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ITEM EX3

EXECUTIVE – 5 MARCH 2002

EXECUTIVE – 12 FEBRUARY 2002

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 1.30 pm and finishing at 2.32 pm

Present:

The Executive considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting, together – in relation to Agenda Item 4 – a Revised Resource Appraisal OP47/1 and a letter from John Tyreman of Mason Communications, and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda, reports and additional documents, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.

73/02. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Farrow, Purse, Seale and Tudor Hughes.

74/02. PETITIONS AND PUBLIC ADDRESS

The Chair reported that the following request to address the meeting had been agreed:-

Request from	Agenda Item
Mr Julian Borthwick	4 - Oxfordshire Community Network

75/02. OXFORDSHIRE COMMUNITY NETWORK

(Agenda Item 4)

The Executive considered a report (EX4) which explained the current position with regard to negotiations with the successful tenderer and presented a revised Project Appraisal in respect of additional costs identified during the course of those negotiations.

Mr Borthwick suggested that the Council’s procurement and contract processes had not been sufficiently rigorous to avoid the possibility of financial and ethical irregularities. He expressed the view that Broadband did not represent value for money for Oxfordshire residents.

Councillor Gatehouse reiterated her previously expressed concerns about the cost of this proposal in the context of the pressure on other County services and questioned why the elements, which had led to the increased costs of £1.5 million, had not been identified originally.

Mr Munro assured members that the successful tenderer had been fully assessed against an approved methodology and thorough selection procedures. It had been the only tenderer, which both met the current needs of the County Council and provided flexibility to meet future requirements for a wider network. The post-tender negotiations would result in a robust contract to provide a service, which would not have been feasible with any of the other bidders.

Councillor Janet Godden expressed concern over the potential additional expenditure for individual services which might wish to make use of the Network.

Members of the Executive accepted that the additional costs, which had been reported to the 5 February Council meeting and were itemised in the Revised Project Appraisal were the result of rigorous evaluation and would provide proper protection for the Council. They noted that the project had the support of schools, which would realise immediate benefits both in terms of broadband access and economies where expensive alternatives were currently in place; and in the medium to long term the project offered a highly cost-effective facility for all users.

This item had not been included in the Forward Plan; moreover, it was considered that the decision being sought amounted to a key decision, and notification had therefore been given to the Chair of the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee under Paragraph 15 of the Council’s Access to Information Rules, on the basis that it was impractical to defer the decision until it had been included in the next Forward Plan.

RESOLVED: (nem con) to:

1. approve the revised Project Appraisal OP47/1;
   
   
2. confirm authorisation for the completion of a contract with the chosen supplier on the basis outlined in the appraisal;
3. to record that in the opinion of the Executive this decision was urgent in that any delay likely to be caused by the call in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or public’s interests and that in accordance with Scrutiny Procedure Rule (17)(a), subject to the concurrence of the Chairman of the Council, the call-in procedure should not apply.
   
   

76/02. STRATEGIC OUTSIDE BODIES – SOUTH EAST ENGLAND REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

in the Chair

Date of signing 2002

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