Agenda and decisions

That the apologies be received and noted from Councillor David Molyneux (Wigan), Councillor Keith Cunliffe attending, Councillors Sara Rowbotham & Janet Emsley (Rochdale) and Joanne Roney (Manchester), Carol Culley attending.

1.      That the condolences of the GM Mayor and all members of the GMCA be extended to the family of Councillor Guy Harkin, who had recently passed away.  Councillor Harkin had been a passionate local councillor for Bolton, being honoured as an Alderman of Bolton in December 2019 and long standing advocate for an improved public transport network.

2.      That the Government announcement on 29 January 2020 that the Northern rail franchise agreement would be terminated on the 1 March, 2020, and placed in the hands of the Government’s ‘Operator of last resort’ be noted.  It was also noted that a dramatic improvement in delivery would not be seen overnight, but rather a steady improvement and consistency over a short period.

3.      That it be noted that discussions regarding the potential split in the franchise and establishment of a North West franchise would be progressed with Government.

4.    That it be agreed that the GMCA message to Government was that the successful delivery of rail services was predicated on the need to improve infrastructure.  In particular the improvement of the Castlefield Corridor and the business case for the development of platforms 15 & 16 at Manchester Piccadilly Train Station had been made and was ‘shovel ready, delivering improvements not just to Greater Manchester but the whole of the North of England.

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.

That it be noted that Councillor Allen Brett declared a personal interest in relation to item 15 (GM Housing Investment Loans Fund) as an associate of loan applicant, Qumar Zaman.

To consider the approval of the minute of the GMCA meeting held on 7 January 2020.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 7 January 2020 be approved.

To note the minutes of the Waste & Recycling Committee held on 16 January 2020.

That the minutes of the GMCA Waste & Recycling Committee held on 16 January 2020 be noted.

To note the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 21 January 2020.

That the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held on 21 January 2020 be noted.

To note the minutes of the GM Transport Committee held on 17 January 2020.

That the minutes of the GM Transport Committee held on 17 January 2020 be noted.

To note the minutes of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership Board held on 21 January 2020.

That the minutes of the Local Enterprise Partnership Board held on 21 January 2020 be noted.

Report of Cllr Richard Leese, GM Deputy Mayor & Portfolio Lead for Economy.

1. That the report be noted.
2. That the appointment of Mo Isap and Lou Cordwell as Co-Chairs of the GM LEP Board be approved.
3. That the GMCA record its thanks to the outgoing Chair, Mike Blackburn for his years of strategic leadership of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership.

To agree the appointment of Cllr Liz Patel to replace Cllr Jane Baugh (Trafford).

That the appointment of Cllr Liz Patel to replace Cllr Jane Baugh (Trafford) be agreed.

Report of Andy Burnham, GM Mayor.

1.        That the proposalsto set an overallMayoralGeneral Preceptof£90.95(Band D)comprisingof£66.20 for functions previouslycoveredby theFireandRescue Authoritypreceptand£24.75forotherMayoralGeneralfunctions be noted.

2.       That it be noted that the proposal for the Mayoral General Precept for 2020/21 was part of a multi-year strategyfor settingtheMayoral preceptbaselinewhichwill be adjustedin future yearsasfurtherMayoral functionsare covered by the funding raised.

3.              That the following be noted:

i.        the overall budget proposed for the Fire and RescueService, noting that it was proposed to defer a number of operational changes in relation to Programme for Change

ii.       the use of the reserves to support the revenue and capital budgets, and the assessment by the GMCA Treasurer that the reserves as at March 2021 were adequate

iii.      the proposed Fire Service capital programme and proposals for funding

iv.      the medium term financial position for the Fire and Rescue Service covered by the Mayoral precept

4.       That the detailed budget proposals for other Mayoral Functions be noted.

5.       That the proposal to allow £0.5 million of Earnback grant to be used to support GMCA costs relating to bus related activity, including bus reform be agreed.

6.       That it be noted that if a decision was made to introduce bus franchising a further report would be submitted to GMCA to increase the statutory charge by £17.8 million for the year 2020/21.

7.       That the use of reserves, as set out in section 3 of the report, be noted.

8.      That members be requested tosubmitanywrittencommentstotheMayor inlinewith thelegal process andtimetabledescribedin this report.

9.      That it be notedthat  ...  view the full decision text for item 6.

Report of Cllr Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Digital City Region.

1.      That the progress on GM Digital be noted and that the refreshed GM Digital Blueprint be approved.

2.      That it be agreed that the GM Digital Blueprint be reviewed annually to reflect the dynamic environment in which it was embedded.

3.      That it be noted that on the 7 February, Greater Manchester would be hosting its first Digital Skills Day, and Greater Manchester Local Authorities, community group, schools , colleges, residents and businesses be encouraged to participate in #dosomethingdigital.

4.      That it also be noted that GMACs would be launched next week, providing a single portal access point, whereby young people can view all employment opportunities, including digital, and information on qualification and training required in preparation of pursuing a career.

5.      That the GMCA record its thanks to Cllr Elise Wilson for the work undertaken in progressing GM Digital.

Report of Cllr Richard Leese, GM Deputy Mayor and Portfolio Lead for Economy.

1.      That the Brexit update and the work underway to ensure Greater Manchester was prepared for EU exit and future trading arrangements be noted.

2.      That the latest update of the Greater Manchester Economic Resilience Dashboard be noted.

3.      That it be noted that the Brexit transition period would be 11 months, and that the Brexit Act confirms that there would be no extension, with a risk that there could still be ‘no deal’ at the end of the period.

4.      That it be noted that the Growth Company has developed a long term proposal for how Northern Powerhouse performance overall could be improved overall on trade and investment, supported by the NP11 group of Local Enterprise Partnerships across the North, which has been submitted to Government as part of budget proposals from the North.

3.   That the GM Mayor be requested to relay a clear message to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the consultation on the Shared Prosperity Fund was a priority to be addressed, and that the allocation and governance should be devolved from Central Government.

Report of Andy Burnham, GM Mayor.

1.      That the report be noted and very recent count figures showing a further reduction in rough sleeping be welcomed.

2.      That the GMCA record its thanks to all partners, specifically Local Authorities and the voluntary sector for their contributions towards the homelessness projects across Greater Manchester.

3.      That Local Authorities be encouraged to look for further ways that the Housing First scheme could support residents who were homeless.

4.      That Local Authorities be further encouraged to identify whether the Street Engagement Project (formerly ARC) could be rolled out in other areas where street begging was an issue.

5.      That it be noted that the GM Mayor would provide further information on the Ethical Lettings Agency to Councillor Brenda Warrington.

6.      That future proposals be submitted to the GMCA in relation to linking the Good Employment Charter to all future commissioning and procurement activities.

7.      That the GM Mayor be requested to consider young homeless people, and in particular care leavers in future discussions with Government.

Report of Andy Burnham, GM Mayor and Cllr Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for Green City Region.

1.      That the report be noted.

2.      That the GMCA recognised the scale of the challenge to reduce carbon emissions from transport for GM to meet its ambition to be a Carbon neutral city-region by 2038.

Report of Cllr Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for Green City Region.

1.      That the progress made to date be noted.

2.      That it be noted that  the ministerial direction under the Environment Act 1995 (Greater Manchester) Air Quality Direction 2019 which requires all ten of the Greater Manchester local authorities to implement a charging Clean Air Zone Class C across the region.

3.      That the need to continue to proceed towards developing the implementation and contract arrangements of a charging Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester utilising the initial tranche of £36m of funding as required by the ministerial direction / feedback be noted.

4.      That it be noted that the report to determine the timings for commencing the consultation would be received in the Spring of 2020.

5.      That the outstanding need to secure a clear response from the Government on clean vehicles funding asks be noted.

6.      That it be noted that Highways England have not been directed to act in relation to tackling NO₂ exceedances in the same way as the Greater Manchester local authorities, and that this will leave some publicly accessible areas of GM adjacent to trunk roads managed by Highways England, with NO₂ exceedances that are not being addressed by the Highways England plan.

7.      That it be noted that the GM Authorities would co-sign a letter to the Transport Secretary asking them to bring forward the launch of a statutory consultation to strengthen rules on vehicle idling.

8.      That a further report be submitted to the GMCA following further Government discussions on the Clean Air Plan.

Report of Cllr Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for Green City Region.

1.    That the report be noted.

2.   That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM and the GMCA Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead, to finalise the collaboration agreement, commencing with the Detailed Design project in February 2020 and to agree the terms of the grant from the funding provider (Innovate UK) to deliver this opportunity.

Report of Baroness Bev Hughes, Deputy Mayor for Policing & Crime and Jon Rouse, Chief Office, Health & Social Care Partnership.

1.      That the Greater Manchester Integrated Health and Justice Strategy be approved.

2.      That the GMCA record its thanks to the Jon Rouse and the GM Team for developing the GM Integrated Health and Justice Strategy, in particular for their advanced thinking to enable the first strategy of its kind within the UK.

3.      That it be recognised that the role of the Local Authorities was key to the delivery of the strategy’s ambitions, and that further detail of the Implementation Plan would be submitted to the GMCA in due course.

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

1.      That the Social Enterprise Investment Framework be approved and utilised during consideration of applications for funding from Social Enterprises from the GM Investment Fund.

2.      That in implementing the scheme, officers be requested to engage with GMCVO and the Voluntary Sector on how it is taken forward.

3.       That the loan criteria considers the principles of Greater Manchester’s Good Employment Charter.

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

That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer in consultation with the Head of Procurement to approve the recommended Development Partner and sign the necessary Interim Collaboration agreement.

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

1.        That the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund loans be approved as follows:

2.         That the following loans, which were approved under delegated authority, be noted:

3.         That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and the GMCA Monitoring Officer to prepare and effect the necessary legal agreements.

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 Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness & Infrastructure.

That the report be noted.