Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received on behalf of Councillor Arash Fatemian.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 January 2012 (CA3 (to be circulated separately)) and to receive information arising from them.

Cabinet noted that that the minutes of the last meeting held on 17 January 2012 would be submitted to the meeting to be held on 14 February 2012.

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:

Item 6 - Councillor Zoé Patrick, Leader of the Opposition, in the absence of the Shadow Cabinet Member.

Item 7 -Councillor Zoé Patrick, Leader of the Opposition, in the absence of the Shadow Cabinet Member.

Cabinet Member: Finance & Property

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/002

Contact: Roger Dyson, Property Procurement Manager Tel: (01865) 818776

Report by Director for Environment & Economy (CA6).

The purpose of this paper is to inform the decision as to whether the proposals put forward by the potential providers in respect of the catering and cleaning services provided by Food with Thought (FwT) and Quest Cleaning Services (QCS) meet the requirements of the contract specification for the proposed Property and Facilities external services contract.

At its meeting on 18 October the Cabinet agreed to include the current catering and cleaning services provided by Food with Thought (FwT) and Quest Cleaning Services (QCS) within the scope of the proposed Property and Facilities external services contract.  In arriving at this view the Cabinet stressed the need to be assured in the first instance that the service offered by a potential provider meets the County Council’s expectations in terms of standards and quality.

As part of the procurement process potential providers have submitted detailed technical solutions.  These set out how they propose to meet the requirements of the contract specification.  The solutions submitted have been the subject of a detailed evaluation by the procurement team.

Given the importance attached by the Cabinet to maintaining existing standards and quality of services – in particular the catering services provided to schools – this report summarises the nature of the offer set out in the detailed technical solutions submitted.

The next stage in the procurement process will be to invite potential providers to submit their final financial offer. Once those offers have been received they will be assessed on the basis of their value for money.  The Cabinet will consider the final financial offers at its meeting on 13 March.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to confirm that the proposals put forward by potential providers meet the requirements of the contract specification for the proposed Property and Facilities external services contract and that accordingly it confirms its ‘in principle’ decision to include Food with Thought and Quest Cleaning Services in the invitation to submit final financial offers.

Cabinet considered a report the purpose of which was to inform the decision as to whether the proposals put forward by the potential providers in respect of the catering and cleaning services provided by Food with Thought (FwT) and Quest Cleaning Services (QCS) met the requirements of the contract specification for the proposed Property and Facilities external services contract. Cabinet also considered the comments from the Strategy & Partnerships Scrutiny Committee held on 2 February 2012 as set out in the addenda.

Councillor Zoe Patrick, Leader of the Opposition, reaffirmed the Liberal Democrat Group recognition of the value of the Food with Thought service to our schools; that they had always called for the Property and Facilities contract to be allowed to have that part of the contract separate.

She commented on the report noting that a lot of work has been done on this and referring to the site visits that had been undertaken. They had taken10 days in total with 2 overnight hotel stays and she assumed therefore that the investigation was complete.

Whilst noting that there was little doubt that contractors could and should provide good school food and even expand the business there seemed to have been no investigation into whether FwT could do just as well or better.  The cost of provision was not mentioned and she supposed this would be in the final contract, but hoped that the food component would be costed separately.  She noted the reduction in the cost of the meals and hoped that there would be no cut in the quality of ingredients.

She  commented that although school meals could be provided by one of the new large companies, they could also be provided with much closer local, management and flexibility by the in-house team.  FwT had vastly improved the food and the business over the last few years. She argued that if the same contract terms were available to FwT, they might be able to provide what was required, possibly at a lower cost. She also hoped that local suppliers would be sourced.

She stated that the impression had been given that the option for today’s meeting would be that a contract would be considered both with and without FwT  - however, this now does not appear to be the case according to the recommendations on the paper.

She referred to the additional services provided by Food With Thought particularly in the most deprived areas of the County and noted that the Oxfordshire Music Service also uses Food with Thought and they often cater for the important partnership meetings.

Responding to a question as to whether the Liberal Democrat Group had considered the risks resulting from schools leaving council control Councillor Patrick replied that Councillor Fooks had been involved in the issues as a member of the Strategy & Partnerships Scrutiny Committee. They were aware of the uncertainty and  so they had certainly considered this. Responding to a further question she advised that a number of her Group had visited schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18/12

Cabinet Member: Transport

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/151

Contact: Neil Timberlake, Assistant Public Transport Officer Tel: (01865) 815585

Report by Deputy Director for Environment & Economy – Highways & Transport (CA7).

(The information contained in Annexe 4 is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed category:

3    –    information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

It is considered that in this case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, as a result of discussions between Oxfordshire County Council and/or other local authorities and organisations.)

Please note that members of the public will re-admitted to the meeting in order to hear the decision.

This report and its associated Annexes invites the Cabinet to consider recommendations for the creation of, and future funding for, a unified demand responsive transport service, replacing the existing Octabus and Cherwell dial a ride services currently funded by the County Council and district councils (excluding South Oxfordshire). Oxfordshire County Council has historically supported a number of dial a ride services which provide pre-booked door to door transport using fully accessible vehicles for people with mobility impairments who could not easily use conventional public transport. Current County Council funding arrangements come to an end on 31 March 2012.

Tenders have been invited and the results will be reported in a separate confidential annex. The new service is intended to be funded jointly by the County Council and one or more of the district councils, all of which will be making their own decisions on future funding at about the same time as the County Council. Any known decisions of the district councils will be reported verbally at the meeting.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED

(a)              to adopt Baseline Option 5 (one bus per district 5 days per week), with such top-up option as necessary to provide for a 9am to 5pm day, as the appropriate level of service to be provided by the County Council;

(b)              to agree to fund Baseline level 5, at 9am to 5pm, across the county by using County Council resources, and £106,067.84 of additional funding from the “Supporting Community Transport Fund” grant;

(c)               to award a one year contract to Tender A from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013;

(d)              to agree that any district council should be expected to pay the entire contract costs of any further ‘top-up’ service provision which that Authority requires in its area.

This report invites the Cabinet to consider recommendations for the creation of, and future funding for, a unified Oxfordshire pre-booked transport service for disabled and mobility-impaired residents replacing the existing separate “Octabus” and “Cherwell” dial-a-ride services.

Councillor Zoe Patrick, Opposition Leader spoke to support the Cabinet in providing a Countywide Dial-a-Ride Service in Oxfordshire. She commented that Dial-a-Ride is a much valued and necessary service enabling mobility impaired and frail people to get out and about to do such things as shopping and visiting friends, etc.  and the fact that their carer is able travel free of charge with them makes the service so much easier to use and be enjoyed.

She noted that the  previous system required the District Councils to make a contribution and this was not so with the current proposed system.  However the District Councils could enhance the basic service being offered and it is for them to prioritise their expenditure and decide on the enhanced level of service.

She added that Councillor David Turner, Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport wished to thank the Cabinet for providing the basic level of service in all District Council areas at no cost to them which means that the residents of South Oxfordshire will now have a Dial-a-Ride service. 

Responding to questions Councillor Patrick confirmed the Liberal Democrat Group support for the basic level of service for all Oxfordshire residents. The Leader referred to an email received from Gwynneth Pedler, Deputy Chair Oxfordshire Unlimited which was supportive of the proposals. He noted that the proposals were for one year only.

The Cabinet Member for Transport in introducing the contents of the report highlighted that the proposals were good news, giving uniform provision across the County. The provision was for one year to ensure that it picked up all those that needed it. Huw Jones, Director for Environment & Economy explained the context of the recommendations set within a time period when partnership funding was cast into doubt. He referred to the innovative procurement process that allowed pricing against options and detailed the option being recommended for approval.

Cabinet welcomed the report and proposals commenting that it was about thinking strategically across the whole County and targeting those most in need. They noted that it was a non-statutory service that the County did not have to provide.

RESOLVED:                        to:

(a)               adopt Baseline Option 5 (one bus per district 5 days per week), with such top-up option as necessary to provide for a 9am to 5pm day, as the appropriate level of service to be provided by the County Council;

(b)              agree to fund Baseline level 5, at 9am to 5pm, across the county by using County Council resources, and £106,067.84 of additional funding from the “Supporting Community Transport Fund” grant;

(c)               award a one year contract to Tender A from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013;

(d)              agree that any district council should be expected to pay the entire contract costs of any further ‘top-up’ service provision which that Authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19/12