Agenda, decisions and minutes

That apologies be received and noted from Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett (Councillor John Merry attending), Joanne Roney, Steven Pleasant (Ian Saxon attending) and Pam Smith (Mark Fitton attending).

That the apologies were noted.

1.           That the concerns of the GMCA regarding the Government’s use of hotels to house asylum seekers and refuges from Afghanistan, and the lack of pre-notification to Local Authorities be noted.

2.           That the GMCA call on Government to mandate equitable distribution of asylum seekers and refugees across the UK.

There were no Chairs announcements or items of urgent business

To receive declarations of interest in any item for discussion at the meeting. A blank form for declaring interests has been circulated with the agenda; please ensure that this is returned to the Governance & Scrutiny Officer 48 hours before the start of the meeting.

That the GM Mayor Andy Burnham declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in relation to item 12, GM Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure Strategy.

To receive declarations of interest in any item for discussion at the meeting. A blank form for declaring interests has been circulated with the agenda; please ensure that this is returned to the Governance & Scrutiny Officer at the start of the meeting.

To consider the approval of the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 10 September 2021.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 10 September 2021 be approved.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on ?? be approved.

·         To agree the appointment of Cllr Ashley Dearnley to replace Cllr Kathleen Nickson (Rochdale) on Housing, Planning & Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

·         To note that Cllr Tracey Rawlins and Cllr Emma Taylor (substitute member), Manchester City Council, have been appointed to the GM Air Quality Administration Committee and Clean Air Charging Authorities Committee

1.            That the appointment of Cllr Ashley Dearnley to replace Cllr Kathleen Nickson (Rochdale) on the Housing, Planning & Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee be agreed.

2.            That it be noted that Cllr Tracey Rawlins and Cllr Emma Taylor (substitute member), have been appointed by Manchester City Council to the GM Air Quality Administration Committee and Clean Air Charging Authorities Committee.

Report of Councillor Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for Education, Skills, Work & Apprenticeships.

1.           That the overall progress set out in the report against a wide range of activity across the Education, Work and Skills Directorate be noted.

2.           That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Education, Work and Skills to agree grant conditions, commissioning route and contract award for the skills bootcamp element of National Skills Fund, as necessary in the event this is devolved.

3.            That the progress made to date on the European Social Fund Skills for Growth Programme be noted.

4.           That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM, and GMCA Treasurer to continue with the procurement and contracting of providers and activity relating to the GM Skills for Growth programme in conjunction with the Lead Portfolio Holder

5.           That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM, to award contracts, to address ESF NEET & Youth Unemployment reduction, to the winning bidders following the outcome of the competitive procurement exercise

6.           That an amendment to the existing Working Well (Work and Health Programme) contract be approved to include the extension of the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) provision /element from March 2022 to March 2023, with an additional investment of £6,737,400 secured from the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).

Report of Councillor Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for Education, Skills, Work & Apprenticeships.

1.           That the shared approach by GM’s universities embodied in the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement (CUA) be noted.

2.           That it be noted that the CUA was a high-level framework and symbolic statement of intent, with more specific deliverables needing to follow through the creation of a Civic University Board between the universities and GMCA.

3.           That it be noted that the CUA was a living document and can be revisited in light of developments to the Greater Manchester Strategy.

4.           That it be noted that, following agreement of the CUA by the GMCA, a public announcement will be made on Monday 27 September 2021.

Report of Councillor Martyn Cox,  Portfolio Lead for Culture.

1.            That the allocation of £3.84m (£2.84million district contributions + £1million retained business rates) to create the GMCA Culture Fund Programme 2022/23 be approved.

2.            That it be agreed that GMCA Culture Fund investment will roll-forward at the same level and supporting the same portfolio of organisations as in 2020/21 and 2021/2 for the next financial year – 2022/3, subject to organisational health checks on all portfolio organisations prior to funding.

Report of Bev Hughes, Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime and Fire.

1.            That the Gender Based Violence Strategy be approved for publication and delivery.

2.            That the establishment of a public campaign to promote the Gender Based Violence Strategy be endorsed and that all boys and men be urged to take responsibility for their actions and to take a stand against gender-based violence.

Report of Councillor  Brenda Warrington, Portfolio Leader for Equalities.

1.            That the activities and planned activities taking place across Greater Manchester, across a range of localities, communities and institutions, in relation to the refreshed Greater Manchester Strategy be noted.

2.            That the timeframe and urgency for acting on inequality, and the intention to quickly progress actions across all portfolios in the coming months be noted. 

Report of Councillor Arooj Shah, Portfolio Leader for Community, Co-operatives, Voluntary Sector and Inclusion.

1.            That the new GM VCSE Accord be approved, as a tri-partite Agreement with the GM Health and Social Care Partnership and the GM VCSE Leadership Group on behalf of the VCSE sector in Greater Manchester. 

2.            That the Mayor of Greater Manchester, the GM Portfolio Lead forCommunity, Co-operatives, Voluntary Sector and Inclusion and the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM be authorised to sign the Accord Agreement on their behalf.

3.            That the Accord be referred for recommendation to each GM Local Authority, in recognition that a number of elements within the Accord were to be delivered by Local Authorities.

Report of Councillor Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy.

That the latest update of the Greater Manchester Economic Resilience Dashboard and response be noted, including delivery of the Local Industrial Strategy and Greater Manchester Economic Vision.

Report of Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett Portfolio Leader for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure.

1.           That it be agreed that the GMCA will enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Environment Agency and United Utilities.

2.           That the common areas of interest and outcomes be noted (para 3.4 and Appendix B of the report).

3.           That it be agreed that the GMCA will receive an annual report on progress, success and any issues/barriers to delivery.

Report of Councillor Neil Emmott, Portfolio Leader for the Green City Region.

1.        That it be agreed that GM Local Authorities should collectively bid for c£15m of Sustainable Warmth Competition funding, to continue the existing Green Homes Grant funded retrofit programme from December 2021 to March 2023.

2.        That it be agreed that the GMCA should be the accountable body for the bid on behalf of GM Local Authorities and Registered Providers.

3.        That, subject to a successful award, authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to contract with BEIS to receive and defray the funds to partners and procured delivery partner(s).

4.        That it be noted that the equalities impact from this proposal will be managed via utilising delivery companies with robust equality policies, and the environmental outcome was to substantially reduce the carbon emissions from approximately 1200 homes in Greater Manchester.

Report of Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, Portfolio Leader for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure.

1.        That the contents of this report be noted.

2.        That a presentation on how the flexible use of the financial instruments has impacted housing, creation and access to training and employment and the wider regeneration be submitted to the next meeting of the GMCA.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Leader for Investment and Resources.

1.           That an investment of £10m into a second Life Sciences Fund be approved.

2.           That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to review the due diligence information in respect of the above company, and, subject to their satisfactory review and agreement of the due diligence information and the overall detailed commercial terms of the investment, to sign off any outstanding conditions, issue final approvals and complete any necessary related documentation in respect of the investment noted above.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

That progress in delivering the Bee Network be noted.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.            That the proposals contained within the report be noted.

2.            That the initial Pay as Your Ride tariff proposal, as set out in section 2 of the report, be approved.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.           That the release of up to £1.3 million of development cost funding for the 2 MCF schemes,Rochdale Castleton (Phase 2) and Trafford North Altrincham Bee Network set out in section 2 of the report, be approved.

2.           That the release of up to £7.24 million MCF funding for the 6 schemes, Metrolink (Bury Line) Cycle Parking, Wigan Leigh-Atherton-Tyldsley: Leigh to Pennington, Manchester Northern Quarter Areas 1 and 3, Salford Trinity Way / Springfield Lane and Salford Gore Street Connection, as set out in section 3 of the report be approved, in order to secure full approval and enable the signing of the necessary legal agreements.

3.           That an evaluation of the pilot to allow bikes on Metrolink be submitted to the GMCA in due course.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.              That the Streets for All Strategy be approved and adopted, subject to the approval of Manchester City Council’s Executive Committee and the strengthening of the Strategy to reflect the earlier agreed Gender Based Violence Strategy, emphasising safety, as a priority objective, throughout the Strategy.

2.       That integral role of an integrated, affordable public transport system to growing the economy, providing access to education and employment be recognised.

Report of Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM.

1.            That the contents of the report be noted.

2.            That the function of requesting relevant information from bus operators as set out in regulations 5 and 6 of the Franchising Schemes and Enhanced Partnership Schemes (Application of TUPE) (England) Regulations 2017 (the Regulations) be delegated to TfGM.

3.            That the function of undertaking any consultations as required by the Regulations be delegated to TfGM.

4.            That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM to approve any proposed definition of ‘principally connected’ at the end of the consultation; such approval to be obtained before notifying the parties and publishing the agreement.

5.            That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM, to approve the proposed allocation arrangements (including any revised allocation arrangements) at the end of the consultation; such approval to be obtained before notifying the parties and before the allocation arrangements are published (or finalised and published in the case of revised allocation arrangements).

6.            That, in the event that agreement is reached as to the definition of ‘principally connected’, that the function of notifying the parties and publishing the agreed definition be delegated to TfGM.

7.            That the function of notifying the parties and publishing the allocation arrangements and finalising and publishing any revised allocation arrangements be delegated to TfGM.

Report of Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM.

1.           That the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy be approved.

2.           That it be noted that regular reports on progress against the Strategy be submitted to the GMCA.

3.           That it be noted that the programme of planned publicly funded additional Electric Vehicle Infrastructure is included at electrictravel.tfgm.com, a sub-site of TfGM.com.

That, under section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public should be excluded from the meeting for the following items on business on the grounds that this involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as set out in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

That, under section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public should be excluded from the meeting for the following items on business on the grounds that this involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as set out in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

That, under section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public should be excluded from the meeting for the following items on business on the grounds that this involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as set out in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Leader for Investment and Resources.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 16 above refers).

That the report be noted.