children’s Commissioning Team, Children with Disabilities Team, SEND Team, Children’s Social Care, ICP, Legal, Finance, HR and Procurement had been established.

A meet the market event to stimulate demand and seek feedback from providers on commissioning intentions and the service specification was held on 18 November 2022. This was advertised via The Chest in accordance with procurement protocols. In total 7 providers attended the event.

The intention was to award the contract with the funding envelope for a period of three years with the option to extend for up to a further two years. The option to extend would be subject to the successful provider achieving outcomes within the specification, the delivery of high quality, value for money services for our children and young people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director, Place and Economic Growth which sought approval from Cabinet to award and to enter into contract with each of the successful bidders for the Temporary Accommodation Framework (following on from the recent Temporary Accommodation tender).

The Council’s Temporary Accommodation (TA) Strategy was approved by Cabinet in October 2021. Consequently, this put the accompanying delivery plan into motion and the first priority was to develop a TA framework to help the Council deliver sustainability and cost-efficiency to the Council’s TA portfolio.

Given the demand for TA and associated costs of managing a compliant statutory service, the identified service requirements were separated into three lots, including sub-lots for additional clarity.

The procurement exercise was administered in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPR) incorporating the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and the successful procurement exercise motivates the recommendations set out in the report namely, to appoint the successful bidders under Lot 1 & 3 frameworks

In October 2021 the Council approved its inaugural Temporary Accommodation (TA) Strategy 2021-24. The accompanying delivery plan committed to conducting a procurement exercise to create a TA framework to increase housing supply and deliver housing repairs and maintenance to TA dwellings.

Following the approval of the strategy, further work commenced to develop detailed tender documents to help progress priorities of the delivery plan and support the development of a TA framework.

Based on qualitative and quantitative assessments of the Council’s TA needs, three service requirements had been identified and had been categorised into three separate lots:

·         Lot 1 – A framework of providers that could help increase the Council’s supply of nightly paid accommodation for a range of property sizes broken down within the following sub-lots:

o   Lot 1.1 – Bedsit accommodation

o   Lot 2.1 – One Bedroom accommodation

o   Lot 2.3 – Two Bedroom accommodation

o   Lot 2.4 – Three Bedroom accommodation

o   Lot 2.5 – Four bedroom accommodation

·         Lot 2 – A framework of reputable contractors that could undertake housing repairs and maintenance work on the Council’s TA stock. The type of contractors required were set out in the following sub-lots:

o   Lot 2.1 – Building and Joinery work

o   Lot 2.2 – Plumbing, Heating, Gas and Boiler work

o   Lot 2.3 – Electrical work

o   Lot 2.4 – Clean and Cleanse

o   Lot 2.5 – Painting and Decorating

·         Lot 3 – A housing supplier framework which is also described as a private sector lease (PSL) framework. Bidders for Lot 3 could range from traditional Registered Social Landlord (RSL) to property investors and consultants. The overall objective and desired outcome was delivery of suitable dwellings that the Council could take a short, medium or long-term leasehold interest in for the purpose of providing much needed self-contained and family sized TA. The Council has not negotiated any bespoke leases with bidders just yet, this process will be progressed following contract award and prior to the identification and on-boarding of suitable dwellings. Should the Council agree to this it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they contain exempt information under paragraph(s) 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and it would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose the reports.

RESOLVED - That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they contain exempt information under paragraphs 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and it would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose the reports.

Councillor Brownridge declared an other interest in Items 6 and 11 Investing in a New Theatre in Oldham, by virtue of her Council appointment as a trustee of the Coliseum Board. She left the room and took no part in the vote thereon.

The Cabinet gave consideration to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 6 - Urgent Business - Investing in a New Theatre for Oldham.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    Oldham Council’s intention to accept £1.845 million Arts Council England funding to provide cultural activity for the borough for the years 2023-2026 be approved.

2.    The development of a new theatre for Oldham, funding arrangements and progression of the new theatre on Union Street to planning stage be recommitted to and approved.

3.    That ongoing partnership working with Coliseum and Arts Council while further decisions are made about the future of arts and performance in Oldham be approved.

4.    The progression of  a new theatre in the Old Post Office Building and Quaker Meeting House on Union Street be approved.

5.    The funding arrangements for the project bringing together both Council capital funds and Town Deal funds be approved.

6.    Public consultation activities ahead of planning application submission to build on the feedback from the Big Town Centre consultation and engagement activity be approved.

7.    The Government approval of the Towns Fund full business case for the new theatre be noted.

8.    The design plans and layout as appended to this report be approved.   

9.    All other commercially sensitive recommendations as contained within the report be approved.

The Cabinet gave consideration to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 8 Short Breaks Play and Leisure - Approval to award contract from 1 April 2023.

RESOLVED – That decision responsibilities be delegated to the Managing Director, Childrens Services to award the Short Breaks Play and Leisure contract to be operational from 1 April 2023. This would follow an open, competitive robust commissioning, tendering and moderation process.

The Cabinet gave consideration to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 9 Approval of Temporary Accommodation Framework.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    The appointment, under a framework agreement of each of the successful bidders detailed in this report to the relevant Lots in ranked order following completion of a compliant procurement exercise be approved.

2.    Contract mobilisation and the placement of subsequent call-off contracts at the end of a 10-day standstill period be approved.

3.    A further tender exercise to successfully procure contractors under a framework arrangement to meet the service requirements pertaining to Lot 2 be approved.