Use this page to find information regarding recent decisions that have been taken by the council’s decision making bodies.
Alternatively you can visit the officer decisions page for information on officer delegated decisions that have been taken by council officers.
To approve an access agreement between the
Council and Northern Roots on Snipe Clough.
Decision Maker: Executive Director for Place & Economic Growth
Decision published: 04/12/2020
Effective from: 20/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That: An access agreement is
entered into with Northern Roots relating to land at Snipe
Clough.
Lead officer: James Tolan
The purpose of this report is to seek approval
for the Council’s Housing Options service to recruit two
additional Support Officers until 31st March 2021 to manage short
term accommodation for rough sleepers provided through the Next
Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP). These posts are to be fully
funded by grant made available through this programme.
Decision Maker: Executive Director for Place & Economic Growth
Decision published: 23/11/2020
Effective from: 19/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That:
Establish two fixed term Support Officers until March 2021 to
deliver NSAP. This will support the timely move-on of rough
sleepers accommodated under Everyone In and ensure those who remain
in ABEN / SWEP accommodation are adequately supported whilst they
are there.
Lead officer: Fiona Carr
To approve the request for £0.390m of
capital monies to deliver the underpinning technology to improve
our customer service offer as part of the Customer Support Centre
Project. This scheme can be financed by utilising existing
provisions from the overall approved ICT Strategic Roadmap within
the current 2020/21 – 2024/5 capital programme.
Decision Maker: Cabinet Member - Finance and Corporate Resources
Decision published: 23/11/2020
Effective from: 01/12/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That funding be approved.
Lead officer: Fran Lautman
Decision Maker: Cabinet
Made at meeting: 16/11/2020 - Cabinet
Decision published: 20/11/2020
Effective from: 25/11/2020
Decision Maker: Cabinet
Made at meeting: 16/11/2020 - Cabinet
Decision published: 20/11/2020
Effective from: 25/11/2020
Decision:
Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Economy which sought approval to progress the delivery of housing on the former Kaskenmoor School site at Hollinwood Junction.
The Council entered into a Strategic Partnering Agreement (SPA) in relation to council owned land at Hollinwood Junction with Langtree Group plc on 20th June 2011.
The SPA set out the mechanisms by which the Council and Langtree would work together to promote regeneration at Hollinwood Junction.
In the spirit of partnership working Langtree submitted a mixed-use employment led planning application for the Albert Street site and this was approved in June 2013.
It has always been the intention that the remainder of the site of the former Kaskenmoor school should be part of the Hollinwood Junction Joint Venture proposals. However, at that time it was unclear how much surplus land was available for development and therefore it was not formally included within the revised SPA in 2014.
Following the completion of the New Bridge and Hollinwood Academy which are both located on part of the former Kaskenmoor school site, the surplus land was identified. Therefore in 2016 Cabinet approved the inclusion of the surplus Kaskenmoor school land in the SPA with Langtree and a deed of variation was completed to document this.
Approval to dispose of the School Site under Schedule 1 of the 2010 Academies Act was received in July 2012. Approval to dispose of the School’s Playing Fields under Section 77 of the Schools Standards and Frameworks Act 1998 was received in January 2014.
The Kaskenmoor site was unallocated in the Council’s Local Development Framework, however, it is adjacent to existing housing and therefore subject to planning, it is considered potentially suitable for residential development.
In line with recent pre-app planning advice, the Kaskenmoor site is expected to accommodate up to 150 x two, three and four bedroom houses to meet the needs of the local community as determined from the Council’s housing strategy.
Options/alternatives considered
The options were considered in the commercially sensitive report contained at Item 12 of the agenda.
RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at Item 12 of the agenda before making a decision.
Decision Maker: Cabinet
Made at meeting: 16/11/2020 - Cabinet
Decision published: 20/11/2020
Effective from: 25/11/2020
Decision:
Consideration was given to a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, People and Place which sought approval from the Cabinet to accept Grant Funding Agreements with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and appoint contractors to deliver the Greater Manchester Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority approached Oldham Council to develop a Greater Manchester (GM) Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery Scheme bid, as Oldham was the only Council within GM that had an OJEU procured Framework Agreement for energy efficiency measures (through its Warm Homes Oldham scheme).
On 28 August 2020, the GMCA submitted a 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 bid were reported to the GMCA meeting held on
25 September 2020.
On 1st October 2020, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy (BEIS) confirmed that the GMCA’s application was
successful and awarded the bid amount in full.
On 15th October 2020, the GMCA submitted a completed Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to BEIS, which agreed the terms and conditions
of the funding and on 29th October 2020, the GMCA received the
first instalment of the funding from BEIS.
Option/alternatives considered
· To accept the Grant Funding Agreements issued by the GMCA detailed in the report
· To issue a Call-off Order for an amount to be disclosed in the commercially sensitive report to E.ON Energy Solutions Ltd under the Warm Homes Oldham Framework Agreement to deliver energy efficiency measures to private sector homes across Greater Manchester, as detailed in the GM GHG LAD Scheme bid.
· To issue an Authority Notice of Change to Inspiral Oldham Ltd under the Housing PFI Project Agreement for an amount to be disclosed in the commercially sensitive report to install External Wall Insulation to Wimpey No Fines Council homes on the Crossley Estate.
· To approve the use of an amount to be disclosed in the commercially sensitive report from the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme to meet the shortfall in grant funding as detailed within the report.
Option 2 - To reject the Grant Funding Agreements issued by the GMCA detailed in the report. The energy efficiency measures would not be delivered to private sector homes across Greater Manchester and the External Wall Insulation would not be installed to Wimpey No Fines Council homes on the Crossley Estate for an amount to be disclosed in the commercially sensitive report of grant funding would have to be returned to BEIS with the consequential reputational damage that this would cause to Oldham Council and the GMCA.
RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information contained at Item 11 before making a decision.
Decision Maker: Cabinet
Made at meeting: 16/11/2020 - Cabinet
Decision published: 20/11/2020
Effective from: 25/11/2020
Decision:
Consideration was given to a report of the Interim Director of Education and Early Years and the Director of Economy which sought the following recommended changes to Kingsland School.
· Increase the schools PAN (Planned Admission Number) to 100 pupils (70 permanently excluded children and 30 SLC children).
· Refurbish the lower ground floor of Laurel Bank to enable use by the school at an estimated cost of £500,000.
· Set a budget for the school based on the newly proposed PAN and agree the release of funds from the Dedicated Schools Grant to cover the schools currently predicted deficit.
Kingsland School currently had a PAN of 70 (40 permanently excluded children and 30 SLC Children). The PAN of the school has not changed since 2012. In recent years the number of school age children in the borough had increased to approximately 43,500 in 2020 and was predicted to increase to 47,000 by 2025. This increase has put enormous pressure on Kingsland School as there had been a corresponding increase in the number of pupils excluded in the borough, consequently the actual numbers of children in the school was always far in excess the official PAN. Therefore, there was a need to formally increase the PAN of the school. The current number on roll at the school was 148 (although some of these pupils are on part-time timetables). A statutory process would need to be followed in order to formally increase the schools PAN. A six-week public consultation was required, and it was also necessary to inform and gain the approval of the Department for Education for the changes proposed to the PAN.
Option/alternatives
Option 1 – Do nothing.
Option 2: Approve the recommended changes:
· The current budget was not set at an appropriate level for the school and was complicated by the lack of an appropriate PAN. Revising the school PAN would enable more effective budget planning.
· In addition, the extra funding requirements outlined above would be required to enable these targeted interventions to continue.
· The school was currently short of physical space and the development of the lower floor of laurel bank would allow the school to build upon the recent successful Ofsted Inspection and continue its programme of targeted interventions.
RESOLVED – That:
1. Option 2 be approved to;
a. Increase the schools PAN (Planned Admission Number) to 100 pupils (70 permanently excluded children and 30 SLC children).
2. The spend of up to £500k to support the delivery of the works needed to progress immediately with further delegated authority to the Director of Economy and Director of Finance for an additional £250k should this be required to complete the scheme be approved.
Decision Maker: Cabinet
Made at meeting: 16/11/2020 - Cabinet
Decision published: 20/11/2020
Effective from: 25/11/2020
Decision:
The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Director of Finance which provided the Cabinet with details of the performance of the Treasury Management function of the Council for the first half of 2020/21 and provided a comparison of performance against the 2020/21 Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators.
The Council was required to consider the performance of the Treasury Management function in order to comply with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management (revised 2017). This report set out the key Treasury Management issues for Members’ information and review and outlined:
· An economic update for the first six months of 2020/21;
· A review of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy;
· The Council’s capital expenditure, as set out in the Capital Strategy, and prudential indicators;
· A review of the Council’s investment portfolio for 2020/21;
· A review of the Council’s borrowing strategy for 2020/21;
· Why there has been no debt rescheduling undertaken during 2020/21; and
· A review of compliance with Treasury and Prudential Limits for 2020/21.
RESOLVED – That:
1. Treasury Management activity for the first half of the financial year 2020/21 and the projected outturn position be approved and commended to Council.
2. Amendments to both Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary for external debt as set out in the table at Section 2.4.5 of the report be approved and commended to Council.
3. Amendments to the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) as set out in the table at section 2.4.5 be approved and commended to Council.
During October 2020 – March 2021 there
will be a number of inter-connected changes to improve the Early
Help support offer for children and families, and the process for
triaging need in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). These
include:
• Restructuring of the Early Help and Family Support teams to
a district model of working, including linking closely with schools
and other local services;
• Development of an integrated Children’s Services team
in the MASH;
• System changes to: move Early Help casework onto the Mosaic
system; introduce a single children’s services contact and
referral record; and replace the existing online referral form with
a children’s services referral portal which links directly to
Mosaic.
The report seeks approval to create additional temporary capacity
in the Early Help service to support development of the place-based
delivery model for Early Help; and to prevent any decline in the
timeliness or quality of Early Help decision making and service
delivery during a 6 month period in which service structures and
systems are in transition.
Decision Maker: Managing Director Children and Young People (DCS)
Decision published: 18/11/2020
Effective from: 18/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That:
1. 50% of the time of an Early Help Development Team supervisor to
be allocated to supporting the introduction of the team around the
school and community model. In support of this 50% of the cost of
the post from 1 October 2020 - 31 March 2021 will be funded from
DfE social care transformation funding for Team Around the
School
2. Early Help capacity within the MASH be strengthened by:
a) Appointing an agency Senior Practitioner for a 6 month period
from 1 December 2020 – 31 May 2021 to provide additional
capacity in triaging Early Help casework and ensure continuity of
leadership during a period in which structures are changing,
avoiding any reduction in the timeliness or quality of
decision-making for children and families;
b) Temporarily increasing Early Help capacity in the MASH by
extending an existing maternity cover arrangement for a Customer
Service Officer to receive an honorarium to act as an Early Help
Process officer from 27 September 2020 – 31 March 2021;
c) A Children’s Social Care MASH Customer Service Officer to
receive an honorarium to act as Early Help Process officer to
support development of the skills of the Early Help front door team
in social care systems (increase 2 scale points from Grade 4 to
Grade 5 from 1 September 2020 – March 2021)
d) Increasing the hours of a Grade 2 Business Support officer from
half-time to full-time for six weeks to input data on currently
open cases into the Mosaic system as part of the transition of all
Early Help casework with children and families into this
system
Lead officer: Bruce Penhale
To seek delegated authority to;
(i) Accept £274,000 from the Department for Education (DfE)
School Nurseries Capital Fund (SNCF) to support a new build nursery
provision at Northmoor Academy and amend the capital programme
accordingly.
(ii) Allocate £50,000 Basic Need funding towards this project
in the event of the final cost exceeding the £274,000 SNCF
contribution.
Decision Maker: Cabinet Member - Children and Young People and Deputy Leader
Decision published: 17/11/2020
Effective from: 13/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That:
The DfE award of £274,000 from its School Nurseries Capital
Fund is accepted and a further £50,000 from the Basic Needs
allocation is approved for the proposed project at Northmoor
Academy.
Lead officer: Jenny Dennis
This report seeks delegated approval of:
•The cost of resurfacing Frederick Street
•The approval of the appointment of the contractor for the
works.
Decision Maker: Deputy Chief Executive -
Decision published: 17/11/2020
Effective from: 25/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That:
the delegated approval for these works is accepted and that the
contract for the works are awarded to J Hopkins Contractors
Ltd
Lead officer: Matthew McGreal
This report seeks delegated approval of:
•The cost of resurfacing Acre Lane
•The approval of the appointment of the contractor for the
works.
Decision Maker: Deputy Chief Executive -
Decision published: 10/11/2020
Effective from: 09/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That:
That the delegated approval for these works is accepted and that
the contract for the works are awarded to Tarmac Trading Ltd
Lead officer: Matthew McGreal
This report seeks delegated approval of:
The cost to replace the existing block paving on the Union Street
Bridge and the approaches with a resin bound surface and for the
approval of the appointment of PROW Ltd as the Contractor for the
work.
Decision Maker: Deputy Chief Executive -
Decision published: 09/11/2020
Effective from: 17/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That:
the delegated approval for this award is accepted and that the
framework is awarded to:
•PROW Ltd
Lead officer: Jeannette Whitney
The purpose of this report is to agree that
TfGM on behalf of Oldham Council and the other 9 Greater Manchester
authorities seeks authorisation from the Secretary of State to use
traffic signs, not detailed in the Traffic Signs Manual, that are
required to be placed on the highway network to support the
implementation of the GM CAZ.
This report is not seeking formal agreement of the precise location
of the CAZ signage and ANPR cameras, this can only be decided once
the boundary is finalised after the conclusion of the
consultation.
Signage examples are shown at Appendix One, noting that the name
the ‘Name of the Authority’ would be given as
‘Greater Manchester’.
Decision Maker: Cabinet Member - Neighbourhoods
Decision published: 09/11/2020
Effective from: 17/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That: the Cabinet Member for
Neighbourhoods and Culture and Deputy Chief Executive (People and
Place) approve TfGM to seek authorisation from the Secretary of
State to use traffic signs not detailed in the Traffic Signs
Manual, that are required to be placed on the highway network to
support the implementation of the GM CAZ.
Lead officer: Carol Brown
TfGM are proposing a standard for GM owned
assets that would enable easy identification of bays for EV
vehicles and consistency across Greater Manchester. Bay with
“ELECTRIC VEHICLES ONLY” in white and small green bar
at the head of the bay, see Appendix One for visual
representation.
TfGM are seeking approval from Oldham Council and the other 9
Greater Manchester Authorities to adopt this standard for EV bays
for GM owned assets. This approval is not looking to alter the size
of existing bays and where a build out is required between 2 bays
to place the charging point an additional bay will be required, as
advised at the design stage.
Decision Maker: Deputy Chief Executive -
Decision published: 09/11/2020
Effective from: 09/11/2020
Decision:
RESOLVED - That: the Cabinet Member for
Neighbourhoods and Culture and Deputy Chief Executive (People and
Place) approve adopting the standard bay markings of
“ELECTRIC VEHICLES ONLY” in white and small green bar
at the head of the bay, as per Appendix One.
Lead officer: Carol Brown