Decisions

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

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.

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.

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.         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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

There were no declarations of interests received.

There were no Chairs announcements or items of urgent business

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

That Councillor Dzidra Noor be appointed as Vice-Chair of the GMTC Metrolink & Rail Sub-Committee for the Municipal Year 2020/21.

1.      That the Work Programme be noted.

2.      That Members of the Metrolink & Rail Sub-Committee be given details of the publication of papers for the Bus Services Sub-Committee.

1.      That the report be noted.

2.      That face covering compliance had been recorded as between 80-90% with some variance on lines and times of day and that targeted intervention had been undertaken to address areas of poorer compliance.

3.      That it be noted that Government’s Light Rail Funding offer had been extended until the 26 October 2020 which covers operating costs only, and there were ongoing discussions with DfT regarding future funding packages.

4.      That it be noted that capacity had begun to become an issue on some peak time services under the current social distancing guidance.  However, in additions to the use of doubles across the network, recent TfGM communications campaigns had been designed to encourage people to travel outside peak times where possible.

5.      That it be noted that further ticket options to ensure value and flexibility were being considered by TfGM.

1.      That the report be noted.

2.      That it be noted that Northern would respond directly to Cllr Peter Robinson with relation to works planned for Newton and Godley stations on the Hadfield Line, and information included in a future report.

3.      That congratulations be extended to Hindley train station who recently received a highly commended award at the National Rail awards. 

1.          That the update from Northern be noted.

2.          That it be noted that there are a number of new ticket options on trial, including a flexible season ticket.

3.          That it be noted that from 26/10 there would be a 90 minute service on the Rose Hill line.

4.          That the slides presented by Northern be shared with members of the M&R Sub Committee.

5.          That it be noted that revenue protection would now re-commence across services, to help address the long term commercial viability of the train network.

6.          That during the period of 24 Oct – 1 Nov there were engineering works planned for Gauxholme Viaduct that would have an impact on stations at Littleborough, Smithy Bridge and in relation to this, Northern would be meeting with Network Rail and the user group Storm to consider available options.

7.          That the essential travel message was now only being promoted in areas of local lockdown, but that it would be necessary for both Operators and politicians to work together to address passengers confidence in returning back to public transport.

8.          That it be noted that Class 195 new trains are being regularly added to the network, including those services on the Hyde loop.

1.          That the report be noted.

2.          That as a result of detailed negotiations, there had been an updated situation in relation to the Rose Hill line, specifically the extra provision of 3 trains (2 morning peak, 1 afternoon) per day to support access to educational establishments in Marple, further supplemented by a rail replacement bus service throughout the day.

3.          That it be noted that TfGM would be arranging a meeting between Northern and the Salford City Mayor to discuss the reduction in services to Swinton.

4.          That a further update on December rail timetable changes be presented to the M&R Committee at the next meeting.

5.          That it be noted that Northern agreed to ensure there was adequate signage to reflect current operational services at stations along the Rose Hill line.

6.          That further information with regards to the next plans for Government’s Emergency Measure Agreements and the future of franchising agreements were anticipated to be announced shortly and included in the Williams review (expected autumn 2020) and would be provided to the Committee once available.

There were no declarations received in relation to any item on the agenda.

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

That apologies be noted and received from Councillor Howard Sykes (Councillor Angie Clark substituting).