Agenda and decisions

That apologies be received and noted from Councillor Amanda Chadderton (Oldham), Councillor Ged Cooney (Tameside) (represented by Councillor Bill Fairfoull), Sara Todd (Trafford) (represented by Sarah Salah) and Sandra Stewart (Tameside) (represented by Stephanie Butterworth).

1.     That the GMCA welcomed Lynne Ridsdale to her first meeting as the Chief Executive of Bury Council.

2.     That the update on the launch of GMP’s Neighbourhood Policing Offer be received.

3.     That GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson be invited to a meeting of the Combined Authority to provide an update on the implementation of the Neighbourhood Policing Offer at the appropriate time.

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 in advance of the start of the meeting.

That Mayor Andy Burnham declared an interest in item 28b (Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure Delivery) and would vacate the Chair for that item.

To approve an additional meeting of the GMCA to be held on 9 June 2023 to consider Bus Franchising Tranche 2.

That approval be given for an additional meeting of the GMCA to be held on 9 June 2023 to consider Bus Franchising Tranche 2.

To approve the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 10 February 2023.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 10 February 2023 be agreed as a  correct record.

To approve the minutes of the GMCA Resources Committee held on 27 January 2023.

That the minutes of the meeting of the GM Resources Committee held on 27 January 2023 be noted.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 8 February and 8 March 2023.

That the minutes of the meetings of the GMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8 February 2023 and 8 March 2023 be noted.

To approve the Minutes of the GMCA Standards Committee meeting held on 10 February 2023.

That the minutes of the meeting of the GMCA Standards Committee held on 10 February 2023 be approved.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held on 15 March 2023.

That the minutes of the meeting of the GMCA Audit Committee held on 15 March 2023 be noted.

To note the Minutes of the GMCA Waste & Recycling Committee held on 16 March 2023.

That the minutes of the meeting of the GMCA Waste & Recycling Committee held on 16 March 2023 be noted.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.          That the amendment to the report at Para 2.1, bullet 4 be noted.

2.          That the Trailblazer Devolution Deal as set out at Annex A to the report be endorsed.

3.          That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM and GMCA Solicitor & Monitoring Officer to commence the statutory process by carrying out the governance review referred to in the report and to report back to the GMCA with the outcomes, including any recommendations for a proposed Scheme.

4.          That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM and GMCA Solicitor & Monitoring Officer to do anything required to enable consideration, as part of the governance review referred to in recommendation 2, of any parts of the Trailblazer Devolution Deal that are not bound by the statutory process.

5.          That the comments of the GM Overview & Scrutiny Committee as fed back by Chair Councillor John Walsh be received and noted.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.      That the progress report be approved.

2.      That the strategic opportunities presented to Greater Manchester right now, and how these can be used to maximise the potential to achieve GMS ambitions, be noted.

3.      That it be noted that insufficient detail of programme delivery has been gathered to assess specific impacts arising from delivery in support of GM Strategy ambition.  That it be noted that the assessment completed takes an overview approach, considering the strategic intent of the GMS and forming a view from the overall approaches, understanding and intent.

4.      That the comments of the GM Overview & Scrutiny Committee as fed back by Chair Councillor John Walsh be received and noted.

Report of Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Portfolio Leader for Education, Skills, Work and Apprenticeships.

1.   That the update on the closure and performance of the 2021/2022 academic year, set out in Section 2 of the report, be considered and noted.

2.   That the proposed cost of delivery exceptional payment to devolved AEB Skills Providers for the 2022/2023 academic year, and the granting of delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM, GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Leader and Portfolio Lead Chief Executive for Education, Skills, Work, Apprenticeships and Digital be approved. This will enable the taking forward of the appropriate approach for the 2023/2024 academic year.

3.   That it be noted that the proposed commissioning approach and the progressing of the developments including for the second phase of commissioning, and the granting of delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM, GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Leader and Portfolio Lead Chief Executive for Education, Skills, Work, Apprenticeships and Digital will allow for taking forward the AEB commissioning to contract award.

4.   That approval be given to the proposed indicative devolved AEB allocations, ‘Level 3 Single Pot’ and subsequent expenditure for the GM grant-funded further education institutions, and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer to agree any minor changes that arise during discussions between each institution and GMCA.

5.   That support be continued for the administration and management costs at 1.8% of the overall devolved AEB funding for the 2023/2024 academic year.

6.   That GMCA Officers and wider stakeholders be allowed to agree a GM offer for traineeships which now forms part of the funding under the devolved AEB allocation and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer to take forward any commissioning, including to contract award where relevant.

7.   That the Mayor of Greater Manchester approved the proposed indicative devolved AEB allocations, ‘Level 3 Single Pot’ and subsequent expenditure for the GM grant-funded local authorities, and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer to approve any minor changes that arise in the course of discussions between each local authority and GMCA.

8.   That the Mayor of Greater Manchester approved the continuation of the AEB LA Grant Programme to each of the ten local authorities, supporting alleviating barriers to adult skills, improving digital inclusion through skills, and continue the support of the GM ESOL Advice Service for 2023/2024.

Report of Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Portfolio Lead for Education, Skills, Work, Apprenticeships.

1.   That the proposals and timeline as set out in Section 2 of the report be approved.

2.   That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer for the commissioning of the IPSPC Service, including to contract award.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.   That the match funding approach for the use of recycled LGF & UKSPF be approved.

2.   That the two programmes of work, as set out in this report, to proceed to development phase over the next 6 months be approved.

3.   That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for the Education, Skills, Work & Apprenticeships and Digital to agree the commissioning route and award of individual contracts including any subsequent contract extensions.

Report of Councillor Martyn Cox, Portfolio Lead for Green City Region.

1.      That the contents of the report be noted.

2.      That the proposed appointment (by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) of the Mayor as the responsible authority for the preparation of a Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Greater Manchester be supported.

3.      That the Mayor accepts the above appointment.

Report of Councillor Mark Hunter, Portfolio Lead for Children and Young People.

1.   That the key findings of the second year of the #BeeWell survey results be noted.

2.   That advice on how to encourage a system-wide response to the findings and ensure young people’s voices are leading the response the survey findings be noted.

3.   That shared examples of where #BeeWell data has been utilised and had impact locally be noted.

Report of Councillor Mark Hunter, Portfolio Lead for Children and Young People.

1.      That the foundations for an integrated approach to improving health outcomes for GM children & young people be noted.

2.      That the recommendations for how we might strengthen governance arrangements in section 4 of the paper be endorsed.

3.      That the set of commitments listed in section 5 of the paper for taking an integrated approach to improve health outcomes for GM children & young people and tackling inequality be endorsed.

4.      That the set of priorities identified in section 6 of the paper and note the ambitions to develop a set of measures that will enable us to assess progress as a GM system be endorsed.

5.      That Members be requested to feed back any further comments they have outside of the meeting.

6.      That it be noted that a meeting of the Wider Reform Board will be convened to specifically consider the impact of the pandemic on young children entering the education system.

Report of Councillor Bev Craig, Portfolio Lead for Economy & Business and Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Portfolio Lead for Equalities, Inclusion and Cohesion.

That the latest assessment and emerging response and give views on the next steps in that response be noted.

Report of Councillor Bev Craig, Portfolio Lead for Economy.

1.      That the considerable progress in implementing the March 2022 agreed recommendations on social value in procurement be welcomed and noted.

2.      That the forward plan of work to operationalise and further develop this work during 2023/24 be approved.

3.      That a further report be submitted to the GMCA in 12 months’ time summarising progress across GM Local Authorities / public bodies.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.          That the recommendations of the GM UKSPF Local Partnership Board on the strategic fit and deliverability of this UKSPF proposal be approved.

2.          That the call for proposals, as set out in the report, be approved.

3.          That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for the Economy, Business and International and Portfolio Lead for Resources and Investment, to agree the award of individual contracts as a result of this proposal.

Report of Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Portfolio Lead for Digital.

That the refreshed GM Digital Blueprint’s priorities and commitment statements and their contribution towards the strategic ambitions set out in the Greater Manchester Strategy “A New Era” be approved.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.      That the forecast, as at the end of quarter 3, for 2022/23 business rates income including the 75:25 split between districts and GM investment be noted.

2.      That the planned income for 2023/24 be noted.

3.      That the proposed 2023/24 GM use of the 2022/23 business rates income (set at 25% of total benefit) be approved.

4.      That the proposal to bring back any further in-year commitments should the year end income exceed that forecast at quarter 3 be approved.

5.      That the position in respect of the devolution trailblazer deal for Greater Manchester be noted.

6.      That the comments of the GM Overview & Scrutiny Committee as fed back by Chair Councillor John Walsh be received and noted.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

That the Capital Strategy for 2023/24 be approved.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.          That the proposed Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy be approved to apply from the 1 April 2023, in particular:

a)    The Treasury and Prudential Indicators listed in Section 2.

b)    The Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Strategy in Section 2.

c)     The Treasury Management Scheme of Delegation at Appendix F.

d)    The Borrowing Strategy outlined in Section 3.

e)    The Annual Investment Strategy detailed in Section 4.

f) Delegation to the Treasurer to step outside of the investment limits to safeguard the GMCA’s position as outlined in section 4.7

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.     That, approval be given in principle, to support the potential transfer of some of the Hallé pension fund members to GMPF, recognising that this will require the GMCA to accept responsibility for the liabilities on an ongoing basis.  The agreement to be subject to the detailed work confirming that there is a commercial benefit to the GMCA from the transfer.

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.      That the proposed investments from the £20m DLUHC allocation and delegation of final sign off to the GMCA Treasurer be approved.

2.      That it be noted that the report was exempt from Scrutiny Committee call-in procedures to enable the allocation of the funds before the 31 March 2023.

3.       That approval be given to the purchase of the land required for the E-Depot for a consideration of £10.5m. This will be funded from the £7.5m grant allocation together with borrowing of £3m which will be funded as part of the overall bus reform business case.

4.       That the changes to the GMCA capital programme to reflect the above decisions be approved.

Report of Deputy Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness & Infrastructure.  

1.      That the allocation of £8.9million to GM Local Authorities under the Homeless Families Leasing Scheme for the purpose of leasing temporary accommodation, as described in Table 2, be approved.

2.      That approval be given to the following approaches to bidding for the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (“SHAP”):

Adults: Proceed on the basis that a GM-wide bid for this cohort is not viable and work with eligible local authorities to understand if there is a gap to which a GMCA bid would add value.

Young People: Work with an investor and Registered Provider of Social Housing to draw up a shared accommodation model with a provider specialising in supporting young people;

3.      That the allocations to GM Local Authorities and ongoing work to progress the Local Authority Housing Fund (“LAHF”) be noted.

4.      That the challenges on the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (“RSAP”) and potential to change the model to deliver the most outcomes for the cohort be noted.

5.     That it be noted that the report was exempt from Scrutiny Committee call-in procedures to enable the execution of grant agreements with Local Authorities and allocation of the funds before the 31 March 2023.

6.     That it be acknowledged and noted that page 7 of the report contains an error referencing the March 2023 meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee as having been cancelled.

Report of Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness & Infrastructure .

1.      That the contents of the report be noted.

2.      That support be given to the recommendations of the arc4 consultancy work.

3.      That support be given to the proposal for GMCA and NHS GMIC to scope the resource requirement and model of delivery for this programme of work with local authority, health and care and housing provider colleagues, with a view to reporting back in Summer 2023.

Report of Steve Rumbelow, Portfolio Lead Chief Executive for Housing, Homelessness & Infrastructure.

1.      That approval be given to the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund loan detailed in the table below, as detailed further in this and the accompanying Part B report:

2.      That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer acting in conjunction with the GMCA Monitoring Officer to prepare and effect the necessary legal agreements.

3.      That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM to approve projects for GMHILF funding and agree urgent variations to the terms of GMHILF funding in the period 25 March 2023 to 25 May 2023.

4.      That it be noted that any recommendations that are approved under the delegation will be reported to the next available meeting of the Combined Authority.

Report of David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

1.      That approval be granted for a loan of up to £2m to Holiferm Limited.

2.      That approval be granted for a loan of up to £200k to Shaping Cloud Limited.

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

4.      That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM and the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Investment and Resources, to approve projects for funding and agree urgent variations to the terms of funding in the period 25 March 2023 to 25 May 2023.

5.      That it be noted that any recommendations that are approved under the delegation will be reported to the next available meeting of the Combined Authority.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.      That approval be granted for the release of up to £1.04 million of MCF development cost funding for the Greater Manchester Active Neighbourhoods scheme.

2.      That approval be granted for the release of up to £3.43 million of MCF delivery funding for the Manchester Northern Quarter Area 2 scheme.

3.      That approval be granted for the release of up to £1.0 million of additional MCF delivery funding for the Manchester Chorlton Phase 2 scheme.

4.      That the award to GM of £3.4 million of Active Travel England Capability Funding (second round) be noted and that approval be granted for the addition of the funding to the 2023/2024 GMCA Transport Revenue Budget, as set out in section 4 of the report.

5.      That GM’s submission of its Active Travel Fund Round 4 (ATF4) bid to Active Travel England be noted.

Report of Deputy Mayor, Paul Dennett.

1.      That the study recommendations summarised in the report and included in full at Appendix 1 be noted.

2.      That approval be granted for the draw-down of £200,000 of CRSTS funding to support EVCI delivery.

3.      That approval be granted for the draw-down of £750,000 of CRSTS funding for TfGM to support EVCI charging at Travel Hubs throughout the conurbation.

4.      That the funding distribution model, as set out at Appendix 2 be endorsed, noting that requests for EVCI delivery funding will be brought to GMCA in line with the agreed CRSTS drawdown process, and only where it can be shown it helps deliver charging in underserved or otherwise uncommercial areas as part of a commercial deal with a Charge Point Operator (CPO) partner.

5.      That it be noted that the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) have launched the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (LEVI) to deliver a step change in the deployment of local infrastructure across England.

6.      That it be noted that Greater Manchester Combined Authority's capability funding allocation for the LEVI scheme in 22/23 is £259,200.

7.      That the updates to the GM Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy, as outlined in Section 4 be approved.

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 Lead for Resources & Investment.

That the contents of the report be noted.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 21 above refers).

Report of Steve Rumbelow, Portfolio Lead Chief Executive for Housing, Homelessness & Infrastructure.

That the contents of the report be noted.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 26 above refers).

Report of Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Investment & Resources.

That the contents of the report be noted.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 27 above refers)