This meeting will include the approval of policy documents, updates on the Council's financial position and reports from each of the Cabinet members on the activity in their portfolios since the last Council meeting.

Chief Executive Secondment

The most significant item included in the report pack relates to the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Harry Catherall, being seconded four days a week to assist Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in stabilising its services. Tameside Council has been experiencing significant challenges, including the resignation of its Chief Executive. The report pack contains the minutes from a prior meeting where this secondment was approved. If Tameside Council agrees to accept the proposed package of support from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Mr Catherall’s working week will increase from four to five days, with four days spent at Tameside and one day at Oldham. It is proposed that Shelley Kipling be appointed Acting Chief Executive of Oldham Council.

Treasury Management Review

The Council will also be asked to consider the Treasury Management Half Year Review report. The report shows an increase in the Capital Financing Requirement¹ to £510,747,000, an increase of £21,767,000 compared to the previous year. External borrowing is forecast to increase by £40,000,000 to £233,000,000. The report recommends that the Council:

a) considers and comments upon the Treasury Management Half Year Review report; b) approves the proposed revisions to the Maturity Structure of Borrowing outlined in section 2.10.5; c) approves the proposed revision to the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts outlined in section 2.8 and Appendix 2; and d) approves the proposed revision to the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy outlined in section 2.7 and Appendix 4; The report also includes a review of Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) in the report pack commissioned from the Council’s treasury advisors, Arlingclose. Arlingclose note that the Council’s current MRP policy is unclear and recommends a number of changes to the policy. The main changes suggested are:

• A move to the annuity method (from the straight-line method) for calculating MRP using the PWLB² Certainty Rate.
• MRP should be made on PFI³ assets over the life of assets (rather than the life of PFI contracts).

Children's Services

A number of topics relevant to children will be included for discussion, including:

• An update on the work of the Children and Young People’s Portfolio since the last Council meeting.
• A review of the recently published ‘Kinship Care: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities’ by the UK Government.

Oldham Town Centre Development

The meeting will include an update on the regeneration of Oldham Town Centre. In particular, the report pack contains the minutes from a recent meeting where it was proposed that the Princes Gate site in Oldham be included in the partnership agreement with Muse Developments to deliver an additional 295 homes. Muse is already a strategic partner of the Council in the redevelopment of a number of other sites including the Civic Centre, the former Leisure Centre and the former Magistrates Court in Oldham.

Public Health

A number of reports relevant to public health are included in the meeting pack, including:

• A report on the outcome of a consultation with staff about a proposed restructure of the Right Start and School Nursing Service.
• A report about the financial position of Oldham Education Catering Service, which provides school meals to 46 schools in the Borough.
• An update on the Public Health Investment Review that seeks to identify areas where the Public Health budget is being used by other council areas to commission external providers.

Gambling Policy

The meeting will include a report requesting the approval of an updated Gambling Policy for the borough. The policy sets out the Council's approach to licensing premises for gambling, the role of responsible authorities and its expectations of licence holders in protecting vulnerable groups from the risks of gambling.