Agenda and decisions

That apologies be received and noted from Tom Stannard (Salford) and Tony Oakman (Bolton).

1.   That after detailed consideration by the GMCA on the 23 March, the GM Mayor had chosen to accept their recommendations and proceed with plans for a bus franchising scheme for Greater Manchester.

2.   That following an interview process, Stephen Watson would be recommended to the GM Police and Crime Panel at their meeting today for appointment to the role of Chief Constable for Greater Manchester Police.

3.   That it be noted that the GM Mayor and Salford City Mayor would be writing to express their disappointment that Government’s recently published proposals to reform the asylum seeker system did not reflect previous commitments made to ensure an even distribution across the UK to ensure there was sufficient housing stock capacity.

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.

1.   That the GM Mayor Andy Burnham declared a prejudicial interest in item 30 – A review of remuneration of the Elected Mayor of the GMCA and the Independent Members/Person of the GMCA Audit and Standards Committees.

2.   That Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett declared a personal interest in items 26 & 33 – Growth Company Business Plan as a Director of the Growth Company Board.

3.   That Councillor Elise Wilson declared a personal interest in items 26 & 33 – Growth Company Business Plan as a Director of the Growth Company Board.

To consider the approval of the minutes of the meetings held on 12 February (attached) & 23 March 2021 (attached).

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 12 February and 23 March 2021 be approved as a correct record.

To note the minutes of the following GMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee that were held during March:

·         Economy, Business Growth and Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 12 March 2021 (attached)

·         Housing, Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 11 March (attached)

1.   That the minutes of the Economy, Business Growth and Skills Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 12 March 2021 be noted.

2.     That the Housing, Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11 March 2021 be noted.

To note the Minutes of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership held on 18 March 2021.

That the minutes of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership held on 18 March 2021 be noted.

To note the minutes of the GM Transport Committee held on 19 February 2021.

That the minutes of the GM Transport Committee held on 19 February 2021 be noted.

Report of Councillor Brenda Warrington, Portfolio Lead for Age-friendly Greater Manchester and Equalities.

1.   That the update and publication arrangements for the Independent Inequalities Commission, including its work to collect, analyse and report on inequalities, as part of the development of its recommendations, be noted.

2.    That the publication of the Commission’s Report which includesd a number of flagship recommendations for addressing inequality in Greater Manchester, be welcomed.

3.    That it be noted that a further report will be submitted to the GMCA in early summer containing a proposal for how GM might take action in the light of the Commission’s recommendations.

4.    That it be agreed that the Tackling Inequalities Board will ensure all future work on inequalities is aligned and takes full account of the Commission’s recommendations.

Report of Councillor Brenda Warrington, Portfolio Lead for Age-friendly Greater Manchester and Equalities.

1.     That the progress made in the establishment and delivery of equalities advisory panels be noted.

2.     That an increase the annual budget for the LGBTQ+ Panel to £50,000 for 2021/22 be agreed, to make this consistent with the budget for other panels.

3.     That it be agreed to give £50,000 to each of the Youth Combined Authority, Faith Advisory Panel and Older People’s Panel from the Mayor’s Budget to commission facilitating organisations for 2021/22.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.     That the progress update provided on the delivery of the GM Living with Covid Resilience Plan be noted.

2.      That any further comments on this report could be submitted directly to Simon Nokes, Executive Director Policy & Strategy, GMCA.

3.      That it be noted that to further strengthen the GMCA’s commitment to equalities, reports submitted to the GMCA included an assessment on contributions to meeting equality and environmental impacts.

4.      That it be noted that the lessons learnt from this review, plus the findings of the Inequalities Commission would be considered as part of the Greater Manchester Strategy Refresh.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham and Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Planning and Environment.

1.     That the outcomes and the approach to continued service developments in the A Bed Every Night programme be approved.

2.      That the specification be approved.

3.      That the committed income of £4,554,000 be noted, and that further confirmation was expected in June 2021 regarding the outstanding £1.5m investment from MHCLG to secure the full budget.

4.      That the expenditure profile of £6,068,600 as grants to Local Authorities to deliver the service over a 12 month period be noted, pending full funding confirmation in June 2021 and enabling Local Authorities to ensure continuity of service where necessary until that time.

Report of Councillor Sean Fielding, Portfolio Lead for Digital, Education, Skills, Work and Apprenticeships.

1.   That the updates, set out in Sections 2 & 3 of the report be noted.

2.   That the planned approach for the commissioning of the National Skills Fund Adult Level 3 offer, as set out in Section 4. 3 of the report, be noted and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Lead Member and Lead Chief Executive for Education, Skills, Work and Apprenticeship (subject to considerations around any conflicts of interest which might arise), to take forward the Adult Education Budget (AEB) commissioning of the National Skills Fund Adult Level 3 offer, for both existing AEB skills providers and the procured element, to the contract award as set out in section 4 of the report.

3.         That it be agreed that the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Lead Member and Lead Chief Executive for Education, Skills, Work and Apprenticeship (and subject to considerations around any conflicts of interest which might arise), be granted delegated authority to take forward the AEB commissioning of the National Skills Fund Adult Level 3 offer, for both existing AEB skills providers and the procured element, to contract award as set out in section 4 of the report.

4.         That the proposed indicative allocations and subsequent expenditure be approved for the GM grant-funded further education institutions and contract for services skills providers and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer to agree any minor changes that arise during discussions between each institution and GMCA, as set out in Section 5 & Annex 5 of the report.

5.         That the proposed indicative allocations and subsequent expenditure for the GM grant-funded local authorities be approved and that authority delegated to the GMCA Treasurer to approve any minor changes that arise in the course of discussions between each local authority and GMCA, as set out in Section 5 & Annex 6 of the report.

Report of Councillor Sean Fielding, Portfolio Lead for Digital, Education, Skills, Work and Apprenticeships.

1. That the work and progress to date on the Covid-19 contingency support measures to be put in place during 2020/21 financial year be noted.

2. That the continuation of the support measures into 2021/22 financial year be agreed.

3.That the support measures for Adult Education Budget for the remainder of the 20/21 academic year, as set out Appendix 2 of the report, be agreed.

4. That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Monitoring Officer to approve the Covid-19 Contingency support measures on a programme by programme basis, in 2021/22 financial year. 

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.     That the allocation of Troubled Families funding for 2020/21 to all GM districts, in line with the previously agreed process, be agreed.

2.     That the announcement of a further years funding for the Troubled Families Funding for 2021/22 be noted.

Report of Councillor David Greenhalgh, Portfolio  Lead for Culture.

1.That GM and national activity to date be noted.

2.That the draft GM Culture Recovery Plan be agreed.   

3.That the proposed establishment of a GM Music Commission be endorsed.

Report of Councillor Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy.

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

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

1.   That the paper detailing activity to date and the current collaboration and potential partnership opportunities that are being explored be noted.

2.    That it be noted that by May 2021, GM would be made aware as to whether their application for Blue and/or Green Zone access at the conference had been granted.

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

1.    That the proposal for GM Local Authorities should collectively bid for an additional cr£17m of Green Homes Grant, to expand our existing Green Homes Grant funded programme from £10.3m to cr£27m and extend delivery timescale from September to December 2021, be agreed.

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. That, subject to a successful award, authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to contract with Local Energy North West 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 is to substantially reduce the carbon emissions from approximately 1500 homes in Greater Manchester.

That the report be noted.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.  That the changes to the Active Travel Programme Governance utilised for the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, in order to drive efficiency, as set out in Section 2 of the report, be noted.

2.  That the progress made to date regarding the delivery of the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, and the intention to provide future updates, as set out in Section 3 and Appendix B of the report, be noted.

3.  That the adoption of the Active Travel Interim Design Guide for all cycling and walking schemes, as set out in section 4 and Appendix C of the report, be approved.

4.  That the Delivery Plan for the Greater Manchester Active Travel Fund programme be approved for submission to the Department for Transport, in accordance with the requirements of the fund, as detailed in Section 5 and Appendix D of the report.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1. That the progress made in delivering Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Greater Manchester be noted.

2. That the continuing need for public sector intervention in charging infrastructure to overcome barriers to Electric Vehicle ownership be noted.

3. That the next steps, as set out in the report, to support the further expansion of the system be approved and that the  draft EVCI Strategy be submitted to a meeting of the GMCA this summer.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.     That the updates to the draft City Centre Transport Strategy following public consultation be noted.

2.    That the final City Centre Transport Strategy be endorsed for publication.

Report of GM Mayor Andy Burnham.

1.That the agreed Mayor’s Challenge Fund (MCF) delivery priorities across GM and the prioritised first phase for the programme, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, be noted.

2.  That the release of up to £2.74 million of development cost funding for the 3 MCF schemes, as set out in section 2 of the report, be approved.

3.  That the release of up to £2.1 million MCF funding for Wigan’s Victoria Street and ‘Road to Wigan Pier’ schemes be approved, in order to secure full approval and enable the signing of a delivery agreement, as set out in section 3 of the report.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.    That it be noted that the Local Growth Deal Programme was on target to achieve full Growth Deal grant spend by 31 March 2021.

2.     That the progress made in relation to the Growth Deal Transport Major Works programmes be noted.

3.     That the progress made in relation to the Growth Deal Transport Minor Works and Additional Priorities programmes be noted.

4.     That the progress made in relation to the Non-Transport Skills Capital and Economic Development & Regeneration programmes be noted.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.   That the evidence presented in this summary report, the publication of the full report and its value in shaping future scheme planning and transport strategy development activity be noted.

2.   That the commitment to pilot tram/train multi-modular ticketing in Rochdale Town Centre be reaffirmed.

Report of Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead of Housing, Planning & Environment.

1.   That the proposals for further development and implementation of a Good Landlord Scheme for Greater Manchester, and associated activity to respond to the pressures in the private rented sector, be approved.

2.    That the utilisation of up to £1.5 million over three years from Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loan Fund surpluses to fund activity, as set out in this report, be approved.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.    That the allocation of grant funding to those sites set out within Appendix 1 of the report and the entering into individual Grant Agreements for those recommended sites be approved.

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

Report of Councillor Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy.

1.   That the recommendation of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership to reappoint the six existing private sector members' terms of office a another two-year term: Lou Cordwell, Nancy Rothwell, Lorna Fitzsimons, Amanda Halford, Chris Oglesby, and Richard Topliss), be approved.

2.   That the recommendation of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership to appoint  five new private sector members to join the LEP as full board members: Steve Connor, Justin Kelly, Marilyn Comrie, Miles Rothbury and Vimla Appadoo, be approved.

Report of Councillor Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy.

That the report, the priorities for 2021/22 and the Growth Company Business Plan be noted.

Report of Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Planning & Environment.

That the report be noted.

Report of Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Planning & Environment.

1.  That the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund loans detailed in the table below, be approved:

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

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

1.  That the funding application for Bankifi (equity investment of £700,000) be approved and progressed to due diligence, noting that this decision was exempt from the scrutiny and overview call in procedure.

2.   That the funding application for Dr Fertility (equity investment of £750,000) be approved and progressed to due diligence.

3.   That the funding application for Total Swimming Holdings Limited (an additional loan facility of £2,000,000) be approved and progressed to due diligence.

4.   That the funding application for Erlson Precision Holdings Limited (“Erlson”) (a loan facility of £500,000) be approved and progressed to due diligence.

5.   That the funding application for Waterside Places Limited (a loan facility of £8,000,000) be approved and progressed to due diligence.

6.   That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Monitoring Officer to review the due diligence information in respect of the above companies, and, subject to their satisfactory review and agreement of the due diligence information and the overall detailed commercial terms of the transactions, to sign off any outstanding conditions, issue final approvals and complete any necessary related documentation in respect of the investments at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 above.

7.   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 27 March 2021 to 27 May 2021. Any recommendations that are approved under the delegation will be reported to the next available meeting of the GMCA.

Report of Liz Treacy, GMCA Monitoring Officer.

1.   That the recommendation that the remuneration of the GM Mayor remained at £110,000 be approved.

2.    That the recommendation that the allowances paid to the Independent Members on the GMCA Audit and Standards Committees and Independent Person (Standards) remain unchanged be approved.

3.    That the indexation of the remuneration of the GM Mayor and the allowances paid to the Independent Members and Independent Person (Standards), as set out in the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel, be approved.

4.    That it be agreed that a review of remuneration of these positions be undertaken again in early 2024 before the next Mayoral term begins.

5.    That the Independent Remuneration Panel’s views and recommendations relating to the current pension position of the GM Mayor and current legislation be noted.

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 Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy.

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

That the report be noted.

Report of City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Planning, Housing & Environment.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 28 above refers).

That the report be noted.

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

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 29 above refers).

That the report be noted.