Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Colin McLaren (Oldham), Kallum Nolan (Rochdale), Tanya Burch (Salford), Dena Ryness (Stockport), Anne Duffield (Trafford).

The Chair extended thanks to Councillors Greg Stanton, and Sam Al-Hamdani for their  attendance at the meeting as substitutes.

Thanks was also extended to GMFRS, for hosting a Briefing session on Thursday 6 February 2020, at the Bury Fire Training Centre. The session focussed on the changing nature of fire risk in GM, so that Members were better prepared to scrutinise, and to support the identification of potential deep dive themes.

The Chair welcomed Mayor Andy Burnham, and GMCA Treasurer Steve Wilson, who were in attendance to present the budget reports.

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.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To consider the approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2019, as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2019 were submitted for approval.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2019 be agreed.

Reports of GM Mayor Andy Burnham, Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Investment & Resources, and Steve Wilson, Treasurer to GMCA.

GM Mayor Andy Burnham introduced the suite of GMCA Budget Reports 2020/21, which would be considered by the GMCA on Friday 14 February 2020.

The Mayor advised that when determining the precept level, he had given careful consideration to the impact to residents, and expressed his concerns regarding the need to use council tax to fund frontline services, which could be seen as regressive taxation, as this was not sustainable.

Whilst additional Government funding had been announced to support the Police Service to recruit additional police officers, it was acknowledged that a fairer settlement was needed for the Fire Service given the increased pressures they face in light of the Grenfell Inquiry and recent incident at ‘The Cube’ in Bolton.

It was noted that resources were also required to improve the public transport system in GM, in particularly buses. The Board were informed that the ‘Our Pass’ pilot was intended to boost public transport, and increase patronage on buses, but transformational change would be a challenge without recognition from central government, given the pressures on local councils

The following key points were highlighted:

·         The total impact of the proposals for the Mayoral General Budget would mean an increase in the mayoral precept for a Band D property of £7.75 (when combined with the GMFRS proposals the total precept increases by £14 to £90.95 for a Band D property or £10.88 for Band B).

·         The increase would deliver the previously agreed continuation of the ‘Our Pass’ pilot into 2020/21. TfGM were currently undertaking an analysis of the pilot, noting that to date, there were over 38,000 pass holders, who had taken approximately 5.8 million journeys, and accessed over 8000 opportunities linked to the pass. A recent GM FE publication had indicated that the ‘Our Pass’ was providing greater choice for students.

·         It would also provide £2.6 million for mayoral priorities which would contribute to:

-          The continuation of the rough sleeper initiative ‘A Bed Every Night’ (ABEN) pilot (£1.5 million). It was noted that at last count, there was 111 rough sleepers across GM, a significant reduction from 268 reported in 2017.

-          A proposed care leaver’s travel concession (circa £0.55 million).

·         It was proposed that the GM Fire and Rescue service budget increases to £110.9 million in 2020/21. The increased budget would fund inflationary and other pressures and reduce the previously expected saving requirement from the service. These plans consider the preliminary findings in relation to the Grenfell inquiry, and the incident at ‘The Cube’ in Bolton. In light of these incidents, previous savings relating to the reduction of the number of ‘pumps’ from 50 to 48, and changes to the crewing ratios, and non-shift duty system have been removed from the 2020/21 budgets, pending further review.

·         The required increased budget would be funded by a precept increase equal to £6.25 for a Band D property, with central Government funding increasing by 1.6%. The Mayor advised that following the Grenfell Inquiry there was a greater role in fire safety and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report of Joanne Heron, Statutory Scrutiny Officer, GMCA.

Joanne Heron, Statutory Scrutiny Officer, introduced the 2019/20 work programme for Members to review, develop and agree.

Consideration was given to the March work programme, and it was proposed that following the GMFRS briefing session, the Committee should consider the results of the High Rise Residents Survey. Given this, it was proposed that Care Leavers Charter update be deferred until June 2020.

The Committee considered the June 2020 work programme, and what items should be considered to inform the development of the work programme for 2020/21. The Chair proposed that it would be beneficial to consider the expected announcements from Government regarding the Spending Review and Devolution White Paper.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the work programme be agreed.

2.      That the results of the latest High Rise Residents Survey be considered by the Committee in March 2020.

3.      That the Care Leavers Charter be deferred until June 2020. 

4.        That the expected Government announcements relating to the Spending Review and Devolution White Paper be considered by the Committee in June 2020. 

https://democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=386

RESOLVED:

That the Register of Key Decisions be noted.

Tuesday 17 March 2020 at 6pm, GMCA Offices.

Tuesday 17 March 2020, at 6pm, GMCA Offices.