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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 1 and 2 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 a report of the Principal Housing Market Intervention Officer which informed the Cabinet of the outcome of the mini competition to procure contractors for the refurbishment of long-term empty properties and sought Cabinet’s approval to appoint the successful contractors.

The Cabinet was informed that the Council’s Empty Homes Pilot scheme had gained Cabinet approval in October 2018 and had proceeded via a mini competition to seek to procure suitable and reputable building contractors to refurbish the Council’s long-term empty homes. The procurement exercise would deliver a framework consisting of the top 3 bidders who could take on the refurbishment projects subject to availability and capacity when required.

The procurement exercise had been carried out in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procurement Regulations (CPRs). The open tender inviting all qualifying organisations was advertised on the North-West procurement portal; the Chest. Tenderers were able to access the ITT documents via this portal, which included a detailed specification of the opportunity from Oldham Council.

Following the tender and evaluation process, the Council was now ready to appoint contractors to the mini framework.

Options/Alternatives considered:-

Option 1 – Approve the appointment of the top 3 successful tenderers onto a mini framework, from which the Council could select an organisation to carry out refurbishments on empty homes.

Option 2 – Do not approve the appointment of the top 3 tenderers and conduct another procurement exercise.

RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at Item 11 before making a decision.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Principal Housing Energy Officer which sought approval for the appointment of new Warm Homes Delivery Agents following an OJEU procurement exercise.

The Cabinet was informed that, in August 2012, Oldham Council, NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Oldham Housing Investment Partnership (OHIP) had signed the country’s first Joint Investment Agreement to help tackle fuel poverty in the borough. The partnership had established ‘Warm Homes Oldham’ as a brand under which fuel poverty assessments and referrals (Lot 1), income maximisation (Lot 2) and energy efficiency works (Lot 3) were delivered across the borough.

The contracts for the provision of the service were due to end and an OJEU procurement exercise had been carried out to appoint new providers under a four year framework agreement. This had been done on a 1+1+1+1 basis, which allowed the contract to be terminated at the end of each financial year if funding for the service ceased to be available.

The Cabinet noted that, due to a delay by the Government in issuing the guidance for funding under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO 3), the OJEU procurement exercise could not start until December 2018. As a result, the framework agreement could not commence until the middle of May 2019 at the earliest. Therefore, a short extension of the contracts with the current providers from 1 April 2019 to 31 May 2019 was required to maintain continuity of the service during the interim period.

Options/Alternatives considered :-

Option 1 – To appoint providers to the Warm Homes Oldham Framework Agreement as detailed in the report in the restricted part of this agenda. To engage the Rank 1 provider in each of the lots to deliver the service in Oldham from 1 June 2019. To agree a short extension of the contracts with the current providers from 1 April 2019 to 31 May 2019 to maintain continuity of the service during the interim period.

Option 2 – Not to appoint any providers to the Warm Homes Oldham Framework Agreement and discontinue the Warm Homes Oldham service. This option would not meet the need to tackle fuel poverty in the borough.

RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at Item 10 before making a decision.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of School Support Services which sought approval to expand Mayfield Primary School.

The Cabinet was informed that the Local Authority had a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places within its area. There was a forecasted shortfall in the East Oldham planning area from September 2018 and ongoing and, in order to meet this demand, the Local Authority was under a statutory obligation to provide an additional 2 forms of entry (FE) in East Oldham by 2020. Current predictions showed that an additional 2 FE will be needed by 2020, increasing to 3 to 4 FE by 2023. One additional form of entry at Clarksfield Primary School had already been agreed by Cabinet in July 2018 and there was now a requirement to secure an additional form of entry to satisfy demand.

Cabinet noted that four schools were considered for expansion (Greenhill Academy, Woodlands Academy (formerly Watersheddings Community Primary School), Greenacres Academy, and Mayfield Academy. Following site visits and a desk top analysis the Education Provision Group (EPG) had recommended that Mayfield Academy be expanded by 1 FE to ensure that demand was met. Only Good and Outstanding schools could be expanded and Mayfield Primary School was given an Ofsted rating of Good in June 2018. In addition, Mayfield Primary School was the most oversubscribed school of those considered. The cost per place represented good value for money and was the most cost-effective option.

Options/Alternatives considered:-

Option 1 - Expand Mayfield Primary School.

Option 2 - Expand Woodlands Primary school.

Option 3 - Expand Greenacres Primary School.

Option 4 - Expand Greenhill Primary School.

RESOLVED – That:

1.     The basic need funding of up to £2.5m for a 1 FE expansion at Mayfield Academy be approved.

2.     Authority be delegated to the Director of Education and Early Years 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 agreed school expansions programme.

Approval for the Council‘s re-contracting for an eBulk DBS supplier from 25 December 2018 as part of a GM collaboration