Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Sharp.

There were no Public Questions for this meeting to consider.

The Scrutiny Board is asked to note the Call-in Procedure

RESOLVED that, the Call-in Procedure be noted by the Scrutiny Board.

To consider that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following two items of business, pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that discussions may involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, under paragraph 3 as defined in the provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, to the Local Government Act 1972 and public interest would not be served in publishing the information.

RESOLVED that, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following two items of business, pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that discussions may involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, under paragraph 3 as defined in the provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, to the Local Government Act 1972 and public interest would not be served in publishing the information.

The Scrutiny Board is requested to note the call-in request and to consider confidential recommendations, in the report, which were approved by Cabinet on 18^th November 2024 and which were subsequently call-in by Councillors Kenyon and Al-Hamdani.

The Calling-in Member addressed the Scrutiny Board and explained the reasons why they have called-in the Cabinet’s decision. The Calling-in Member suggested that the decision falls outside the council’s agreed budget and there is not enough information on which to make this decision. There is a lack of information on the exploration of other options, namely the search for a commercial option. The Member also questioned the timeline for the development and whether this was realistic. He noted that the legal report suggested that the timeline could not be met, and questioned if that was the case, why more time could not have been taken by Cabinet in making the decision.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Licensing explained the background of the decision. The inclusion of the Princes Gate site will deliver around 295 new homes to push forward with the delivery of the town centre regeneration masterplan supported by Brownfield Housing Land Grant secured on the site to help delivery. The Cabinet Member highlighted that the decision was an opportunity to work towards addressing the housing crisis the Council were currently facing and was in line with the aims of additional of brownfield development. The Cabinet Member addressed the shift commercial to residential focus in the development and suggested that this was because of a lack of demand for commercial properties. The Cabinet Member set out the key milestone dates of the development and explained that the council were currently on track to meet the next milestone and start work in August 2025 and drawdown on the grant. The Board heard that the grant funding could be lost if timelines were not met.

The Director of Economy and Muse representative presented to the Scrutiny Board some additional detail behind the decision highlighting key points;

•        Development Framework approved by Cabinet in November 2024

•        £5.55m Brownfield grant funding secured

•        £3.15m One Public Estate grant funding secured – works on site at Former Leisure Centre

•        Market engagement progressing at pace

•        Mechanism within MDA to include Prince’s Gate

•        Inclusion of Princes Gate within the MDA provides a unique opportunity to transform a key gateway location

•        Scheme designs across core sites and Prince’s Gate progressing at pace

•        Positioning of masterplan in strongest place to secure investor interest and grant funding

The Calling-in Member was given the opportunity to ask questions of the Cabinet Member, Director of Economy and Muse representative. He queried whether there was further information on the lack of commercial demand, as there was nothing in the report to evidence this claim or demonstrate attempts to search for commercial partners. Officers explained that previous attempts to develop commercial property on the site had been unsuccessful and gave examples of LIDL and Marks & Spencer’s but accepted that search attempts had not been sufficiently evidenced within the cabinet report.

The Calling-in Member stressed concerns over the decision as he understands that there is no gateway to include the Princes Gate site in the Master Development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Scrutiny Board is requested to note the Call-in request and to consider confidential recommendations, in the report, which were approved by Cabinet on 18^th November 2024 and which were subsequently call-in by Councillors Kenyon and Al-Hamdani.

The Calling-in Member addressed the Scrutiny Board and explained the reasons why they have called-in the Cabinet’s decision. The Calling-in Member suggested that there was not enough information provided in the report in several areas including benchmarking from other authorities and commercial providers. The Member also suggested that not enough analysis had been done on the impact of the decision on local supply chain and local wealth building. He indicated that the risk was being transferred to schools and their budgets and that no survey or analysis had been done on schools’ capacity to take on the additional responsibility.

Next, the Cabinet Member for Education addressed the Board explained the background for the decision. The Board heard that there are several issues being faced by the service including soaring food inflation, labour costs and the number of schools purchasing the service expected to reduce over the coming years. The Association for Public Service Excellence were commissioned to undertake an evidence based independent review of the Councils catering service. The outcome of the review was the recommendation of a managed transition of school catering to each individual school providing local freedom and flexibilities in how the menu is designed and service is operated.

The Director of Economy presented to the Scrutiny Board some additional detail behind the decision highlighting key points;

·       The Current Oldham Education Catering Service is a trading service there is no statutory requirement for the Council to deliver a service.  It is the responsibility of schools to deliver a catering service.

·       The recommendations associated with the catering review are underpinned by an independent service review undertaken by the nationally recognised body Association for Public Service Excellence.

·       Financial modelling shows that the retention of the traded service is not sustainable for the Council.

·       A robust and fully supported transition programme has been established and is moving forward to implementation. This includes active engagement and joint working with all key stakeholders including schools, employees and potential suppliers.

The Calling-in Member was given the opportunity to ask questions of the Cabinet Member and Director. He queried why the review had only just taken place when it was his understanding that the service had been at risk for several years. The Cabinet Member explained that current financial pressures faced by the Council encouraged innovative thinking on how to make savings and the catering service was identified as an area for review. The Cabinet Member stated that the financial situation of the catering service had deteriorated over time and although it had been profitable in the past, it was projected to make a £800k+ net loss to the council in 2025/26. In response to queries, the Director of Economy confirmed that they were not looking at redundancies of catering Staff, there would be a change of Line Management to from the Council to schools, and full support would be provided to employees throughout the transition.

Next, Members of the Scrutiny Board were given the opportunity to ask questions of the Director of Economy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.