Agenda and decisions

That apologies be received from Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester), Councillor David Molyneux (Wigan), Lynne Ridsdale (Bury), Tom Stannard (Manchester) & Sara Todd (Trafford).

GMCA Members are required to note that Andy Burnham, as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, under Part 5A, section 4 of the Constitution, is the Chair of the GMCA (ex-officio).

That it be noted that Andy Burnham, as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, under Part 5A, section 4 of the Constitution, is the Chair of the GMCA (ex-officio).

Under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution, GMCA Members are required to appoint at least 2 but no more than 3 Vice Chairs for 2024/25.

·       To note the Deputy Mayor, Paul Dennett, is automatically appointed as a Vice Chair, under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution.

·       To note that Councillor Mark Roberts is automatically appointed as a Vice Chair, under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution.

·       To consider the appointment of one other member as a Vice Chair, under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution

1.                     That it be noted that City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Deputy Mayor, is automatically appointed as a Vice Chair of the GMCA, under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution.

2.                     That it be noted that that Councillor Mark Roberts is automatically appointed as a Vice Chair of the GMCA, under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution.

3.                     That the appointment of Councillor Bev Craig as a Vice Chair of the GMCA, under Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution be approved.

Report of Gillian Duckworth, Group Solicitor and Monitoring Officer.

That the revised constitution accompanying this report as the Constitution of the GMCA be adopted.

A report of Gillian Duckworth, Group Solicitor & Monitoring Officer .

1. That the appointments by Greater Manchester Local Authorities of members and substitute members to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority for 2025/26 be noted as follows:

2. That the appointment of Sarah Horseman, Interim Deputy Director of Governance & Scrutiny, as the Secretary of the GMCA be approved.

3. That the appointment of the following members to the GMCA Standards Committee for 2025/26 be approved:

4. That the appointment of the following members to the GMCA Resources Committee for 2025/26 be approved:

5. That the appointment of the following members and substitute members to the GMCA Audit Committee for 2025/26 be approved:

6. That 15 members and 15 substitute members be appointed to the GMCA Waste & Recycling Committee for 2025/26 as follows:

7. That the appointment of the Mayor of Greater Manchester to the Bee Network Committee for 2025/26 be noted.

8. That Tom Ross (Lab) (Trafford) be appointed, to act as the substitute member for the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to the Bee Network Committee for 2025/26.

9. That Eamonn O’Brien (Lab) (Bury) be appointed to act as the GMCA member on the Bee Network Committee member for 2025/26, and that Neil Emmott (Lab) (Rochdale) be appointed to act as GMCA substitute member on the Bee Network Committee for 2025/26.

10. That the Bee Network  ...  view the full decision text for item 5.

The GMCA is requested to note the following schedule of meetings for 2025/26 :

2025

22 August 2025

26 September 2025

7 November 2025

28 November 2025

13 December 2025

2026

30 January 2026

13 February 2026

27 February 2026 (if required)

27 March 2026

27 May 2026

26 June 2026

That the following schedule of meetings for 2025/26 be noted:

2025

22 August 2025 (replacing 25 July meeting)

26 September 2025

7 November 2025 (replacing 31 October meeting)

28 November 2025

13 December 2025

2026

30 January 2026

13 February 2026

27 February 2026 (if required)

27 March 2026

27 May 2026

26 June 2026

There were none.

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 before the start of the meeting.

There were none.

To consider the approval of the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 30 May 2025.

That the minutes of the meeting of the GMCA held on 30 May 2025 be approved as a correct record.

To note the minutes of the Bee Network Committee held on 29 May 2025.

That the proceedings of the meeting of the GMCA Bee Network Committee held on 29 May 2025 be noted.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1. That the draft Greater Manchester Strategy be approved for adoption.

2. That the draft Greater Manchester Strategy Performance Framework be approved.

3. That the proposed next steps with the intention to develop a Delivery Plan in coming months be noted.

Report of Councillor Arooj Shah, Portfolio Lead for Communities and Equalities.

1. That the challenges outlined in the report, faced by many VCFSE organisations at this time, and the resulting risks to delivery of the Greater Manchester Strategy ambition, including programmes led by GMCA, its partners and constituent local authority members, be noted.

2. That the proposed VCFSE Accord Delivery Plan for 2025/26 be noted.

3. That the proposed forward strategy for GMCA collaboration with the VCFSE sector be endorsed.

4. That the comments highlighted by the Chair of the Greater Manchester VCFSE Leadership Group be received

5. That the GMCA record its thanks to the Greater Manchester VCFSE Leadership Group for their work on the forward strategy.

Report of Councillor Arooj Shah, Portfolio Lead for Communities and Equalities.

1.      That the collective progress in implementing the Race Equity Framework be noted.

2.      That the collective key deliverables for the next 12 months be approved.

3.      That the GMCA will continue to lead, support and challenge implementation of the framework within their organisations and Portfolios, and champion racial equity at every opportunity.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1.                     That the report and the publication of the ‘Delivering Better Bus Services for Greater Manchester – report on early results, June 2025’ be noted.

2.                     That it be noted that the National Audit Report will be shared with members of the GMCA.

3.                     That officers be requested to submit a further update to the GMCA in due course.

4.                     That endorsement of the network review schedule by the Bee Network Committee be noted.

5.                     That the GMCA record its thanks to Bee Network officers for the route changes that have been made to date to improve the network.

Report of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

1. That the current position in relation to the transport infrastructure pipeline be noted.

2. That the proposals for the reprioritisation of CRSTS1 capital funding, as detailed within Section 3 of the report, be approved.

3. That the proposals for the allocation of CRSTS1 revenue funding for 2025/26, as set out in section 3 of the report, be approved.

4. That the proposals for additional Highways Maintenance funding, as set out in Section 4 of the report, be approved.

5. That the proposals to review arrangements for Highways Network Management, as set out in Section 4 of the report, be noted.

6. That the proposed list of prioritised schemes to support the delivery of the Integrated Pipeline, detailed in Section 5 and Appendix 1 of the report, be approved.

7. That the proposed list of prioritised schemes for the receipt of funding to support the delivery of the Bee Network, detailed in Section 6 and Appendix 2 of the report, be approved.

8. That the outline proposals for the funding to support the delivery of Active Travel improvements, set out in Section 7 of the report, be noted and that officers be requested to submit detailed proposals on the prioritisation of these allocations to the next meeting of the GMCA.

9. That the proposals in relation to the Potential Capital to Revenue ‘switch‘, as set out in Section 8 of the report, be noted.

10. That the allocation of the of the additional CRSTS1 revenue funding, set out in Section 9 of the report, be approved.

11. That the next steps, as set out in Section 10 of the report, be approved.

12. That it be noted that a drawdown of capital funding of 15% of the budgeted cost for each scheme, detailed in Appendix One and Two of the report, has been sought from the Bee Network Committee, subject to the approval of Recommendations 5 and 6 to facilitate the immediate progression of these schemes.

13. That it be noted that a drawdown of capital funding totalling £10.2m for Local Authority Highways Maintenance, which represents the portion of the overall £25m allocation, detailed in Section 4 of this report, derived from headroom in the CRSTS1 pipeline, has been sought from the Bee Network Committee, subject to the approval of Recommendation 4.

Report of Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Portfolio Lead for Technical Education, Skills & Work.

1.                     That the update regarding promotion of Our Pass and the Exclusives offer be noted.

2.                     That it be noted that the completed impact assessments show that areas relevant to the Our Pass Promotion and Exclusives contract show emphatically positive impacts overall. There were no negative impacts in the areas reviewed, with no need for caveats or mitigations to make this offer worthwhile to young people in Greater Manchester.

3.                     That the proposals for re-commissioning, as set out in this report, be endorsed.

4.                     That, Paul Dennett, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, acting in place of the Mayor, agreed that the Exclusives offer should continue and the approach to re-commissioning being taken by officers.

5.                     That, Paul Dennett, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, acting in place of the Mayor, delegated authority to the Group Chief Finance Officer (in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer Lead and Portfolio Lead for Education, Skills and Work) to approve the award of the new contract and any post-award.

Report of Deputy Mayor, Paul Dennet, Portfolio Lead for Housing First.

1.                     That the three proposed areas of focus for the implementation of the Property Check be approved and that the £1 million for implementation from the Housing First retained business rates 2025/26 allocation be noted.

2.                     That officers be requested to explore the possibility of Greater Manchester becoming a pilot area for the national landlord database with Greater Manchester councils and government officials.

3.                     That the update on the launch of the Good Landlord Charter be noted.

4.                     That the use of Retained Business Rates, that have already been committed to Housing First in 2025/26, should a decision be made to extend the Good Landlord Charter Implementation Unit contract, as set out in paragraph 3.4, be approved. 

5.                     That authority be delegated to the GMCA Managing Director to make operational decisions regarding the future development of the Good Landlord Charter,  with decisions on accreditation being taken in consultation with the GMCA Solicitor and Monitoring Officer and other decisions being in consultation with the Good Landlord Charter Board, as set out in paragraph 3.6, of the report.

6.                     That the successful outcomes of the Good Landlord Scheme Trainee Programme and PRS Pathfinder Project be noted.

Report of Deputy Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing First.

1.                          That the contents of the report be noted.

2.                          That the Housing Assistance Policy template be endorsed.

3.                          That the GMCA supports the proposal for the upcoming First Falls Prevention Pilot.

Report of Deputy Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio Lead for Housing First.

1.                           That the prioritisation methodology for allocating additional Brownfield funding to schemes in the Year 3 Programme, be approved.

2.                          That the review of the Original Brownfield Housing Fund programme be noted.

3.                          That the project variations and new funding allocation, as set out in  Appendix 1, be approved.

4.                          That the review of the Original Brownfield Housing Fund programme be noted.

5.                          That authority be delegated to the Group Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Housing, to approve urgent variations to existing funding from the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loans Fund and approve new funding and urgent variations to existing funding from the Brownfield Housing Fund, in the period 28 June 2025 to 21 August 2025.

6.                          That authority be delegated to the Group Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the GMCA Solicitor and Monitoring Officer to prepare and effect the necessary legal agreements.

Report of Councillor Bev Craig, Portfolio Lead for Economy, Business & Inclusive Growth.

1.                               That the Stockport Town Centre West Mayoral Development Corporation’s Strategic Business Plan 2025-2030 (Appendix A) be approved.

That the Stockport Town Centre West Mayoral Development Corporation’s Action Plan 2025-2030 (Appendix B) be approved.

Report of Councillor Bev Craig, Portfolio Lead for Economy, Business & Inclusive Growth.

1.                          That the designation of a Mayoral Development Zone, known as The Western Gateway Development Zone (WGDZ), be approved.

2.                          That the proposed area of the WGDZ, as indicated in Map 1 attached at Appendix 1, be approved.

3.                          That authority be delegated to the Group Chief Executive, to agree appropriate representation on the Board, in consultation with Salford and Trafford Council.

4.                          That the use of the existing Salford and Trafford Infrastructure Board will act as the shadow board until the new WGDZ Board gets approval.

5.                          That the principles of the strategic investment plan and development strategy for the MDZ, be noted and agreed, as set out in paragraphs 5.2-5.6 of the report, which the WGDZ Board will oversee and submit to the GMCA for approval.

That officer be requested to submit future updates on delivery progress on the WGDZ to the GMCA.

Report of Councillor Bev Craig, Portfolio Lead for Economy, Business & Inclusive Growth.

1. That the creation of an MDC for the regeneration of Old Trafford Regeneration area be approved, in principle.

2. That the undertaking a consultation exercise by the Mayor, in respect of the designation of a Mayoral Development Corporation for the Old Trafford Regeneration area, be endorsed.

3. That it be noted that if the principle of an MDC and consultation were approved, GMCA officers will explore with Trafford Council detailed options for an MDC to be created for the Old Trafford Regeneration area, with these matters to be the subject of further reports in due course.

4. That it be noted that if the principle of an MDC and consultation are approved it is proposed that contact will be made with the relevant Government department to outline proposals for the Old Trafford Regeneration MDC and obtain support for the proposed MDC.

5. That officers be requested to submit a further report to the GMCA setting out the outcome of the consultation and further investigation work.

6. That, Paul Dennett, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, acting in the place of the Mayor, agreed in principle, to the creation of an MDC for the regeneration of the Old Trafford Regeneration area.

7. That, Paul Dennett Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, acting in the place of the Mayor, approved the undertaking of a consultation exercise, as described above and in this report.

8. That it be noted that Old Trafford Cricket Club would also be engaged, as a valuable partner organisation on the development of the proposed MDC.

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

1. That a loan of up to £3,500,000 to P. Fahey and Sons (U.K.) Limited be approved.

2. That an amendment to a loan provided to ClearCycle Ltd be approved.

3. That authority be delegated to the Group Chief Executive and Group Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead for Investment and Resources, to approve projects for funding and agree urgent variations to the terms of funding in the period 28 June March to 21 August 2025.

4. That authority be delegated to the Group Chief Finance Officer and the Group Solicitor and the Group Solicitor and Monitoring Officer to review the due diligence information in respect of the above investments, and, subject to their satisfactory review and agreement of the due diligence information and the overall detailed commercial terms of the investments, to sign off any outstanding conditions, issue final approvals and complete any necessary related documentation in respect of these.

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

1. That the 2024/25 actual outturn capital expenditure of £598.0m compared to the forecast position presented to GMCA on 7 February 2025 of £631.6m be noted.
2. That the great work being undertaken in the region by Project Skyline be noted.

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

1.                               That it be noted that the Mayoral General Budget provisional revenue outturn position for 2024/25 was breakeven after planned transfer to earmarked reserves.

2.                               That it be noted that the GMCA General Budget provisional revenue outturn position for 2024/25 was breakeven after planned transfer to earmarked reserves.

3.                               That it be noted that the Mayoral General – GM Fire & Rescue provisional revenue outturn position for 2024/25 was breakeven after a transfer of revenue funding to capital.

4.                               That it be noted that the Waste and Resourcing provisional revenue outturn position for 2024/25 was breakeven after a transfer from reserve of £18.7m.

5.                               That it be noted that the GMCA Transport and TfGM provisional revenue outturn positions for 2024/25 were breakeven after transfers between earmarked reserves.

6.                               That it be noted that the final position was subject to the submission of the audited accounts to be reported to the GMCA Audit Committee.

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 Councillor David Molyneux, Portfolio Lead for Resources & Investment.

That the report be noted.

Report of Councillor Bev Craig, Portfolio Lead for Economy, Business & Inclusive Growth.

That the report be noted.