Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

That apologies be received and noted from Councillor Andrew Western, Eamonn Boylan, Tony Oakman, Pam Smith and Steve Rumbelow.

RESOLVED/-

That apologies be received and noted from Councillor Andrew Western, Eamonn Boylan, Pam Smith (Caroline Simpson attending), Steve Rumbelow, Tom Stannard and Tony Oakman.

1.           That the GMCA recognised the significant contribution to devolution made by Councillor Mike Connolly, former Leader of Bury Council, who had sadly recently passed away, and that condolences be shared with his family, friends and colleagues.

2.           That the GMCA welcomed the reference in this week’s Government Budget to a ‘London-style public transport system’ for Greater Manchester and the allocation of funding to support specific projects across Greater Manchester through the Levelling-Up Fund.  Recognising that this would only go a short way towards delivering the ambitions of Local Authorities, who had had their budgets significantly reduced over the last 11 years and that there should be further devolution to allow Local Authorities to determine their own local spend in line with local priorities in the future.

3.           That it be noted that the GMCA would be seeking to understand the budget announcement in greater detail

4.           That it be agreed that increased taxation was not acceptable as a means of funding for Local Authorities.

The GM Mayor, Andy Burnham, led tributes following the recent death of former Bury Mayor and Council Leader, Councillor Mike Connolly. His role in securing the devolution deal for Greater Manchester was noted and his pride in Bury was fondly remembered.

Following the recent announcements in Government’s Budget and Spending Review, Members of the GMCA noted their appreciation for additional funding that had been allocated to transport infrastructure growth and core support for local government. Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Salford and Ashton had all been successful in securing funding for local projects from the Levelling Up Fund. It was noted that the spending power for local government remained unclear but Members urged against increases in regressive taxation due to the consequences it would have for the poorest in Greater Manchester.

RESOLVED /-

That the GMCA recognised the significant contribution to devolution made by Councillor Mike Connolly, formerly Leader of Bury Council who had sadly recently passed away, and that condolences be shared with his family, friends and colleagues.

1.    That the GMCA welcomed the reference in this week’s Government Budget to a ‘London-style public transport system’ for Greater Manchester and the allocation of funding to support specific projects across Greater Manchester through the Levelling-Up Fund.  Recognising that this would only go a short way towards delivering the ambitions of Local Authorities, who had had their budgets significantly reduced over the last 11 years and that there should be further devolution to allow Local Authorities to determine their own local spend in line with local priorities in the future.

2.    That it be noted, that the GMCA would be seeking to understand the budget announcement in greater detail.

3.    That it be agreed that increased taxation was not acceptable as a means of funding for Local Authorities.

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.

There were no declarations of interest received in relation to any item on the agenda.

RESOLVED /-

There were no declarations of interest reported by any Member in respect of any item on the agenda.

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 24 September 2021 be approved.

RESOLVED /-

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on the 24 September 2021 be approved as a correct record.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Resources Committee held 24 September 2021.

That the minutes of the GMCA Resources Committee meeting held on the 24 September 2021 be noted.

To note the minutes of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership Board held on 22 September 2021.

That the minutes of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership Board held on 22 September 2021 be noted.

To note the minutes of the Housing, Planning & Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 23 September & 7 October 2021.

That the minutes of the Housing, Planning & Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 23 September & 7 October 2021be noted.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held on 30 September 2021.

That the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee meeting held on 30 September 2021 be noted.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Waste and Recycling Committee meeting held on 13 October 2021.

That the minutes of the GM Waste & Recycling Committee meeting held on 13 October 2021 be noted.

To note the minutes of the Greater Manchester Transport Committee held on 15 October 2021.

That the minutes of the Greater Manchester Transport Committee meeting held on 15 October 2021 be noted.

Report of Liz Treacy, GMCA Monitoring Officer.

1.        That the appointment of Andy Burnham and Andrew Western, as the GMCA member and substitute member on the TfN Board, as the member and substitute member, to the TfN General Purposes Committee be noted.

2.        That the appointment of Cllr Nathan Boroda, Bury, to the Corporate Issues & Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee be agreed.

3.        That the appointment of Cllr Lee-Ann Igbon, Manchester, to the GMCA Corporate Issues & Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee be agreed.

4.        That the appointment of Cllr Samuel Rimmer, Bolton, to the GMCA Economy, Business Growth & Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee be agreed.

5.        That the appointment of Cllr Mrs Hilary Fairclough as the Bolton substitute member on the GMCA be noted.

6.        That the further extension of the appointment Geoff Linnell, Co-opted Independent Member, to act as the Chair of the Standards Committee and Nicole Jackson, Independent Person, to assist the Monitoring Officer and Hearing Panel in dealing with allegations that members of the GMCA have acted in breach of the GMCA’s Code of Conduct, to 30 November 2022 be agreed, and that rule 11.5 be suspended for this purpose.

7.        That the appointment of Cllr Nadim Mulsim, Bolton, to the GM Waste & Recycling Committee be agreed.

8.        That the appointment of Cllr Rabnawaz Akbar, Manchester, and Cllr Mudasir Dean (Bolton) to the Police & Crime Steering Group be noted.

9.        That the appointment of Rabnawaz Akbar, Manchester, and Cllr Mudasir Dean (Cllr Nadim Muslim as substitute), Bolton, to the Police & Crime Panel be noted.

10.     That the appointment of Cllr Tracey Rawlins, Manchester, and Cllr Adele Warren (substitute), Bolton, to the Joint Development Plan – Places for Everyone Committee be noted.

11.     That the appointment of Cllr Nadim Muslim, Bolton, to the Air Quality Administration Committee be noted.

12.     That the appointment of Cllr Nadim Muslim, Bolton, to the Clean Air Charging Authorities Committee be noted.

13.     That the appointment of Cllr Joanna Midgely, Manchester, to the Health & Social Care – Joint Commissioning Board be noted.

14.     That the appointment of Cllr Gavin White, Manchester, and Cllr Adele Warren, Bolton, to the GM Work & Skills Executive be agreed.

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

1.        That it be agreed that GM Local Authorities should collectively bid for c.£15m of Social Housing Decarbonisation funding.

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

3.        Subject to a successful award, that 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 equalities impact from this proposal will be managed via utilising delivery companies with robust equality policies, and the environmental outcome is to substantially reduce the carbon emissions from in excess of 1000 social housing homes across Greater Manchester.

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

1.        That the opportunity to bid for circa £20-40m of Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding from Salix (NDPB) be noted.

2.        Subject to a successful bid, that the receipt and defrayment of these funds either directly or via GM Local Authorities be agreed and authority delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to sign all necessary legal agreements.

3.        That it be agreed to top slice from the capital grant to underpin the GMCA’s cost of coordinating and project managing the scheme. The scale of the top slice will be confirmed on receipt of the grant.

4.        That it be noted that equalities impact from this proposal will be managed utilising delivery companies with robust equality policies. The environmental outcome is to substantially reduce the carbon emissions from our public buildings in Greater Manchester.

Report of Cllr Martyn Cox, Portfolio Leader for Culture.

1.            That the proposal for a second GM Town of Culture to be delivered in 2022 be approved.

2.            That  a programming budget, from the agreed GMCA Culture Fund of £50,000 be approved for  awarding to the GM Town of Culture 2022 in 2022/3 to support programming and delivery.

3.            That the timescale process set out in Section 4 of the report be approved.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.            That the level of ambition and proposals being put forward as part of Greater Manchester’s Bus Service Improvement Plan be endorsed.

2.            That the publication and submission to Government of the Bus Service Improvement Plan be approved.

3.            That the development of the Customer Charter be undertaken with representatives from all user and non-user groups to ensure that all qualitative aspects of customer experience can be included.

4.            That in developing the Customer Charter, a minimum level of service for all communities in Greater Manchester be considered as a fundamental element of the offer.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

That the progress of the Minimum Licensing Standards workstream be noted and that the proposals at Stage 2 of the recommendations be endorsed with Local Authorities using best endeavours to meet them.

Report of Cllr Elise Wilson, Portfolio Leader for Economy.

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

2.           That it be noted that all members of the GMCA will be invited to the forthcoming launch of ‘GM – A Living Wage City Region’ on the 15 November 2021.

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

That the report setting out the successful achievements of the funds be welcomed and further noted that the investment funds would continue to provide valuable investment for Greater Manchester residents into the future.

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

1.        That the allocation of grant funding to those sites set out within Section 2 of the report be approved.

2.        That it be agreed that the GMCA enter into individual Grant Agreements for the Brownfield Housing Fund associated with the recommended sites.

3.        That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer acting in conjunction with the GMCA Monitoring Officer to agree the final terms of all necessary agreements.

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

1.        That an investment of £1M into the Growth Investment Fund be approved.

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

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 Cllr 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 20 above refers).

That the report be noted.