1 ROLE AND TERMS OF REFERENCE
1.1 The role of the Commission is:
To support Greater Manchester fulfil its vision to become one of the best places in the world to grow up, get on and grow old.
To bring together key stakeholders from the planning and housing sectors in support of this vision, helping to create a place in which people are proud of where they live, with a decent home, a fulfilling job, and stress free journeys are the norm.
1.2 To fulfil this role, the Commission will prioritise a number of key ambitions in the Greater Manchester Strategy:
· Ensure we have the right employment sites in the right locations to support economic growth across all parts of GM;
· Support GMs town centres to become quality places where people choose to live and work;
· Become the UKs leading innovator in housing development; and
· See all parts of GM become neighbourhoods of choice, with good quality affordable homes in safe and attractive communities, well served by public transport and with access to excellent to local amenities.
1.3 The Commission will also contribute to several other key ambitions in the Greater Manchester Strategy, with particularly strong links to the work of the GM Homelessness Action Work and the GM Low Carbon Hub.
1.4 Amongst the ways in which the Commission will fulfil its role will be to:
· Commission and publish research and evidence, to inform policy and decisions by the GMCA/AGMA and other GM strategic bodies, e.g the Local Enterprise Partnership as well as individual districts;
· Provide advice to the GMCA/AGMA on strategic planning and housing issues;
· Ensure that GM Planning and Housing work is clearly communicated to different stakeholder groups, including residents and communities;
· Work with a range of agencies and delivery partners to oversee programmes at the GM scale, ensuring that the planning and housing related ambitions in the GM Strategy are taken forward and implemented by a range of partners; and
· Working with a range of groups and stakeholders, ensure the alignment of other strategies with our planning and housing ambitions, especially in terms of transport, connectivity and the natural environment.
2 MEMBERSHIP AND ADVICE
2.1 Commission membership is made up of:
· The GM Portfolio Holder for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure (Chair)
· One GM elected member from each of the ten GM districts, nominated annually at the GMCA/AGMA AGM
· A representative of the GM Housing Providers Group
· A representative of Transport for Greater Manchester
· A representative of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise
· network in GM
· A representative of the Strategic Health Partnership in GM
· A representative from a University planning or built environment
· department
· A representative from the Private Sector in GM
2.2 A vice chair is also appointed by the group from within this membership.
2.3 Wider private sector engagement will be through a Panel of private sector stakeholders, led by the private sector commission member but managed flexibly to engage a much wider network of individuals including a young professionals’ network on relevant aspects of work.
2.4 Local community engagement will be through individual GM Districts, and the Commission will work with representatives from all 10 Districts to ensure that meaningful opportunities for community engagement are created in the development of GM planning and housing initiatives.
2.5 Advice and support to the PHC is provided by the lead Chief Executive for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure, as well as the GM Planning and Housing Team.
In addition, the Commission can identify and appoint its own advisors to attend meetings or provide written advice on specific issues. Current advisors are appointed from:
· Homes England
· The Environment Agency
3 ACCOUNTABILITY
3.1 The Commission reports to both the GMCA and AGMA Executive Board through its Chair and the lead Chief Executive for Housing, Planning and Homelessness.