Issue - meetings

Recommendation:  The Shareholder Committee is asked to recommend to the Chief Executive that under his emergency delegated powers he:

(i)         Approve the Articles of Association for Align Property Partners Limited; and

(ii)      Sign off the Written Resolution on behalf of the shareholder

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) seeking shareholder approval for the revised Articles of Association of Align Property Partners Limited.

The report looked at the governance arrangements for Align Property Partners Limited and it was noted the proposed amendments to the Articles of Association were to ensure the document was up to date and appropriate for a Teckal company. Barry Khan - Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services), provided a brief description of a Teckal compliant company i.e. or procurement purposes only, used as an internal department of the Council removing the need for full procurement procedures.  

It was noted that a Teckal Company was a separate company, wholly owned by the Council but treated as a separate company for tax purposes and the law that had to trade by the same rules as any other company.

Members questioned how to be assured of best value for money and it was noted that avoiding competition to achieve administrative convenience was not the purpose.  Gary Fielding, Corporate Director for Strategic Resources confirmed the Authority’s Teckal companies were expected to win contracts outside of the organisation in competition with other externally owned companies, and their successes or otherwise were a good indication of their ability to compete in the open market. Good benchmarking data was provided by constantly testing the market.  In addition, there was internal challenge around value for money from open discussion around cutting costs.

Having considered the report provided, members of the Shareholder Committee agreed to recommend to the Chief Executive Officer that using his emergency delegated powers he approve the Articles of Association for Align Property Partners Limited and sign off the Written Resolution on behalf of the shareholder.

Having considered the views of the shareholder Committee, the Chief Executive

Resolved to:

(i)     Approve the Articles of Association for Align Property Partners Limited; and

(ii)   Sign off the Written Resolution on behalf of the shareholder.