Agenda and decisions

That apologies be received and noted from Jim Taylor and Joanne Roney.

There were no Chairs announcements or items of urgent business

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 interests received.

To consider the approval of the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 2 September 2020.

That the minutes of the meeting of the GMCA held 2 September 2020 be approved as a correct record.

a)      Corporate Issues and Reform – 8 September 2020

b)      Housing, Planning & Environment – 10 September 2020

c)      Economy, Business, Skills & Growth – 11 September 2020

1.              That the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee held 8 September 2020 be noted.

2.              That the minutes of the meeting of the Economy, Business, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee held 11 September 2020 be noted.

3.              That the minutes of the meeting of the Housing, Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee held 12 September 2020 be noted.

1.      To note the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held 8 September 2020.

2.      To note the appointment of Cllr Cox (Bolton) to replace Cllr Allen (Bolton) to the GMCA Audit Committee.

1.              That the minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held 8 September 2020 be noted.

2.              That the appointment of Cllr Cox (Bolton) to replace Cllr Allen (Bolton) to the GMCA Audit Committee be approved.

That the minutes of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership held 8 September 2020 be noted.

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

a)      GMCA COVID Finances Update

b)        GMCA Revenue Update 2020/21

c)         GMCA Capital Update 2020/21

d)        Treasury Management Outturn Report 2019/20

a)      COVID FINANCES UPDATE (KEY DECISION)

1.        That the contents of the report be noted.

2.        That the estimated financial impacts of COVID 19 on GM districts, GMCA and TFGM budgets be noted.

3.        That the analysis of the position be noted for :

o    GM Waste Disposal Budgets

o    TFGM and Metrolink

o    Other GMCA budgets

o    Retained Business Rates pilot

4.        That the return of a further £5m of GMCA reserves to the nine GM waste districts be approved.

5.        That the return of £1m of GMCA funding from GMCA core budgets to or for the use of the ten districts be approved.

b)     GMCA REVENUE UPDATE 2020/21

1.        That it be noted that the Mayoral General revenue outturn position for 2020/21 shows a breakeven position.

2.        That it be noted that the Mayoral General – GM Fire & Rescue revenue outturn position for 2020/21 shows an underspend position of £2.946 million.

3.        That the GMCA General Budget revenue outturn position for 2020/21 be noted, which shows a breakeven position.

4.        That it be noted that the GMCA transport revenue outturn position for 2020/21 was in line with budget.

5.        That the Waste outturn position for 2020/21 be noted and that the proposal to transfer estimated at £2.142m from reserves be noted.

6.        That it be noted that the TfGM revenue position for 2020/21 was in line with budget after efficiency savings and transfers from reserves of £4.870 million.

7.        That is be noted that appropriate adjustments to the 2020/21 budget will be included in the Quarter 2 revenue update.

c)      GMCA CAPITAL UPDATE 2020/21 (KEY DECISION)

1.        That the current 2020/21 forecast underspend of £21.319m compared to the 2020/21 capital budget be noted.

2.        That the addition to the 2020/21 Capital Programme of £1.9 million of costs, funded from the capital grant of £1.9 million that forms part of the £3.2 million of Emergency Active Travel (Tranche 1) funding, be approved.

d)     GMCA TREASURY MANAGEMENT OUTTURN REPORT 2019/20

That the report be noted.

Report of Councillor David Greenhalgh, Portfolio Lead for Culture.

1.        That the activity to date in Greater Manchester and across the UK to support the cultural sector be noted.

2.        That the draft GMCA Culture Recovery Plan, as set out at Appendix B of the report, be agreed.

3.        That it be agreed that Bury would have a further opportunity to be GM’s Town of Culture in 2021.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham.

1.        That the pressures on homelessness services and ongoing response activities be noted, and that the planned next steps be supported.

2.        That a further detailed report on specific measures be submitted to the GMCA in November.

3.        That it be noted that the GMCA would commit to collect, analyse and report on data to understand the impact of this work as an inequalities priority.

Report of Councillor Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for the Green City Region.

1.        That the progress made in developing the Greater Manchester Environment Fund since the publication of the Greater Manchester 5 Year Environment Plan be noted.

2.        That the initiation of the Fund be approved and that authority delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM, GMCA Monitoring Officer and GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Green City region, to finalise the form and make-up of the Fund and GMCA’s role within it.

3.      That the Greater Manchester Environment Fund Briefing Note for publication (annex 1 to the report) be agreed.

4.      That it be noted that the purpose of the fund was to stimulate investment to deliver positive environmental impact across Greater Manchester, the scale of impact will depend on the success of the fund managers in attracting suitable funds.  Projects ultimately delivered by the fund will, inter alia, take into account equality and diversity considerations; the charitable nature of the fund will serve to underpin this aim.

5.      That it be noted that the progress of the fund will be monitored by the Fund Board and be reported quarterly to GMCA and other partners.

6.      That it be noted that the diversity of speakers will be progressed further for next year’s event.

Report of Councillor Andrew Western, Portfolio Lead for the Green City Region.

1.         That it be noted that a bid of £4.7m was submitted by GMCA to the Green Homes Grant: Local Authority Delivery fund early September 2020.

2.         That it be agreed that GMCA should be the accountable body for the bid on behalf of GM Local Authorities.

3.         That, in the event of a successful bid, authority be delegated to Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM and GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Lead Portfolio Lead for Green City Region, to:

·         sign an MOU/contract agreement with BEIS to receive grant funding of circa £4.7m for domestic energy efficiency retrofit programme; and

·         spend the awarded grant funds with EON and GM Registered Providers via an OJEU compliant framework and supply chains

4.         That it be noted that, if delivered as envisioned, the programme will save in the order of 36,000 tonnes carbon emissions over 20 years.  The focus of the programme will be for those citizens on low income, living in energy inefficient homes. The programme would therefore support the alleviation of fuel poverty in over 500 properties in Greater Manchester, with outcomes measured and monitored on a monthly basis.

Report of Councillor Allan Brett, Portfolio Lead for Community, Cooperatives and Inclusion.

1.         That the work undertaken to review GMCA investment with VCSE organisations in the light of the evolving GM policy context be noted.

2.         That the investment proposal contained at section 3 of the report be approved, and approval  be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead and Portfolio Lead Chief Executive for  Community, Co-operatives and Inclusion Portfolio Leader, to award grant agreements, subject to final agreement of GMCA budgets for 2021/22 onwards.

Report of Councillor Brenda Warrington, Portfolio Lead for Age-Friendly Greater Manchester & Equalities.

1.         That the work to date, including responses received to the recent listening exercise, be noted.

2.         That the  establishment of the Race Equality Panel, including the allocation of a budget of £50,000 per annum for a VCSE Race Equality Partner to support the work of the Panel, commencing in the current financial year, be approved.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and Councillor Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy & Business.

1. That the refreshed Greater Manchester International Strategy be approved.

2. That the development of relationships with countries with which GM has a strong cultural links, such as Bangladesh, be progressed.

3. That the importance of the development GM’s unique infrastructure assets to support logistics and address congestion, be recognised as integral to GM ambition to build back better and aligned to the green economy.

Report of Councillor Elise Wilson, Portfolio Lead for Economy & Business.

1. That the latest update of the Greater Manchester Economic Resilience Dashboard be noted.

2. That it be noted that GM remained confident and ambitious, with the continuation of lobbying for support and interventions for residents.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham, Portfolio Lead for Transport.

1.         That the agreed MCF delivery priorities across GM and the prioritised first phase for the programme, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, be noted.

2.         That £6.9 million MCF funding for the Stockport Bramhall Park to A6 Major Scheme be approved, in order to secure Full Approval and enable the signing of a Delivery Agreement.

3.         That the release of up to £2.6 million of development cost funding for the two MCF schemes, as set out in the report, be approved.

Report of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham, Porfolio Lead for Transport.

1. That the good progress made in relation to the Growth Deal Transport Major Schemes programme be noted.

2. That the good progress made in relation to the Growth Deal Transport Minor Works and Additional Priorities programmes be noted.

3. That the good progress made in relation to the Non Transport Skills Capital and Economic Development & Regeneration (ED &R) programmes be noted.

4. That the payment of grants of £1.819 million to Bolton in relation to the delivery of the SBNI Bolton Delivery Package 5 Phase 3 scheme be approved.

5. That the expenditure approvals for phased delivery of the remaining SBNI 2020/21 works not exceeding £6.036 million be approved, subject to agreed Growth Deal governance.

6. That the expenditure approval for delivery of the first phase of the Oldham Town Centre Regeneration 2020/21 works, not exceeding £1.355 million be approved, subject to agreed Growth Deal governance.

Report of Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure.

1. That the draft Tripartite Agreement between GMCA, GM Housing Providers and the GM Health and Social Care Partnership be approved.

2. That it be noted that an official launch and signing event will be arranged over the forthcoming weeks.

Report of Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure.

1.         That the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund loans as detailed below, be approved:

2.         That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the GMCA Monitoring Officer, to prepare and effect the necessary legal agreements.

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 Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure.

That the report be noted.