Meeting documents

1. THE ISSUE                                                                                                                                          1.1 At its meeting in January, the Executive approved the process for proceeding with the Paris Partnership, part of which envisaged that approval of the final terms of the agreement would be made by the Executive in April. Whilst the remainder of the January decision remains valid, the decision to cancel the Executive meeting in April, followed by uncertainty over the date of the next Executive meeting means that it is important to ensure that if necessary, decisions can be made during this period.

2 RECOMMENDATION

The Council Executive

2.1 Revokes the decision recorded at Minute 120(4) of the meeting on the

15 January set out at para 4.1 of this report (That is, the requirement for the draft contract to be reported to the Full Executive)

2.2 Confirms its authorisation to the Resources Director to undertake the negotiations and other activity specified in Minutes 120(2) and 120(3);

2.3 Authorises the Executive portfolio holder for Resources and the Council Leader to agree on behalf of the Council the final terms of the arrangements with HBS; should that prove necessary in the event that there is no suitable planned Executive meeting, and

2.4 Authorises the Solicitor to the Council and the Corporate and Community Law Manager to finalise and enter into the contract arrangements to give effect to the above

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3. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3. THE REPORT
4. 1. The Executive on January 15 2003 agreed (item 120)

   2. (1) To appoint bidder A (HBS Business Services Group) as the preferred partner;

      (2) to authorise the Resources Director to negotiate a draft contract and Partnership agreement with the Preferred Partner, subject to;

      (a) it being in line with the objectives and principles set out by the Council in January 2002;

      (b) further movement and clarification on the key areas identified in paragraph 7.3 of the report prior to any contract signature;

      (c) a further review of the preferred partners financial standing prior to contract signature;

      (d) keeping the option to calling bidder C in for discussions as a reserve bidder, should it become clear that the negotiations are proving unproductive;

      (3) to delegate the Resources Director, in consultation with the Executive portfolio holder for Resources, to appoint a shadow board and to work with that board to define a programme of prioritised projects against which the contract will be negotiated;

      (4) to require that the draft agreement be reported back to the Council Executive following these negotiations.

   3. When this decision was made an Executive meeting was scheduled for April, this has now been cancelled and arrangements are needed for making any decisions that might be required between the 5 March and the next meeting of the Executive.
   4. There is a possibility that there will be no Executive meeting at the time a decision is needed. The Executive is therefore requested in those circumstances to authorise the Council Leader with the Executive Member for Resources to replace the Executive should it prove necessary to enable the Partnership to be finalised. This report proposes a change to item 4 above only and reconfirms the authorisations given under sections 2 and 3, that such a decision will be on the same terms as set out in the original resolution.

This version was printed 25-Feb-03 9:36