Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no public questions received.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on the 25^th January 2021 be approved.

Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive which set out the progress that had been made on the development of Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Plan following a public consultation on proposals that were developed pre-COVID-19 and the link to taxi and private hire common minimum licensing standards.

In Greater Manchester, the 10 local authorities, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), collectively referred to as “Greater Manchester” or “GM”, had worked together to develop a Clean Air Plan to tackle NO₂ Exceedances at the Roadside, referred to as GM CAP. This report set out the progress of the GM CAP and the next steps for the development of the Clean Air Plan and the closely linked Minimum Licensing Standards (MLS) for taxi and private hire services.

Since the last report there has been no confirmation or offer of government funding for LGVs or hackneys, or the taxi and private hire electric vehicle charge points.

Government ministers have agreed to consider extending Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) charges to the sections of the A628/A57 in Tameside which form part of the Strategic Road Network, within the proposed CAZ boundary. The extension of any charges to the A628/A57 will be subject to a full assessment of the potential impacts, to be led by Highways England. Following the assessment ministers will take the final decision on whether or not charging should be implemented on the A628/A57.

GM was awarded £14.7m of funding for the retrofitting of buses, and this work commenced in December 2020. GM’s bus retrofit fund offers operators of locally registered bus services up to £16k of funding per vehicle towards the retrofit of non-compliant buses. The funding is available for vehicles, including minibuses and coaches, operating on a registered bus service within Greater Manchester. This includes cross-boundary services operating within the GM CAZ boundary.

The report also set out:

• The near-term impacts of COVID-19 government restrictions on movement on air quality, how air quality was legally monitored, and how the Government has directed GM (and other areas) under UK law to address exceedance of the Annual Average standard for NO₂ which is set at 40 ug/m3.
• Following the conclusion of the consultation, both GM CAP and MLS consultation responses were being analysed and reported on by an independent research agency. GM authorities would fully consider all of the information and evidence gathered during the consultation, to develop an understanding of the consequences COVID-19 has had on vehicle owners and trades which would be directly affected by the GM CAP and MLS.
• The work TfGM was undertaking on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester Authorities in the preparatory implementation and contract arrangements required to deliver the CAZ and other GM CAP measures. Preparatory work was required in order to maintain delivery momentum in line with the funding arrangements agreed with JAQU, for example in relation to automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, back office systems and service providers.
• The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Head of Strategy and Performance which provided a review of Council performance to December 2020

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.

It was reported that 70 per cent of Performance targets had been met, days lost due to sickness had fallen and the level of council spend had increased. A number of measures have been suspended due to Coivd-19 and were being monitored only.

Underperformance would be addressed at Directorate level within each portfolio where required.

Options/Alternatives considered:

To note the Council performance December 2020.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    The areas of good performance detailed within the Council Performance Report December 2020 be noted.

2.    The improvement plans for any areas of under performance within the report be agreed.

Consideration was given to a report of the Strategic Director, Communities and reform which presented options for the future of the Council Leisure Contract.

Cabinet approved the recommendation to appoint Oldham Community Leisure (OCL) in December 2012 to operate and manage the Council’s leisure facilities. The contract became operational in April 2013. The current contract, without the 5-year optional extension, was due to end on 31^st March 2023.

Under normal circumstances, pre Covid 19, the Leisure contract was performing well. The level of subsidy provided by the Council was low in comparison to other GM authorities and many nationally. The outcome and outputs stipulated in the contract were also being met.  In addition, memberships were high, the external inspections of the centres were all very good or excellent, and customer feedback was also good.  Overall financial performance was also positive.

The Covid-19 situation had presented a number of significant issues to all Leisure providers across the country, not just OCL, and sport generally due to the two forced closures and a restriction on activity in our Leisure Centres when they have been open.  In addition, strict guidance on all team sport activity and cancellations of all National Governing Body of sport has further impacted, resulting in cancellation of block bookings, a reduction in the use of facilitates and an impact on income.

The Leisure contract extension, which was a 10 plus 5 years, was due for consideration this next financial year. Initial discussion had already taken place prior to Covid to look at extending this but with some changes to the contract and additional social value activity and measures added.  If an additional 5-year extension was agreed the contract would finish at the end of March 2028.

During the lockdowns and through the pandemic OCL, as a social enterprise, had been a key partner in the Oldham community response to support our most vulnerable residents and have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to be a provider that delivers social value.  This included offering Oldham Sports Centre as a venue to operate the foodbank from and a mass testing site with staff to support this. 

Ongoing conversations had taken place with OCL to understand the financial impact of Covid 19 and several mitigations have been put in place to reduce the running costs.  The Council would need to financially support OCL’s recovery into 2021/2022. OCL have also proposed several mitigations to reduce the expenditure during the next period. Further detail is included in Part B of the Cabinet report.

The Government had confirmed that £100 million would be made available to support public leisure facilities during this financial year.  The period is from December 2020 to the end of March 2021. Local authorities would be able to bid for money from the £100m fund.  Along with already agreed support given this will ease the financial ask on the Local Authority and ensure OCL are financially stable until the year end. 

Oldham had been successful in a bid of £530k. In addition,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive People and Place which sought approval to utlise the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) framework for the supply of liquid fuels for use in the Council’s fleet.

The Council required the supply of liquid fuel on site to ensure the vehicle fleet are fully operational. YPO ran a mini competition of behalf of AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) obtaining continuity of supply and value for money.

The current contract was supplied by Certas Energy. The procurement for this contract whilst driven by AGMA was undertaken by YPO (Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation) using a framework of their own establishment.

Liquid Fuel was primarily used by the departments located at Moorhey St with use also by other departments and some schools. Fleet Management stores bunkered fuels on site at Moorhey Street, (Max levels: Diesel – 60,000 litres, Petrol – 13,000 litres and red diesel – 8,000 litres). Fuel was dispensed by onsite pumps which drivers could withdraw by use of a driver and vehicle key fob.

The YPO Liquid Fuel framework had ceased however a re-procurement was undertaken to re-establish and as before an exercise had been carried out for the AGMA authorities. This framework commenced on 22^nd November 2019 for 2 years with an optional additional 2-year extension; the intention was that the Council would contract with the rank 1 supplier throughout the duration of the framework agreement. Standard Oil Fuels Ltd were currently rank 1 supplier and the AGMA authorities had made a decision to appoint the recommended supplier with the intention that each authority would now complete individual call off agreements.

The call off agreement with Standard Oil Fuels Ltd WAS in place until 21^st November 2021 after which YPO would run a further mini competition for a call off period of 2 years (ending 21^st November 2023) which may change the rank 1 supplier.

Options/alternatives considered

Option 1:

• To approve the use of the YPO framework to purchase liquid fuels from the rank 1 supplier as a result of the mini competitions.
• Complete call off contract with the current rank 1 supplier Standard Fuel Oils Ltd and take advantage of the buying power and savings detailed in this report.
• Following the second mini competition for the call off period 22^nd November 2021 until 21^st November 2023 contract with the rank 1 supplier.

Option 2 - To not approve the use of the YPO framework and the purchase of fuels from the rank 1 supplier in both this call off and the second thus not taking advantage of the buying power and savings. Also due to the spend associated an alternative procurement process would need to be completed which would not guarantee any savings.

RESOLVED – That the purchase of liquid fuels using the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation framework for the Supply of Liquid Fuels be approved. The Council would contract with the rank 1 supplier as per the outcome from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Finance which provided an overview of the recent tendering exercise for the Council, Unity Partnership and Miocare’s ongoing liability insurance. Following the end of the long-term agreement for current insurances, a tender exercise was carried out for insurance and it is necessary to consider the insurance position going forward for the next five years.

The insurances for the Council, Miocare and Unity Partnership were currently tendered in two parts:

·                     Liability insurance which covered the Council’s legal liabilities including employers and public liability insurance. Examples of these are highway tripping claims and employee accidents.   These policies were appointed via a tender process in July 2016, these policy long term agreements expire on the 31 March 2021.

·                     Property insurance which provides cover for the Council’s assets for fire, lightning, explosion, aircraft, riot, storm and flood, and motor insurance. These policies were last tendered in 2019 and are subject to a Long Term Agreement with insurers until March 2024.

The insurance market for Local Authorities traditionally had been dominated by three providers.  Two new insurance providers entered the public sector market over the past few years.  A further insurer remains an interested party for property and liability risks but currently has very limited public sector clients.

 The first quarter of 2020 saw the tenth consecutive quarter of price increases across the insurance market. The major price increases were around property, financial and professional lines, with the largest being in the Directors’ and Officers’ rates.  Covid-19 has meant changes to prices, cover and risks across the public sector.

Insurers were facing a double hit from coronavirus. Claims were increasing and there had also been a hit to reserves from volatile financial markets.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought a case against eight insurers in June 2020 to clarify whether 21 policy wordings, affecting potentially 700 types of policies, 60 insurers, 370,000 policyholders and billions in insurance claims, covered disruption and Government-ordered closures to curb the virus.  The decision which was largely in the policy holders favour, had been appealed and the judgement was received in January, again in the policyholders’ favour.  This decision affected insurance pricing.

There had been blanket exclusions put in place by insurers in relation to pandemic cover, with the adult care sector being one of the worst impacted.  Some areas are having insurance premiums quadrupled and exclusions put in place in relation to coronavirus/pandemic cover. 

In relation to risk exposure for insurers, existing insurance policies never anticipated that organisations would find themselves having to transform their operations to such an extent, and, as a result, have not respond as expected. An example of this is the redeployment of staff, where many employees who would normally be desk-based were stepping up to help operational roles.  The risks associated with an employee working in an office are markedly different to those of someone providing support for lateral flow tests or marshalling immunisation centres.

For this tender the Council used the Yorkshire Purchasing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, People and Place which sought approval to award a contract to manage the stores function for Fleet Management.

A re-procurement was undertaken via the Yorkshire Procurement Organisation  Fleet Managed Services framework (921) as the current contract with Fleet Factors had expired. After evaluation Fleet Factors met all the criteria of the tender competition and Fleet Management were looking to award the contract to Fleet Factors for the next 2 years with an option to extend for a further 2 years.

The main vehicle maintenance workshop was situated on Moorhey Street, Oldham. The site was a base for a number of frontline services including Fleet, Waste Management and Highways. There was a dedicated stores facility based within the vehicle workshop at Moorhey Street depot, containing Impress stock, supplied and managed by an outside provider, (Currently Fleet Factors Ltd). Oldham’s Fleet consists of over 100 vehicles and around 500 items of plant equipment.

Options/alternatives considered

Option 1:To approve the contract with Fleet Factors Ltd Extending the current contract that is in place and keeping the Fleet Management stores in a compliant position.

Option 2: To not approve the contract award to Fleet Factors Ltd and be without a stores   provider for Moorhey Street Depot. This would either place additional pressure and workload on staff to manage the day to day operations of the stores or put the Council in a non-compliant position with Fleet Factors Ltd continuing to provide the service on an informal basis.

RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at Item 17 of the report before making a decision.

Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, People and Place which sought approval to accept Grant Funding Agreements with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and to appoint contractors to deliver the Greater Manchester Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme.

In July 2020, the Chancellor announced £2 billion of support through the Green Homes Grant (GHG) to save households money; cut carbon; and create green jobs. The GHG was comprised of up to £1.5 billion of support through energy efficiency vouchers and up to £500m of support allocated to English Local Authority delivery partners, through the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme.

On 4 August 2020, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced the GHG LAD competition for the first £200m phase of funding.

The primary purpose of the GHG LAD scheme is to raise the energy efficiency rating of low income and low EPC rated homes (those in EPC band E, F or G).

BEIS expected the GHG LAD competition to result in the following outcomes:

·         Tackle fuel poverty by increasing low-income homes energy efficiency rating while reducing their energy bills.

·         Support clean growth and promoting global action to tackle climate change.

·         Support economic resilience and a green recovery in response to the economic impacts of COVID-19, creating thousands of jobs.

·         Use learnings from the delivery experience to inform the development and design of further energy efficiency and heat schemes.

The GMCA approached Oldham Council to develop a Greater Manchester (GM) GHG LAD Scheme bid, as Oldham is the only Council within GM that has an OJEU procured Framework Agreement for energy efficiency measures (through its Warm Homes Oldham scheme).

On 28 August 2020, the GMCA submitted a Phase 1A bid for £4.7m to mainly retrofit External Wall Insulation and Air Source Heat Pumps in homes of all tenures occupied by residents with a gross annual household income of less than £30,000 using local Trustmark registered contractors.
Full details of the Phase 1A bid were reported to the GMCA meeting held on 25 September 2020.
On 1 October 2020, BEIS confirmed that the GMCA’s application was successful and awarded the bid amount in full.
However, BEIS was only able to award £76m from the £200m available nationally. Therefore, it announced that the remaining £124m would be awarded through a Phase 1B competition, which was open to existing and new applicants.
On 3 December 2020, the GMCA submitted a Phase 1B bid for £5.6m to mainly retrofit External Wall Insulation, Air Source Heat Pumps and Solar PV Systems in homes of all tenures occupied by residents with a gross annual household income of less than £30,000 using local Trustmark registered contractors.
Full details of the Phase 1B bid were reported to the GMCA meeting held on 18 December 2020.

On 27 January 2021, BEIS confirmed that the GMCA’s application was successful and awarded the bid amount in full.
The GMCA had issued the following Grant Funding Agreements to Oldham Council:

Consideration was to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, People and Place, which sought approval to award the contract for the Main Highways Works linked to the construction of the new Saddleworth School.

In accordance with the planning consent for access and wider highway works at Diggle, required in connection with the new Saddleworth School a tender exercise for these works had concluded. The procurement process had been undertaken and completed in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and Public Contract Regulations 2015. The route to market was the Council’s Lot 20 of the Construction and Highways Works and Services Framework via The Chest Portal.

It was reported that a procurement process has been undertaken and completed in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and Public Contract Regulations 2015. The route to market was the Council’s Lot 20 of the Construction and Highways Works and Services Framework via The Chest Portal.

A total of 5 tenders were returned and evaluated on a cost, quality and Social value basis, with the weighting for Technical and quality 40%, Social Value 10% and cost 50%.

Options/alternatives considered

Option 1 – Not to award the contract as recommended. The risk is the delay to the wider highway works which are required to be completed by the time the new school is occupied.

Option 2 - Is to award the contract as recommended in this report, which has been tendered in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and Public Contract Regulations 2015. This will enable the wider highway works to be completed by the time the new school is occupied.

RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at Item 19 of the agenda before making a decision.

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 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.

Consideration was given to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 8 - Oldham Community Leisure – Contract.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    An agreement in principle to extend the current contract with OCL, the current provider, with some changes to the term of this, as was allowed under the current terms of the contract subject to a report being submitted to a future Cabinet to agree the extension, revisions and to include a social value outcomes framework. 

2.    The Council would continue to financially support the existing leisure provider as required within the terms of the current contract, in order to ensure its survival for the 2020/21 and 2021/2022 financial year.

Consideration was given to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 10 – Liability Insurance Tender.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    Approved Bidder A, under the liability tender arrangements for the Council, Unity Partnership and Miocare be agreed.

2.    The renewals for all other insurances would be undertaken with current insurers in line with the long term agreements be noted.

Consideration was given to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 11- Fleet Factors LTD to manage the stores function for Fleet Management.

RESOLVED – That the award of contract to Fleet Factors Ltd be approved.

Consideration was given to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 12 - Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme Phase 1B.

RESOLVED – That recommendations 1-5 contained within the report be approved.

Consideration was given to the commercially information in relation to Item 13 - New Saddleworth School - Award of Contract for Main Highways Work.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    The winning tender submission named in the report be awarded the Main Highway Works Contract.

2.    Authority be delegated to the Director of Economy to develop, consult, procure and arrange for the execution by the Director of Legal Services of any relevant contracts and incidental and ancillary documentation in accordance with the award for the Main Highway Works Contract.