Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no public questions for this meeting of the Cabinet to consider.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 20^th March 2023, are attached for approval.

Resolved:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th March 2023 be approved as a correct record.

To review the contract arrangements in relation to the HR and Payroll system (iTrent).

The Cabinet received a report of the Assistant Chief Executive that presented ar review of the contract arrangements in relation to the HR and Payroll system (iTrent).

The Cabinet was informed that the current provision of Transactional HR and Payroll Services to Oldham Council, MioCare, Oldham schools and academies was delivered by MHR via the iTrent system. The current contract was procured via the G Cloud Framework and awarded in April 2019 for an initial two years with two further extensions each of one year (2 + 1 + 1) being approved thereafter. The original contract was due to expire on 18^th April 2023 with an initial three months’ contract extension being approved via Delegated Cabinet Member Decision Report, from 19th April 2023 to 18th July 2023. Oldham Council was satisfied with the iTrent system and the preferred option was to continue using it on a longer-term basis.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) had entered into a single supplier framework agreement with MHR, which was accessible to all GMCA authorities and associate partners, for the procurement of a platform to enable employees and customers to utilise a first-class HR and Payroll solution that is at the forefront of digital transformation that will be able to offer both on premise and cloud-based services. The GMCA framework agreement would enable Oldham Council to continue with the current product and transfer seamlessly to a new longer-term contract.

It was, therefore, proposed that Oldham Council enter into a call-off contract with MHR under the GMCA framework agreement for the provision of the iTrent system for a minimum of 5 years (inclusive of the initial three months’ period) until April 2028, with the option to extend this for a further 5 years.

Across Greater Manchester, all HR/Workforce leads were working collaboratively to address common workforce challenges, using their combined buying power to procure contracts that were beneficial to all participants and which ensured maximum value for combined public spend. There was a dedicated resource (hosted by Oldham) to manage and drive contract performance on our collective behalf, ensuring no Council is trying to negotiate from an individual perspective, supporting stronger market influence.  Aside from payroll, Oldham Council also had contracts, in place, to support Occupational Health; Employee Assistance Programme; Agency staffing; MeLearning (online learning system) and electronic Disclosure Barring Service. The benefits of working in this way were considerable and enabled those Council’s with less resource or expertise in certain high-risk areas to be supported by the wider group. 

Many of the Greater Manchester Councils used MHR/iTrent, and some have considerable experience of over 10 years, so Oldham benefits from this significant expertise via the GM iTrent working groups. Being part of these working groups allows for innovation and pilot testing of the system in ways that are unlikely to be achieved by individual Council’s on their own.

From an Oldham Council perspective, iTrent had been in place now for just over 2 years and was now beginning to use the full capabilities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To notify Cabinet of the intention to bring this additional resource into the transport capital programme to commence detailed development and a full business case for the scheme

The Cabinet received a report of the Executive Director for Place and Economic Growth, which advised members that Oldham Council had secured capital funding for the development of an outline/full business case (OBC/FBC) to support a highway scheme in Oldham town centre. The report also outlined the steps that the Council would need to take to procure the necessary support to develop the scheme in the appropriate timescales and to meet the funding requirements for both development and future delivery of the scheme.

The Cabinet was informed that the Greater Manchester CRSTS programme business case had been submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) in September 2021 by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on behalf of themselves and all 10 Greater Manchester districts. Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) received confirmation of the full regional CRSTS allocation of £1.07bn for spend across 2022/23-2026/27 on 1^st April 2022.

On 29^th July 2022, the DfT, as the funders of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, had 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 Oldham-led Streets for All: Oldham Town Centre Connectivity (Phase 2) scheme for St Marys Way (Henshaw Street – Yorkshire Street). 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 the next stage of scheme development, utilising some of the approved DfT CRSTS capital budget.

Resolved:

1.    That the grant offer from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) for delivery of an outline/full business case (OBC/FBC) for the scheme on St Mary’s Way be accepted.

2.    That approval be granted for the Executive Director (Place and Economic Growth) on behalf of the Council to enter into a Funding Delivery Agreement with TfGM in relation to the proposed scheme development.

3.    That the intention to bring the additional resource into the transport capital programme in 2023/24 and complete development of the scheme in the appropriate timescales be noted.

4.    Approval to procure and make tender awards relating to the necessary external support required to develop the outline/full business case (OBC/FBC), be delegated to the Executive Director for Place and Economic Growth, or further delegation depending on the values of the awards.

5.    Approval be granted to use part of this resource to appoint temporary support to Council teams, as required, to progress design options, stakeholder engagement and production of the full business case to secure further capital funding for Oldham.

To appoint a preferred bidder in the role of Private Sector Partner initially for period of 15 years with an option to extend the arrangement by a further 10 years, subject to agreement at that time

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director for Place and Economic Growth that was seeking approval to appoint a preferred bidder in the role of Private Sector Partner (“PSP”) initially for period of 15 years with an option to extend the arrangement by a further 10 years, subject to agreement at that time.   

The Cabinet had previously supported the recommendations contained within the report, within the context of a wider approved housing delivery programme, which involved, in the short to medium term, the selection of a Strategic Development Partner to progress development of the strategic town centre residential sites with the Council; the prioritising of Council resources and investment to help establish a housing market in Oldham town centre.

The Creating a Better Place Programme set out a bold vision for Oldham town centre and for the wider borough, embedded within a £285m strategic framework. Creating a Better Place was seen as an ambitious plan which sought to transform Oldham and to unlock opportunities to secure the future of the town and to ensure that it thrived.

The strategic objectives relating to the Creating A Better Place programme was set out in the Oldham Town Centre Development Prospectus published in 2022 and which was also contained at Appendix A of the submitted report and included: 

a.    New Town Centre Homes - enabled core town centre regeneration proposals to be brought forward into delivery by releasing sites for redevelopment, particularly Housing.

b.    Reduction in Asset Cost Base – enabling the Civic Centre and other buildings to be vacated meaning lease agreements, backlog maintenance and reactive maintenance costs can be reduced.

c.    Regeneration and Town Centre Activation increasing the footfall and activation of the centre through intervention, reduction of void space in prime retail areas to consolidate and improve the town centre offer – create a destination for North Manchester and Oldham.

d.    Championing a Green Recovery: Supporting the Green New Deal embedding sustainability and net zero carbon ambitions within the project.

e.    Providing opportunities for Employment, Learning, Skills and Social contributions across the design, procurement, delivery, and operation phases of the projects.

Resolved:

That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at item 10 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(s) 1 and 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 during the following item of business on the grounds that it contains 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 report.

To consider the recommendations in the confidential report

The Cabinet considered the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 8: Town Centre Private Sector Partnership.

Resolved:

The Cabinet approved:

a.    The selection of the preferred bidder, as detailed in the submitted report, following the completion of a competitive tender procedure for the appointment of private sector delivery partner for the development and regeneration of key strategic sites in Oldham Town Centre.

b.    That a Master Development Agreement and all accompanying contractual documentation be entered into with the preferred bidder, to formalise their selection as private sector delivery partner for the development and regeneration of key strategic sites in Oldham Town Centre.

c.    The grant of delegated approval to the Executive Director of Place and Economic Growth, the Director of Legal Services and the Director of Finance (or their nominees), to establish and enter into and manage all related or required partnership and ancillary agreements, processes and documentation and associated boards and governance structures which may be required throughout the term of the partnering arrangement to deliver the  development and regeneration of key strategic sites in Oldham Town Centre and the Council’s objectives. This will be inclusive of the Master Development Agreement, Outline Business Plans and Detailed Business Plans and all other supporting documents as required or as set out or referred to in this report.

d.    The grant of delegated approval to the Executive Director of Place and Economic Growth, the Director of Legal Services and the Director of Finance (or their nominees), to procure,  appoint, enter into contracts in respect of, and fund all required external consultancy to support in-house provision relating to the development and regeneration of key strategic sites in Oldham Town Centre across legal; finance; real estate; procurement; planning; environmental and social, inclusive of any other required external support in the required configuration to support the Council in delivery of the Project.

e.    The grant of delegated approve and authorisation to the Director of Legal Services or his nominated representative to sign and/or affix the Common Seal of the Council to all contracts/agreements/documents and associated or ancillary paperwork to give effect to the recommendations in this report.