Agenda and decisions

That apologies be received from Councillor Nicholas Peel (Bolton), Councillor Bev Craig (Manchester), Councillor Tom Ross (Trafford), Sue Johnson (Bolton), Joanne Roney (Manchester) & Tom Stannard (Salford).

1. That the update following recent high profile news stories in relation to Greater Manchester Police be received.

2. That updates on the Dame Vera Baird KC led review be submitted to the GMCA as and when appropriate.

3. That Chief Constable Stephen Watson be invited to a forthcoming GMCA meeting to provide his own view on the matters.

4. That the following motion be agreed:

This Committee resolves to support the action of the Mayor of Greater Manchester and other Mayors in opposing the current proposal to close ticket offices in rail stations.

We call on the Rail Delivery Group to halt the current process and undertake a full consultation in accordance with the requirements of the Railways Act 2005.

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 there were no declarations of interest made in relation to any item on the agenda.

To consider the approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2023.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 30 June 2023 be approved as a correct record.

To note the minutes of the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 June 2023.

That the minutes of the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 7 June 2023 be noted.

1.     To note the minutes of the GMCA Waste & Recycling Committee held on 13 July 2023.

2.     To approve the appointment of Councillor Alan Quinn as the Chair of the Waste & Recycling Committee for this municipal year.

1.              That the minutes of the GMCA Waste & Recycling Committee held on 13 July 2023 be noted.

2.              That the appointment of Councillor Alan Quinn as the Chair of the Waste & Recycling Committee for this municipal year be approved.

To note the minutes of the Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee held on 13 July 2023.

That the minutes of the Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee meeting held on 13 July 2023 be noted.

Item withdrawn.

1.             To approve the appointment of 1 Greater Manchester Councillor to the Growth Company Board.

2.             To approve the appointment of 1 Greater Manchester Liberal Democrat member to the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

1.            That Councillor Elizabeth Patel (Trafford) (Labour) be appointed to the Growth Company Board.

2.              That Councillor Sean Ennis (Trafford) (Liberal Democrat) be appointed to the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

3.              That Councillor Christine Roberts (Wigan) (Labour) be appointed as a substitute to the GMCA Audit Committee.

Report of Gill Duckworth, GMCA Solicitor and Monitoring Officer.

1.               That the draft of the annual report in conjunction with the independent evaluation, set out in Annex A, be noted.

2.            That it be noted that the GMCA Overview & Scrutiny Committee will submit a report on their activities to the GMCA on an annual basis.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.            That the update be welcomed and that the next steps over the coming months, as set out in paragraph 4, be noted as follow:

• Analysis of the stakeholder consultation and public poll responses will be completed and will inform the further development of the technical education/MBacc proposals.

• Framing of the seven Employer Boards (one per career gateway) to help employers shape clear pathways for young people into the jobs of the future and understanding the areas of study needed for these pathways. In this way it will create the same clarity around the technical education route as already exists around the university route. These Employer Boards will sit within the wider governance and accountability landscape linked to the Devolution Deal, including arrangements for implementing the LSIP recommendations. These Boards will be established in the early Autumn.

2.             That it be noted that that developmental work will continue over the summer and further details will follow with the intention to submit proposals for the new governance arrangements to the GMCA in September 2023 for consideration and approval.

3.             That feedback from public polling be submitted to a future meeting of the GMCA.

Report of Councillor Tom Ross, Portfolio Lead for Green City Region.

1.                 That the report and the proposed approach to delivering the outcomes from the GM Local Area Energy Plan be noted.

2.            That the investigation and development of outline business cases to accelerate inward investment and delivery be noted.

3.            That the development of regional delivery structure, operating model and required capacity be endorsed.

4.            That the need for additional dedicated resource to support development of new commercial and finance solutions, the approach to which will be set out in a further report in relation to further work following agreement to the Strategic Outline Business Case, be endorsed.

5.            That the submission of a circa £5m bid to Innovate UK Net Zero Living: Pathfinder Places, to support delivery of the above, with the GMCA to act as the accountable body, be approved.

6.            That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA and TfGM  and GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Portfolio Leader, Green City Region, to finalise the bid, receive and defray funding if successful.

Report of Councillor Tom Ross, Portfolio Lead for Green City Region.

1.                    That the forthcoming opportunity presented by the LEAD funding be noted.

2.            That the proposed approach, with the GMCA acting as the accountable body for the LEAD programme, be approved.

3.            That authority be delegatedto GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Solicitor & Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Lead Portfolio Lead for Green City Region to

·         Sign a grant funding agreement with the DESNZ to receive grant funding for a GM LEAD project up to £2.14m.

·         Expend the awarded grant funds by defrayed agreements via the funding partners i.e., 3 Local Authorities, 2 Social Enterprises, 2 private business and a cooperative.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

That the Atom Valley MDZ Business Plan 2023 - 2024 (Appendix A) be approved.

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

1.         That Wigan Council be granted up to £1,958,294 of GM’s UKSPF allocation over 2 years to deliver the activity, expenditure, outcomes and outputs set out in their UKSPF Communities and Place Phase 2 proposal by March 2025, taking the Wigan Council Communities and Place UKSPF investment across Phases 1 and 2 to a maximum of £3,008,294.

2.         That the additional impact of the Wigan Council Phase 2 proposal to the collective impact of the currently approved ten Local Authority proposals, in exceeding the majority of outcomes and outputs for the Communities and Place Investment Priority as set out in the GM UKSPF Investment Plan, be noted.

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

1.                    That the recommendations of the GM UKSPF Local Partnership Board on the strategic fit and deliverability of the UKSPF proposal for the creation of an Inclusive Ownership Platform and associated business support activity be approved.

2.                    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 approve the procurement method and subsequent award of contract(s) worth £825,000 across the following indicative allocations:

·         £460,000 for specialist support activities which address gaps or weaknesses in the current support available to inclusively owned businesses: and

·         £365,000 for the creation and management of the GM Inclusive Ownership Platform, delivering the UKSPF outputs and outcomes described in this report.

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

1.    That an increase to the Mayoral budget of £500k funded from Mayoral reserves towards the cost of additional extended rough sleeper provision provided through Manchester City Council (para 3.2) be approved.

2.    That an increase to the revenue grant to Transport for Greater Manchester of £7.8m funded from the Capital Programme Reserve to fund capital financing costs that are unable to be met from Metrolink revenues (para. 6.14) be approved.

3.    That the intention to re-allocate £15m of Bus Service Improvement Programme (BSIP) grant funding previously awarded by Department for Transport to support bus services, with £7.5m of this re-allocation to be utilised in 2023/24 and £7.5m in 2024/25 (para 6.14) be noted.

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

1.                 That the current 2023/24 forecast of £681.3m compared to the 2023/24 budget of £591.8m be noted and changes to the capital programme, as set out in the report, be approved.

2.                 That an increase in the Transport capital budget, approved by GMCA in June 2023 as part of the Transport Capital Programme report for the City Region Sustainable Transport schemes of £41.4m, as outlined in section 2.9, be noted.  That the inclusion within this figure of Greater Manchester’s (GM’s) share of the national Additional Maintenance (Pothole) Funding of £6.2m within the 2023/24 forecast, as outlined in section 2.9.4 of this report, also be noted.

3.                 That other increases in capital budget over £500k be approved as follows: 

·         Active Travel Fund 4 (ATF4) capital funding of £3.6m as outlined in section 2.5;

·         Access for All of £2.8m as outlined at section 2.7;

·         GM One Network of £1.8m as outlined at section 2.14;

·         Regional Growth Fund Loans of £3.9m outlined at section 3.1;

·         Growing Places of £9.3m for outlined at section 3.2;

·         Housing Investment Loans Fund of £9.6m outlined at section 3.3;

·         Brownfield Land Fund of £16.4m outlined at section 3.7;

·         Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding of £1.8m outlined at section 3.9;

·         UK Share Prosperity Fund carry forward of £1m unspent approvals from 2022/23 outlined at section 3.10;

·         Social Housing Decarbonisation funding of £26.7m outlined at section 3.11;

·         Social Housing Quality Fund of £15.0m outlined at section 3.12;

·         Homeless Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme of £2.1m outlined at section 3.13 and Fire and Rescue Services of £4.0m outlined as section 4.

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

That the contents of the report be noted.

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

1.                    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 approve urgent variations to the terms of funding in the period 29 July 2023 to 28^th September 2023

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

Report of Councillor Ged Cooney, Portfolio Lead for Housing.

1.                    That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM,  in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Housing, to approve projects for GMHILF and/or City Deal Receipts funding, and agree urgent variations to the terms of GMHILF and/or City Deal Receipts funding, in the period 29 July 2023 to 28 September 2023.

2.                    That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM,  in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Housing, to approve further allocations of brownfield funding, that has been devolved to GMCA, in the period 29 July 2023 to 28 September 2023.

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

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 Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.                 That the proposed range of fares and products that will be available to customers travelling on franchised bus services from 24^th September 2023 be approved.

2.                 That the recommendations and feedback from the GM Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Bee Network Committee be noted.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.                 That the draft Greater Manchester Bus Strategy be approved.

2.                 That the recommendations and feedback from the Bee Network Committee be noted.

3.                 That the principle of the replication of the Bee Network Committee model at a district level to better control and coordinate the deployment of Bus Services be endorsed.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.            That the contents of the report be noted.

2.                 That the recommendations and feedback from the Bee Network Committee be noted.

3.                 That the proposed terms of an extension to the MOMA with KAM from 21 July 2024 to 25 July 2027 be approved.

4.                 That it be noted that a large-scale review of the vision for Metrolink will be undertaken late 2024/ 2025, noting the review will include any potential Metrolink network expansion and the current financial compensatory arrangements in place for those authorities who do not currently have a Metrolink service.

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 Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.            That the contents of the report be noted.

2.           That the recommendations and feedback from the Bee Network Committee be noted.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 24 above refers).