Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Colin McLaren (Oldham) and Cllr Kallum Nolan (Rochdale).

To appoint a Chair for the municipal year.

Nominations were invited for the position of Chair of the GMCA Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2019/20 Municipal Year. Councillor Stella Smith proposed Councillor Tim Pickstone and Councillor John McGahan proposed that he be appointed as temporary Chair until the Housing, Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee had appointed a Chair to ensure political balance. The Committee agreed that Councillor Tim Pickstone be appointed as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

 RESOLVED:

1.      It was unanimously agreed that Councillor Tim Pickstone be appointed as Chair for the Annual General Meeting of the GMCA Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

2.      That the Appointment of the Chair of the GMCA Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2019/20 Municipal Year be agreed at the July meeting. 

To appoint a Vice Chair 2019/20.

The Chair invited nominations for the position of Vice Chair of the GMCA Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2019/20 Municipal Year. Councillor Bob Allen proposed Councillor John McGahan and Councillor Dave Morgan seconded the proposal. The Committee agreed that Councillor John McGahan be appointed.

RESOLVED:

It was unanimously agreed that Councillor John McGahan be appointed as Vice Chair of the GMCA Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

To detail those Members appointed to the committee, and provide a quick reference point:

The Committee were asked to note its Membership for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

Oldham had now nominated Councillor Chris Goodwin who would be formally appointed at the June meeting of the GMCA.

RESOLVED:

That the membership for the 2019/20 municipal year be noted.

To remind Members of their obligations under the GMCA Members’ Code of Conduct and to request Members complete an annual declaration of interest form which will be published on the GMCA website.

Consideration was given to a report that reminded Members that the GMCA’s Member Code of Conduct (Appendix 1 of the report) set out high expectations with regard to Members’ conduct. As Members of the GMCA’s overview and scrutiny committees are co-opted onto a GMCA Committee the GMCA’s code applied to them when they were acting in this capacity. Members were also reminded that they were required to complete an annual declaration of interest form, which would be published on the GMCA’s website.

RESOLVED:

1.      That Members note the report regarding Member Code of Conduct (Appendix 1 of the report).

2.      That Member’s complete an annual register of interest form (Appendix B of the report) and return it to the Governance & Scrutiny Officer.

3.      That an electronic version of the register of interest form be circulated to the Committee.

To note and comment on the committee’s Terms of Reference.

Members were provided with the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s terms of reference. 

RESOLVED:

That the Committee’s Terms of Reference be noted. 

To receive any Member’s declarations of interest in relation to any item on the agenda. A blank form for declaring interests has been circulated with the agenda; please ensure that this is returned to the Governance and Scrutiny Officer at the start of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest received.

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

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

A Member requested that the GMFRS Outline Business Case, which had been due to be discussed at the cancelled April 2019 meeting, be included within the work programme for 2019/20.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th March 2019 be approved as a correct record.

2.      That the GMFRS Outline Business Case be prioritised within the work programme.

Report of Simon Nokes, Executive Director Policy and Strategy, GMCA

Andrew Lightfoot, Deputy Chief Executive, introduced a report which provided Members with the latest six monthly update of the Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS) implementation plan and performance dashboards. It was explained that the update provided progress against the agreed delivery milestones and ambitions, and updated the outcome measures for each of the GMS priorities. The updated plan also provided new delivery milestones at 6 and 12 months.

Key areas highlighted included:

·         It was recognised that GM had greater control over progress in some areas, compared with those impacted by national Government. GM would concentrate its focus on its areas of slow progress within each priority.

·         Priority 1: children starting school ready to learn, and Priority 10: an age-friendly Greater Manchester, and enabling actions and ways of working were identified as areas of particular focus.

·         There was a vast amount of work being undertaken across Greater Manchester in relation to priority 1 – children starting school ready to learn. This has seen steady improvement over recent years. However, whilst the gap within the national average has narrowed over recent years, it still remains significant, therefore achievement of the 2020 target would be challenging.

·         Improved early years outcomes were a fundamental to achievement of our ambitions across the GMS priorities, and work was underway with schools to support them to become leaders in early years. A GM Early Years Workforce Academy had been agreed in principle with the aim of rolling out a consistent, high quality workforce development approach to place-based team and early years settings. 

·         A pilot had been delivered with partners including the BBC to develop parental online support for early language development.

·         Good progress was being made on priority 10 – An Age-Friendly Greater Manchester, noting that a study was currently underway to identify a new suite of indicators for the Age-Friendly Strategy, with support from the Centre for Ageing Better (CfAB). Once concluded, the current set of priority 10 measures would be refreshed for future reporting.

Member’s comments and questions included the following:

·         A Member of the School Readiness Task and Finish Group highlighted that they had produced a report on their findings which they would like to present to the Committee. It was confirmed that the report would be considered at the July meeting.

·         The Member questioned why the dashboard indicated that there had been improvement whilst the gap between GM and the national average remained the same? Andrew Lightfoot advised that the Cabinet Secretary had attended a recent Reform Board where the challenges and opportunities had been discussed. There was recognition that a significant part of the gap related to the proportion of children with the most complex needs, and a strong correlation between lower levels of school readiness and deprivation. However, it was anticipated that next years intake of reception children would demonstrate further improvement against the national average.

·         A Member asked whether the number of ‘hospital admissions due to falls amongst GM residents aged over 65’ included figures relating to the number who had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of Joanne Heron, Statutory Scrutiny Officer, Governance & Scrutiny Team, GMCA

Joanne Heron, Statutory Scrutiny Officer, introduced the 2019/20 work programme, provided for Members to develop, review and agree. The Committee agreed that further discussion in relation to the work programme would be undertaken in the induction session following the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted and discussed further in the Scrutiny induction sessions.

To agree future meeting dates.

CI10/19                       DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

Members were provided with a proposed schedule of dates and times for 2019/20 meetings of the Committee. It was agreed that the majority of meetings would be held on the second Tuesday of the month from 6.00 – 8.00pm. There are no meetings scheduled for April 2020.

RESOLVED:

That the following dates/times of future meetings be agreed: