Decisions

That the minutes of the GMCA Standards Committee meeting held on 19 November 2020 be noted.

1.      That approval be given to release £663,000 from the Reform Investment Fund in order to launch a Young Person’s Homelessness Prevention Pathfinder in response to the additional support needs created by Covid-19.

2.      That the offer from Wigan Council to be involved in the Pathfinder programme be welcomed.

1.      That the allocation of funding from the Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme be noted.

2.      That the capital and revenue delivery plans and allocated spending be noted.

3.      That that proposed spending, as detailed within the report, be approved and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer Steve Wilson, in consultation with  Portfolio Lead, Salford City Mayor,  Paul Dennett, to approve minor amendments.

1.      That the standards developed in the Second Wave Homelessness Covid-19 Preparedness Plan to be upheld across Greater Manchester be noted and agreed.

2.      That the GMCA commit to meeting the funding gap for the existing A Bed Every Night provision (20/21) with £300,000 of Mayoral Precept.

3.      That the option to expand A Bed Every Night Covid-safe emergency accommodation capacity for people sleeping rough using £300,000 of Mayoral Precept be agreed.

4.      That it be noted that the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham, and Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, would be undertaking a press briefing later this afternoon on Greater Manchester’s arrangements to support people experiencing homelessness during Winter 2020.

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 GMCA General Budget revenue outturn position for 2020/21 shows a breakeven position.

3.                That it be noted that the Mayoral General – GM Fire & Rescue revenue outturn position for 2020/21 shows an underspend position of £4.003 million.

4.                That it be noted that the Waste outturn position of breakeven for 2020/21 following the approval of proposals by the GMCA on 31^st July and 25^th September and the agreement in principle to refund the Districts for the levy adjustment that will be paid to GMCA as a result of increased tonnages

5.                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 £1.6 million.

1.                  That the current 2020/21 forecast increased spend of £19.710 million compared to the 2020/21 capital forecast approved at the September 2020 GMCA meeting be noted.

2.                  That the addition to the Capital Programme of the retrofit element of the Clean Bus Fund project (part of the Greater Manchester Clean Air Programme) with a current forecast expenditure of £3.4 million in 2020/21 and of £12.0 million in 2021/22 be approved.

3.                  That the up to £4 million for #SafeStreetsSaveLives, funded from the earmarked reserves for revenue contribution to capital be approved and that it be noted that capital allocation in the programme for Mayor’s Challenge Fund will be reduced by up to £4 million.

4.                  That the transfers to Districts of Pothole and Challenge funding totalling £20,899 million be approved.

1.                  That the report be noted.

2.                That the latest position against the approved investments from the retained business rates reserve be noted.

3.                That the proposed seven additional schemes at a cost of £15.9m be approved.

4.                That the return of the residual funding of £16.7 to the 10 Greater Manchester Authorities on the proposed basis be approved, final details to be confirmed between the GMCA Treasurer and the District Treasurers.

5.                That the proposals for ongoing monitoring of business rates investments be noted and that the use of any further slippage be submitted to the GMCA for approval with priority placed on supporting businesses and district’s financial positions.

6.                That further information on the proposed scheme by Unified Architecture be provided to Councillor Richard Leese in order to give further assurance as to its potential delivery.

1.                  That the report be noted.

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

That the Minutes of the GMCA Audit Committee held on 20 November 2020 be noted.

That the nomination of Councillor John Leech (Manchester) to the GMCA Scrutiny Committee Substitutes Pool be approved.

1.               That the funding application for Commercial and Northern Ltd (investment of £1,250,000) be approved, and progressed to due diligence.

2.               That the funding application for Tootoot Ltd (investment of £80,000) be approved, and progressed to due diligence.

3.               That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and GMCA Monitoring Officer to review the due diligence information in respect of the above companies, and, subject to their satisfactory review and agreement of the due diligence information and the overall detailed commercial terms of the transactions, to sign off any outstanding conditions, issue final approvals and complete any necessary related documentation in respect of the investments at 1 and 2 above.

1.                That the agreed Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Fund delivery priorities across GM and the prioritised first phase for the programme (Appendix 1) be noted.

2.                That £2.82 million Mayor’s Cycling and Walking funding for the Manchester Beswick (Phase 1) and Chorlton (Phase 4) schemes be approved, in order to secure full approval and enable the signing of a delivery agreement.

3.                That the release of up to £2.74 million of development cost funding for the four Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Fund schemes be approved.

1.             That the report be noted.

2.             That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, GMCA and TfGM to approve the final response to the consultation.

3.             That the residents of Birchfield Road, in their request for an alternative site for the vent shafts, that would not negatively impact local amenities and primary school be supported and included in Greater Manchester’s response.

1.             That the contents of the report be noted.

2.             That the contents of the Covid-19 Impact on Bus Franchising Report – November 2020  (Appendix 1) be noted.

3.             That the contents of the Independent Auditor’s Assessment of the Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) Covid-19 Impact on Bus Franchising Report dated 19 November 2020 (Appendix 2) be noted.

4.             That the publication of both the Independent Auditor’s Assessment of the Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) Covid-19 Impact on Bus Franchising Report and the Covid-19 Impact on Bus Franchising Report be approved.

5.             That the proposed funding arrangements and mitigations, as set out in the report, be approved.

6.             That the mitigating responses to a downside risk scenario, as set out in Section 3 of the Covid-19 Impact on Bus Franchising Report, be noted.

7.             That it be agreed to proceed with the Proposed Franchising Scheme by undertaking a public consultation, which would commence on 2 December 2020 and end on 29 January 2021.

8.             That the Proposed Franchising Scheme, as proposed to be modified following the consultation that ended in January 2020 and in accordance with the report (Appendix 3) be approved, for the purpose of the recommended consultation.

9.             That TfGM be instructed to carry out all tasks necessary to carry out that consultation on behalf of the GMCA.

10.         That it be noted that a further report will be submitted to the GMCA on the outcome of the consultation.

11.         That it be noted that the report has been exempt from call in under the provisions of Part 5, Rule 16 of the GMCA constitution.

1.             That the proposed alignment of the Key Route Network with the Major Road Network, as published by the Department for Transport, be approved.

2.             That the proposed additions to the Key Route Network (Appendix 1), extending the Key Route Network by 29.7km be approved.

1. That the arrangements for the Independent Inequalities Commission be endorsed.

2. That it be noted that the Commission would report back to the GM Mayor and the GMCA on its findings in Spring 2021.

1.      That a three-year extension of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of a Strategic Partnership between Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the Centre for Ageing Better be approved.

2.      That in support of the MOU, the membership of the GMCA in the Housing Made for Everyone (HoME) Coalition be supported and that engagement of GMCA in the work of the Good Home Inquiry, commissioned by the Centre for Ageing Better, be noted.

3.      That the oversight of delivery of the agreement by the Ageing Hub Executive Group, on behalf of the Portfolio Lead Age-Friendly and Equalities and the Ageing Hub Partnership be endorsed.

4.      That it be noted that the cross-cutting nature of achieving successful delivery of the ambitions set out in the MOU and the impact of the specific shared projects will require clear governance links to and contributions from the Reform Board, Growth Board and Tackling Inequalities Board and the integration of this work across the strategy, policy and delivery functions of GMCA and the work of Greater Manchester’s local authorities.

1.                  That the progress so far to implement the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy, how activity was being adapted in response to the impacts of COVID-19, and the priorities for the following year, be noted.

2.                  That the Year 2 Milestones (Annex 3) be agreed.

3.                  That it be noted that a further update will be submitted to the GMCA in November 2021 to review progress in Year 2 and agree the Year 3 (2021/22) milestones.

4.                  That it be agreed that further clarity from Government on the position of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund was required as soon as possible.

1.      That the potential impacts for waste collection and disposal be noted.

2.      That the proposed scenario modelling agreed with district waste officers be noted.

1.      That the opportunity to bid for circa £40-80m of Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding from Salix (NDPB) be noted.

2.       That, subject to a successful bid, the receipt of and defrayment of these funds either directly or via GM Local Authorities be approved and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to sign all necessary legal agreements.

3.      That it be noted that Chief Executive Officer, GMCA & TfGM and GMCA Treasurer approved in October, under delegated powers, the receipt of circa £1m grant from Salix (NPBD) to be utilised on feasibility studies on low carbon retrofit assessments of public buildings to support this bid.

4.      That it be noted that equalities impact from this proposal will be managed via utilising delivery companies with robust equality policies. The environmental outcome is to substantially reduce the carbon emissions from approximately 156 public buildings in Greater Manchester.

1.             That the work underway by the GM Brexit Readiness Group to understand the impacts arising from EU exit and to coordinate responses across the city-region be noted.

2.             That the work underway on the GM International Strategy and ongoing partnership working with EU nations to develop GM opportunities in the future be noted.

3.             That the analysis undertaken of the points-based immigration system to be implemented from 1^st January 2021 be noted.

4.             That it be agreed that a further update on Greater Manchester preparations for EU exit be submitted to the December GMCA meeting.

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

1.              That the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Issues and Reform Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 10 November 2020 be noted.

2.              That the minutes of the meeting of the Housing, Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11 November 2020 be noted.

3.              That the minutes of the meeting of the Economy, Business, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13 November 2020 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.

That the minutes of the GMCA meeting held on 30 October 2020 be approved as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interests received.

1.                 That the GMCA further express its commitment to proactively supporting the White Ribbon Day standing up to eliminate violence towards women and girls.

2.                 That it be noted that the GM Mayor would be writing to Greater Manchester MPs on a number of points hoped to be considered as part of the parliamentary debate on the current Tier 3 arrangements for GM, including a more targeted approach towards high-risk businesses rather than a blanket approach to closures; the need for a meaningful review in two weeks’ time in light of GM’s case numbers current rate of decline; and a fair financial support package for businesses that remain in Tier 3 that was reflective of their continued loss of income.

3.                 That the recent publication of the Integrated Care Systems Consultation by Public Health England be noted, specifically its locality and neighbourhood focus which reflected the GMs place-based approach. 

4.                 That further details on the integrated care system proposals would be considered by the GM Health and Care Partnership Board at its meeting in January 2021, following which a GM response would be submitted to Public Health England.

That apologies be received and noted from Councillor David Molyneux, Helen Lockwood and Jim Taylor.

1.      That the Work Programme be noted.

2.      That a report on the rationale on the suspension of provision of wi-fi access on Metrolink be added to the work programme and presented at the next meeting of the Committee in January 2021.

1.      That the report be noted.

2.      That it be noted that services over Christmas had been finalised but remain under review as the country emerges from lockdown.

3.      That it be noted that significant maintenance and renewal works are planned for 2021 as per the annual programme and would be detailed for presentation to the Committee once the full scope and customer impact is known.

4.      That further detail on the decision-making process regarding the continued suspension of wi-fi access on Metrolink be provided to Councillor Howard Sykes (Oldham).

5.      That a report on the rationale on the suspension of provision of wi-fi access on Metrolink be presented at the next meeting of the Committee.

6.      That further detail regarding the number of enforcement actions taken for non-compliance of face coverings on the Metrolink be obtained from the Travel Safe Partnership and provided to Councillor Richard Gold (Bury).

7.      That compliance of face covering data be provided by line and time in future reports to inform more targeted enforcement action and ultimately encourage public confidence to return to the network.

8.      That support and appreciation of the Committee for the recent Travel Safe Partnership enforcement programme be noted.

9.      That it be noted that safety measures to deter tram surfing, including proposals to introduce infra-red technology and a publicity campaign were being investigated.

10.  That the presentation provided by Guillaume Chanussot, Managing Director, KeolisAmey Metrolink be circulated to Members of the Committee.

11.  That work undertaken to ensure the safety of passengers and staff across Metrolink to further encourage patronage be acknowledged. 

12.  That frequency, demand and capacity planning to ensure social distancing can be adhered to on the tram network be further addressed during recovery, further supported by the deployment of twenty-seven new trams.

13.  That it be noted that safety of passengers was the priority and frequent speciality cleaning of trams takes place.

1.          That the report be noted.

2.          That as a result of the imminent roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine, contingency planning, taking into account government advice, be undertaken in advance of any planned reliable service uplift and detailed in future reports to the Committee.

3.          That emphasis on safe contingency planning and any planned service uplifts be reassuringly communicated to the public to encourage confidence in the use of public transport.

4.          That an updated presentation on forthcoming timetable changes (non-GM services removed) be shared with the Committee.

5.          That the business case for the restoration of Sunday service from Moses Gate, Farnworth and Kearsley be reviewed and considered in future timetable changes.

That the minutes of the meeting held 18 September 2020 be approved.

That there were no declarations of interest.

There were no Chair’s announcements or items of urgent business.