Agenda and decisions

Apologies were received and noted from Councillors Paul Prescott (Wigan) and Hamid Khurram (Bolton).

To appoint a Chair to the Bee Network Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year.

That the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham be appointed as Chair for the 2023/2024 municipal year.

To appoint a Vice-Chair to the Bee Network Committee for the 2023/2024 municipal year.

That Councillor Eamonn O’Brien be appointed as Vice Chair for the 2023/24 municipal year.    

To note the membership of the Committee for the forthcoming municipal year.

Members:

Mayoral Appointments:

That the membership of the Committee for the forthcoming year be noted as below:

To note the requirements under the Members Code of Conduct and request that all members complete their Annual Declaration of Interest Form and return it to the Governance & Scrutiny Officer.

1.    That the Code of Conduct be noted.

2.      That members complete their Annual Declaration of Interest and return their duly filled form to the Governance & Scrutiny Officer.

To note the Committee’s Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure.

1.    That the Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure be noted.

1. To appoint five members to the Greater Manchester Accessible Transport Board.

2. To appoint one member to the GM Green City Region Partnership.

1.      That Councillors Tracy Rawlins, Phil Burke, David Meller, Sean Fielding and Dan Costello be appointed to the Greater Manchester Accessible Transport Board.

2.      That Mike McCusker be appointed to the Green City Region Partnership.

1.    That the update on the Mayor’s position in relation to the closure of ticket offices be noted.

2.    That the following motion be passed by the Bee Network Committee:

The 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 it be noted that Councillor Phil Burke declared a personal interest in items 14 & 17 as an employee of Metrolink.

Report of Martin Lax, Transport Strategy Director, TfGM

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

2.    That it be noted that the Bee Network Committee suggests that the GMCA recommends to GM Local Authorities to replicate the Bee Network Committee model at a district level to ensure better control and coordination over deployment of services across the Bee Network.

3.    That a further report on advertising policy on buses be received at a future meeting.

4.    In noting that safety was a prerequisite to successfully increasing patronage on the network, it was agreed that a standing invite should be extended to GMP colleagues to all future meetings of the Committee.

5.    That a further report on the Customer Growth Strategy be received at a future meeting.

6.    That prior to submission to DfT, the Local Transport Plan be received by the Committee.

7.    That it be noted that the Bee Network Committee would receive regular updates on progress towards targets set out within the Bus Strategy.

Report of Chris Barnes, Infrastructure Pipeline Programme Director, TfGM.

1. That it be noted that the Greek Street Bridge / Stockholm Road Bridge scheme has achieved Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) approval and that approval be given to the total draw-down for this scheme of £6.0m (comprising, £4.1m from the Tram-Train Package and £1.9m from Stockport Council’s Strategic Maintenance Package);

2. That the draw-down of CRSTS funding be agreed as follows:

·         City Centre Bus and S4A Connectivity Programme (Radials) – £3.28m to progress individual Outline Business Cases for a number of radial corridors, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC in due course;

·         Oldham Mumps Corridor Improvements – £0.68m to develop the scheme to Final Business Case, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC at that stage;

·         Stockport Station – £1.35m to continue to progress design and development activity to a single preferred option, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC in due course;

·         Salford Quays Northern Access – an additional £0.19m to develop the scheme to Full Business Case, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC at that stage;

·         Bury – Rochdale Quality Bus Transit - £0.96m to continue to develop the scheme to Outline Business Case, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC at that stage;

·         Wigan – Leigh Quality Bus Transit - £0.56m to continue to develop the scheme to Outline Business Case, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC at that stage;

·         Wigan – Bolton Quality Bus Transit – £0.43m to continue to develop the scheme to Outline Business Case, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC at that stage;

·         Access for All Programme – £0.27m to complete development of four AfA schemes to Full Business Case and further study work to support the Rail Strategy. Noting a further update will be brought to the BNC upon completion of the procurement exercise; and

·         Bury Interchange - £2.72m to facilitate the completion of the Outline Business Case, noting that a further update will be brought to the BNC at that stage.

3. That the draw-down of Active Travel funding be agreed as follows:

·         £2.55m to enable full delivery of the Bury Radcliffe Central Phase 1 scheme;

·         £2.45m to enable full delivery of the GM Average Safety Cameras scheme;

·         £0.75m to enable development of the ATF3, Manchester Alan Turing Way scheme; and

·         £0.24m to enable development of the ATF4, GM-wide Signal Junction Upgrades scheme.

4.    That further details on the Greek Street Bridge / Stockholm Road consultation be shared with Councillor Meller. 

5.    That it be noted that the Transport Capital Programme would be reviewed on a bi-annual basis and that regular reports would be received by the Bee Network Committee.

Report of Martin Lax, Transport Strategy Director, TfGM

1.    That TfN’s draft Strategic Transport Plan be noted.

2.    That the key points for inclusion in Greater Manchester’s response be noted and endorsed.

3.    That the Bee Network Committee agrees to delegate the approval of the final consultation response to the Chief Executive of TfGM and GMCA.

4.    That it be noted that TfGM officers were responding to a number of relevant consultations being carried out by National Highways and the Department for Transport.

Report of Helen Humble, Head of Ticketing, TfGM

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

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

3.    That further details on the Salford Corridor discounted products be shared with City Mayor Dennett.

4.    That the issue raised around the variation in the cost of products offered by Go-NorthWest operators would be reviewed and a response would be provided to Councillor Bailey.

5.    That the issue of not being able to purchase a multi-modal ticket at train station would be reviewed and a response would be provided to Councillor Fielding.

Report of Daniel Vaughan, Head of Metrolink, TfGM

1.    That the contents of the report be noted.

2.    That approval be given to the proposed terms of extension to the Metrolink Operations and Maintenance Agreement (MOMA) with Keolis Amey Metrolink Ltd (KAM) from 21 July 2024 to 25 July 2027.

3.    That it be noted that a detailed report that will include the SIFT analysis of the prioritised Tram-Train schemes would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

To be confirmed by the Governance & Scrutiny Officer following the meeting.

RESOLVED/-

That the programme of future meetings 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 Daniel Vaughan, Head of Metrolink, TfGM

That the contents of the report be noted.

Clerk’s Note: This item was considered in support of the report considered in Part A of the agenda (Item 14 above refers).