Agenda and decisions

That apologies be received and noted from Councillor Martyn Cox (Bolton), Councillor Amanda Chadderton (Oldham) & Joanne Roney (Manchester).

1.            That the GMCA wishes Geoff Little all the best for the future following his retirement as the Chief Executive of Bury Council as of 28^th February 2023.

2.            That the latest update on the progress of the GM proposal and the Governments response to GM Non charging clean air zone be received.

3.            That it be noted that  the Air Quality Administration Committee will consider the issues raised on the latest clean air zone developments at its meeting of 27^th February 2023.

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 meeting.

That it be noted that both Mayor Paul Dennett (Salford) and Councillor Hilary Fairclough (Bolton) declared an interest in item 16 (GM Culture Investment Approach – Proposed Spirit and Sustain Portfolio).

To consider the approval of the minute of the meeting held on 27 January 2023.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 27 January 2023 be approved.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 25 January 2023.

That the minutes of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 25 January 2023 be noted.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held on 25 January 2023.

That the minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 25 January 2023 be noted.

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

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

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

That the contents of the summary paper be noted.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.     That the Mayor’s General budget for 2023/24 set out in this report together with the calculation of the precepts and Council Tax rates set out in Appendix 2 be approved.

2.     That the MayoralGeneral Precept to£107.95(Band D)comprisingof£76.20 for functions previouslycoveredby theFireandRescue Authoritypreceptand£31.75forotherMayoralGeneralfunctions be approved.

3.        That the following be approved:

i.        the overall budget for the Fire and RescueService for 2023/24 covered by the Mayoral precept.

iii.      the medium-term financial position for the Fire and Rescue Service.

4.    That approval be given to the use of reserves as set out in section 3 of the report and the assessment by the Treasurer that the reserves as at March 2023 are adequate.

5.     That it be noted that in accordance with legal requirements, the minutes will record the names of those Members voting for or against the Mayor’s budget and precept proposals.

6.     That the feedback from the GMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee be received and noted.

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

1.       That the risks and issues which are affecting the 2023/24 transport budgets as detailed in the report be noted.

2.       That the GMCA budget relating to transport functions funded through the Levy, as set out in this report for 2023/24 be approved.

3.       That a Transport Levy on the District Councils in 2023/24 of £113.472m, apportioned on the basis of mid-year population 2020 be approved.

4.       That a Statutory Charge of £86.7m to District Councils in 2023/24 as set out in Part 4 of the Transport Order, apportioned on the basis of mid-year population 2020 be approved.

5.       That the proposal to increase fees and charges where applicable, in line with inflation and to approve the increases proposed to Bus stop closure charges. as set out in paragraphs 4.32 and 4.33 be approved.

6.       That the use of Transport reserves in 2022/23 and 2023/24 as detailed in section 5 be approved.

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

1.       That the budget relating to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority functions excluding transport and waste in 2023/24 as set out in section 2 of this report be approved.

2.       That District contributions of £8.603 million as set out in section 5 of this report be approved.

3.       That the use of reserves as set out in section 6 of the report be approved.

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

1.     That the forecast outturn for 2022/23 be noted.

2.      That the proposed 2024/25 Trade Waste rate of £134.14 to allow forward planning by Districts be approved.

3.      That the budget and levy for 2023/24 of £169m (2.5% increase) be approved. 

4.      That approval be given to a one-off reduction of £27m to the levy in 2023/24 funded from reserves reducing the 2023/24 requirement to £142m andauthority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer to agree the basis of distribution with local authority Treasurers.

5.      That the risk position set out in the balances and reserves strategy be noted.

Report of Cllr David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources and Investment

1.       That the current 2022/23 forecast of £462.1m compared to the 2022/23 previous forecast of £565.6m and approve changes to the capital programme as set out in the report be noted.

2.       That the capital programme budget for 2023/24 and the forward plan as detailed in the report and in Appendix A be approved.

3.       That funding from the City Region Sustainable Transport Scheme (CRSTS) grant as set out in Section 3.10 of this report be approved.

4.       That a further update on the Capital Budget be submitted to the May 2023 meeting of the GMCA.

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

1.         That the 2022/23 forecast outturn position for the GMCA budgets at the end of December 2022 (quarter 3) be noted.

2.         That the changes to the GMCA General and Transport budgets following the confirmation of additional funding and planned expenditure during quarter 3 shown in sections 2 and 6 of the report be approved.

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

1.         That comments on the proposed approach to Skills Bootcamp delivery until March 2025 be noted.

2.         That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and 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 Steve Rumbelow, Portfolio Lead Chief Executive for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure.

1.            That the following investments of City Deal Receipts, as detailed further in this and the accompanying Part B report 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 Investment and Resources.

1.               That an investment into My First Five Years Ltd (investment of up to £150k) be approved.

2.               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.

Report of Cllr Neil Emmott,  Portfolio Lead for Culture.

1.               That approval be given to a three-year budget of £4,425,000 p/a from April 2023 (subject to annual review) to support the new GMCA Cultural Investment Approach. Annual budget to be made up of £3.3m District Contributions and £1.25m Retained Business Rates.

2.               That approval be given to the proposal that, between April 2023 and March 2026 this budget will be spent in the following ways:

o   £3,965,000 p/a to support delivery and project management of the five strands of the new GM Culture Investment approach (recommended Spirit and Sustain organisations and recommended levels of investment detailed within the Part B item of this report)

§  Inspire (£100,000 p/a)

§  Spirit (See Part B)

§  Sustain (See Part B)

§  Collaborate (£120,000 p/a)

§  Strategic (£150,000 p/a)

§  Project Management (£70,000 p/a)

o   £460,000 p/a to support the ongoing social impact commitment

3.               That it be noted that the list of organisations proposed to be funded by the GMCA Culture Fund are detailed in a separate report to be considered in Part B of this agenda, to be made public within one month of this meeting.

4.            That the outlined approach to GM Town of Culture 2023, with a view to revising the application process in 2024 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.

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 Neil Emmott, Portfolio Lead for Culture.

1.            That the list of organisations and amounts to be awarded, funded from the GMCA Culture Fund  2023 – 26, as detailed in Appendix A be approved.

2.            That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Culture Portfolio Leader and Chief Executive, to enter into grant funding agreements with the organisations.

3.           That the proposal for the report to be made public within one month of this meeting be approved.

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

That the report be noted.

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

That the report be noted.