Public Document Pack
Meeting of: Council Date: Wednesday, 11th October, 2017 Time: 6.15 pm Venue: Council Chamber - Rochdale Town Hall
This agenda gives notice of items to be considered in private as required by Regulations 5 (4) and (5) of The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.
Item No. AGENDA Page No 1. APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Members are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary, personal or personal and prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests relating to items on this agenda and/or indicate if S106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.
3. MINUTES 6 - 10 To authorise the signing of the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 12th July 2017.
4. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS To receive petitions and questions from members of the public, where these have been received in accordance with the Petitions Scheme and/or Council Procedure Rules.
5. NOTICES OF MOTION The Council is asked to consider the following three Motions that have been submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10:
a) Adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism
It will be moved by Councillor Emsley and seconded by Councillor Dearnley that:
That this Council recognises that anti- Semitism continues to be a problem in our country and formally adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti- Semitisms to highlight how anti-Semitism manifests itself in the 21st century. The definition reads
“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
Rochdale Borough has a proud history of celebrating its diversity. Any form of intolerance, hatred or discrimination such as Antisemitism has no place in or our Borough and in modern Britain.
b) Greater Manchester Police funding
It will be moved by Councillor Brett and seconded by Councillor Sultan Ali that:
This Council notes with grave concern that in the past 12 months in Greater Manchester –
There has been a 30 per cent increase in victim based crime, which includes violent crime, domestic abuse and sexual offences.
Domestic abuse has increased 63 per cent and sexual offences have seen a 44 per cent increase.
Hate crime has increased by 53 per cent. Violent crime has increased by 60 per cent with an increase of 24 per cent in those violent offences involving injury.
Burglary has increased by 19 per cent and robbery by 54 per cent.
This appalling increase in the crime rate can be directly attributed to the cuts in funding by central government. Greater Manchester Police has lost £180M in police funding since 2010. This has led to a significant decrease in police numbers-
In 2010, there were 8,148 police and 842 PCSO’s patrolling Greater Manchester’s streets.
By March of last year the number of police officers had been slashed by 23 per cent to just 6,297 – far more than the national average. The number of PCSOs fell by 11 per cent to 748.
The Borough of Rochdale has lost around 200 police officers as a result of these cuts in central government funding
This Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Home Secretary to demand the government provide adequate resources to provide a properly funded Greater Manchester Police service to restore Police numbers; keep residents safe and able to respond to the increasing demands and threats our communities face.
c) Declaration on Healthy Weight
It will be moved by Councillor Martin and seconded by Councillor Zaheer that:
This Council notes:
That unhealthy weight is a public health problem.
Poor diet during early life can adversely affect health in later life
People living in socially deprived areas are more likely to suffer from health problems
The greater availability and access to foods and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt which are increasing eaten outside the home contributing to excess energy intake.
This Council welcomes:
The opportunity to lead local action to prevent obesity
The opportunity to protect some of the most vulnerable in society by giving children the best start in life and enabling all children, young people and families to make informed choices
Rochdale Council supports the national commitment to address childhood obesity. We commit our Council to sign the Declaration on Healthy Weight to show commitment to reducing unhealthy weight in our communities, protecting the health and well-being of staff and citizens and make an economic impact on healthy and social care and the local economy. 6. DECISIONS TAKEN UNDER SPECIAL URGENCY PROVISIONS 11 - 12 To receive details of urgent executive decisions taken by the Chief Executive.
7. AUDIT AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 13 - 23 2016/17 To consider the Audit & Governance Committee Annual Report for 2016/17.
8. MEMBERS' QUARTERLY REPORTS (a) The Leader of the Council 24 - 28 (b) The Cabinet Member for Corporate and Resources 29 - 33 (c) The Cabinet Member for Housing & Environment 34 - 43 (d) The Cabinet Member for Business, Skills & Employment 44 - 47 (e) The Cabinet Member for Children's Services 48 - 51 (f) The Cabinet Member for Adult Care 52 - 54 (g) The Cabinet Member for Planning & Development 55 - 58 (h) The Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing 59 - 61 (i) The Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Community & 62 - 68 Culture (j) The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee 69 (k) The Chair of the Communities, Regeneration & Environment 70 - 71 Overview and Scrutiny Committee (l) The Chair of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee 72 - 75 (m) The Chair of Heywood Township Committee 76 - 80 (n) The Chair of Middleton Township Committee 81 - 86 (o) The Chair of Pennines Township Committee 87 - 89 (p) The Chair of Rochdale Township Committee 90 - 93 (q) Report of the Representative to the Armed/Reserve Forces 94 - 95 (r) Report of a Representative to Transport for Greater 96 - 100 Manchester (s) Report of a Representative to the Greater Manchester Waste 101 Disposal Authority 9. GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY 102 - 130 To consider the minutes of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority meetings held on 30th June and 28th July 2017.
Council Members All Members of Council
For further information please contact: Elaine Newsome (Head of Governance) Governance and Committee Services Officer 01706 924793 [email protected] Agenda Item 3
COUNCIL
MINUTES OF MEETING Wednesday, 12th July 2017
PRESENT: The Mayor (Councillor Duckworth) in the Chair; Councillors: Ali Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shakil Ahmed, Daalat Ali, Sultan Ali, Bell, Beswick, Cecile Biant, Surinder Biant, Blundell, Boris, Brett, Brosnan, Burke, Butterworth, Clegg, Davidson, Dearnley, Dutton, Neil Emmott, Susan Emmott, Emsley, Furlong, Gartside, Hartley, Heakin, Holly, Howard, Hussain, Joinson, Kelly, Malcolm, Martin, McCarthy, Meredith, Mir, Nickson, O’Neill, O’Rourke, Paolucci-Escobar, Rashid, Robinson, Rowbotham, Rush, Stott, Sullivan, Wardle, Donna Williams, Peter Williams, Winkler, Zaheer and Zaman.
OFFICERS: Steve Rumbelow (Chief Executive), Gail Hopper (Director of Children’s Services), John Searle (Director of Economy), Sheila Downey (Director of Adult Care), Mark Widdup (Director of Neighbourhoods), David Wilcock (Acting Director of Resources), Elaine Newsome (Head of Governance), Darrel Beck (Policy and Business Support Officer), Danny Brierley (Head of Communications) Michael Brooks (Communications Officer) and Peter Thompson (Senior Governance and Committee Officer).
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: approximately 75 members of the public.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Councillors Cocks, Farnell, Hornby, Sheerin, Smith, Wazir and West.
DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS 12 That the following declarations of interest be noted:-
Councillor Brosnan declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 2 – Public Questions and Petitions - insofar as she was a Member of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s Representative Body.
MINUTES 13 The Council considered the minutes of the annual meeting of the Council held on 17th May 2017.
RESOLVED:
That, subject to an amendment to minute 9 (Appointments to Committees) to the effect that ‘Councillors Gartside and Holly be included in the membership of the Borough Regeneration Steering Group, and Councillors Dearnley and Paolucci-Escobar be included in the membership of the Democratic Structures Working Group’, the minutes of the Council meeting held on 17th May 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
Page 6 14 The Mayor welcomed Mr Robin Parker, on behalf of tenants and residents of College Bank Flats, Rochdale and received from him, a petition to Council opposing proposals by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing to demolish four of the seven high rise blocks at College Bank, Rochdale, commonly known as the ‘seven sisters’. Mr. Parker addressed the Council in relation to this matter and the Deputy Leader of the Council responded.
NOTICES OF MOTION a. 15 Condemning Terrorism and Hate Crimes
It was moved by Councillor Zaheer and seconded by Councillor Emsley that:
“This Council unequivocally condemns the recent terror attacks at the Manchester Arena, London Bridge and Borough Market and Finsbury Park.
The aim of terror attacks is to cause devastation and to drive a wedge between communities.
The Council pays tribute to Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police and the emergency services for their hard work and dedication in dealing with these attacks.
The Council also notes that hate crime has risen sharply over recent years and this is something we also condemn.
To let distrust and hatred grow between our communities would be to let terrorists think they can win. We as a council and the wider community cannot let that happen.”
On being put to the vote, the motion was declared to be carried and it was RESOLVED accordingly.
b. Homelessness
It was moved by Councillor Robinson and seconded by Councillor O’Rourke that:
“The Council notes that, according to Crisis: On average, homeless people die at just 47 years old. People sleeping on the street are almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence. More than one in three people sleeping rough have been deliberately hit or kicked or experienced some other form of violence whilst homeless. Homeless people are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population.
The Council believes that homelessness needs urgent action in order to remedy it.
Page 7 The Council therefore resolves to:
1) Work with the Mayor of Greater Manchester to help achieve is aims of:
Building specialised supported accommodation for young people with access to education, volunteering and employment opportunities. Expanding mental health and rehabilitation programmes across Greater Manchester, including re-building community mental health support, recovery-led accommodation and arts programmes. Bringing empty properties back in to use for people threatened with becoming homeless.
2) Continue to implement the youth homelessness actions agreed by Council at its meeting on 23/1/2013.”
On being put to the vote, the motion was declared to be carried and it was RESOLVED accordingly.
DECISION OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE UNDER SPECIAL URGENCY PROVISIONS 16 The Council considered a report of the Chief Executive which detailed urgent decisions taken between 17th May and 12th July 2017, as required within the Council’s Constitution.
Both the Cabinet and the Chief Executive had taken urgent decisions to enable a funding bid from the National Productivity Investment Fund to progress within the required timescales. The fund will support a scheme for additional transport investment on the basis it would reduce traffic congestion on the highway network and support economic growth in South Heywood.
The reason for special urgency for each decision being that, any delay likely to be caused by convening a meeting of the Council would have prejudiced the Council’s and/or the public’s interests. The Council was not able to convene a meeting to consider this matter within the required timescales.
The decision of Cabinet to approve the submission of a bid for grant funding from the National Productivity Investment Fund towards improvements of the road network in South Heywood; and the use of £3m of Capital Receipts to fulfil the required levels of match funding for a bid to the National Productivity Investment Fund, be noted.
That the Chief Executive confirmed a total of £3 million of unallocated Capital Receipts, £1.5m in 2018/19 and £1.5m in 2019/2020, from the sale of Council owned land has been approved as match funding for a bid to the National Productivity Investment Fund, be noted.
RESOLVED:
(1) The decision of Cabinet to approve the submission of a bid for grant funding from the National Productivity Investment Fund towards
Page 8 improvements of the road network in South Heywood; and the use of £3m of Capital Receipts to fulfil the required levels of match funding for a bid to the National Productivity Investment Fund, be noted.
(2) That the Chief Executive confirmed a total of £3 million of unallocated Capital Receipts, £1.5m in 2018/19 and £1.5m in 2019/2020, from the sale of Council owned land has been approved as match funding for a bid to the National Productivity Investment Fund, be noted.
CAPITAL PROGRAMME, 2017/20 - COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT FUND 17 The Cabinet received a report of the Director of Economy that recommended the 2018/19 Capital Programme allocation to the Commercial Investment Fund of £20m is brought forward into 2017/18 to supplement the existing approved allocation for 2017/18.
The reason for the recommendation was to ensure that the fund can be used to its greatest effect in fully benefiting from available opportunities and maximising the revenue savings that might be achieved.
RESOLVED:
(1) The Council approves the proposal to bring forward from the 2018/19 capital programme allocation for the Commercial Investment Fund;
(2) The Council authorises carrying forward into 2018/19 any unspent proportion of the £30 million allocation.
MEMBERS' QUARTERLY REPORTS 18 Members presented their Quarterly Reports as follows, and received and responded to questions and remarks from Members of the Council:-
The Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Regeneration The Deputy Leader and the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Resources The Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment The Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Employment The Deputy Leader and the Cabinet Member for Children's Services The Cabinet Member for Adult Care The Cabinet Member for Planning and Development The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing The Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Community and Culture The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee The Chair of the Communities, Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee The Chair of the Health, Schools and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee Report of the Representative to the Armed/Reserve Forces Report of the Representative to the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority
Page 9 Report of a Representative to Transport for Greater Manchester
RESOLVED:
That the reports be noted.
UPDATE ON THE GREATER MANCHESTER DEVOLUTION AGREEMENT 19 The Council considered an update report on the progress of various matters relating to the Greater Manchester Devolution Agreement.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY 20 The Council considered the minutes of the meetings of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority held 28th April 2017.
RESOLVED:
That the Minutes be noted.
Page 10 Agenda Item 6
Report to Council
Date of Meeting 11th October 2017 Portfolio Councillor Brett (Cabinet Member for Corporate & Resources) Report Author Michael Garraway Public/Private Document Public
Decisions taken under Special Urgency Provisions
Executive Summary
1. The report details executive decisions taken under special urgency provision, by the Chief Executive between 13th July and 2nd October 2017.
1.1 The Chief Executive has taken two special urgent decisions since the last meeting of Full Council. These were:
Approval of a request to renew the lease of the Arts and Heritage Centre, Units 3,4,5 and 6 Scotts Industrial Estate. The reason for special urgency for the decision being that, any delay likely to be caused by convening a meeting of the Cabinet would have prejudiced the Council’s and/or the public’s interests. The Cabinet was not able to convene a meeting to consider this matter within the required timescales.
Approval of a request to amend Council’s constitution, Part 3 – Responsibility for Functions paragraph 2 (2). The reason for special urgency being that STaR Procurement required a decision by the 25th September 2017 by the three participating Authorities and it was not possible to convene a meeting of Full Council in time to implement the changes to the Council’s Constitution.
Recommendation
2 The decisions taken by the Chief Executive under special urgency provisions be noted.
Reason for Recommendation
3. In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, decisions taken as a matter of special urgency shall be reported to the next available meeting of the Council, together with the reasons for special urgency.
Page 11 Key Points for Consideration
4. On 11th August 2017 the Chief Executive approved a report from the Economy Directorate seeking approval of the terms of a new 10 year lease for units 3, 4, 5 & 6 at Scott’s Industrial Estate, Rochdale for the continued use as a storage facility for Council owned Arts & Heritage items.
4.1 In accordance with the Council’s special urgency provisions, the Chair of Corporate Overview & Scrutiny had earlier resolved that the item could be submitted to Cabinet without the pre-requisite 28 day notice and, due to the significant time constraints, exempted the decision of Cabinet from call-in.
4.2 On 8th September 2017 the Chief Executive approved a report from the Acting Director of Resources identifying a request from STaR Procurement for amendments to the Council's Contract Procedure Rules, to permit the implementation of a Risk-Based Sourcing trial.
4.3 Changes to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules are required to ensure the STAR Spend Local project remains compliant with the Council’s Constitution.
4.4 Alternatives Considered
There are no alternatives to consider as the reporting of special urgency decisions to Council is a Constitutional requirement.
Costs and Budget Summary
5. There are no direct financial implications to this report. Information relating to the budget was reported to each decision maker at the time of determination.
Risk and Policy Implications
6. Not adhering to requirements of the Council’s Constitution may leave the Council open to legal challenge.
Consultation
7. There is no consultation required for this report.
Background Papers Place of Inspection
8. There are no background papers N/A
For Further Information Contact: Michael Garraway, Tel: 01706 924716, [email protected]
Page 12 Agenda Item 7
Report to Council
Date of Meeting 11th October 2017 Portfolio Councillor Brett (Cabinet Member for Corporate & Resources) Report Author Ian Corbridge Public Document Public
Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2016/17
Executive Summary
1.1 To comply with best professional practice, the Audit and Governance Committee is advised to complete an annual report to Full Council on the work undertaken by the Audit and Governance Committee during the year.
1.2 Attached at Appendix A is the Annual Report for 2016/17 prepared by the Chair in consultation with the Head of Internal Audit and approved for submission by the Audit & Governance Committee.
Recommendation
2. That the Annual Report for 2016/17 by the Audit and Governance Committee be endorsed.
Reason for Recommendation
3. To comply with best practice identified within the CIPFA publication: Audit Committee: Practical Guidance for Local Authorities and Police 2013 and in order to demonstrate accountability.
Key Points for Consideration
4.1 Given its role in the governance structure and in promoting the principles of good governance, the Audit and Governance Committee should be clear how it supports one of the key principles: accountability. It is also important that the Audit and Governance Committee is, in turn, held to account on the extent to which it has fulfilled its purpose. Aside from the Audit and Governance Committee’s requirement to support the Authority’s accountability to the public and stakeholders, and support accountability within the Authority, it is also important that the Committee itself is held to account.
4.2 The Annual Report for 2016/17 presented in Appendix A is the means by which the Audit and Governance Committee demonstrates its accountability to
Page 13 Full Council, as the overall governing body of the Authority.
Alternatives Considered
4.3 No other options were considered as the production of an Annual Report aligns with best practice guidance.
Costs and Budget Summary
5. Not applicable.
Risk and Policy Implications
6. The key risk of not producing an Annual Report is that the Audit and Governance Committee does not demonstrate clear accountability and does not therefore comply with best professional practice.
Consultation
7. Not applicable.
Background Papers Place of Inspection
8. None
For Further Information Contact: Ian Corbridge, Tel: 01706925452, [email protected]
Page 14 Appendix A
Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2016/17
FOREWORD By the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee 2016/17 Councillor Liam O’Rourke
I am pleased to present the Audit and Governance Committee’s Annual Report. It records our progress in providing the degree of independence, questioning, and thoroughness required across a wide range of control and corporate governance matters
During the year, the Committee met on five occasions and received reports in connection with the full range of issues that fall within our remit.
This report indicates the breadth of the Audit and Governance Committee’s work in ensuring that every aspect of the Council’s work should be compliant with standards and transparent to its stakeholders. Increasingly, the Committee is receiving reports on items such as the new Public Sector Internal Audit Standards which ensure that we are being kept up to date on recent internal audit developments as well as dealing with relevant Council business. I believe that this Annual Report demonstrates our value to the Council and the public in ensuring that improvements to the governance of the Authority are being delivered.
As Chair, I believe that the Audit and Governance Committee has provided a valuable contribution to the development of standards and protocols across a wide range of governance areas during what has been a challenging year and has proved its worth in helping to ensure that these are implemented across the Council in an effective and compliant way.
Looking forward, the Council is facing a period of unprecedented change in order to continue to achieve the required budget savings and comply with new statutory requirements. The need to maintain effective controls and standards in our public services is vital and I believe that a strong Audit and Governance Committee is essential to ensure that the Council achieves its objectives effectively in these areas. It is my intention in the future that the Audit and Governance Committee will operate in a more proactive manner regarding risks to the organisation and, in conjunction with officers, continue to identify key risks and ensure that appropriate actions are taken in direct response to these in a timely manner.
On a personal level I would like the Committee to continue its work on strengthening the Council’s democratic and governance procedures, especially when we consider the massive shift taking place in local government, and recent reviews of the wider governance structures within the Council should help to support this aim.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of the members of the Audit and Governance Committee and the supporting officers during the past year.
Page 15 1. BACKGROUND
1.1 What drives governance policy?
The Council is responsible for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards, and that public money is safeguarded, properly accounted for, and used economically, efficiently and effectively. In discharging this overall responsibility, the Council is also responsible for ensuring that there is a sound system of control which facilitates the effective exercise of the Council’s functions and which includes arrangements for the management of risk.
Effective corporate governance is a fundamental feature of any successful public sector organisation. Following several high profile failures in the private sector, the desire to strengthen governance arrangements spread from the private sector to the public sector and resulted in the joint Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)/Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) document Delivering Good Governance in Local Government - a Framework. The Framework, launched in 2007, was structured around the six core principles found in the Good Governance Standard for Public Services drawn up by an independent commission established by CIPFA, the Office for Public Management (OPM) and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. This has since been updated in 2016 as a result of which governance standards became focused on seven core principles.
A sound corporate governance framework involves accountability to service users, stakeholders and the wider community, within which authorities take decisions, and lead and control their functions, to achieve their objectives. It thereby provides an opportunity to demonstrate the positive elements of an authority's business and to promote public confidence.
Rochdale Borough Council has now updated its local Code of Corporate Governance based on the following seven core principles which underpin and define the meaning of good governance:
(i) Behaving with integrity, demonstrating strong commitment to ethical values, and respecting the rule of law; (ii) Ensuring openness and comprehensive stakeholder engagement; (iii) Defining outcomes in terms of sustainable economic, social, and environmental benefits; (iv) Determining the interventions necessary to optimise the achievement of the intended outcomes; (v) Developing the entity’s capacity, including the capability of its leadership and the individuals within it; (vi) Managing risks and performance through robust internal control and strong public financial management; and (vii) Implementing good practices in transparency, reporting, and audit to deliver effective accountability.
1.2 Why do we need an Audit and Governance Committee?
While there is no statutory obligation to have such an arrangement, audit committees are widely recognised as a core component of effective governance and therefore reflect good practice. Rochdale’s Audit and Governance Committee is properly constituted and, as such, is given sufficient authority and resources by the Council. In effect, the Committee has the right to obtain all the information it considers necessary and to consult directly with senior managers. In line with best practice from both the
Page 16 public and private sectors, the Audit and Governance Committee can report its observations and concerns directly to the Council.
A local authority has a duty to ensure that it is fulfilling its responsibility for adequate and effective internal control, risk management, and governance, as well as the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of its activities. The Audit and Governance Committee has a key role in overseeing and assessing the internal control, risk management, and corporate governance arrangements and advising the Council on the adequacy and effectiveness of these arrangements.
Good corporate governance requires independent, effective assurance about the adequacy of financial management and of management arrangements for achieving the organisation's objectives. These responsibilities require an independent and challenging approach. Through these mechanisms, Committee Members are able to use their skills and experiences to influence the Council’s governance, internal control processes, and risk management arrangements.
An effective committee can bring many benefits to the Council including: • increasing public confidence in the objectivity and fairness of financial and other reporting; • providing additional assurance through a process of independent and objective scrutiny; • raising awareness of the need for internal control and the implementation of audit recommendations; and • reinforcing the importance and independence of internal audit.
1.3 What does an Audit and Governance Committee do?
The Audit and Governance Committee’s main responsibilities are to oversee the Council’s corporate governance arrangements, the work of Internal Audit, and the Council’s response to external audit and other external inspections.
This purpose is reflected in the Committee’s terms of reference which are reviewed and adopted each year by Full Council (attached at Appendix 1).
The Committee advises the Council on all matters relating to its corporate governance. In doing so, the Committee receives scheduled reports on the following matters:
• reviewing the operation and compliance with the Council’s Code of Corporate Governance and making recommendations on its content;
• keeping the Council's Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy under review and making recommendations to the Council on the content and operation of that Policy;
• reviewing and approving the Annual Governance Statement and ensuring that;
they properly reflect the risk environment; there is reliable evidence to support the disclosures made; and, that any necessary improvement actions are being taken;
• approving the Annual Statement of Accounts;
• receiving and reviewing the external auditor’s opinion on the Annual Statement of Accounts, and monitoring management’s responses to the issues raised by external audit;
Page 17 • overseeing Internal Audit’s operations, in particular:
receiving any internal audit strategies, Charter, audit plans, and considering progress against such plans as necessary through quarterly reports to Committee; receiving Annual Reports on Internal Audit and counter-fraud activities; and reviewing the progress and adequacy of management’s response to Internal Audit’s recommendations, and matters arising from Internal Audit reports;
• receiving the external auditor’s Annual Audit Letter, Audit Plans, and any other reports and significant matters deemed necessary by the external auditor;
• reviewing the progress and adequacy of management’s response to external audit recommendations;
• receiving reports on the Risk Management Strategy and the monitoring and review of risk management, in order to consider the effectiveness of arrangements; and
• having oversight of the Council’s arrangements for dealing with complaints about Members and any other issues associated with the Member’s Code of Conduct.
1.4 How do Officers Support the Committee?
The Audit and Governance Committee is supported by:
• The Chief Finance Officer as Section 151 Officer who is responsible under the law for ensuring the proper administration of the Council’s financial affairs and who has overall responsibility for the arrangements in this area;
• The Monitoring Officer who is required by law to ensure that the Council acts within its legal powers at all times;
• The Head of Internal Audit who has a key role to play in supporting the Committee because of the importance of the Internal Audit service to governance; and
• Any other officer of the Council as required.
2 FINANCIAL YEAR 2016/17
This Annual Report for 2016/17 produced by the Audit and Governance Committee has been prepared in accordance with the CIPFA best practice publication ‘A Toolkit for Local Authority Audit Committees’. The report demonstrates how the Audit and Governance Committee has fulfilled its terms of reference and how it is fully committed to helping to improve the Council’s governance and control environments during what should prove to be another very challenging year ahead.
The Committee’s activities during 2016/17 were designed to make a positive contribution to the continual improvement of governance arrangements across the Council, as well as performing the statutory roles as identified in the Constitution.
Page 18 3 SOME KEY INFORMATION
3.1 Audit and Governance Committee Membership
The Audit and Governance Committee has 9 core Members, together with two further independent members to support standards related issues. Throughout 2016/17 these members were as follows:
Councillor Liam O’Rourke - Chair Councillor Andy Bell - Vice-Chair Councillor Neil Butterworth Councillor Ashley Dearnley Councillor James Gartside Councillor Kieran Heakin Councillor Peter Joinson Councillor Peter Malcolm Councillor Aasim Rashid Ann Taylor (independent) Andrew Underdown (independent)
3.2 Key Features of the Audit Committee and its Operation
The Committee meets CIPFA’s definition of best practice as illustrated below:
Best Practice Expectation Met Comment
Independence Independent √ The Committee reports to the Council from the executive and scrutiny Number of 3 to 5 members √ The Committee has 9 Members Members Number of Aligned to √ The frequency of meetings, 4 or 5 times a meetings business needs year, complies with best practice and ensures all core business is completed in a timely manner. Other meetings may be scheduled if deemed appropriate to support business needs. Co-option To be considered √ Training is currently provided to relative to skills increase Members’ skills; this is assessed on an ongoing basis to ensure the Committee continues to be effective and to determine future training requirements. Terms of Accord with √ The Committee has adopted Reference suggested the CIPFA recommended model Terms Of best practice Reference and these are reviewed annually to ensure that they remain fit for purpose. Skills and Members have √ General and specific training is training sufficient skills provided to increase Members’ for the job skills, with an induction for new Members and ongoing assessment of any specific needs to inform future training plans.
Page 19 3.3 Meetings and Attendance
In line with best practice, the Audit and Governance Committee met 5 times during the year in June, August, September, December and March.
Attendance by Members in 2016/17 was over 75%.
4 CORE ACTIVITY 2016/17
4.1 Terms of Reference
The Audit and Governance Committee’s Terms of Reference are comprehensive, cover all main areas and are attached at Appendix 1 to this Annual Report. The Committee’s work and outcomes in each of its areas of responsibility are summarised in the following subsections.
4.2 Internal Audit
The Audit and Governance Committee: • Approved Internal Audit’s Annual Audit Plan; • Approved the updated Internal Audit Charter; • Considered regular reports produced by the Head of Internal Audit highlighting internal audit work completed, Internal Audit performance against key indicators and any significant issues arising during the period; • Considered the Head of Internal Audit’s Annual Report and assurance opinion on the Council’s control environment; • Ensured internal and external audit plans were complementary and provided optimum use of the total audit resource; • Received updates and an Annual Report on Internal Audit’s counter fraud remit and activities undertaken; • Approved the process to support the forthcoming external assessment of Internal Audit to ensure conformance with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards; • Discussed options to develop an approach to provide assurance that the Borough’s economy is being supported by current procurement arrangements, from which an audit of the Highways Contract Management process was commissioned; and • Monitored the progress made in the implementation of high and medium priority audit recommendations through regular reports received from Internal Audit.
We continue to provide support to the Internal Audit service to ensure management is responsive to recommendations made and agreed.
4.3 External Audit
The Audit and Governance Committee: • Considered the external auditor’s Audit Plan and audit fee; • Considered progress against the plan presented by the external auditor; • Received and considered all external audit and inspection reports issued in the year and considered management’s response to them, ensuring robust and thorough responses; • Considered the Value for Money conclusions and ensured appropriate actions were being taken to address any issues and challenges arising; • Considered the external auditor’s Annual Audit Letter; • Considered reports on the risk and challenges being faced by Rochdale both now and into the future to ensure that an appropriate response and action was being taken by the Council; and • Considered a report on grant claims certifications.
Page 20 We continue to provide support to external audit to ensure management is responsive to recommendations made and agreed.
4.4 Risk Management
The Audit and Governance Committee: • Received details of the Risk Management system, how it works and arrangements in place for mitigating risks; • Considered regular reports from the Risk Manager on developments within both Service based and Corporate Risk Registers to ensure the Members are aware of any emerging risks across the Council and the extent to which the Risk Management Strategy is being embedded; • Considered and challenged the Corporate Risk Register resulting in amendments being made by the Leadership Team; and • Considered a presentation which gave detailed information in relation to the structure of the Council’s risk registers, including a specific overview of the Environmental Management Risk Register to ensure that identified risks were being managed and that control action plans are appropriate.
We continue to provide support to promote effective Risk Management policies and procedures across the Council and ensure best practice is achieved.
4.5 Internal Control and Governance
The Audit and Governance Committee: • Agreed the Council’s Annual Governance Statement and action plans to improve identified weaknesses; • Considered the Council’s response to the Government’s Fighting Fraud Locally initiative to ensure that sound governance and counter-fraud arrangements are in place and are working as intended; and • Considered a report which provided an update on key outcomes following a review of the Council’s governance arrangements, including the Constitution.
The Annual Governance Statement is a key document which summarises the Council’s governance arrangements and the effectiveness of the arrangements during the year.
4.6 Accounts
The Audit and Governance Committee: • Received training and guidance on the preparation of the Annual Statement of Accounts and the key issues which should be considered prior to approval; • Received and considered the external auditor’s report on the accounts, and ensured that the Council responded appropriately to the auditor’s comments and recommendations; and • Reviewed and approved the Annual Statement of Accounts, considering whether appropriate accounting policies have been followed and whether there are any concerns arising from the financial statements or from the audit that need to be brought to the attention of the Council.
4.7 Specific Issues
The Audit and Governance Committee also considered reports and presentations on the following specific issues during the period: • A presentation on the work of the Counter Fraud Team, being advised on the principal areas of work relating to business rates, council tax and blue badge fraud, and frauds
Page 21 relating to tenancies and adult care services, alongside the Team’s input and involvement with the wider Partnership Enforcement Team and the Police in tackling crime across the Borough; • Developments made in procurement strategies and procedures and future challenges through a presentation by the Director of STAR procurement hub; • A report to consider the alignment and connection of strategic priorities between RBC and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority; • A report to consider the options available for the future appointment of external auditors, a process which needs to be in place by 31 December 2017 for the audit year 2018/19 onwards; and • A report which provided an update on complaints made pursuant to the Members Code of Conduct.
5. PLANS FOR 2017/18
During 2016/17 the Audit and Governance Committee has consolidated the progress that has been made in previous years, and going forward will look to develop further and become the recognised champion of good governance for the Council, helping to support and address many of the issues which may arise in such a challenging and difficult environment. Our priorities for 2017/18 are to continue to meet our duties as specified in the Constitution by developing and building on our current status as well as responding to and implementing any requirements arising out of the Public Sector Internal Auditing Standards and the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2015. For 2017/18 we will:
• Continue to develop the effectiveness of the Audit and Governance Committee to review all governance issues identified; • Develop the proactive nature of the Committee to facilitate actions by officers to ensure that risks are identified earlier in the process and remedial actions taken in a more timely fashion in response; • Continue to drive up standards to ensure the Council is able to meet the demanding requirements of the external inspection and assessment regime; • Continue to review all governance arrangements to ensure the Council adopts the very latest best practice; • Continue to support the work of Internal and External Audit and ensure appropriate responses are given to their recommendations; • Ensure we maintain and further improve our standards in relation to the production of accounts; • Continue to support the Council to manage the risk of fraud and corruption; • Oversee the development of audit plans to evaluate and test controls in operation over complex and developing areas such as integrated health and social care; and • Equip existing and any new Members to fulfil our responsibilities by providing more detailed and effective training on all key areas of responsibility including financial arrangements, risk management, governance and audit.
Councillor Liam O’Rourke (Chair) Rochdale Borough Council Audit and Governance Committee July 2017
Page 22 Appendix 1
Audit and Governance Committee Terms of Reference
According to The Council’s Constitution the audit committee is responsible for the following functions which have been split into the following 3 areas:
1. Council functions 1. Duty to approve the Authority’s Statement of Accounts, income and expenditure and balance sheet, or record of payments and receipts (as the case may be); 2. Powers to make payments or provide benefits in cases of maladministration etc; 3. Duty to divide constituency into polling districts; and 4. Power to divide electoral divisions into polling districts at local government elections.
2. Functions related to the Code of Conduct for Councillors and Voting Co-opted Members 1. Establish a Sub-Committee to consider an exceptional referral of a complaint from the Monitoring Officer; 2. To appoint to Hearings Panels (Sub-Committees) if not otherwise appointed by the Monitoring Officer; 3. Granting dispensations to Councillors, Independent Members and Co-opted Members who would otherwise be unable to participate in and/or vote on a matter due to a prejudicial interest on the grounds that: i. The grant of the dispensation would be in the interest of the inhabitants of the Authority’s area; or ii. It is otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation; and 4. Monitoring of the Code of Conduct for Councillors and Voting Co-opted Members, of the Protocol for Relationships between Members and Council Employees, the Code of Conduct for Members considering Planning Matters and the Code of Conduct for Members dealing with Licensing Matters (Licensing Act 2003, Gambling Act 2005, Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013).
3. Functions of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s recommended ‘audit committee’ 1. To approve the Annual Governance Statement and monitor achievement; 2. To approve the Internal Audit Charter; 3. To review and approve the Internal Audit Annual Plan and the Risk Management Strategy, considering the effectiveness of the proposed audit programme in providing adequate assurance over arrangements for governance, risk management and internal control; 4. To consider Internal Audit reports arising from the Internal Audit Annual Plan, ensuring that adequate management responses are made in respect of the findings of audit investigations, and particularly monitoring the outcomes of responses to individual significant adverse reports on financial management and internal control; 5. To consider the Internal Audit Annual Report and to ensure the implementation of appropriate action; 6. To review the adequacy of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy, and related policies and procedures, to ensure their application and effectiveness; 7. To consider the External Audit Plan, the external auditor’s annual letter, relevant reports and the annual report to those charged with governance on issues arising from the audit of the Annual Statement of Accounts; and 8. To review the Council’s Risk Registers (Council Constitution, Part 3 responsibility for functions).
Page 23 Agenda Item 8a ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR REGENERATION TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Regeneration, Communications, Strategic Projects and Greater Manchester Relationships Portfolio.
Along with the other members of the Cabinet I have embarked on a fresh round of savings as the council continues to explore ways of bridging the funding gap left by an ever decreasing central government grant.
It is crucial that we keep a tight control over our budgets, because despite facing millions of pounds more of cutbacks, our number one priority is to protect frontline services – health, social care, education, the environment and community services.
But even though we face this funding shortfall, we have not allowed to stop our continued push to turn our borough info a destination of choice for people to live, work and socialise.
ROCHDALE TOWN CENTRE
Rochdale Riverside (Genr8)
We continue to make progress with our planned new Rochdale Riverside retail and leisure development. Following the planning application being approved earlier this year, the Council’s development partner is now undertaking extensive site investigations across the site to test the ground conditions prior to starting construction of the scheme later this year. The flagship development will bring around 24 shops, including Next and M&S, as well as restaurants, a six- screen cinema, 340 parking spaces and will create 1,000 new jobs and boost the local economy annually by £17m. We are in detailed and well-progressed negotiations with a number of other tenants to occupy the scheme and hope to announce these within the next few months.
Planning permission was also secured for the three listed buildings on Baillie street, which will be redeveloped as part of the project, bringing opportunities for further retailers to set up in these important heritage buildings.
Rochdale Town Hall
Although the revised Stage 1 HLF bid for our fantastic Town Hall was unfortunately rejected due to the lack of available funds, we remain committed to safeguarding this stunning architectural gem for future generations. With only £40m available for bids totalling £224m it was inevitable that most applicants would be left disappointed. We are now in the process of exploring other funding options to restore this Grade 1 Listed Building and will continue to engage with the Heritage Lottery Fund. We also have plans in the pipeline to improve the Town Hall Square, including the lighting of key heritage buildings and the renovation of the Memorial Garden lamps which will get under way later this year.
Baillie Street & lower Yorkshire Street public realm improvements
The transformation of Baillie Street and lower Yorkshire Street is now complete, with brand new natural stone paving and the installation of attractive planters and new benches. The rising Page 24 bollards have now been commissioned and will soon be operational, meaning access to this area for service vehicles will be restricted to between 6pm and 10am to make the street safer and more attractive to shoppers and visitors.
Market
As part of the site investigation works for Rochdale Riverside the interim market has been moved to Baillie Street, Yorkshire Street and Lord Square, which has also recently been resurfaced in natural stone. This temporary home will remain in place until the new market on The Butts is ready for occupation.
The site of the new permanent market is in the heart of the historic town centre, next to the recently completed re-opened River Roch, with the capacity to accommodate around 25 to 30 stalls. The planning application for this new outdoor market, and the conversion of the former Santander building to create a small indoor market, was approved in early September. The Santander building is owned by the Council and the second phase of work to adapt and renovate the property commenced in September. The new market, to be run by market specialists Quarterbridge, is set to open at Easter 2018.
Town Centre Business Rates & Independent Retail Business Support Scheme
The combination of our innovative Business Rates discount scheme and property renovation grants for independent town centre businesses have made a huge impact to our town centres. Since the launch of the business rates support scheme in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton town centres last year, there has been a flow of new private sector investments into our towns. A total of nine new businesses have been awarded business rates grants and are now established across all three town centres.
We are also continuing to provide extra support to new independent retailers by providing a grant of up to £5,000 for fit-out or shop front improvements for eligible retailers at 50% of the total costs of works. Applications are being encouraged from businesses and individuals wishing to establish in our town centres and we have already received interest from a number of property owners and businesses about the new scheme. To date four grants have been approved, including two hairdressers, a café and the refurbishment of the former Wellington Hotel on Drake Street.
In total we have seen 21 new cafes, restaurants and shops all opening on Rochdale's high street recently. This has all contributed towards a significant drop in vacancy levels in the area covered by the schemes, and is a sign of confidence in the town centre with the imminent start of the Rochdale Riverside scheme.
Drake Street
We are working with a number of property owners to increase the supply of good quality residential property within the Town Centre, with an initial focus on the Drake Street area. This will increase Town Centre footfall and local spend as well as assisting in meeting new housing targets using previously developed sites. The Wellington Hotel, one of the town’s landmark buildings, has re-opened as a public house, with support from the Council.
Rochdale Railway Station
The Council, working with Transport for Greater Manchester and Northern Rail have commissioned a study to develop some designs and options for improved passenger facilities at Rochdale railway station. These will include a scheme for the enhancement of the main Page 25 Maclure Road entrance to Rochdale railway station. We are expecting to receive a report and initial scheme costs by the end of this year.
East Lancashire Railway
We have recently received a structural report of the railway bridge at Castleton to assess the feasibility of reopening the arch to bring the heritage railway into Castleton station. Network Rail have also completed a further study of the track condition between Heywood and Castleton stations.
The structural report indicates that the reopening of the arch is feasible with some digging out to lower the track level and stabilisation work to the bridge. Network Rail is currently assessing the report and the options for the design of the reopened arch. This is a positive first step and we expect Network Rail will require the ELR and the Council to commission more detailed work on the bridge structure to obtain various consents, including planning. Subject to Network Rail approvals, the Council is working with the ELR to develop a funding strategy for the project.
A scheme to reopen the Manchester Road access into Heywood station is also being costed and developed following the completion of the play area to increase the visibility and visitor attraction of Heywood Station.
MIDDLETON TOWN CENTRE
Edgar Wood & Middleton Townscape Heritage Initiative
The restoration of the Edgar Wood Staircase and Exedra in Jubilee Park was completed in the Summer, one of four Edgar Wood properties restored this year. The £500,000 restoration of Wood’s Long Street Methodist School is currently being considered by the Heritage Lottery Fund, a decision is expected shortly.
Improvements to Northern Gateway to Middleton Town Centre
The major paving scheme was completed earlier in the year and other public realm works, including the rebuilding of a Victorian retaining wall, reinstatement of railings and landscaping, have been completed during the Summer. Building on the success of supporting existing and new businesses in the Conservation Area, a further ten properties will be supported with shopfront improvement grants, with work starting in the Autumn.
BUSINESS PARKS
Kingsway Business Park Anybody that has recently passed through Kingsway Business Park cannot fail to have noticed the progress being made on the JD Sports Distribution Centre extension, which now has all of its external walls in place. Construction works are on target to complete in early 2018, and will be followed by an internal fit-out period before becoming operational in Autumn 2018. I have been invited to view the building works for myself in a couple of weeks’ time and I look forward to seeing the works from the inside.
One of the units recently built on Plot K on Kingsway is in the process of being sold to a local manufacturing company who are buying this to add to their existing facility as they are experiencing large growth at the moment. It will mean additional manufacturing jobs on Kingsway and is great news for the Borough.
The Rochdale Half Marathon and 10k races took place last weekend and used some of the Page 26 Kingsway footpaths. I understand that these were very successful and showcased the business park to visitors from near and far.
Heywood Distribution Park There is strong interest in the last remaining plot on HDP, with a local company close to agreeing a deal to relocate to a new 250,000 sq ft facility, resulting in increased job numbers and further growth. Currently the business park is close to 90% occupancy, demonstrating the popularity of the location and the need for additional commercial space in this area. RDA’s Business & Investment Team continue to work with agents to market available properties on the distribution park.
Stakehill Industrial Estate As I mentioned in my last report, a significant proportion of the Stakehill Industrial Estate was put up for sale in May. This has now been acquired by UBS Triton Property Fund and will be managed on their behalf by Canmoor, who have previously managed Heywood Distribution Park. Canmoor had an introductory meeting with Rochdale Development Agency and share our collective desire to make the estate work as well as it can for the benefit of local businesses.
In July, Rochdale Development Agency and Rochdale Council hosted a business breakfast event. This was attended by around 20 of the businesses currently operating from Stakehill. Our forthcoming programme of investment in security and traffic measures was outlined, and very positively received by businesses. Companies had the opportunity to network with each other and a highways working group has been instigated as a direct result of the event. Other events will be organised in the future to maintain momentum.
On the property front, both of the former Aldi units have now been let, one of which has gone to a company new to the Borough. This brings 300,000 sq ft of vacant space back into use. Both of these companies will be operational by Christmas. Both the former Tesco unit and the former Sainsbury unit are being refurbished and will be back on the market in the near future. This will bring a further 400,000 sq ft of space up to the standard required by modern users, and will leave very little available space on Stakehill.
OTHER REGENERATION ACTIVITY
M62 J19/South Heywood Area Wide Improvement Programme Officers of the Council in their role as Local Planning authority are considering the planning application for the link road between Junction 19 of the M62 and Heywood Distribution Park, plus the associated housing and employment space. As this is still a live planning application, I don’t propose to comment any more at the moment.
COMMUNICATIONS
The communications team once again played a central role in delivering the council’s fantastic Feel Good festival, which drew record crowds to the town centre in August. As well as booking the headline acts the team also did a sterling job of marketing the event across the north west – ensuring that local businesses as well as our residents benefitted from what has becomes one of the best music festivals in the region. Communications is also helping with the Literature & Ideas Festival and the Half Marathon, 10k and fun run, which I’m sure will also be a great success.
I am pleased to be able to report that the council’s website has again been classed as one of the top four best borough council websites in the country; and we’ve once more achieved the maximum four-star rating – one of only 35 council websites in the country to achieve this and the only one in Greater Manchester. Page 27 As well as working on recruiting foster carers and staff, tackling financial abuse against the elderly, and other projects linked to the council’s priorities, communications has developed a workbook for school children to use as part of the national, year-long linking schools project. The Linking Network were so impressed with the work they have asked the council to produce a template version that can be used up and down the country.
Thank you Mr Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matters relating to the Regeneration Portfolio.
Councillor Richard Farnell Leader of the Council Portfolio Holder for Regeneration
Page 28 Agenda Item 8b ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR CORPORATE AND RESOURCES TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
1 FINANCE SERVICES
1.1 FINANCE a) Monitoring of the Current Year: Period 4 monitoring reports were presented to Cabinet on the 14th September. The projected revenue position is an in year saving of £899k, which demonstrates the continuation of financial management in Directorates. The report notes the delivery of £5.9m of savings which were built into the budget with £569k of savings being delivered by mitigating actions. The capital programme has £8m of rephasing with 2 schemes within the programme reporting underspends to the value of £807k. The collection fund as at Period 4 is reporting a projected £1.4m surplus this relating to the collection of Council Tax. b) Budget 2017/18 and 2018/19: 14th September Cabinet considered the budget update report, updated Medium Term Financial Strategy, Discretionary Fees and Charges and draft capital programme. The budget update report informs Members of the financial gap over the next 3 financial years, £15.9m in 18/19, £8m in 19/20 and £9.6m in 20/21. The financial gap is split between Locality Plan Services and Non Locality Plan Services. The report notes there is a risk of delivery of £10.9m of benefits planned to be delivered from the Locality Plan. Consultation on the savings proposals within the report began on Monday 18th September.
There was a separate report detailing the discretionary fees and charges, highlighting those charges which have not increased in line with the budget assumption of 2% general uplift. The reports notes that £127k additional income in 18/19 will be generated by applying the 2% uplift and a further £73k of additional income where savings are being proposed to implement increases above 2%.
The draft capital programme is for consultation with a proposed programme of £52.3m for 18/19, £54.7m for 19/20 and £21m for 20/21. The report details the nature of the schemes and the key objectives to which those schemes are planned to deliver. There are some new schemes in the draft programme and additions to existing schemes with the most significant being the proposed £20m in commercial investment for 18/19 and 19/20.
Page 29 c) Health and Social Care Integration: The Integrated Commissioning Board have considered the period 4 Shadow Pool monitoring report, which is reporting a potential £1.5m overspend for 2017/18, the pressure being within the Health budgets and therefore in a shadow period will be addressed by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The Council and the CCG have been successful in securing £25.2m of Transformation Funding from Greater Manchester over 4 financial years, of which £1.7m is a loan. This funding will be used to support the delivery and development of new models of care. These models of care should release financial benefits to address the Health and Social Care financial gap over the next 4 financial years
1.2 REVENUES AND BENEFITS a) Council Tax Collection Update: At 31 August, 45.8% of council tax due in the year had been collected; this is the same time as last year.
£1.9m of previous year’s arrears has been collected to the end of August, which is slightly behind the same time last year. b) Business Rates Collection Update: At 31 August, 44.4% of business rates due in the year had been collected; this is 0.1% behind the same time last year. c) Housing Benefits and Local Council Tax Support Scheme: We are currently focusing on reducing waiting times for processing claims. This currently stands at just less than 3 weeks and we are aiming to reduce down to 2 weeks. d) Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP): Our DHP funding for 2017/18 is £713,000. At 31 August, 779 awards have been made with a value of £410,000 and we aim to use all the available funds in year. e) Blue Badges: processing of Blue Badges remains up-to-date with all applications being dealt with in a timely manner.
1.3 INTERNAL AUDIT a) Quarter 1 Report 2017/18: A report was presented to the Audit and Governance Committee on 18 September 2017. The report summarised audits completed across various service areas. Internal Audit was able to give either substantial or adequate assurance that risks are being managed effectively in all the audits completed during the quarter. In addition, Internal Audit followed up on the Data Protection (Subject Access Requests) audit which was given a limited assurance rating in December 2016 and confirmed that all agreed actions had now been completed.
Page 30 b) Counter fraud: The key outcomes achieved for the 3 months to 30 June 2017 were as follows: 233 fraud referrals were received with 79% resulting in positive outcomes; A further 9 sanctions have been achieved, consisting of 1 prosecution and 8 fines for fraud; and £116.005 has been identified in terms of additional savings and overpayments which will be recovered.
2 INFORMATION, CUSTOMERS & COMMNUNITIES a) ‘ACE’ Staff Awards to be held on 30th November. The awards recognise and celebrate individuals and teams who provide outstanding service and have gone the extra mile. I’m delighted by the response which has seen 402 online nominations made for individual staff and teams across the Council. b) Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
The Council’s ICT team has recently started a new mobile phone contract with EE which will create savings over the next two years. ICT staff have also designed and introduced a new system to support enforcement action, including fixed penalty notices.
On the Education side, we have supported once again smooth submission of A level and GCSE data to the Council from schools and launched an educational tracking system for looked after children and Gypsy Roma traveller pupils.
Our Service Desk staff are continuing to look at how we can improve service requests through the use of intranet forms and automated call logging. This will provide a much more streamlined service for customers. c) Customer Access
The Council’s Customer Access Team was invited by the Local Government Association to present to over 60 of its members to share the story of how we’ve modernised access to services for Rochdale residents. A particular focus was on the success we have had in creating and encouraging customers to self-serve using our award-winning website.
3 GOVERNANCE a) Elections and Electoral Registration: Work is underway on the annual register of electors which will be published in December. The team continue to work on engaging and encouraging residents to register.
The Boundary Commission for England has announced its plans to publish revised proposals for new constituency boundaries on 17th October 2017. Consultation on the proposals will take place over the following 8 weeks and will close on the 11th December 2017. Page 31 b) Governance and Committees: Revised decision making arrangements are bedding in. I am particularly pleased to note the developing Scrutiny work programmes and the task and finish group activities taking place to explore both internal and external issues which impact on council services.
4 LEGAL a) Knowl Syke Bridge: Knowl Syke Bridge was in unknown ownership and had fallen into a dangerous condition. The Council had no obligation to meet the repairmen cost. However, there were legitimate concerns for the health and safety of the residents and public who used the bridge. Legal negotiated and drafted an Agreement for all parties who benefit from the bridge to contribute to the repair costs including United Utilities. The works are almost complete and the bridge will now be safe as the weather deteriorates over the winter. b) School Appeals: Legal has assisted Governance & Committees with the School Appeal process over the summer months, processing 437 applications and clerking numerous appeal hearings to a conclusion.
5 HUMAN RESOURCES a) Positive Local Recruitment Policy
The proposal which will be presented to Cabinet seeks to ensure that future Council vacancies at Grades 1 to 3, are made available to Rochdale residents only. The HR Service are developing the Council`s recruitment arrangements to provide a focused local approach to advertising jobs and enable applicants to access the support they may require to apply for these vacancies. Further consideration is being given to how best to engage with communities who traditionally have not applied for Council vacancies and experience barriers to employment. Input from Employment Links is being sought to strengthen the offer to residents. b) Trade Union Engagement and Consultation
Revised arrangements, as agreed at March Council, have now been implemented and the first meeting of the newly formed Corporate Joint Consultation and Negotiation Group has met and will meet bi monthly. The Departmental groups will follow the same pattern meeting bi monthly and incorporating Health and Safety on the agenda. c) Overview and Scrutiny Absence Study Group
A member led task and finish study group has been formed from Corporate O&S committee and agreed its objectives and terms of reference at the first meeting. A schedule of meetings has been arranged to give the members of the group opportunity to scrutinise and study the current arrangements. The group will report back to Overview and Scrutiny early in 2018.
Page 32 Councillor Allen Brett Portfolio Holder for CORPORATE AND RESOURCES
Page 33 Agenda Item 8c
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENT TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER, 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Housing and Environment Portfolio.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Residents across the borough made contact to compliment Environmental Management over 60 times to thank our teams for emptying bins, flower displays, street cleansing, clean and green teams and parks.
OPERATIONS
Waste We are part way through recruiting for 11 drivers and 32 loaders, the majority of these posts filled by local people, from the local area with many of the loaders being young people.
Streets 2 x new Large Mechanical Sweepers are on order which are far more economical to run, quieter during their operation and a lot cleaner in operation as they re-circulate the air. After the waste recruitment has finished we will be recruiting to vacancies in streets and grounds
Grounds/Parks The mowing season will be coming to an end in October and all the equipment is being reviewed. The winter programme then starts where we will be doing the cutting back of bushes, edging off and any clearance works.
Landscape team Successfully implemented over 60 individual schemes across the Borough ranging from simple bin installations and memorial benches to the Britain In Bloom Schemes, such as the Morris Minor Van in Rochdale Town Centre.
SEN Transport Team Re-scheduled and allocated 122 routes for the forthcoming term for just fewer than 500 children which incorporates 63 new additions.
Crematoria and Cemeteries Across the borough carried out 503 cremations and 172 burials
WASTE AND RECYCLING Recycling levels reached a new all-time record across the Borough in August, peaking at 57.08% and to date this year recycling levels have performed above last year In our attempt to control residual waste bin proliferation after the bin charges Page 34 were removed our team of Recycling Officers have been out removing additional unauthorised bins – so far over 600 have been removed since April 2017. A recent trial to enable people to swap small paper & card recycling bins has resulted in a 50% response rate across a sample of 100 households. Plans are now being made to extend the trial to a further 500 homes Reducing the contamination of our recycling bins remains a priority and it was reported by GMWDA last week that this year to date Rochdale are the best performing authority in the GMWDA with a 6% contamination rate. The average for the remaining authorities was above 10% All Bring Sites have now been removed from the borough with virtually no negative feedback. This has freed up vehicles and man hours that will now enable Operations to create efficiencies with their Flats rounds Initiatives to promote food waste collections from our BME communities has also continued through the summer with our Recycling Officers attending a number of events and educational days within the Rochdale Town Centre area Freehold Flats is the next communal area to benefit from our new look recycling facilities similar to those successfully installed at Lower Falinge. The new bins will be installed w/c 28th September 2017. We repeated another Bulky Waste Amnesty within Kirkholt which was extended due to its popularity for an additional two days collecting large bulky items from a total of 150 properties
PUBLIC REALM Three Town Centre Enforcement Wardens are now in post. The fourth post is currently being re-advertised. The Town Centre Enforcement Wardens now have all anticipated software and hardware (mobile phones, apps and mobile printers) to enable them to issue Fixed Penalty Notices. The Wardens and Public Realm Inspectors have body worm cameras, the necessary back office systems are in place and are working well. All usual patrols, investigations, visits, FOIs, IRs and enforcement/ASB activities are on-going. These have resulted in the following headline figures for the quarter to date: Convictions for environmental crimes: 3 Paid cautions for environmental crimes: 5 Fixed Penalty Notices issued: 69 Statutory Notices served: 41 Formal warnings issued: 80 Unlawful traveller encampments removed: 12 Green Flag awards obtained: 6 sites retained (Queen’s Park in Heywood, Milnrow Memorial Park, Hare Hill Park in Littleborough, Middleton Boarshaw Cemetery, Truffet Park in Middleton and Rochdale Town Centre Parks incorporating Broadfield Park, Packer Spout & St Chad’s Gardens and Rochdale Memorial Gardens opposite Town Hall). 2 new sites obtained Green Flag Awards at first time of entering – Hopwood Park in Heywood and Jubilee Park in Middleton. Additional plots at Kellet St / Hey St new allotment allocated, taking it up to 31 plots let as part of project to meet Leaders commitment on new allotment Page 35 plots
PROPERTY, HIGHWAYS & FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
PROPERTY
Technical Working in partnership with the RDA completion of seven new industrial units at Dodgson Street is due 29.09.2017. Working closely with the Capital Projects team and as part of the Schools Capital maintenance programme, 9No. mechanical and electrical schemes with a total value of £1.2m have been delivered during the School summer holidays. Schools continue to commission our team direct using their devolved budgets. These include: Caldershaw Primary: new MUGA pitch, All Saints CE: Formation of medical room and adaptation works, Alkrington Primary: Fire Door upgrade, Darnhill PRU: new dining, Elmwood Primary: new extension, Feasibility studies commissioned for extensions at Newhey Primary/Broadfield Primary. Additionally we have maintained our School Service level agreements (SLA’s) amid competition from private providers and proving the team to be a popular and cost effective choice for schools. Design and fit out to NOR retail unit moving closer, the unit currently unused will be developed into a retail trading unit over the coming months. External client’s school academies are commissioning our team to complete statutory inspections including Asbestos/Fixed Wiring Inspections/Fire Risk Assessments, these statutory inspections completed fully in house are being marketed to a wider client base to generate additional income
Managed Property Services Our first electrical apprentice has successfully completed the 3rd year of his apprenticeship and is now a fully qualified electrician from which he has obtained a new full time job. We are in the process of recruiting another electrical apprentice. Our 2nd Year electrical apprentice is showing great potential and is due to complete their training by September 2018. We have also just taken on a business administration apprentice and It is hoped that they will achieve their business admin NVQ II within 18 months.
Capital Projects The majority of the Schools Capital Maintenance Programme for 2017/18 has been successfully delivered over the summer holidays and the team is now concentrating on the delivery of the AMG programme of work due for delivery by end of the year. Three additional place planning schemes have recently been completed ready for the new school year, these include Bowlee Park Primary School, Sandbrook Primary School, and Moorhouse Primary School. The team is continuing with design and procurement of further school expansions at Whittaker Moss Primary School, Andrew’s CE Primary School, Woodland Primary School, Boarshaw and Littleborough Primary Schools.
Page 36 After a highly involved process the Playing Pitch Strategy is nearing completion. The service continues to advise on Hopwood Hall and recently arranged for asbestos pipe lagging to be removed following concerns raised after a series of break-ins. The service has assisted Hopwood Depree to prepare and arrange the highly successful heritage open day.
HIGHWAYS
Capital Programme & Delivery Design of the South Heywood Junction 19 Link Road project continues. The route is now fixed and has been submitted for full planning approval in conjunction with the outline planning submission for the residential/industrial element of the scheme. The Baillie Street/Yorkshire Street public realm improvement works are substantially completed. The project involves the provision of a high quality area of public realm using natural stone footway products and includes the provision of a rising bollard system to prevent illegal vehicular access to further enhance the area for pedestrians. The final elements of the works such as white lining are currently ongoing. Once completed a communication exercise will be undertaken with local businesses and key stakeholders prior to the activation of the rising bollard system. We have recently completed a phase of the Cycle City Ambition Grant 2 Project with the installation of a new cycle route between Hopwood Hall College and Hollin Lane, Middleton. We have completed the following footway reconstruction works as part of the agreed 2017/18 Highway Capital Programme: Mavis Grove, Milnrow Spencer Lane, Rochdale Westward Ho, Milnrow Magdala Street, Heywood The following footway reconstruction schemes have been issued to our term service contractor, Balfour Beatty, and are programmed to be constructed over the coming months: Clement Royds Street, Rochdale Shelly Avenue, Middleton Eastfield Avenue, Middleton We have completed the resurfacing of the A58 Yorkshire Street, Rochdale (from the Townhead junction to Entwisle Road). These works were carried out over the school summer holiday period to minimise disruption to road users. We liaised closely with the National Grid gas company to enable them to install a new gas main in advance and alongside our works to further minimise disruption. We are currently resurfacing Rochdale Road East, Heywood as part of the £1M fund allocated to improving the boroughs roads by the Leader of the Council. In addition to this work our engineers are currently preparing for the resurfacing of the following roads: Queensway, Rochdale Edinburgh Way/A627(M) junction, Rochdale The borough wide carriageway patching programme is on track to be completed by early autumn 2017. Patching works have been completed in Page 37 the Pennines and Rochdale Townships, with works currently ongoing in Heywood Township. Patching works for the Middleton Township have been issued to our Term Service Contractor and will follow on from the works in Heywood Township. Works are ongoing to identify and replace defective gullies across the borough. We are also assessing known areas of flooding to carry out works to alleviate such problems. We are currently in the process of determining the annual condition of our highway network to enable us to prepare a 3 year forward capital works programme.
Bridges, Structures & Asset Management Since 1st July 2017 we have continued with the detailed design of the following schemes: Oldham Road Canal Bridge Strengthening, Rochdale and the preliminary design of: Ogden Lane Retaining Wall No.3 We have completed the site works at Todmorden Road Retaining Wall No 5 and No 8 and at Stansfield School, Littleborough; Site works for the reconstruction of Whitelees Retaining Wall in Littleborough commenced on 11th September 2017 with a programme of work of 10 weeks to completion.
Highway Maintenance By closer working with our Term Service Contractor, Balfour Beatty, the team is continuing to deliver the reactive highway maintenance service. Since the 1st April 2017 we have: Cleaned 21,300 highway gullies Completed 5,833 highway patches Inspected 1,280 works carried out by utility companies on our highway network Received and responded to 468 service requests received via our call centre Received and responded to 506 service requests via elected members and the electronic logging system Attended 81 emergency responses within 1 hour of notification Attended 200 emergency responses within 24 hours of notification Attended 178 out of hours call outs Inspected 1940km of highway network for safety defects The Highway Maintenance Team has replenished salt stocks in preparation for the 2017/18 winter service season.
Network Improvement, Development & Flooding The team is continuing to work with planning to provide highway advice on planning applications and future developments. The team continue to monitor all Section 38 and 278 agreements both approving submissions and supervising construction works on site to ensure adoptable standards are maintained to minimise future maintenance and liability issues for the council. We are currently developing transport planning solutions for the borough wide highway network to maximise future external funding opportunities. Work is about to start to install cycle parking in the following parks; Page 38 Limefield Park – Middleton Hopwood Park – Heywood Broadfield Park – Rochdale Springfield Park – Rochdale – Possible location change TBC We have begun preliminary discussions with TfGM regarding the feasibility of improving Park & Ride facilities along the Rochdale Metrolink line. We have submitted a bid to the Department for Transport to further enhance the highway network in the South Heywood area and expect to hear back in the Autumn Statement. The team received £750k external funding from TfGM for a continuous cycle route through Middleton as part of the Cycle City Ambition Grant 2 Project (CCAG2). This route is now substantially complete with a new TOUCAN crossing due to be installed close to Hopwood Hall College and provide access to the canal and Stakehill Industrial Park, the route offers safer sustainable travel alternatives to car for multiple places of employment and education. A new access to Lincoln Close from Oldham Road has been designed and funded from through TfGM this is expected to start on-site during Winter 2017.
Car Parking The team are continuing to enforce all waiting restrictions across the borough. Working outside schools by use of camera car to restrict parking and protect children. Civil Enforcement Officers are due to commence wearing body cameras whilst on enforcement duties for the same purpose as the Town Centre Inspectors and Wardens e.g. to reduce aggression and to be used for evidential purposes as necessary
STREET LIGHTING The routine maintenance for all assets is carried out on a 4 year program, where the annual regime runs from January to December as of September (to date) the program is 79 % complete and on schedule. As of July to September (to date) the street lighting service provider has taken an average of 1.88 days to repair a street light and for the same period the average percentage of lights working was 99.26 % We have successfully tendered the installation and removal of the Christmas lights on a 2 year contract with the option for a I year extension, which has enable us to make efficiencies so we can invest in the infrastructure to improve the longevity of the existing displays and improve in the future programming of the displays. We continue to work with colleagues on street lighting associated works and reviews in relation to capital projects, section 38 and 278’s, planning applications, feature lighting, Britain in bloom, asset management and highway maintenance
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Rochdale Town Hall cleaning team were shortlisted for the APSE Cleaning Team of the Year award. The catering service has re-branded all of its kitchens to ‘Fresh Kitchen’ the Page 39 package includes a new menu to ensure all the children receive a nutritionally balanced meal in line with the new legislation. This also links with the Councils obesity drive. The cleaning team have recently secured an advisory service with Crompton House School and this is the first time the team have successfully negotiated a contract with a private school.
Town Hall Following a recent assessment from VisitEngland Rochdale Town Hall has been awarded the accreditation of VisitEngland Quality Assured Visitor Attraction and has also been nominated for the VisitEngland Hidden Gem accolade. The Town Hall continues to be a major venue for weddings from July to September 24 weddings were held within the building. During the summer close down an outside company produced a Jungle Book interactive theatre show which was oversubscribed. A number of external television production companies have used the Town Hall for filming, these have included: Peaky Blinders (for a second time), a Bollywood gothic horror, an American TV drama called In the Cloud and the BBC are currently looking at using the Town Hall as a location for a new documentary on J R R Tolkien.
Mayoral On the 8 October Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch – Coronation Street), will be granted the Freedom of the Borough. The Mayor has been highlighting community groups throughout the Borough and has recently recognised 2 individuals from an underwater hockey team who have been given a certificate from the Mayor recognising their achievements and contribution to the GB U19 Underwater Hockey team at the World Championships in Hobart and being invited to tea with the Mayor and Mayoress
STRATEGIC HOUSING
Discretionary Crisis Fund and Local Welfare Provision In 2016/17 the Discretionary Crisis Fund:- supported 925 vulnerable residents awarded 5,256 individual items, with a total spend of £267,594. 95% of the money spent has been used for providing essential household items for those resettling in to the borough after leaving temporary accommodation. For the first 5 months of the 2017/18 financial year, the DCF has supported 305 vulnerable residents, with 2,201 individual items totalling £110,626.
Universal Credit data Total caseload of Universal Credit claims at 31st July 2017 was 3,968. The proportions of claimants are as follows; 27% Middleton, 18% Heywood, 55% Rochdale 29% aged 16 to 24, 61% aged 25 to 49, 10% aged 50 and over 62% not in employment, 38% in employment The number of claimants in the 16 to 24 age group have steady declined since July 2015, whilst claimants between the ages of 25-49 have increased
Page 40 Full Service Universal Credit will go ‘live’ on February 14th next year. This will see most benefit claimants being moved over to Universal Credit. Officers in Strategic Housing are working with the Department of Work and Pensions to help raise awareness of such and offer support for those who may need help in adjusting to the change.
Affordable Housing Registered Provider (RP) partner Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), have completed 48 new affordable homes for rent across the Borough in 2016/17. RBH are on target to complete an additional 47 new affordable homes for rent, by the end of 2017/18. All these properties are being developed on brownfield sites. RP partner Guinness has completed 14 new affordable bungalows for rent in Heywood. They are in target to deliver 74 additional homes to rent in Rochdale and Heywood. Regenda are submitting an application for HCA AHP grant funding for the proposed Ramsey Street development of 12 new build 3 and 4 bed dwellings. Discussions are ongoing with all RPs within the Borough to look for future Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) bids with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
Housing on Former Council Owned Brownfield Sites The Willow Park scheme is due to seek approval from the Planning Committee in October. The development of the Strand on the Kirkholt estate, Rochdale which is in partnership with RBH is currently underway with the new metal structure in place and brickwork started. The development is on schedule to be completed summer 2018. Progression on the Former Hill Top School site in Kirkholt is going well. There are 10 homes currently occupied and 28 sold awaiting completion. Demand seems to be spreading up on the site. Gleesons have started on site at the former Balderstone School site in Kirkholt. The sales office is now in position and a number of homes have been reserved off plan at this development.
Empty Properties 108 properties have been brought back into use following intervention, 30 of these properties have been empty for over 2 years. 344 owners have been advised and assistance 27 owners have been advised we are considering enforcement action 2 Empty Dwelling Management Order notices have been issued 1 application has been made to the Residential Property Tribunal and 1 case we are waiting a decision from the tribunal. The close working partnership between Strategic Housing, Revenues and Benefits, Building Control, Adult Care and Environmental Protection is increasingly effective in tackling longer term nuisance properties.
Energy Efficiency A bid has been submitted for external funding that will allow properties Page 41 without gas supplies to be connected to the mains gas network and have gas-fired central heating installed. Members will be provided with further information in due course. An opportunity to utilise ERDF funding through AGMA for the installation of advanced monitoring equipment and home insulation is being explored. A bid will be submitted once suitable properties have been identified. Members will be kept informed of the progress of the bid. Discussions are underway with the Co-Operative Society’s energy company to find ways in which we can work in partnership to deliver energy advice and energy-saving measures.
Private Rented Sector Operation Maverick, the multi-agency inspections of commercial and hot food establishments, has carried out 7 raids this quarter. The team has inspected a further 17 establishments this quarter, bringing the total to 156 premises since the operation commenced. A further 25 premises have been accessed by the Partnership Enforcement Team during daily activity. These visits have resulted in: 15 Suspected HMO’s under investigation 3 Emergency Prohibition Orders being served 6 Emergency Remedial Actions being undertaken 7 HHSRS property inspections required 7 ASB/Nuisance warnings issued to tenants In addition the visits yielded: caches of illicit cigarettes and tobacco, illegal drugs, a cannabis farm and 2 offenders being sought by the Police 3 unauthorised traveller encampments have been subjected to Trading Standards enforcement investigation The Private Rented Sector team has dealt with 42 repairs and complaints reported by private sector tenants during this quarter. The team have also dealt with 15 attempted revenge evictions, during this quarter, where landlords have attempted to gain possession of their property through illegal means.
Homelessness Demand for homelessness services remains high. Much of the current activity is centred around reviewing the Councils current arrangements with RBH and partners in the voluntary sector to plan and prepare for the potential impact of the Homelessness Reduction Act in April. The council has received some additional funding ringfenced through the Flexible Homelessness Prevention Grant. This will be used in the months ahead to enhance some of the prevention work undertaken by third sector partners to try and address rough sleeping across the Borough.
CORONERS HOSTED SERVICE The new senior coroner is now starting to make improvements to the Coroners Hosted Service. We are actively looking at accommodation options for the service following the closure of the County Court and Magistrates’ Court at Oldham that was used for larger Jury inquests. Currently TOPS business centre is being used on a temporary basis whilst a more permanent solution is found. Page 42 The senior coroner played a very active role in the aftermath of the Manchester bomb and lessons from this are now being considered to make our local resilience and emergency preparations more robust.
REGISTRATION AND CELEBRANT SERVICES Members will be aware that our Registration and Celebrant Services is delivered in Partnership with the General Register Office (GRO). The service deals with important and valuable documentation and I am pleased to announce that a recent inspection by the GRO Compliance and Performance Unit resulted in the highest assurance score for 9 out of 10 of the areas of inspection. One area was deemed reasonable and we will apply improvements to raise this to a high standard. This external inspection is validation that the service performs to the very highest standard.
Councillor Neil Emmott Portfolio Holder for Housing and Environment.
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Housing and Environment Portfolio
Page 43 Agenda Item 8d
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR BUSINESS, SKILLS AND EMPLOYMENT TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Business, Skills and Employment Portfolio.
Business The Rochdale Development Agency continues to provide the single point of contact for local businesses and inward investors, including the support from a Business Growth Adviser. Property enquiries over the summer have increased slightly on the first quarter, with several being made in respect of the Council’s new starter units on Dodgson Street.
The team continues to attend networking events across Greater Manchester promoting our business offer. The company has recently joined Pro-Manchester, a networking organisation of key professional advisors from across Greater Manchester, who may consider the borough as a place for their clients to do business.
The team have attended 2 business events over the summer, including one that focused on Stakehill Industrial Estate, and the support available to businesses including from TfGM around travel planning for employees. A second event was held on conjunction with Google and attracted over 60 delegates.
Over the last 4 years, through the close working relationship with the Council, the work of the RDA has supported 1270 new jobs, 133,590 sq m of new build employment space and attracted £134m of new private sector investment.
Since the last Council meeting, five businesses have been given assistance with their growth plans, including an on line retail company moving to a warehouse in Middleton which is 3 times larger than their current premises, a local textiles company needing more room to expand their operation and meet the requirements of their key client, and a Rochdale based manufacturing company purchasing new equipment enabling them to enter new specialist markets. The 5 companies will create 90 new jobs, safeguard over 200 and help lever in private sector investment of over £8m. Two of these businesses are inward investors, one from West Yorkshire and one from Stockport.
A report looking in to the feasibility of developing a Business Improvement District (BID) in Rochdale Town centre is almost complete and over 30 local businesses have been consulted. There are over 250 BIDs in the country where businesses take the lead and invest in initiatives that they feel are important to their particular local area.
The Rochdale Loves Small Business event, organised by small businesses themselves, was held on 20th September in Rochdale Town Hall and was sold out Page 44 with 30 local businesses exhibiting and networking. Feedback from the event was extremely positive and a good start to the awareness-raising for this year’s Small Business Saturday on the 2nd of December. It has been announced by the national Small Business Saturday campaign that Rochdale will be the only stop in Greater Manchester for the Small Business Saturday bus which will be outside the Town Hall on Friday 3rd November. This will raise awareness of the importance of using local small businesses, give opportunities to trade and have relevant speakers and support organisations on hand.
Both Rochdale and Middleton Town Centre Management Companies have organised or supported events to attract shoppers and visitors in the last quarter along with supporting the ‘In Bloom’ entries for each town.
I would like to congratulate GJD Manufacturing in Heywood which has been awarded the Queens Award for Export and was presented with their award and certificate by Warren Smith, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester on behalf of the Queen. Manufacturing is an important part of the local economy and it is good for a local business to get this recognition.
Employment and Skills
The latest monthly out of work claimant count data shows a fall in the borough to 3% of the working age population. This is 3rd highest in Greater Manchester after Bolton (3.3%) and Oldham (3.2%). For the 18-24 yr olds claiming out of work benefit has fallen and is now 4th highest in GM at 4.7% after Oldham (5.2%), Bolton (5.1%) and Tameside (4.(%)
GM programme update: There are two significant employment programmes across Greater Manchester at different stages of development. We are awaiting the outcome of the commissioning process for the new Working Well programme. The Council is part of one of the last 2 bidding consortiums. The support will combine assistance with health, skills, employment, housing and financial help for out of work residents with health conditions and will start in January 2018.
The second programme is at a design stage and to support people with health conditions who are at risk of losing their job. Locally a paper has been submitted and endorsed by the Health and Well-Being Board for this work and an outline of the ask of localities has been presented to the Clinical Commissioning Group’s Management Team and to the Health and Care Alliance. Work is now underway to identify key GP’s to be involved in the design and delivery of this service and then a bid will be submitted to the Transformation Fund.
The Big Lottery matched with European funding has a project called Motiv8 across Greater Manchester aimed at the over 25’s who are furthest away from the labour market. The Economic Affairs Team support a dedicated key worker based in Number One Riverside, ensuring this aligns with other support available and clients are not confused by or miss out on local support. The programme has small caseloads as the participants are those with complex issues such as addiction, homelessness, no employment history etc. There are currently 46 borough residents being supported. Some of the successes towards employment have been getting participants into and through alcohol detox, work experience, and college Page 45 enrolments and many participants have been supported with managing debts. This is a first step employment programme for up to 3 years but they can also when it is appropriate to move people onto other employment programmes such as Working Well.
Local project update: The Council’s Talk English continues to be very successful with 14 new classes started in September and the team have assessed 80 learners that are eligible. Thirty three new volunteers have been recruited bringing the total of active volunteers to 44. Councillor Hornby participated in a recent training session. A number of volunteers have progressed on to the Level 4 teaching qualification as a result of their involvement and since the last report 3 volunteers that were previously unemployed have moved into full-time employment. We are currently waiting for the new English Language prospectus to be launched by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to enable a funding bid to be submitted to keep this project going. We are awaiting a decision on our application to DCLG the Continuing Migration Fund to support new arrivals. If the bid is successful it will mean that we will be able to offer some paid sessional work to some of the current volunteers.
The local CCG has funded Heritage Hackers which is activity to engage people who are at a high level of vulnerability to crisis into real, industry standard opportunities in the digital sector through “hacks” or projects of community, social, artistic, heritage or cultural value. Two of the participants who were both very socially isolated have gained employment through MadLab, a well-respected Manchester based digital economy leader. They have developed projects – using coding, Raspberry Pi, and a wealth of other resources, and have gained ’badges’ which prove they have contributed to projects or delivered their own. This is what the digital sector are looking for. The project lead for Heritage Hackers has excellent connections to the digital sector which enables opportunities for our local people to pursue employment and skills opportunities.
In addition, locally, we have been working closely with Adult Care Commissioners to look at the future of supported employment for those furthest away from the market, looking at where the gaps are and to make sure that local organisations are in the strongest position possible to be able to benefit from GM and national funding. There is also a potential risk of there being a gap in funding, so we are looking at different timeframes and what other funding might be available to support these people in the interim, which will help shape locally commissioned services.
Support has been provided to an inward investor at Heywood Distribution Park which has created 100 new jobs. Recruitment so far has led to 72 jobs being filled with 82% previously unemployed, 80% live in the borough and 52% have achieved one or more qualifications in logistics. The same package of support is being offered to Bunnings, the Australian DIY company which has announced its move to Sandbrook Park in Rochdale.
A further three businesses are being supported to upskill current employees who live in the borough to fill HGV driver vacancies which has been identified as a real need within the industry making six in total.
The team are supporting new investor, Bunnings, with recruitment and links to local Page 46 organisations for their new branch at Sandbrook Park, creating 120 new jobs.
Councillor Peter Williams Portfolio Holder for Business, Skills and Employment
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Business, Skills and Employment Portfolio
Page 47 Agenda Item 8e
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Children’s Services Portfolio.
Our Big Day – Celebration day for Cared for Children ‘Our Big Day’ has once again been a very successful event, combining a range of fun filling activities (many of which were provided by Council teams and partners such as Link 4 Life, Children’s Centres, Music Service, Youth Service and Police and Fire Services) with a formal awards giving ceremony in the Gracie Fields Theatre, Oulder Hill. This year’s event on 8th July 2017 attracted 244 children (103 of whom were nominated for awards) and 161 adults; in total, 405 people attended this year’s event - our biggest yet. Children are commended in categories that range from ‘Being an Outstanding Role Model’ and ‘Outstanding Academic or Vocational Achievement’ to ‘Outstanding Achievement as a Group’ and ‘Outstanding Determination, Resilience and Attitude’. This year, there were also 11 youngsters who gained Special Recognition awards.
Awards were presented by Ashley John Baptiste, a care leaver himself who studied at Cambridge University and also appeared on ‘X Factor’ – a great role model! All young people received an age related goody bag containing a range of branded goods, sweets, pens, swimming voucher and a first for this year, a toothbrush! They also had their photo taken with Ashley.
We trained a group of 24 volunteers, these, plus members of the organising committee, were extremely efficient, punctual, reliable and ‘smiley’ and solicited positive feedback from attendees. They greatly added to the event’s positive embodiment of what ‘Corporate Parenting’ can mean across the organisation. Also, prior to the event, we fundraised for OBD through a popular ‘Bake Off’ at N1R, fun run and carol singing.
Early Years The non-maintained early years and childcare sector (nurseries, playgroups and childminders) has benefitted from the introduction of a CAPITA assessment portal to collect assessment data related to the progress of individual children and factors which may impede their development. This has been well received with all but one setting submitting data for the initial collection July 2017. The “Better Start” portal will support settings to identify children falling behind their peers and help them to identify areas of their provision requiring further development. It will also inform the local authority’s strategic approach to early years work with all children and with vulnerable groups.
We are now well underway with the introduction of the new 30 hour childcare entitlement for eligible parents. To date over 200 of our local early years and childcare providers are ready to offer 30 hour places with only 13 group providers offering only 15 hour places. There have been over 1000 eligibility codes issued to Rochdale parents and over 900 of these have sought to access a place and had Page 48 their codes rechecked by providers. Whilst this is really good news we do expect that this demand will grow over the next two or three terms and at those points we may see some parents having difficulty accessing a place in some areas of the borough. We will be monitoring this very carefully over the next 12 months.
Admissions The secondary school application process for 2018 is open now and will close on 31st October 2017. The primary school application process will open by 1st October and close on 15th January 2018.
Families can use a PC, smartphone or tablet and the system is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for their convenience. They can make changes to the application until the deadline and also track the application progress, meaning there’s no need to wait for the letter to drop through the letterbox.
The admissions team at Number One Riverside are also on hand with a series of drop in sessions to help people with the application should they need it, or to set up an email address for those who don’t yet have one. Drop in sessions will be held in the library every Tuesday in September and October 10-12 (with October 31st being 10am-5pm).
Missing the deadline for applications can be difficult for families, as it can mean not being allocated a place at their preferred school. The best way to maximise the chances of getting into a preferred school is by applying before the deadline. Families are being encouraged to make sure all the preferences are used as only putting one will not mean that a place at that school will be automatically allocated. The support of all elected members in emphasising this message in local ward areas is requested.
SEND Inspection update We are pleased to be able to report that we continue to make significant and sustainable progress against our SEND Action plan.
The LA and partners meet with the DfE and NHS England for quarterly monitoring meetings; these sessions provide an opportunity for officers to report and evidence the progress made against the joint SEND action plan. The Action Plan is made up of 7 priority areas which are broken down in to 83 specific actions. At the last meeting on 22nd August 2017 colleagues reported that 55 actions have been completed and signed off by the Children with Disability Partnership Board, 16 are due to be completed within the agreed timescales and only 3 are still outstanding with specific action plans in place to ensure completion.
The remaining 9 agreed actions are not due to commence until 2018. Based on the evidence that colleagues presented, the latest DfE monitoring visit concluded very positively.
The DfE also noted that despite the ongoing increase in request for Education Health and Care Plans, Rochdale’s performance of completion within 20 week timescale remains consistently strong.
Page 49 Youth Service
Summer Programme The Youth Service ran a very successful comprehensive daytime programme during the school summer holidays. Activities included music, techy and creative arts workshops, community clean ups, outdoor activities and a range of trips e.g. theme parks, beaches, bowling alleys, ice rinks. Each week there was a community cohesion event culminating in a Festival of Friendship at Broadfield Park. Youth Service staff also arranged an additional series of weekly events for our Cared for Young People to attend.
Reduced Bus Travel Costs Rochdale Borough Youth Cabinet is an active member of the wider Greater Manchester Youth Assembly which enables young people to participate in the Greater Manchester devolution discussions and campaign on issues important to them. Transport costs for young people across Greater Manchester is one of the issues Rochdale’s Youth Cabinet has been pressing GM Mayor Andy Burnham on. Youth Cabinet members played an integral role in ensuring the Mayor honoured his promise to introduce the new 16-18 card which will halve the cost of a day ticket for young people, making it easier to get to education and jobs, or even leisure activities across Greater Manchester.
Make Your Mark The Youth Service launched the annual Make Your Mark Campaign on 31st August. This is an annual consultation that takes place across all of UK with young people aged 11-19yrs. The top five issues voted for nationally are debated on by MYPs from across the UK in the House of Commons, who vote on the two issues to campaign on nationally over the next twelve months. Sarah Mahmood will be attending the House of Commons sitting on Friday 10th November as MYP for Rochdale Borough, with Louis Tweedale supporting her as deputy. The event can be watched live online and on BBC Parliament channel.
Children’s Social Care The service continues to focus on supporting our foster carers and listening to their views. The recently completed foster care survey highlights the high level of satisfaction from carers in respect of being supported and feeling their views are listened to. 81% of carers that responded reported that communication between their supporting social worker and themselves was good or excellent and 81% reported that they felt listened to all or most of the time. Carers feeling supported and listened to means that the service is able to offer wrap around support to carers. In recognition of the fantastic job our carers do we will be holding the Annual Celebration of Foster Carers Event on the 4th Nov 1.00pm – 4.00pm at Heywood Civic Centre.
In September the Bridge, our Edge of Care facility was inspected by Ofsted and rated as Good. The Bridge has supported 36 additional young people over the past 6 months by providing outreach support to young people and their families as well as offering overnight short breaks. The aim is to work with 11 – 17yr olds and their families at risk of admission to care to prevent family relationship breakdowns and support families through the challenges of adolescence. 77% of young people have Page 50 successfully remained with their families, as a result of this support. Feedback from families continues to be extremely positive. This also provides cost avoidance in excess of £32,000 per week to the council.
Councillor Donna Martin Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Children’s Services Portfolio
Page 51 Agenda Item 8f
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR ADULT CARE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Adult Care Portfolio.
Since my last report to Council we have made progress in a number of areas I would like to update you about.
Overall I remain very satisfied with the progress we have made in some key areas of Adult Care. In particular, Members will have heard about the national problem with delayed discharges from hospital. In our borough we continue to be one of the best local health and social care economies across England in this area of work and we were reported as 5th best out of 152 Councils at the end of June 2017. Other areas of good performance to report to you include our strong result in getting more people taking up the option of a cash budget; 29% of our service users now have a cash budget which is double our performance 2 years ago. This is an important indicator in terms of our response to the requirements of the Care Act in terms of promoting choice. Also I am pleased to report that 84% of people who used our STARs service were either fully reabled or were made more independent than when they started the service. This is a 9% improvement on last years performance.
From national surveys from 2016/17, our performance has been very good. The results are based on service user views and are a solid basis to judge if we are getting it right. For overall satisfaction, 70% of service users were either extremely or very happy with the service we deliver. This was a 4% increase on the previous year. A similar theme came from the carers survey which again revealed we were better than GM and NW averages. We had 19 formal compliments logged in quarter one –- with some beautiful comments from service users.
We continue to be challenged in our performance in a few key areas for example only a small number of the people with learning disabilities who are supported by Adult Care also have a job. In the coming year we would like to increase this, and especially to focus on young adults where the opportunity to get a job will affect the rest of their lives. Plans are being developed to try to do this in the coming year, recognising the extra support that the young people and their employers will need.
Operational Delivery
Adult Care continues to be stretched. Demand is increasing from the public in general over a wide range of issues and from NHS colleagues as well. Adult safeguarding investigations continue to increase and this may be the result of recent initiatives we have undertaken in areas such as financial abuse where we have worked with the police and banking sector.
We are having some difficulty in terms of recruitment of staff for Adult Care (we have set up a recruitment group and are working with colleagues in Human Page 52 Resources to identify what we could do to improve recruitment rates). Retention is less of an issue but we are still examining the reasons people do leave to see what we could do to better retain valued staff. We are working across HR and Adults to encourage a really positive recruitment and retention approach.
Deprivation of Liberty Assessments and Mental Health Act Activity
Deprivation of Liberty Assessments and Mental Health Act assessments numbers continue to increase. Work is being done to make our services robust and able to manage this increased demand. For example monies are being invested in the training of both Specialist Mental health workers and best interest assessors. The service also continues to prioritise work these to ensure that those people who are at most risk receive a timely assessment.
Carers Services
In May this year a new Universal Service for Carers became operational which brought a range of carers’ services together into one service. The aim of the new service is to:
Proactively identify carers at the earliest stage of their caring journey Provide a comprehensive Information and Advice service for Carers Provide Carers with support Establish a short breaks service for carers with low level needs
The service will also meet the specific needs of young carers through a young carers service offer.
The new service has been extremely busy in the first few months of operation holding 26 events and taking actions to promote the service to Carers. As a result 152 new adult carers have been identified and 14 young carers. A successful pop up Carers hub event for all ages took place which was attended by 100 people and provided a coffee morning and a range of activities including flower arranging, arts and crafts and nails. The service has also arranged for monthly advice and information sessions for carers to take place at Number 1 Riverside and arranged free legal advice clinics for carers. A wide range of activities have taken place for young carers over the summer holidays and an action plan has been developed to increase the number of young carers identified and supported.
If members would like further information on the activities that have taken place please contact Nina Collinge at [email protected] .
Quality of Service Provision in the Care Sector
The quality of care for providers who provide personal care in the care sector is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC carries out inspections of regulated providers and awards a rating based on the inspection findings. The ratings that can be awarded are Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate. In Rochdale Borough as at June 2017 29 of the 31 Home Care providers who are registered in the borough had been inspected. Of these 4% were rated as outstanding, 86% were rated as good and 10% were rated as requiring improvement. Page 53 In relation to Care Homes of the 55 registered Care Homes in Rochdale Borough as at June 2017 49 had been inspected by CQC. Of these 80% were rated Good, 16% were rated as requiring improvement and 4% were rated as inadequate.
The Integrated Commissioning Directorate works closely with providers to improve the quality of provision carrying out in depth action planning and improvement work with those providers rated as inadequate or requiring improvement.
In addition there are a number of projects in the transformation plan aimed at improving the quality of care provision across the borough. If you would like further information on these projects please contact Dianne David ([email protected]).
Finally, I am keen to promote access to this year’s flu vaccine and take this opportunity to bring to your attention. It is really important as many people who are eligible to have the vaccine have it. It is also important people who work with eligible people also have the flu jab. The flu strain prevalent this year and currently causing issues in Australia and New Zealand is on the way here and we need to prepare as best we can.
Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed Portfolio Holder for Adult Care
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Adult Care Portfolio.
Page 54 Agenda Item 8g
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER FOR PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Planning & Development Portfolio.
PLANNING
Development Management
The borough continues to attract business investment and I am pleased to report to Council that planning fee income during the period June to the beginning of September was £174,861. Over the same period we have received £229,982 of Formal Sport S106 contributions and £40,625 of Affordable Housing S106 contributions. During this period 396 valid planning applications have been received and performance in determining applications remains well above target. The planning service continues to take a positive approach to proposed development and investment and from a total of 233 applications determined over 70% have been approved.
The Housing White Paper included a proposal to allow the Council to apply a 20% increase to the current planning fees charges provided we commit to investing any additional income received into the planning service to sustain longer term growth. Cabinet has approved the proposal to uplift the fees charged for the processing of planning applications by 20% and confirmed a commitment to invest any additional income received as a result of any increase be invested to support longer term growth through the delivery of an efficient and effective planning service. The Government has now confirmed that it will bring forward regulations at the earliest opportunity which, subject to Parliamentary scrutiny, will enable us to implement the increase in fees.
Core Strategy and the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework
Following the Greater Manchester mayoral election the newly elected Mayor confirmed that he would rework the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to include more emphasis on affordable homes, fringe towns, and a significant reduction in plans to build on Green Belt. A final draft was due to go out to consultation later this year, and adoption was scheduled for 2018.
This timetable has now been revised and the next draft will take into account comments received during the first consultation and aim to make the most of brownfield sites and reduce the impact on the green belt. The draft plan will be developed in the new year, with a view to publishing it in June 2018. Following publication of the draft plan, there will be a further 12-week consultation with the public. We will keep Members updated on this process over the coming months.
Page 55 Following adoption of the Core Strategy we have commenced work on a Site Allocations plan which will identify the location and amount of land needed to deliver the housing and employment growth as set out in the Core Strategy. We carried out an initial call for sites consultation over the summer and are currently assessing comments received. Our intention is to consult on the draft allocations plan towards the end of this year. This will focus on identifying sites for housing and employment use in the urban areas. The GM Spatial Framework is planning for more significant levels of growth across Greater Manchester and the scale of growth requires the identification of strategic sites outside the urban areas which may require release of land from the Green Belt.
The Government has recently launched a consultation on a number of proposals to reform the planning system including a standard method for calculating local authorities’ housing need. The aim is to make the approach to assessing local housing needs simpler, quicker, and more transparent. For Rochdale Borough, our Initial analysis is that the proposed methodology will not impact significantly on local housing needs, ie the 460 new homes target to be met in the current Sites Allocation Plan. It is also unlikely to reduce the overall scale of housing growth to be planned for within the GM Spatial Framework.
BUILDING CONTROL
Dangerous Buildings
The Building Control service continues to operate its out-of-hours service, 24 hours- a-day, 365 days a year, to respond to dangerous buildings and buildings left open to unauthorised access. 25 dangerous buildings were investigated in the first 5 months of this financial year, and a proportion of these buildings/structures were demolished by Building Control, to maintain public safety.
Building Regulation Applications
More than 430 new applications for notifiable building work have been made before the end of this second quarter, and the service continues to be the dominant building control provider in the borough, holding approximately 75% market share and continues to secure new work using the LABC partnership scheme. This includes the inspection of building work for the proposed Rochdale Riverside retail and leisure development which is scheduled to commence towards the end of this year, as well as a number of large new housing schemes. A small rise in applications from the private sector relates to low-value but high-risk minor domestic works, and actually removes liability to the Council. The service continues to secure high value projects which reflects in an approx. 10% rise in income, when compared to the same period last year, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of the team which operates in a competitive market.
High Rise Fire Safety
Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London, we continue to work with colleagues from within the county, to discuss the ongoing developments regarding
Page 56 the government’s proposals for high-rise fire safety. The objective is to provide advice and recommendations based on the ongoing testing regime currently being implemented, regarding Aluminium Cladding Materials, and which will ultimately be used by all GM authorities, when approving cladding systems, fire safety, strategy and design. The intention is to create written documentation (possibly by re-enabling the GM Act or creating legislation or directives through the GM Mayor’s office), which will supplement the building regulations following their independent review.
There are no current concerns with the construction of tall residential buildings in Rochdale Borough.
The Council is also looking to ensure (by inspection and if required, testing) that any other properties, including low-rise developments, which have been clad, will also be reviewed for compliance with fire-safety standards, where deemed necessary. Building Control continues to provide expertise, assistance and advice as and when required, in conjunction with independent fire-safety professionals and other council officers.
STRATEGIC ESTATES & ASSETS
Asset Strategy The targets and action plan within the Council’s Asset Strategy continue to drive improvements and transformation in the way the Council manages its property holdings. An overview of progress and achievements was presented to Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 18 July. The report is commended to Members interested in understanding changes to the portfolio.
Acquisitions The Council is currently investing in the targeted acquisition of property to an extent unprecedented for over 30 years: The Estates team is supporting Strategic Housing with a three year project to potentially acquire land and property across the borough that are deemed to be community blights due to their untidy state. A number of acquisitions are being contemplated or have taken place to support regeneration initiatives, particularly in Rochdale Town Centre. The Council has invested £9m to improve its property investments and to deliver revenue savings, and in total has made £30m available from the capital programme to facilitate total savings of £450k through revenue increases.
Asset Rationalisation Revenue savings from property in 2016-2018 have contributed £157k towards the asset rationalisation savings target, with many more savings attributed to service budget savings. Whilst assets are continually subject to performance review, the remaining operational portfolio is widely considered to be very near its optimum levels without detrimental impact on services or community facilities.
Page 57 Investment Portfolio Review The purpose and performance of the Council’s leased-out assets is currently under review, with the objective of producing a strategy to continually increase rental income and yields.
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
In August last year the Council confirmed an Asset Development Fund, for direct development of small industrial units and retail units, with £1m a year for 4 years, to add to the Council’s existing portfolio. The first project is for the development of 7 micro units on Dodgson Street, and this project is now nearing completion and after being marketed through the council and RDA is showing strong interest from potential occupiers.
Councillor D Ali Portfolio Holder for Planning & Development
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Planning & Development Portfolio
Page 58 Agenda Item 8h
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR HEALTH & WELLBEINGTO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER, 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Health and Wellbeing Portfolio.
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
The Council and partners are refreshing our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, to support our integrated commissioning plans and stakeholder feedback was obtained via a Health and Wellbeing Board Assembly. The outcomes of this exercise will also be utilised to develop the Boroughs Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Oral Health improvement
The pilot for the post-natal maternity packs has been well received by our community midwives and new parents and we are now mainstreaming delivery. A GM Transformation fund bid (a joint venture with Public Health England) was approved. It will support all of our schools to do tooth brushing for children aged 3-5 yrs. The locality plan bid for Rochdale has been approved and includes Fluoride Varnish interventions in nursery and schools for children aged 3-5 yrs, building on the successful Kirkholt pilot.
Work with our Elderly population continues including our Intermediate Tier Service to reduce complications arising from poor oral health. Local Dental Services from Pennine Care Foundation Trust delivered a show on crescent radio to highlight the need for good oral health for all the family.
Sexual Health
Rochdale is facilitating a pilot with Pharmacies which involves using a prompt card to signpost young people aged between 15-24 years to access postal testing for sexually transmitted infections as part of our plan to improve the uptake of Chlamydia screening. Plans are also in place for a Young Peoples Sexual Health Networking/Market stall event in October. All partners involved in delivering services for young people’s sexual health are holding market stalls and invites have gone out to a wide range of staff.
National Diabetes Prevention Programme
Numbers of referrals to the programme are increasing and the programme works hand in hand with the NHS Health Checks programme and the South Asian Health Checks programme. The Council is working with GP practices in targeted clusters to highlight the service, discuss the link with Health Checks and support onward referrals for lifestyle interventions from Link4Life and Living Well.
The Council’s Public Health team has been working with Rochdale Sports Club to support them to become smoke free when children and young people’s sports activities are taking place. This was launched on the 8th September at their annual prize giving event. Plans are also underway to roll this out to all the clubs in the borough.
Page 59 RBC staff, Link4Life, and commissioned services have come together to plan a raft of activity for Stoptober 2017. Alongside promotion events in community venues and with local businesses, there are radio interviews, including Revolution Radio, Key 103, and Crescent Radio.
World Suicide Prevention Day on the 10th September was supported through the use of social media, encouraging people to check in with those who may be struggling in life. The Rochdale Council twitter feed got over 700 views.
Integrated Commissioning and Delivery of Health and Care
Since my last report Cabinet and the Governing Body of the Clinical Commissioning Group have approved the revised governance for health and care in Rochdale. This will mean decisions about health and care will be taken at the Integrated Commissioning Board which has new Terms of Reference and will soon have an Independent Chair. A pooled budget hosted by the Council of about £380m will be in place to support health and care for Rochdale people from April 2018.
I spoke last time about the Transformation Fund bid process and we have now been informed that we will receive £25.2m to help health and care services move towards preventative services with more services being based out of hospital in the community. This for a programme of change for 4 years that hopefully will mean we can improve health and care for Rochdale people with the money available.
I have held all Member briefings supported by officers to explain this agenda as well as political group discussions and I am happy to receive any further questions about this work.
The Local Care Organisation
The Local Care Organisation (LCO) has begun to develop and is now meeting regularly to work out how to improve services and redesign services for Rochdale. I visited the Rochdale Infirmary and saw really good examples of integrated care being delivered in the Wolstenholme Intermediate Care Unit and the Oasis Unit.
Integrated Neighbourhood Teams for health and care are part of the LCO as are EASY hubs which will be in every township in one form or another over the next year.
Better Care Fund
We are moving forward with Better Care Fund in Rochdale and both Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed and myself are pleased to say that our partnerships for integration are strong with health and we have agreed locally how we will spend the new monies to support hospital discharge and support at home.
Kidney Service in Heywood
And finally I’m pleased to report that at the CCG Governing Body we approved the development of a new Kidney Care Centre on Schofield Street in Heywood that will provide much improved services for residents within the borough which will including renal dialysis, renal outpatient care and general nephrology services.
Page 60 Public Protection Service
Two new discretionary fees are being introduced in order to cover the costs of requests from local businesses;
1. The Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme brand standard rules have changed and Local Authorities are now starting to recharge costs to businesses who request a rescore before their next scheduled inspection. Rochdale has worked with colleagues across all 10 GM authorities and have agreed a standardised fee. 2. Officers give advice and guidance at the time of inspections or interventions eg complaint investigation etc, but businesses sometimes ask for bespoke advice in relation to expansion plans, new product lines, refurbishments etc. Rochdale will charge a fee for this service going forward in in-line with other GM authorities
As part of the discretionary fees and charges process it is proposed to hold the current level of fees for private hire and hackney carriage vehicles after carrying out a comparison with other GM authorities.
The TBA site report and results from the independent perimeter air sampling have been received and are now available on the council’s website http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/pests- pollution-and-food/contaminated-land/Pages/former-turner-brothers-asbestos-site.aspx. The conclusion from the in depth testing is that there is no evidence of any significant risk to health of those residing in areas surrounding the site. Residents have been informed by letter, and via residents groups and via a Public Meeting.
The Greater Manchester Primary Authority Centre of Excellence will launch on 1 November 2017. All ten Greater Manchester Local authorities and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) have come together in partnership with the Growth Hub to improve access for businesses to expertise from across 10 Local Authorities.
Drugs and Alcohol
Rochdale and Oldham have collaborated and completed the tendering process to deliver a fully integrated substance misuse treatment and recovery service across both boroughs from April 2018. A formal announcement is expected early November allowing 4 months to support the implementation and transition. There are two projects that have secured transformation funding that align to drugs and alcohol services. One increases the capacity of specialist alcohol services in hospital settings to reduce repeat attenders and improve successful detoxification. The other project is to transform Renaissance (previously the local authority drugs outreach service) into a mini hub for the most vulnerable and complex individuals in the borough. Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Health and Wellbeing Portfolio
Councillor Jacqui Beswick Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing
Page 61 Agenda Item 8i
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR NEIGHBOURHOODS, COMMUNITY AND CULTURE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Neighbourhoods, Community and Culture Portfolio.
Safer Communities
Increasing confidence & satisfaction In the past months there has been a focus on community cohesion, with the promotion and performance of the ‘We Stand Together Peace Concert’ which aimed to show solidarity with the victims of the Manchester, London and other terrorist attacks.
The event was a fine example of our partnership working with the Centre of Wellbeing, Training & Culture (CWTC), Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Link4Life and local communities. It was an excellent evening of superb entertainment and togetherness which unequivocally showed how local neighbourhoods can work together in our community to achieve great things for great causes. We have also raised awareness of cohesion via radio interviews, and other media, with regard to the facilitation of the recent far right demonstrations in the town centre.
The Council’s Alleygating scheme recently ran their annual ‘alleyways in bloom’ competition helping to create beautiful areas for communities to enjoy and promoting burglary reduction work. This year two beautiful alleyways, with very different gardening styles, were declared joint winners.
Reducing Crime and ASB We are currently undertaking a new strategic risk assessment for the borough, initially using data gathered by GMP analysts, which will be benchmarked against the strategic assessment being undertaken by the Combined Authority for the new Police and Crime Plan for Greater Manchester. We will be sharing this assessment with our Partners in the Community Safety Partnership and consulting members on the outcome to update our Community Safety Plan. This will inform a new set of performance measures to reflect changes in priorities and crime recording.
Anti-social behaviour continues to be a priority and we are currently bedding in the roles of both the new Public Realm Inspectors and those of the newly appointed Town Centre wardens. The Public Realm Inspectors will liaise with the Neighbourhood Policing teams to identify underlying causes of ASB and will seek to identify which services can best respond to provide early intervention and possible resolutions to problems.
Developing Community Cohesion – Hate Crime Rochdale Borough Council has participated in a Greater Manchester Channel Peer Review and has demonstrated a strong and effective multi agency approach to work undertaken to safeguard individuals from being vulnerable to radicalisation and extremism. The findings from Page 62 this peer review will be shared with strategic boards as well as external partners to ensure ‘lessons learnt’ are incorporated into day to day work. Furthermore, the council is in discussions with the Greater Manchester Mayor’s office to ensure that the findings from this peer review will inform their review of the Prevent Strategy.
The successful appointment of a Home Office-funded Community Coordinator post has allowed the council to strengthen its engagement with marginalised communities and organisations that operate in these areas. In particular, there has been an emphasis on providing advice and support to organisations to apply for funding and in-kind support directly from the Home Office and other national grant giving bodies to ensure that they can promote British values, strengthen resilience in their communities and challenge divisive narratives.
In the last quarter, in order to reduce burglary, crime and anti-social behaviour as well as promoting community cohesion, the Burglary Reduction Officer has installed 15 alley gate schemes across the borough, with many more pending planning consideration. Furthermore, we have engaged with 175 properties under the ‘Home Security’ project and undertaken 72 surveys providing various home security products.
Following a number of serious public order incidents in Rochdale Town Centre, the Community Safety Team was successful in obtaining a grant to provide resources to support the Rochdale night time economy. Equipment was obtained that would act as an overt and visible deterrent to any persons who may be likely to become involved in disorder. The project is in the early stages of its implementation and has already demonstrated a level of success which will continue to be monitored over the coming months. As a result, the council has been invited to reapply for further funding to expand this project further to include the early evening economy.
Finally, I am pleased to inform members that the Partnership Enforcement Team (PET) has passed Stage 1 of an application process with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for additional resources over a 2 year period under their “Controlling Migration fund”. If successful, this will allow the PET and Greater Manchester Police to identify and investigate uncontrolled migration which impacts on local services. One of the areas of particular interest for the partnership in the borough is enforcement action against rogue landlords and rogue businesses.
Business Continuity and Emergency Planning
Business Continuity The last review of our approach to business continuity took place in 2014. There have been many changes since then, consequently we have decided to revisit our procedures with the assistance of AGMA Civil Contingencies Resilience Unit. We are currently reviewing existing plans and offering refresher training to new staff. This work will examine the integration of service plans across the Council and how these are supported by our disaster recovery plans, particularly with regard to ICT support.
Emergency Planning. We are undertaking a multi-agency emergency planning exercise in November to test our approach to a large scale power outage in the borough. In the wake of the Page 63 Grenville Tower disaster we have conducted an audit of our procedure and, taking on board lessons learned from this tragic event, we are now planning to undertake an exercise with our housing providers to simulate our ability to cope with a tower block evacuation.
Townships
Township Committees The second round of Township Committees for the current municipal year has taken place. Members of the public raised questions in relation to a number of matters, including graffiti, environmental issues, crime and disorder, travellers and parking concerns. Reports were presented on matters such as objections to Traffic Regulation Orders, Land Disposals, Compulsory Purchase Orders, the highways’ gulley cleaning programme and budget guidelines, timetable and public engagement. Townships supported the well attended and very well received ‘Fit, Feed & Read’ schemes, encouraging children to be healthy whilst promoting literacy, during the school summer holidays at the following libraries: Balderstone, Darnhill, Junction, Langley, Smallbridge and Belfield.
Township Funds Delegated sub-committees will meet next week to consider a number of schemes and projects, which will include grass verge replacements, installation of dropped kerbs, grants to Sandon House and Wardle Anderson Brass Band, and a junction signalisation feasibility study. Townships will be asked to consider funding for a number of new traffic regulation orders.
Libraries, Customer Services and Advice
Libraries are working hard to offer a wide variety of events to support the Digital council programme. Thirteen of our libraries now have IT support volunteers who offer a wide range of assistance to customers. Computers are free to use in all our libraries and we have free Wi-Fi too. Digital support is also offered in various libraries by Barclays' Digital Eagles and O2. We are continuing our commitment for libraries to run IT training sessions, whilst retaining some PCs for drop in access. Our new coding clubs are proving to be a huge hit and we now have 7 up and running. Soon we will be able to lend 100 microbits as part of our commitment to learning.
Libraries are continuing to prove to be an integral support for digital inclusion in the borough providing residents with the access, support, skills and motivation to survive and thrive in the digital world. The library service is continuing to develop its partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, jointly running monthly sessions in 7 libraries for jobseekers – improving their IT skills and employability, and helping them with the UniversalJobMatch site. With additional changes due to Universal Credit in February 2018, the library service are working with the DWP to consider extending the assistance offered to claimants in setting up and maintaining a digital account.
Get Online Week 2017 runs from 2 - 8 October and this year, the campaign is asking everyone to Try 1 Thing - using the internet to do just one thing you would normally do in a shop or bank, in a doctor’s surgery or a pharmacy, or even over the phone.
Page 64 This summer saw us offer 'Fit, Feed and Read' in 6 of our branches across the borough. In partnership with Link4life and using funding awarded by each township, we fed 395 children over the summer holidays. Holiday hunger, where families whose children receive free school meals in term time find themselves having to feed children over 6 weeks with no additional money to do so, is a growing problem. This project was piloted last year in Smallbridge and this year we have extended this to 5 further site: Langley, Darnhill, Balderstone, Belfield and Junction. Children enjoyed activities, including art and craft and a wide range of sports activities, had a tasty lunch and took part in the Summer Reading Challenge. One young participant told us it was ‘the best summer I’ve ever had’.
As part of the Summer Reading Challenge, Animal Agents being this year’s theme, many activities were held. There were Police days held in Alkrington and Middleton where Poppy the Police donkey made an appearance and children got to undertake a range of activities. Children were able to see many different creatures up close with the Lion Learners who brought a snake, a centipede, a rabbit and a large Tarantula. Middleton also ran a Holiday At Home event hosting many different activities to keep children busy for the long summer holidays.
Libraries Week is taking place across the UK from 9-14 October, encouraging everyone to discover what their library can do for them - from play and learning, to managing health, to accessing Wi-Fi and games, finding a job, a hobby or starting a business. We have a large range of free online e-magazines through our service as well as range of e-books and e-audiobooks.
We are busy promoting the library service to the wider world and have had 2 newspaper articles published recently showcasing the fantastic work done over the summer.
We have a fantastic line up for this year’s Rochdale Literature and Ideas Festival 2017 which launches on Monday 16th and runs from Tuesday 17th October to Monday 23rd October 2017. Many of the events have sold out but there are still tickets to be had at http://rochdaleliteraturefestival.co.uk/whats-on/.
Events
During the July to September period, there were 34 events within the borough. In addition to the Summer Fun Days, charity and sporting events, we saw the return of the Darnhill Festival, Heywood Charities Fete, Middfest, Wardle Village Fete and the Littleborough Rushbearing Festival.
The inaugural Rochdale Classic Car Show, organised by Rochdale Rotary Club, took place at Littleborough Sports Club, and was a great success. It is planned to seek a more accessible venue for a repeat event in 2018 which will enable it to grow.
Two Eid Celebration Prayers events took place on September 1st in Springfield and Broadfield Parks, giving opportunity for the local community to observe traditional open air prayers.
August brought the 10th Anniversary of the Feel Good Festival with a promise of a special celebration to mark the occasion. GMP celebrated 160 years of Rochdale policing with a display of police and fire vehicles on the Esplanade and a tour of the Page 65 Town Hall including the cells and old police and fire headquarters. The Charity Committee facilitated a record number of abseils over the two days raising money for charity. The Feel Good Festival comprised a Friday evening brit-pop music event and a varied live music programme on the Main Stage on Saturday headlined by Indie rockband Razorlight and there was a wide range of other activities provided with partners. An estimated 11,000 people attended the event over the two days with a peak audience of 8,000 watching the headline act providing a boost to the local economy and generating positive comments about the Rochdale borough.
Voluntary Sector The Council is working with CVS Rochdale to support the ongoing development of voluntary organisations in the Borough. CVS Rochdale continues to lead the development of the Rochdale Health and Wellbeing Alliance and offers support to individual organisations as required.
The Rochdale Borough Locality Plan has a workstream dedicated to voluntary sector development, particularly for those organisations who are working with our most vulnerable residents and Rochdale CVS are core to this workstream. In addition, the Council is considering how it can strengthen its corporate contribution to volunteering.
Link4Life Update Quarter 2 2017-18
Corporate Update Link4Life is delighted to announce the appointment of Andy King as its new Chief Executive. Andy takes up the post in September and will replace Gillian Bishop who leaves to become Chief Executive of North West Employers.
Andy comes to Link4Life with considerable experience in leading and driving forward a number of key developments in the leisure and cultural sector and is currently Regional Director of GLL and Chief Executive of North Country Leisure.
Dippy –The Memorandum of Understanding between RBC and L4L has now been signed and a bid has been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £250,000 by Gifted Philanthropy (acting as Executive Producer) towards a £5m programme to support Dippy’s arrival in 2020.
Sport and Leisure There are now over 3300 children enrolled on the Link4Life Swim Academy (Children’s swimming lessons). This is the highest number since the inception of the trust and numbers are continuing to increase across the three swimming pools. The Academy is running at 90% capacity.
As part of the Aquatic Strategy a formal review of pool programmes is being undertaken, with Middleton’s Pool programme under review in the initial stages. The draft proposed programme increases public swimming by 38%, increases the number for Link4Life Swim Academy lessons by 22 per week and the capacity of Link4Life School Swimming Lessons by 340 pupils or 10 additional school classes.
FootGolf is now well established at Marland Golf Course and we have seen 285 children and 235 adults taking part. The aim is to continue to grow and develop the
Page 66 FootGolf offer along with developing the quality and playability of the FootGolf course.
At Littleborough Sport Centre, the GO4it Summer Programme 2017 received an overall 77.5% attendance. The younger age group 5-7 year olds programme was very well attended at 91.7%, this was aided by the very popular Arts & Crafts sessions which were very popular.
The summer holiday Programme at Bowlee Sports Centre was a huge success this year, with 100% attendance totalling over 450, children came from 20 different schools from Middleton, Rochdale, Heywood, Manchester and Oldham and positive feedback was received from the children and parents.
The development of a 20 bike cycle studio named Studio One is planned to be completed by the end of September 2017. The development of the Studio will provide additional group exercise class provision both in the new studio and existing studio where the bikes were located. This will provide an enhanced member experience, with an improved range of classes.
Arts and Heritage July and August have seen the initial implementation of our Education Review, the completion of major building works at the Museum store and strong attendances at our Summer Fun programme.
Highlights of the last few months include: •New series of adult craft workshops linked to Egyptian show •Virtual tour of the store has gone live on the website •Museum team received funding to develop partnerships with Manchester Universities (MUPI) •Middleton Arena display case updated with a fashion theme. •Egyptian exhibition launched on 1st June with a family learning day. Lots of Egyptian inspired craft activities with over 300 visitors attending. •Heritage Days were held in more than 25 different venues enabling our residents to access some of our hidden treasures all around the borough
Health and Wellbeing
Performance is on target for both adult and children’s interventions with 32 participants in the Early Years programme, 624 participants in school based healthy eating programme, 127 participants in FRESH programme and 42 participants in the Energy Club.
Link4Life will be launching of new Wise Choices programme pilot with roll out scheduled for September 2017.
The Integrated Neighbourhoods Team is now fully operational in Heywood & Pennines & we expect to join the Middleton Team in September.
Other achievements included:
• 193 participants in Public Health funded Healthy Families programme around obesity agenda.
Page 67 • 172 Health MOT’s carried out on employees • A Memorial Walking Football competition was held at Heywood Sports Village on 10th September, won by Wakefield – 12 teams competed from across the North West. • New COPD session introduced at HSV in July & numbers increasing weekly • 37 participants completed Functional Fitness with 30 showing improvements in mobility scores.
Sport and Physical Activity
The Fit, Feed and Read programme was delivered across 10 sites within the Borough in partnership RBC Libraries and Foodshare. The programme received 2000 attendances with children who receive free school meals taking part in Arts Workshops in the morning having lunch and finishing with sport and physical activity sessions in the afternoon.
The #Thrive service, in partnership with Pennine Care, TOG Mind and Link4life, has recently won an NHS Redesign of Care in Mental Health Award in recognition of its innovative support for children and young people who require emotional health and wellbeing support.
The ‘Couch 2 5k’ at Kingsway is proving to be very popular, with 91 participants in week one. A variety of ages and abilities attended with people who have never been able to run at all before running 5k.
The Big Games series of 5 events, part of L4L's London 2012 legacy, was delivered at Marland Golf Course, Middleton Arena, Heywood Sports Village, Litteborough Sports Centre and Rochdale Leisure Centre. The Big Games are a joint service event with Sport and Leisure with Rochdale Leisure Centre attracting the most people with 1500 in attendance. Children and Families took part in free taster sessions of arts and crafts, face painting, Punch and Judy, climbing, cycling, swimming, badminton, tennis, football, and an inflatable assault course.
Councillor Janet Emsley Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Community and Culture
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Neighbourhoods, Community and Culture Portfolio
Page 68 Agenda Item 8j
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CORPORATE OVERVIEW AND SCRTUINY COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
There have been no formal meetings of the Committee since the last Council meeting. However, as Chair there have been two occasions when I have been requested to approve items that have not been to Cabinet or Full Council but required urgent sign off:
• Approval of a request to renew the lease of the Arts and Heritage Centre, Units 3,4,5 and 6 Scotts Industrial Estate. The reason for special urgency for the decision being that, any delay likely to be caused by convening a meeting of the Cabinet would have prejudiced the Council’s and/or the public’s interests. The Cabinet was not able to convene a meeting to consider this matter within the required timescales.
• Approval of a request to amend Council’s constitution, Part 3 – Responsibility for Functions paragraph 2 (2). The reason for special urgency being that STaR Procurement required a decision by the 25th September 2017 by the three participating Authorities and it was not possible to convene a meeting of Full Council in time to implement the changes to the Council’s Constitution.
The Committee has also held its first meetings of a task and finish group to review the policies and practices relating to Health Related Absence. In addition, with colleagues from the other Overview & Scrutiny Committees, Members have met twice to look at homelessness and begging within the Town Centre.
Councillor Robert Clegg Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Page 69 Agenda Item 8k
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE COMMUNITIES, REGENERATION AND ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW AND SCRTUINY COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Communities, Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee Overview and Scrutiny Committee
The Committee has met twice since the last Council meeting, on 19th July and 20th September 2017.
19th July 2017
RBH Performance Report - The Committee considered a performance report that provided us with an update on the performance of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) for 2016/17 in relation to the achievement of the aspirations, commitments and promises set out in the Council’s Stock Transfer Agreement with RBH. The report also provided some additional key performance information and updated the Committee on the organisation’s housing development programme and how RBH were working in partnership with the Council, local agencies, other registered providers and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to deliver key strategic priorities.
The Committee was advised that the stock transfer agreement required RBH to provide performance information to the Council for a 5 year period following the stock transfer from 2012/13 up to 2015/16 and consequently the submitted report provided the final one where performance information for RBH was be provided separately.
20th September 2017
Rochdale Safer Communities Partnership Update – The Committee was updated with regard to a meeting with the Police which proved very positive in the development of a system of reporting and the Key Performance Indicators required to ensure good governance. A task and finish group to look into specific areas where both the Council and the Police will hopefully improve outcomes such as the issue of on line grooming.
Performance Monitoring 2016/17 Register Providers - The Committee considered a performance report that provided Members with an update on the performance of the Borough’s Register Provider (RP) Partners for 2016/17.
The Committee were advised that there are currently 14 Registered Providers who manage 20,948 properties across the Borough with RBH being the biggest stock holder with 63% of the stock. Riverside and Guinness are the 2nd biggest with 10% each, followed by St Vincent’s with 5%.
The report provided an update on affordable housing development, affordable Page 70 rent conversions, disposals, demolitions, welfare reform, the Housing Register, health partnership, property and neighbourhood investment, local initiatives and the GM Memorandum of Understanding which included:- The development of 172 new affordable homes commenced in 2016/17. The conversion 1,019 properties to Affordable Rent since 2011. The demolition of 315 demolitions in 2016/17. The disposal of 25 properties in 2016/17. The reduction of rent arrears by £700k since 2013. The letting of 1,602 properties via Choice Based Lettings. The investment of £25m into existing properties and neighbourhoods in 2016/17.
Food And Feed Service Plan 2017- 18 - The Committee considered a report which presented the Council’s Food and Feed Service Plan for the current year. The report identified the scope and the demands on the Service together with the details of last year’s performance and the way the Service proposed to continue to meet the Food Standards Agency’s mandatory guidance on inspection frequency.
Task and Finish Study Groups The Committee has agreed to establish two task and finish study groups. The first is related to the Renewable Energy scheme at Chamber House Farm and the potential for this to be linked to new local developments. The second group will look in to the widening issues associated with technology and user’s access to content online, the grooming of children and how Rochdale Council can implement effective online safety measures.
Work Programme 2017/2018 The Committee has considered its Work Programme for 2016/2017 and a robust schedule of work has been developed concentrating on the relevant areas of the Council’s business to ensure that the ‘core’ functions of the Committee are thoroughly covered.
GMCA Corporate Issues & Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee. I attended the first meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Corporate Issues & Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee which was scheduled to be held on 14th September 2017 but unfortunately the meeting did have the required 10 Members present to be quorate and therefore was unable to continue on this occasion. By the time I next report to Council the GMCA Corporate Issues & Reform Overview & Scrutiny Committee will have met and I will update Members further
Councillor Neil Butterworth Chair of the Communities, Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Communities, Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Page 71 Agenda Item 8l
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CHAIR OF THE HEALTH, SCHOOLS AND CARE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Health, Schools and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee
The Committee has met on two occasions since my last report to July’s Council meeting.
27th July 2017
Sunrise Team Annual Report 2016/17 and the Work of the ACT Team The Committee received an annual report which advised us of the Sunrise Team’s work during 2016/17 and also of work of the ACT (Achieving Change Together) Team during the same period.
The Sunrise team’s report highlighted the operational work undertaken under four key strands of the Child Sexual Exploitation Strategy, namely: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Public Confidence.
We were informed that the ACT project was a partnership between Wigan and Rochdale local authorities, Greater Manchester Phoenix CSE Project, the Children’s Society and Research in Practice on behalf of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. The project derived from concerns that too many young people affected by sexual exploitation were ending up in high cost or secure accommodation that did not necessarily meet their needs. The goal of the project was to improve outcomes for young people and their families and provide effective alternatives to high cost and secure accommodation for those vulnerable to CSE in Greater Manchester.
Further to the recent mini drama series on BBC television ‘Three Girls’ and subsequent follow-up programmes I have received an overwhelming response from organisations including: NSPCC, Women’s Aid, London Ambulance Service, Oxford Safeguarding Board, Blackpool Safeguarding Board and PACE. Representatives of these organisations have applauded the drama as an innovative piece of work that could be used as an education tool across their services, as it clearly depicted the complexity of child grooming.
I was pleased to see a significant emphasis being placed on clinical supervision for staff as that area of work can be exhausting and draining, but I was disappointed that the Director of Children’s Services had indicated that there had been insufficient research into child sexual exploitation. Rochdale has a number of workers including teachers and young people’s support workers who had worked tirelessly with children who were raped and sexually abused on a daily basis over a number of years. These staff members were skilled and able to maintain willing voluntary relationships with those young people who were affected and supported Page 72 them to make disclosures leading to convictions and nobody had ever asked those staff how they did that. Also no one had ever asked them what worked, what didn’t work. No-one had ever sought the views, knowledge or expertise of those staff members.
School Admissions and the Allocation of School Places The Committee received a detailed presentation and report that gave us useful information on the School Admissions arrangements and allocation for 2017. This included the Council’s Annual Report to the School Adjudicator.
Rochdale Local Authority has a statutory duty to ensure there were enough school places for children in its area who want them; to make arrangements for parents to apply for school places and to ensure every parent in the borough received the offer of a school place. The Council exercised this duty by planning for enough school places and by setting out clear arrangements for the allocation.
Link4Life For the first time the Committee scrutinised a report which provided information relating to the performance of Link4Life, during the fourth quarter period of 2016/2017 (January – March 2017). Members of the Committee had many questions about the operations of Link4Life and as a consequence I have agreed to meet with representatives of the organisation to look at ways in which there reports can be presented at future meetings.
HealthWatch – Annual Report 2016/17 The Committee received the HealthWatch Rochdale Annual Report 2016/17. The report highlighted who HealthWatch were, what their role was and their staffing resources (both in paid and voluntary capacities).
Their Annual Report advised that in 2016/17 all HealthWatch organisations in Greater Manchester had played, and would continue to do so in 2017/18, an active role in readiness for the devolution of executive health and social care powers to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority from April 2017. HealthWatch would, it was reported, continue to monitor any proposed changes, insofar as they affect the residents of the Rochdale Borough. Arising from the detailed discussion that we had at the meeting I agreed to meet with representatives of HealthWatch to discuss ways in which the already good working relationship between the Council and Healthwatch could be improved.
21st September 2017
CAMHS Team We received a detailed report and presentation which informed us of the progress that was being made against the January 2016 Child and Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Local Transformation Plan. This is an issue of the utmost importance for many of our children and their families/carers. We spent over an hour at the meeting on this issue and we have decided to have a training session on this perhaps in December 2017 or January 2018 to which all Members of the Council will be invited to attend – so you should receive further information on this matter in due course.
Page 73 Outcome of NHS England Consultation The Committee was pleased to welcome again representatives of NHS England who addressed us regarding the outcome of a consultation exercise on a proposed New Clinical Model for Learning Disabilities in the North West. We were advised that the results of the still largely waiting implementation. The consultation proposals affected some people who were residents of the Borough and/or were receiving treatment in the Borough. Most of the people affected by the proposals were receiving long term medical/psychological treatment in residential/secure hospitals, often in lieu of serving a custodial prison sentence.
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust I was disappointed that Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust forwarded their apologies to the meeting as they were due to give Members an update on activities across the Trust’s footprint. I will be writing to the Trust, on behalf of the Committee to express our disquiet.
Obesity Action Group Members of the Committee have expressed interest in the activities of the Obesity Action Group and the Committee regularly receives agendas and minutes in relation to meetings of this body. Members of the Committee have asked for information about the underlying reasons for the greater prevalence of obesity in children from BME groups; if there any way of mapping obesity in the Borough; and we expressed concern at some of the terminology in the report. We have asked if the terms of reference, of the Obesity Action Group could be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee and information about how the group works with schools.
In response to some of our enquiries the Director of Public Health has been asked to submit a report, detailing the prevalence of childhood obesity in the Borough of Rochdale, to a future meeting of the Committee.
Schools Final Outturns and Reportable Surplus 2016/17 The Committee received a report that, in line with the Scheme of Delegation with respect to school budgets, presented the overall position on the balances held in schools, which was required to be reported to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. However on receipt of the report and given the nature of its content (being financially based) the Committee felt it was appropriate that in future this report be presented to the Council’s Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee – although we did ask that the Director of Children’s Services present a report to a future meeting outlining the workings of the pupil premium scheme.
Homelessness Study Group This study group (chaired by Councillor O’Neill) has been established to carry out an investigation into the problems related to homelessness which is of course a problem for Rochdale as it is for many other Councils up and down the country. The membership of the Study Group is drawn from all three of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees. The Study Group has now met on two occasions receiving presentations from the Council’s own Homelessness Officer and representatives of relevant external bodies: Rochdale Town Centre management Company, Petrus and Sanctuary Trust. Members of the Study group will be undertaking a visit to these organisations, amongst others in a bid to learn more about the subject.
Page 74 Councillor Sara Rowbotham Chair of the Health, Schools and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Health, Schools and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Page 75 Agenda Item 8m
ROCHDALE METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL
TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE CHAIR OF THE HEYWOOD TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY 11th OCTOBER 2017
Friends of Hopwood Park Free sessions provided by Rochdale Mobile Play Team with on average 25 children attending each week. Complimentary refreshments were provided by FOHP and fresh fruit from Sainsbury’s. Arts and Crafts sessions over the half term in the Scout Hut. The Hopwood Cabin has been awarded Level 5 food hygiene. Wildflower Meadow Sowing and clean ups taken place. Several families together with Scout and Guide Troops planted additional fruit trees in the mini-orchard.
The Friends of Group are striving to increase the opening times of Hopwood Cabin and on a more regular basis, support Hopwood County Primary School with their anti- dog fouling campaign, complete the Tranquillity Trail including sensory garden and landscaping, picnic benches around Hopwood Cabin. They continue to raise funds for the bus shelter renovation in addition to the substantial financial support given by Heywood Township. They provide training for volunteers and recruit new volunteers.
The Friends of Hopwood Park held a Celebratory Community Event on Hopwood Park on Saturday 13th May 2017 which included sand art, magicians, balloon modelling, dance troupes, refreshments and free rides. The event was funded by a grant from The Big Lottery Celebrate Fund to celebrate the achievements of the Friends Group over the last few years.
Heywood 1940’s Da This year’s Township sponsored Heywood 1940's Day on Saturday the 17th June 2017 was another great success with record crowds in attendance throughout the entire day. The heavily decorated Town was thriving, vibrant and busy. Charities raised funds and local businesses benefited. The Event date was again chosen to support Armed Forces Week and it worked superbly, with a very well attended Commemorative Service in The Memorial Gardens and a very large Parade marching through the packed Town Centre, led by The Scots Guards Association Pipes and Drums with fourteen Flag Standards on Parade, Heywood Councillors, many Veterans and all cadets represented in great numbers, enactors and The Littleborough School Band and military vehicles. Next year’s Event will be chosen to once again to coincide with and support Armed Forces Week to maintain the fantastic high profile Heywood has to put on such successful Events and Parades. Visitors and exhibitors travelled from as far away as Kent, all praised our town for its friendly atmosphere and the effort and funding put in by the Council and local businesses.
Heywood Veterans Association The Heywood Veterans Association is a new Veterans group set up to serve any Veteran and their families, with the focus on Heywood. They have signed up to The Armed Forces Covenant and their Flag Standard incorporates the Heywood Town Crest and they have in a short space of time achieved much such as work in The Memorial Gardens, assisting Veterans, assisting with Town Events and working with other Groups. All Heywood Councillors attended the Township St. George Day flag Page 76 raising which the HVA fully supported, dressing up patriotically in bespoke St George Knight regalia.
Merchant Navy Day Heywood Township was proud support the campaign by Seafarers UK to remember the sacrifices, salute the courage and support the future of the often unsung personnel of our Merchant Navy and conduct a Merchant Navy Day flag raising which was honoured by the attendance of a high profile serving Merchant Navy Seaman in full uniform and Heywood Councillors attended.
Monkey Town Goes Ape Hundreds of people lined the streets of Heywood for the 'Monkey Town Goes Ape' parade on Saturday the 6th May 2017. The parade was led by the Scots Guards Association Pipes and Drums, Manchester Branch and marshalled by The Heywood Veterans Association. Schoolchildren carrying banners of the names of nine ape sculptures dotted around Heywood followed. The Mayor Ray Dutton, Mayoress Elaine Dutton, and Councillor Peter Rush also took part in the Parade .Vintage vehicles, such as the famous Leyland Titan Pd/2 40 double decker 1967 Salford bus, a 35-seater Rawtenstall Coachbuilder and a bright yellow van by the name of ‘Clementine’ also featured, with Planet of the Apes armoured tanks bringing up the rear. There followed a garden party, at which there were fairground attractions, a live band, Rockstar, Magic entertaining all day and refreshments. Finishing off the afternoon, and top of the bill, Heywood's own star of the X-Factor, Daniel Fox. Along the Monkey Town Trail were nine ape sculptures with a unique symbol on its base, those who collect rubbings of all nine will be entered into a draw to win one of the apes at the end of the project. Mayor Dutton said: “It’s a wonderful festival day in the wonderful town of Heywood and it’s been wonderful to take part in the parade.” Mayoress Dutton agreed: “It’s especially wonderful to see how the young have represented the schools.” The Mayor also praised the event for its inclusiveness of children and adults with special needs. Heywood Businesses and Groups supported the project. Monkey Town Goes Ape was led by Heywood-based social enterprise PossAbilities, backed by the Big Lottery Celebrate Fund and involved all Heywood Primary Schools artistically painting an Ape each under the guidance of a professional artist as part of The National Curriculum. PossAbilities Chief Executive Rachel Law said: “We want to celebrate all that is great about Heywood and bring people from all walks of life together in a creative endeavour. For some the ‘Monkey Town’ tag has been seen as a negative. We want to turn it into a positive and really celebrate Heywood as a great place to be.” In August an extremely well attended Gathering of the Apes Event was held at the end of the Project, Township Chair was invited to conduct the raffle of one of the Apes which was won by a local child. Schools requested to retain the Apes and gave massively positive feedback and praised the educational value of the project, one of the Schools sited their Ape in their own Garden of Remembrance.
Darnhill Festival Saturday 1st of July 2017 saw the fourteenth consecutive community celebration Darnhill Festival funded predominantly by Heywood Township and organised by Cartwheel Arts in conjunction with the Darnhill Festival Association.
Page 77 Once again the Festival was blessed with sunshine throughout and over a thousand people joined together to celebrate community, culture and creativity. The theme of this year’s parade was Space, in commemoration of the 60th year anniversary of the launch of the first Sputnik satellite. The loud and colourful parade featured local Brownie and Rainbow groups, Chrysalis and Skylight Arts wearing cosmic outfits and carrying papier-mâché planets. The event was attended by a host of local dignitaries, Mayor Councillor Ian Duckworth, Mayoress Mrs. Duckworth, all local Councillors and MP for Heywood and Middleton Liz McInness all of whom showed their support and enjoyment of the festival on stage. After the Parade the Festival included a wide range of activities, including radio and podcasts workshops in the Aspire marquee, Skylight Circus Arts, multi activity sessions run by Rochdale Youth Service, beat the goalie with Rochdale AFC and live music on .There was a drumming workshop, appropriately themed mindful art sessions. The success of Darnhill Festival relies on its positive impact on our local communities and creates a safe and joyful environment for children and young people to enjoy with their families and friends. It’s accessible, fun and as always brings inspiring activities, performances and a fantastic parade. Feedback from this year’s event, revealed 93% of children and 77% of the adults enjoyed the event very much and 96% think that the festival is very important for the community and is great to get people together, celebrate community cohesion, helps to keep up morale, brings diversity and culture to the community and raises the aims and aspirations of the local young people while having fun.
Heywood Civic Centre Township funding has enabled our Civic Centre to build children’s holiday programmes, with many events including food and drink. Easter was spread across three weeks this year with good attendance for the Easter Bunny Show and cinema showings. The weekends were filled with a mixture music and dance events. A Health and Healing festival from a promoter in Harrogate was such a success that they immediately booked for next year. Several local groups also booked in for events which included bookings for classical music, pop music, boxing and Motown. Every weekend date was filled starting with Kids Cinema, then Ballroom Dancing, Evening of Clairvoyance, Classical Music Concert, Heywood Chess Congress inside the building with the 1940s celebrations outside on the concourse. They hosted the SHINE partnership’s annual singing festival which gets bigger and better every year. There were two shows in the latter part of the month, one a dance show and one a tots dance and drama show, both from local groups.
Roach Dynamos Junior Football Club held their annual football presentation this year, and their numbers are increasing. Hopwood Community Primary School held their annual show and this year it was Peter Pan to sell-out houses. Centre of Wellbeing, Training and Culture with Multi Cultural Arts and Media Centre in association with RBC held a “Stand Together in Peace” concert with Councillors Peter Rush and Janet Emsley and the Mayor in attendance as well both local MPs. Heywood Rotary Club use the facility to put on free film shows for deprived young people and provide refreshments including popcorn and hotdogs and will be repeating this. A very successful Event in aid of the Mayors Charity with headliner act The Bachelors and supporting cast took place. Page 78 They have provided a comprehensive programme for children this summer holiday and which included events such as Arts and Crafts, Wild Roadshows, Cinema and Circus Skills during the week.
Manchester International Festival in Heywood Township funded and was delighted to host part of The Manchester International Festival coming to Heywood and the over 11th and 12th of July 2017 people of Heywood were given free access to the Production BambinO put on at Heywood Civic Centre, it was a colourful, interactive twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination and played out in front of full houses.
Passchendaele Service Heywood Township commemorated the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele with a very well attended and poignant Service in Heywood Memorial Gardens on Sunday 30th July 2017 at which all available Heywood Members attended.
Charities Fete People lined the streets and filled Queen’s Park for the annual Heywood Charities Fete and Parade on Sunday the 3rd September 2017. Led by Deputy Mayor Mohammed Zaman, local MP Liz McInnes and councillors, the colourful parade began on Sefton Street next to the railway station and went in to Queens Park. Accrington Pipe Band was followed by local groups and organisations on floats and marching with Littleborough Brass Band and a samba band adding to the entertainment. Taking part in the Parade this year were: Heywood Veterans Standard Bearers, Police Cadets, Hey Kids, Friends of Tourcoing, Bury Sea Cadets, Hopwood Park, Birch Farm Old Fashioned Ice Cream Car, Back of the Moss Group, Heywood Guides Groups Organisation, Roach Dynamo’s Football, 3rd/4th Heywood Ravenscroft Scout Group, Blue Rose Float, Kats Dance Group, Church of Jesus Ministry, St Johns Scouts, World War Two Ambulance, Gemma Singleton Dance School, Rochdale Classic Car Club, Yearsley Anniversary Lorry, and Joe Sharp Lorry. Once in the park, there were over forty stalls, a fun fair and stage entertainment, with both established and up and coming local talent, also Mickey and Minnie Mouse, circus acts, Punch and Judy, Victorian organ, train rides and classic cars, Star Wars Storm Troopers, wood turners, owls and birds of prey. MP Liz McInnes said "Great community spirit at Heywood Carnival, brilliant to see so many people there despite the rain. Congrats to all involved."
Drains and Gullies To supplement the much welcomed Highways proactive leaf, gully and drain clearing campaign, Heywood Township has initiated investigations and reports from Contractors and United Utilities to improve the drainage systems in the area of Heywood with historic flooding problems
Police and Community Safety There was a rise in burglaries in June and July 2017. Significant police resources from across Rochdale Division were allocated to combat this problem. Three target individuals were arrested for burglary as a result and are currently on remand for these offences. Since these arrests the number of burglaries has noticeably dropped. Heywood continues to receive Divisional resources in order to sustain this decrease. Public engagement meetings are continuing to work well, especially the monthly online question and answer sessions. Page 79 Environmental Management Many thanks to our Environmental Management Service for the wild flower verge planting which has created a lot of interest and praise from the public, great to see
Cllr Peter Rush Chair of Heywood Township
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Heywood Township Committee.
Page 80 Agenda Item 8n
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE MIDDLETON TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Middleton Township.
We have held the following Township Committees, sub-committees and working parties in the last cycle:
1. Township Committee
Middleton Township Committee Meeting took place twice during this quarter; on Thursday 3rd August 2017, and again on Thursday 28th September 2017.
At the August meeting Members received two questions; Durnford Street environmental issues including signage and street cleaning Crime and disorder in South Ward
Members approved the minutes of the previous Middleton Township Committee and considered objections to a proposed TRO on Manchester Old Road, which resulted in the item being refused.
Members were updated on the Budget for 2018/19 to 2020/21 including guidelines, timetable and public engagement, for consultative purposes and discussed the Planning Panels.
Due to the timing of this report deadline, the 28th September meeting had not yet taken place, but the following items were expected;
Members approved the minutes of the previous Middleton Township Committee.
Members received the following reports; Disposal of Surplus Land Revenue Budget Update 2018/19 to 2020/21 and Savings Programme 2018/19 to 2019/20. Discretionary Fees and charges 2018/19 Capital Programme 2018/19 to 2020/21 Future CPO Programme.
2. Township Sub-Committees and Working Parties The cycle of sub-committees which took place in this quarter, and some of the issues raised are detailed below:
Regeneration The Middleton Regeneration Group, met twice during this quarter discussed a number of issues such as improvements to the Middleton Triangle Public Realm, THI Update, Warwick Mill and Tonge Hall.
Page 81 Middleton Environment & Culture Forum The Middleton Environment and Culture Forum meeting took place twice during this quarter. On Tuesday 18th July 2017 discussions took place regarding the appointment of the new Public Realm Inspectors in Middleton; Middleton in Bloom; an update from Rochdale Football Club and Members received updates from local groups and organisations.
At the meeting on Wednesday 30th August 2017 Members discussed the new to post Town Centre Enforcement Wardens, received an update from Ambition for Ageing and received updates from local groups and organisations.
Devolved Funding and Services The Middleton Devolved Funding & Services sub-committee has not met during this quarter.
PACT Meetings (Police and Community Together) held this quarter; East – Thursday 17th August 2017 South – Monday 7th August 2017 West – Wednesday 26th July 2017 North – Monday 14th August 2017 Hopwood Hall – Thursday 27th July 2017
Events Middleton In Bloom
Middleton Members were very pleased to support the ‘Middleton In Bloom’ for the first time this year, a lot of excellent work was done and continues to take place, due to the continued work of the Youth service, Middleton Parish Clubs and Beavers, Volunteers, officers from RBC Environmental Management.
Regular litter picks are organised to take place most weekends, with many regular volunteers attending to help out, including local Councillors.
The judges decisions are expected in October 2017 and Middleton Members are eagerly awaiting the outcome. Special thanks must go to the volunteers for all their tireless work done over the last 6 months, and my fingers are crossed that Middleton receives the award it is due.
Page 82
Middfest Middfest 2017 took place on Sunday 23rd July, and was opened by the Mayor Councillor Ian Duckworth. The event celebrated its 25th anniversary, and did not fail to disappoint and was the best attended event in recent years, with around 2,500 people visiting the event throughout the day.
The crowd were treated to two fantastic shows from The Stannage International Motorbike Stunt Team, who wowed the crowds with their death defying stunts.
As always a special thanks must go to the Middleton Roundtable, who continue to work tirelessly to put together a brilliant day for the all the family.
Golden Cluster Month Middleton has always taken part in the fantastic Golden Cluster month, and continues to have many of our beautiful historic local buildings opened to the public. I am very proud to see the month long event continue and grow as it is doing. Many thanks must go to the hard work Christine Grime and other volunteers put in, in order to make this event happen.
Page 83
Armed Forces Flag Raising Ceremony On 22nd June I attended the Armed Forces Flag Raising ceremony at the Middleton Memorial Gardens where there was a gathering of RBL, members of the public and Father Philip blessed the flag.
Good News Stories
Jubilee Park – Green Flag Status Middleton’s historic Jubilee Park, which houses the magnificent Exedra, and Middleton Library, received a Green Flag this year, for the first time.
I would like to take time to thank all the Friends of Jubilee Park and Environmental Management for the fantastic job they do in maintaining our Park.
On a downside, and unfortunately, there has been quite a lot of vandalism recently with new trees being snapped and approximately 20 of the newly planted shrubs being stolen. The person who stole the shrubs was identified and is being dealt with by GMP.
Page 84 Middleton Triangle Public Realm & THI Works are nearing completion on the Middleton Public Realm, with only the railings at Jubilee Park outstanding. This scheme has been absolutely brilliant, and has ensured that one of the main approaches into Middleton looks fantastic.
The THI is now in its final extended year, and approval is being awaited from the Heritage Lottery for works to commence on the Long Street Methodist School building. This is a significant part of the THI and will bring one of Middleton’s most outstanding buildings back into use.
Exedra As part of the THI, a refurbishment project has been underway to ensure that the Exedra, designed and built by Edgar Wood in 1906 continues its magnificence for the next 111 years. The main works were to stabilise and conserve the structure. The exedra was designed by Edgar Wood to frame the view of Middleton Parish Church Tower.
Whilst the works were underway there were many different types of machinery used, including large cranes, and many people took an interest in the works.
Middleton will formally unveil the Exedra refurbishment on Thursday 12th October, and I look forward to welcoming invited guests to the event.
Middleton Fit, Read & Feed Junction Community Centre & Library I attended the launch of the Fit, Read & Feed event on 3rd August 2017, alongside other Councillors, at Junction Community Centre and Library to see first-hand the children having a good time reading and enjoying the various activities available before they were served lunch. This was made possible from funding from Middleton East Ward.
Langley Library Middleton West Ward Councillors also allocated funds to run the Langley Fit Read & Feed scheme, and again the feedback received has been excellent.
Middleton Police, Community Safety & Members Briefing During this quarter Township Members also met twice with the Middleton Police Inspector and Sergeant.
Highways Champion One meeting of the Highways Champion has taken place on 4th September 2017; the topics covered were bridges; structures; Balfour Beatty; updates on road Page 85 patching programme and the 2016-2018 programme for Highways maintenance.
Meetings Attended (other than Council/ Township) In my capacity as Chair of Middleton Township I have attended the following; THI Board Meeting – 6TH July 2017 Friends of Jubilee Park –12th September 2017 Middleton Town Team – 5th September 2017 A visit to Brentwood Day Centre Open Event – 2nd September 2017 Regular meetings also take place with Highways, Street Lighting and EM.
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the MiddletonTownship Committee.
Councillor June West Middleton Township Chair
Page 86 Agenda Item 8o
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE PENNINES TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Pennines Township.
Highways The Highways Service has almost completely delivered the second year of the capital programme works for the period 2016/18 with structural patching to the carriageway that will allow a smoother journey and increased life cycle of the road, alongside minor patching works carried out using the extra funding from the Council.
In the period since the last update 3 Township Commissions have been approved and Highways have started work on these commissions, 3 commissions are currently being reviewed by Township for funding to be potentially provided to Highways for priority issues.
Library Service Libraries continue to be well used and utilised by a wide variety of our residents across the Pennines Township, particularly to support customers in the following priority areas: Health and Wellbeing; digital inclusion; skills, jobs and business support; reading and literacy; early years and stronger families; preventing social isolation – particularly with the elderly.
Over the summer Smallbridge hosted its second Feed and Read with the added element this year of Fit. Working in partnership with Link 4 Life up to 30 children a day for the full 6 weeks attended the library taking part in Art and Craft activities, joining the Summer Reading Challenge and finishing off the session with an hour and half’s sports activities. Once again it proved to be very popular. This year’s Summer Reading Challenge had the theme Animal Agents. Smallbridge library had 14 sign up and 5 completed it, Littleborough had 75 sign up and 34 completed, Wardle had 28 sign up and 12 finished, Smithybridge had 16 sign up and the finishing figures have yet to come in.
Libraries across the borough provide residents with IT access and support. Since the doubling up of PC’s last year this has aided lots more new and extra users in branch. Allowing for more users to expand their knowledge via staff and volunteer led training sessions. Still however retaining drop in access for other IT users.
Public Realm The role of a Public Realm Inspector is fairly new for the Pennies Township. The Officer will be dealing with a range of Environment and Community Safety issues some of which include, increasing dog fouling patrols and being more of a visible presence; ASB issues; fly-tipping incidents and enforcement and graffiti.
Page 87 Youth Service Young people from across the Pennines have been engaging in a busy summer programme including bushcraft sessions, mountain biking, BBQ and walk, trips to Blackpool and much more. In Milnrow & Smallbridge they have joined in with the Service ‘Get Creative’, ‘Get Musical’ and ‘Get Techy’ sessions and the summer was rounded off with a cohesive event ‘Festival of Friendship’. They have also undertaken a national consultation called Make Your Mark where they vote for the top issues affecting them as young people.
Milnrow Youth Centre has been a challenging session for the staff, we have introduced a new group there on a Tuesday, attendance is growing steadily. Thursday has been launched and we are encouraging young people to become part of that group. Again attendance is growing and will hopefully be as successful as the Tuesday evening group. The young people are just beginning to plan for their Question Time event that will be held on 8th November where they are hoping to ask decision makers about issues in the local area and across the Township. Youth workers have been working with Library staff at Smallbridge to ensure the youth group is a safe environment for all young people wanting to attend and new structures have been put in place. This will hopefully help with ASB in the area as well as engaging with harder to reach young people. Although it is very early days the measures seem to be working and young people are able to participate fully in sessions.
In Littleborough, young people have made a request for repairs to the skate park and a little maintenance work. They have met with Cllr Janet Emsley who is helping them and they are meeting again with her soon. They really want to help with the work rather than expecting other agencies to do it for them, they are looking at a way that this can be achieved.
Youth workers are meeting lots of young people at Wardle, Milnrow Park, Littleborough centre and Stansfield during the detached sessions, young people are skating and chatting to friends at the parks. They are also getting involved in youth consultations and engaging in positive discussions around young people’s issues as teenagers. Detached work also continues across the Pennines in hot spot areas.
Township Community News
Littleborough Rushbearing Festival This year’s event was another success organised by Littleborough Events and Associations Forum. The festival carries on the village tradition of dressing and parading the rushcart through the streets of Littleborough. There are a host of activities including demonstrations, games, sports, and stalls of various kinds in Hare Hill Park and in the centre. Page 88 Littleborough Food and Drink Festival A great display of local quality foods and drinks were on offer, the event helps to support local business and encourages people to shop local. The weather was much kinder this year which was evident in the number of people attending. PenninesTownship awarded a grant to support the event.
Pennines in Bloom Judging of the Pennines took place in August; the judges were impressed with the number and quality of new planting schemes this year including the new garden in Wardle, the planted farm machinery feature and the newly redesigned Firgrove Gardens. Pennines Township assist with funding the schemes, thanks goes to the volunteers who work hard all year round, with Environment Officers, to make sure the areas look their best.
Milnrow and District Carnival The 49th annual carnival took place in June which once again saw the parade led through the village by Milnrow Brass Band. Lots of activities and attractions were on offer in Milnrow Memorial Park including live music, fairground rides and a variety of stalls. The Carnival Committee are already planning their events for next year’s 50th Anniversary.
Township Funding A number of grants and schemes have been approved recently that realise the Townships priorities and support the community as a whole. Grants have been awarded to sports clubs for new kits; libraries to support older peoples user groups; Sacred Heart FC to improve their car park and complete their refurbishment; improve access to play areas and new play equipment; holiday programmes which provide affordable access to sports for families and young people. Highway schemes have also been approved to increase safety for road users and pedestrians including waiting restrictions to allow safer access for buses and their users.
Area Forums The two community meetings in Pennines continue to raise local issues affecting the community, a number of schemes have arisen due to issues raised at the meetings. The PACT meetings are incorporated which helps to build strong relations with GMP and allows the community to set priorities for their local area.
Pennines Clean and Green Team The team continue to provide an excellent service in dealing with clean up requests from Members, the team are highly regarded by the Township and are thanked for the work that they undertake.
Councillor Blundell Pennines Township Chair
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Pennines Township
Page 89 Agenda Item 8p
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE ROCHDALE TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11TH OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Rochdale Township.
Rochdale Town Hall Although the revised Stage 1 HLF bid for the Town Hall was unfortunately rejected due to the lack of available funds, we remain committed to safeguarding our Town Hall. We are now in the process of exploring other funding options to restore the building and will continue to engage with the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Rochdale Riverside (Genr8) Following the planning application being approved earlier this year, the Council’s development partner is now undertaking extensive site investigations across the site to test the ground conditions prior to starting construction of the scheme later this year.
Rochdale Market As part of the site investigation works for Rochdale Riverside, the interim market has been moved to Baillie Street, Yorkshire Street and Lord Square. This temporary home will remain in place until the new market on The Butts is ready for occupation. The second phase of work to adapt the Santander building to create a small indoor market commenced in September. The new market is set to open at Easter 2018.
Highways The Baillie Street/Yorkshire Street public realm improvement works are substantially completed. The project involves the provision of a high quality area of public realm using natural stone footway products and includes the provision of a rising bollard system to prevent illegal vehicular access to further enhance the area for pedestrians. The final elements of the works such as white lining are currently ongoing. Once completed a communication exercise will be undertaken with local businesses and key stakeholders prior to the activation of a rising bollard system to prevent vehicles entering the area illegally.
We have completed the resurfacing of the A58 Yorkshire Street, Rochdale (from the Townhead junction to Entwisle Road). These works were carried out over the school summer holiday period to minimise disruption to road users. We liaised closely with the National Grid gas company to enable them to install a new gas main in advance and alongside our works to further minimise disruption.
Environmental Management As part of Rochdale Township in Bloom the Castleton railway station was described as ‘thriving’ and achieved level 4 in 2016. For the 2017 entry a wild flower meadow was planted at the side of the railway bridge. The areas were sprayed off and rotovated to remove the grass surface and seeded. The ‘In Bloom’ group also planted a canal boat to complement the scheme. Page 90 The awards ceremony takes place on 5th November, it is hoped that these schemes will contribute to another gold medal for Rochdale Township In Bloom.
Rochdale Township Committee A member of the public raised concerns with regard to parking on Edenfield Road causing reduced visibility for drivers exiting Elmsfield Avenue. Committee undertook to ensure that the relevant traffic regulations are enforced. Reports were presented in relation to the budget 2018/19 to 2020/21 and the committee was asked to approve the compulsory purchase of a residential property. Members discussed and appointed to planning panels to look at future applications.
Feel Good Festival Another fantastic event, the biggest and best yet. Record crowds were able to enjoy Razorlight, who were Razor Sharp in a safe and welcoming environment.
Big Change Through Mark Foxley (Rochdale Town Centre Management Co) I attended the launch of the Big Change Campaign which aims to help vulnerable people who are left with no choice but to beg for money on the streets to get the help they need to get off, and stay off, the streets.
Rochdale Township In Bloom I would like to offer a personal thank you to the Rochdale Township In Bloom group for another fantastic effort. The Township looked outstanding, with some excellent new additions – particularly the Morris 1000 van. Good luck on results day.
The Bee The gateway to the Town Centre is looking very impressive with the planting of the Bee, and the cleaning of the John Bright statue.
Touchstones Exhibition I recently visited the exhibition of Susan Collis’ work at Touchstones, a thought provoking display. The exhibition ran until 30th September.
Merchant Navy Day I was pleased to attend the flag raising ceremony at Rochdale Town Hall to commemorate Merchant Navy Day.
Area Forums
Balderstone & Kirkholt The group received a presentation from Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale ‘Tea and Talk’. Elected members gave updates on developments within the ward. Page 91 Bamford & Oakenrod The forum received an update on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, and from the Bamford Green Belt Action Group. The PACT meeting took place and it was reported that anti-social behaviour within the area has significantly reduced. A number of planning matters were discussed along with issues relating to Council Services, including Environmental Management and Highways.
Brimrod, Marland & Sudden The forum thanked the Council in relation to environmental work in the area, which has resulted in vast improvements with regard to litter and green spaces. The GM Spatial Strategy was discussed.
Castleton The forum was informed that the current PACT priorities are anti-social behaviour and burglary. An update was given on a recent speed operation that took place on Queensway. A long and detailed discussion took place with regard to the Tetrosyl premises and residents requested an update on the Castleton Masterplan be brought to a future meeting.
Central Rochdale Residents raised concerns in relation to beggars and incidents of drug dealing. A number of issues were discussed, such as planning applications, a request for an additional pedestrian crossing and concerns about speed humps on Entwisle Road. A resident praised the recent ‘Science Extravaganza’ held at Wardleworth Community Centre.
Healey The forum was informed that improvements to Syke Pond could not progress as a report to Cabinet was awaited. A number of updates were given in relation to speeding traffic/surveys, and agreement was reached with regard to the siting of new benches on Syke Common.
Kingsway Residents were informed that their request for a speed camera on Milnrow Road could not be progressed as the recorded speeds do not meet the criteria. General discussion were very much highways focussed. An additional bulky waste amnesty had been very successful and some progress is being made with regard to the development of Robbie’s common.
Milkstone & Deeplish The PACT priorities are currently drug dealing, prostitution and anti-social behaviour. The forum was given information regarding the role of the Public Realm Inspector. During the open forum there were concerns in relation to a number of highways issues and a perceived lack of progress. Information was given about the Deeplish Youth Project, and the efforts of the Council’s Environmental Management service were acknowledged and their successful attempts to increase recycling in the ward.
Page 92 Norden Residents expressed parking concerns/problems at several locations within the ward which will need to be rectified by escalation to the Council’s Highways dept. to rectify lineage painting issues, and also to Parking Services and GMP to enforce with stepped up patrols, subject to their resource levels.
Residents have grave concerns over the risk of yet another HGV vehicle becoming stuck on School Lane / Ashworth Road and asked again for local ward Councillors to persuade the Councils’ Highways Dept. to provide assistance and suggestions, in particular restrictions and signage to ensure a major accident does not occur.
Local Councillors praised efforts of the Council’s Environmental Management Dept. and GMP in their speedy response and management of the recent travellers’ encampment on Caldershaw.
Spotland & Falinge Residents raised concerns about off-road bikes, speeding vehicles at a number of locations in the Ward, pot holes, footways in need of repair, dog fouling, Traffic Regulation Orders, highway safety issues and potential sites for the old Meanwood School fencing. The Forum agreed to contribute £2000 from Ward Funds towards next year’s Rochdale Township In Bloom entry.
Councillor Shaun O’Neill Rochdale Township Chair
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Rochdale Township
Page 93 Agenda Item 8q
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
OUTSIDE BODY REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE LEAD MEMBER FOR THE ARMED FORCES MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Armed Forces military covenant.
Merchant Navy Day 2017
The Red Duster was raised across the borough for Merchant Navy Day
Merchant Navy Day is to honour the brave men and women who kept the ‘Island Nation’ afloat during both World Wars, and celebrated its dependence on modern day merchant seafarers who are responsible for 95% of the UK’s imports.
“It is right that we celebrate the role of a fleet whose men and women braved perilous journeys across the Atlantic and Arctic during the world wars, and whose ships sail the globe today bearing the famous colours. In times of conflict and in times of peace, the Merchant Navy plays a vital and heroic role in helping to protect our freedoms and liberty.”
Pastoral and Veterans Welfare Support Our pastoral role continues to grow and flourish with events like the weekly Armed Forces breakfast where veterans come for a cuppa and a chat – I take this opportunity to pay tribute to our Partners RBH and Link4Life who have supported numerous caseworks since my last report where their intervention and understanding to resolve issues has resulted in positive outcomes.
Pakistan Defence Day I attended and paid tribute to all the Armed Forces Personnel that had paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in the defence of their Country.
In Great Britain, the Highest Military Award is the VC or Victoria Cross.
In Pakistan, the equivalent is the Nishan-e-Haider or Order of Haider (meaning "Order of the Lion").
It is Awarded "to those who have performed acts of greatest heroism or most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger and have shown bravery of the highest order or devotion to the country, in the presence of the enemy on land, at sea or in the air.
“Valour and Courage know not Colour nor Creed nor Country”
Page 94 Henry Hill Close 21st October 1917, the Architect of St Joseph`s Parish Church in Heywood was killed in action after being shot down over the Somme.
Heywood will unveil new Heritage street signage on 21st October 2017 in remembrance of Capt. Henry Oswald William Hill MC exactly 100 years to the day he paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Ark Royal Avenue I am presently working with Castleton Councillors to shortly replace with appropriate Heritage style street signage in Honour of all those that served on HMS Ark Royal.
And also, to recognise all those that worked at Whipp and Bourne who supplied the Ark Royal with switch gear.
Councillor Alan McCarthy LEAD MEMBER FOR THE ARMED FORCES
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Armed Forces.
Page 95 Agenda Item 8r
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
OUTSIDE BODY REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT TO THE COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER COMMITTEE TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee.
Terrorist Incident at Manchester Arena The Transport Authority considered the response to the atrocious terrorist incident at Manchester Arena on 22nd May, which of course shocked the world and highlighted not just the work undertaken by blue light services but a lot of unseen work carried out by different strands of TfGM to ensure that the transport network continued to serve the people of Manchester so soon after the incident. The Authority was informed that the first people to arrive at the scene after the explosion were Northern rail and Metrolink staff from Victoria Station. Members of the Transport Authority highlighted the need to express the Sub-Committee’s gratitude to Northern Rail and Metrolink staff for their incredibly brave response to this incident. We noted that in the immediate aftermath of the terror attack Northern Rail and Metrolink staff ran towards the incident, not away, with little concern for their own safety, to offer whatever support they could to those badly injured or affected by the incident. We were very much aware of the dreadful scene that they must have faced at the Manchester Arena with many staff still coming to terms and receiving support to help deal with this incident. The Chair of the Transport Authority wrote on behalf of TfGM to convey our profound thanks to Northern rail and Metrolink staff for their many acts of heroism and to send members best wishes for a speedy recovery to those still affected by the incident.
It was encouraging to see the Arena open again on 9th September and that a full range of travel facilities are available for people visiting this venue.
Ring and Ride Services TfGM received a report at its July meeting informing the Authority respect of reviewing Greater Manchester Accessible Transport (GMATL) Ring and Ride Services. Whilst the report was noted by Members at the meeting this is an important issue that will directly affect many people across the Rochdale Borough. Further work in this regard will be undertaken and I will keep Council updated on any progress made on the various options that were identified in the report. These included ensuring that the Ride and Ride service remains fit for purpose and offers best value for money a review of the services provided has commenced. TfGM Members requested that the views of service users across Greater Manchester are considered. Officers attended the Ring and Ride Forums earlier this year to gather opinions on what works well and how the service can be most cost effectively improved. Eleven forums across 10 districts were attended by TfGM officers who discussed issues for consideration with users and members of the GMATL.
May 2018 Rail Timetable consultation TfGM received a report that updated us on the activity completed thus far to Page 96 support the May 2018 Rail Timetable consultation and on the subsequent GMCA consultation response.
TfGM has been working closely with Northern, TransPennine Express and Rail North to understand and improve the proposals for the May 2018 Rail Timetable.
Following on from an earlier TfGM meeting officers have worked with closely Northern and Transport Passenger Executive to agree that elements of the proposed timetable should be changed or reviewed. Insofar as Rochdale Borough is concerned the following are relevant: 1. Calder Valley – Extra peak calls at Littleborough, Smithy Bridge, Castleton and Mills Hill being review by Northern Rail; 2. North Transpennine – Meetings have been undertaken with Rail User Group, Transpennine Express and Northern Rail to examine the current service provision.
Bus Services On 25th August 2017 I attended a successful meeting of the Bus Network and TfGM Services Sub-Committee so much so that I was able to thank the Bus Operator First Manchester and TfGM Officers for the productive meetings that had taken place over the summer months in relation to changes affecting Rochdale Borough.
Bus Service improvements - Middleton, Heywood, Oldham and Rochdale Following a recent consultation with First Manchester customers in Middleton and Heywood the local bus operator is making improvements to services that will improve reliability and connections to the city centre.
Earlier this year, First Manchester invited customers in Middleton and Heywood to take part in a consultation, as part of a review of local bus services. The results found that Service 18 is unreliable for local journeys and that Heywood customers would like more direct links with Middleton and the city centre.
As a result of this consultation, the local bus operator is making changes to the 18 service and it will also be introducing two new services; 19 and X63. The changes taking affect include:
Service 18 – this service will run every 20 minutes from Langley via Middleton to Manchester Royal Infirmary, Monday to Saturday daytimes (no change evenings and Sundays) and there will be extra journeys on service 17 between Middleton and the city centre, Shudehill.
NEW Service 19 – this service will provide local journeys between Langley and Middleton, every 20 minutes during the day from Monday to Saturday.
NEW service X63 – this service will travel direct from Heywood to Middleton and will then operate an express route to Manchester Shudehill, via Mainway, Victoria Avenue and Charlestown Road. This service will operate Monday to Friday at peak times.
TfGM’s Commercial Director commented: “We’re pleased to confirm that following the feedback received from local consultations, we have identified improvements that will help to improve the reliability and travel needs of Heywood and Middleton Page 97 customers. I’d like to thank everyone that took part in the consultation for their feedback, as this has helped to make positive changes that will lead to an improved bus service for Heywood and Middleton.”
I think that this represents great news for Heywood and Middleton residents as I have long campaigned and lobbied for this, so I am delighted that First Manchester has listened, taken action and ensured passengers have an improved service with better links, more buses and faster journey times.
Metrolink – Customer Satisfaction Metrolink customers are increasingly satisfied with their service, according to a new national survey that was carried out over the summer by Transport Focus. The survey was undertaken during a period of major transformational work to build a new line through Manchester city centre and the latest tram survey shows another year-on-year increase, with 90% of passengers very or fairly satisfied with their overall journey. Passenger satisfaction has increased significantly across a number of other key areas, including punctuality, journey and waiting time, frequency of services and value for money.
TfGM’s Head of Metrolink, stated: “These results are extremely valuable in helping us make customer-focused improvements that improve the journey experience even more. “We know reliability and punctuality is a key issue for customers and we’ve worked hard, alongside the Metrolink operator, RATP Dev, to improve this. I’m very pleased to see this reflected in our customers’ rising satisfaction with punctuality, journey times and waiting times.”
Greater Manchester Smart Card Thousands of passengers can now, for the first time, use a single smart card for all their journeys on any Greater Manchester tram and bus. This latest development is the next phase of Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) ‘get me there’ smart card system, working with operators through Greater Manchester Travelcards Ltd (GMTL), and is a further step forward towards delivering a fully integrated smart system across the city region.
The get me there smart card system makes it easy for users with a get me there account to view and purchase a range of products online, making travel easier and more flexible, with no need to carry cash or queue at ticket machines. Season ticket holders will benefit from added security as any lost or stolen tickets and travelcards that have more than 7 days left to run will be replaced, with customers able to order new cards online.
As well as being able to buy a new range of multi-modal bus and tram products, new 16 – 18 and corporate smart cards have also been introduced. The 16 – 18 card will allow almost 100,000 young people to enjoy half price bus travel.
Rail Station Upgrades Work to further improve a number of rail stations across Greater Manchester has started recently. The first phase, which began from Monday 11th September 2017, will see customer information screens, public address systems, CCTV cameras, help points and induction loops installed at a number of stations across the region. The second phase will see tactile paving installed on the platform edges of several Page 98 of the 25 stations to enhance safety on the platform for passengers with a visual impairment. These improvement works are wholly funded by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) as part of its Rail Station Improvement Strategy are set to be completed by early summer 2018.
In addition officers from TfGm have undertaken some work with Harry Aldritt from Rochdale Station’s Friends Group to improve the non-public access areas at Rochdale station. Some planters have now been installed and vegetation cleared from the steps leading up to the disused platform. Whilst there is still some work to do, the work that has already been carried out represents a step forward in improving the station ambience.
Rochdale Youth Council Following a recent presentation given by Rochdale Youth Council to elected members, I raised their concerns over the costs for students traveling outside of the Greater Manchester area. I have therefore asked senior officers if they would consider opening dialogue with other neighbouring authorises to consider a combined travel card for Students.
TFGM agreed the scheme would be a good ideal and thanks to our Youth Council who had already raised it with the Mayor Andy Burham it was something they would look into and feedback at a later date.
TransPennine Express – New refurbished trains TransPennine Express (TPE) have launched their first refurbished train as part of an overhaul of the fleet for customers in the north. Over the next few weeks and months customers will notice the new trains more as each of the 51 units receives a full makeover.
TPE’s refurbished trains will include brand new seats, plugs and USB sockets, bigger tables, refitted toilets and LED lighting throughout. Once the upgrade programme is complete in 2018 the trains will be fitted with even more improvements including information screens, wi-fi and on-board entertainment systems.
Over the next year all of the Class 185 trains will get this upgrade and over the next three years 44 brand new trains will be introduced, giving customers more carriages, more seats, better reliability and more comfortable, enjoyable, productive journeys.
Over the summer TPE have reported significant progress on their new train builds:- a. New CAF Mk5a coaches – With an entire set of coach body-shells now built and painted, CAF continue to fit the interiors with flooring, cables and panelling. The Driving Trailer cab equipment will begin to be fitted from September 2017 and the TPE team will continue to be at inspections to assess and maintain the quality that we have come to expect from CAF and their suppliers. b. New CAF class 397 fleet - the Driving Trailer cab equipment will begin to be fitted out from September 2017 and the TPE team will continue to be at inspections to assess and maintain the quality that we have come to expect from CAF and their suppliers. c. Hitachi class 802s - Work is now ramping up for the Hitachi Class 802s. Page 99 Design reviews were completed back in June 2017, and in September 2017 TPE will have its first look at the new Hitachi Galley kitchen.
Metrolink fare changes A number of proposed changes to Metrolink fares are set to be discussed by the the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. They are being requested to approve the introduction of a phased three year fares increase from January 2018, in line with the results of the Metrolink fares survey that ran for eight weeks over the summer.
Other changes to Metrolink fares due to be discussed at the meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on 29th September include: Harmonising all child fares across the Metrolink network, bringing them to 50% of the adult fare across the board Increasing the cost of a special event ticket – held at the same price since 2012 – from £3 to £4 Introducing a discounted 5-18 special event ticket (priced at 50% of the revised adult price).
Thank you Mr Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee.
Councillor Phil Burke Councillor Shah Wazir Councillor Pat Sullivan
Transport for Greater Manchester Committee
Page 100 Agenda Item 8s
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER WASTE DISPOSAL AUTHORITY TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON 11th OCTOBER 2017
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.
Authority Meeting/General Update
As well as its business as usual activities the Authority has spent a lot of time exploring options to terminate its existing PFI contract and put in place interim operating arrangements while new service providers are procured. The procurement process will commence in October 2017 and will complete in early 2019. Once fully implemented these changes will deliver annual savings in excess of £30m. Landfill diversion for the year to date remains high at c. 87%. This may be affected in the second half of the year due to the recent fire in the turbine hall at the Raikes Lane energy from waste facility in Bolton. Work is underway to make the building safe before inspections can be undertaken to ascertain the cause of the fire and also how quickly the plant can be brought back into operation. The Communications and Behaviour Change team have been reviewing activity in three areas of delivery; education, content (including digital and leaflets etc) and campaigns. We are now in the final stages of shaping a delivery plan for the next 18 months which will be presented and the next Communications and Behavioural Change task and finish group in early October. The delivery plan will focus on delivering the aims from our five year strategy namely; Aim 1: To reduce contamination in residents’ recycling bins; Aim 2: Increase food waste recycling; Aim 3: Waste Prevention; Aim 4: Education Service; Aim 5: Multi-Purpose Compost. Aim 6: Development of the Authority’s public facing brand ‘Recycle for Greater Manchester’ (R4GM) and the Authority’s reputation; and Aim 7: Internal Communications. In addition with Resource Greater Manchester we have been working closely with WRAP on their national consumer campaigns such as Recycle Now, Love Food Hate Waste and Love Your Clothes, content from these campaigns is now fully integrated into the Authorities work streams. Councillor Mohammed Zaman Councillor Susan Emmott Members of the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority
Thank you Mr. Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Grater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.
Page 101 Agenda Item 9
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY, HELD ON FRIDAY 30 JUNE 2017 AT ONE RIVERSIDE, ROCHDALE
GM MAYOR Andy Burnham (in the Chair)
DEPUTY MAYOR - Baroness Beverley Hughes Police and Crime
BOLTON COUNCIL Councillor Cliff Morris
BURY COUNCIL Councillor Rishi Shori, Deputy Mayor
MANCHESTER CC Councillor Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor
OLDHAM COUNCIL Councillor Jean Stretton
ROCHDALE MBC Councillor Allen Brett
SALFORD CC City Mayor Paul Dennett
STOCKPORT MBC Councillor Wendy Wild
TAMESIDE MBC Councillor John Taylor
TRAFFORD COUNCIL Councillor Sean Anstee
WIGAN COUNCIL Councillor Peter Smith
OTHER MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE
Fire Committee, Chair Councillor David Acton GMWDA, Chair Councillor Nigel Murphy TfGMC, Chair Councillor Andrew Fender
OFFICERS IN ATTENDANCE
Eamonn Boylan GMCA Sue Johnson Bolton Council Pat Jones-Greenhalgh Bury Council Geoff Little Manchester CC Carolyn Wilkins Oldham Council Steve Rumbelow Rochdale MBC Ben Dolan Salford CC Laureen Donnan Stockport MBC Steven Pleasant Tameside MBC
Page 102 Theresa Grant Trafford Council Alison McKenzie-Folan Wigan Council Peter O’Reilly GM Fire & Rescue Service Jon Lamonte Transport for Greater Manchester Jon Rouse Health and Social Care Partnership Mark Hughes Manchester Growth Company Liz Treacy GMCA Monitoring Officer Richard Paver GMCA Treasurer Andrew Lightfoot GMCA Deputy Head of the Paid Service Julie Connor GMCA Head of Governance and Scrutiny Paul Harris GMCA Governance and Scrutiny Sylvia Welsh GMCA Governance and Scrutiny
95/17 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received and noted from Councillors Richard Farnell (Rochdale – Cllr Allen Brett attending), Alex Ganotis (Stockport – Cllr Wendy Wild attending) and Kieran Quinn (Tameside - Cllr John Taylor attending).
Chief Executives – Margaret Asquith (Bolton - Sue Johnson attending), Jim Taylor (Salford – Ben Dolan attending), Donna Hall (Wigan – Alison McKenzie Folan attending), Joanne Roney (Manchester – Geoff Little attending) and Ian Hopkins GMP.
96/17 ELECTION OF CHAIR
Members noted that pursuant to Part 5A, section 4 of the Constitution, the Greater Manchester is the Chair of the GMCA (ex-officio).
RESOLVED/-
To note the appointment of Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester Mayor, as the Chair of the GMCA, as set out under Part 5A, section 4 of the Constitution.
98/17 APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIRS 2017/18
Members noted that pursuant to Part 5A, section 4, of the Constitution, GMCA Members are required to appoint at least 2 but no more than 3 Vice Chairs for 2017/18, with no political group holding all the vice-chairs positions on the GMCA. For this reason, Councillor Richard Leese Deputy Mayor, and Councillor Sean Anstee were appointed as Vice Chairs of the GM Combined Authority.
RESOLVED/-
Page 103 That the appointments of Councillor Richard Leese and Councillor Sean Anstee as Vice Chairs of GMCA, as set out under Part 5A, section 4 of the GMCA Constitution be confirmed.
97/17 CHAIR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Tony Lloyd MP
The GM Mayor paid tribute to Tony Lloyd MP for the work he had undertaken as Interim GM Mayor and as the GM Police and Crime Commissioner and wished him well in his new role as MP for Rochdale. He went on to offer thanks for the support he had received from all GM Leaders since taking up the position of GM Mayor. b. Baroness Beverley Hughes
The Chair extended a welcome to Beverley Hughes, Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime. In response, Beverley Hughes said she welcomed this new role and the opportunity to continue the good work formerly led by Tony Lloyd. c. Manchester Arena Attack – 22 May 2017
The Chair noted that Members’ thoughts were with the 22 families who lost loved ones in the Manchester Arena attack on 22 May and particularly the families of Megan Hartley and Martin Heck whose funerals were taking place today.
The Chair paid tribute to the response of the emergency services and thanked citizens of Greater Manchester in responding to the incident. Members also noted that cards and messages of support have been received from across the world.
Members noted that Manchester City Council was to hold an extraordinary meeting on 12 July 2017 to commemorate this tragic event. Councillor Richard Leese thanked colleagues from other local authorities for their help and support. In particular, he highlighted the support from council workers and Salford City Council staff who, in the aftermath of the tragedy, had voluntarily come forward and helped to staff telephone contact points. A fund had been set up to support the families of those affected in the ensuing days following the tragedy.
The Mayor noted that he had recently met with staff from Manchester Arena, Northern Rail and Metrolink. d. London Attack and Grenfell Tower Tragedy
The Chair offered condolences to those affected by the recent attack in London and also the recent Grenfell fire tragedy.
Page 104 He noted that efforts were underway across Greater Manchester to reassure residents of residential tower blocks. The Mayor referred to the work being led by Paul Dennett, City mayor of Salford in setting up a Taskforce in order to coordinate a response across Greater Manchester.
City Mayor, Paul Dennett, Portfolio lead for Planning and Housing, provided an update on the work of the Taskforce now that was taking place and reiterated that public safety remains the number one priority. A summit had taken place on 22 June, to consider GM’s response to Grenfell and the following actions were agreed:
a) Landlords should review and re-issue fire safety advice to residents. b) A task force was to be established. c) Joint compliance checks were being undertaken d) Work was taking place with local authorities and housing providers to look at revised evacuation procedures. e) Paul Dennett thanked all local authority representatives and housing providers for their attendance at the summit. Fire Protection Teams have made contact with housing providers to update intelligence. Fire Protection Teams have made contact with housing providers to update intelligence. A GM response to response to the Grenfell Tower incident was to be developed. Paul Dennett also informed members that he would be writing to the Secretary of State to ask for funding from the Government.
Peter O’Reilly, Chief Fire Officer, provided an update on the work of the Fire and Rescue Service in relation to reassuring residents. Members noted that prior to the Grenfell fire, GM Fire and Rescue Service had already embarked up on the development of a risk register.
98/17 GMCA CONSTITUTION
Liz Treacy, GMCA Monitoring Officer introduced a report which sought the approval of Members to the revised GMCA Constitution. Members noted that the constitution required substantial revision to reflect the new powers of the GMCA and the Mayor advising that further work will still be required to refine the Constitution following the approval of further Orders later in the year. She also highlighted that further work in relation to the Officer Code of Conduct was also being undertaken. A further updated version of the Constitution would come back to the GMCA in the Autumn. The report set out the main changes proposed to be made to the GMCA Constitution.
The GM Mayor also highlighted the provision in the Constitution to put in place Assistant Portfolio holders who would attend future meetings and would enable a much more gender balanced team.
RESOLVED/-
Page 105 1. That the revised constitution accompanying this report as the Constitution of the GMCA be approved and adopted.
2. That the discharge of mayoral functions and the delegation of such responsibilities rests with the Mayor, be noted and that the delegations of mayoral functions (and the arrangements in relation to such) set out in this constitution are for the information of the GMCA only.
3. That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to make any changes of a typographical nature to the Constitution.
4. That the delegations of mayoral functions (and the arrangements in relation to such) set out in this constitution and agreed by the Mayor, be noted.
99/17 GREATER MANCHESTER APPOINTMENTS AND NOMINATIONS 2017/18
Liz Treacy, GMCA Monitoring Officer, introduced a report which sought the approval of Members to agree a) the appointment of Secretary to the GMCA, b) the appointment of Andy Burnham, GM Mayor, to the AGMA Executive Board, c) portfolio responsibilities for 2017/2018, d) GMCA Greater Manchester appointments and nominations received from the GM local authorities to Greater Manchester statutory bodies, e) request for GMCA appointments to other outside bodies for 2017/2018 and f) to note the Mayor’s decision to appoint a fire committee.
The GM Mayor thanked the members of the Scrutiny Working Group who had contributed to the Scrutiny Review and development of proposals. The process for Local Authority nominations would now be circulated to all GM Local Authorities with proposed members of Scrutiny to be submitted to the GMCA in July 2017.
RESOLVED/-
1. That the appointment of Eamonn Boylan, GMCA Chief Executive as the Secretary of the GMCA, pending a review of the existence of a distinct secretary post within the GMCA Constitution, be agreed.
2. That the appointment of Andy Burnham, GM Mayor, to the AGMA Executive Board, representing the GMCA, for 2017/18 be agreed.
3. That the revised portfolio area of responsibilities for 2017/18 as allocated by the GM Mayor, together with the Chief Executives portfolio areas of responsibilities for 2017/18 as allocated by the GMCA Chief Executive:
Page 106 Portfolio Leader Chief Executive People Young People & Social Rishi Shori Joanne Roney Cohesion Skills, Employment & Sean Anstee Theresa Grant Apprenticeships Health & Social Care Peter Smith Steven Pleasant Place Overall Policy & Strategy; Andy Burnham Eamonn Boylan Transport & Infrastructure Housing, Planning & Paul Dennett Steve Rumbelow Homelessness Business & Economy (inc Richard Leese Jim Taylor Enterprise, Science & Innovation, sectors) Safer & Stronger Bev Hughes Pat Jones- Communities Greenhalgh Green City-Region (inc Alex Ganotis Carolyn Wilkins Environment & Green Spaces, Climate Change & Air Quality) Culture, Arts & Leisure Cliff Morris Donna Hall Cross Equality, Fairness & Jean Stretton Laureen Donnan/Pam Cutting Inclusion, inc Active Ageing Smith Finance & Investment Kieran Quinn Eamonn Boylan Digital City–Region Richard Farnell Margaret Asquith
4. That the appointments by GM Local Authorities to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority for 2017/18 as per the report, be noted.
District Member Substitute Member Bolton Cliff Morris (LAB) Linda Thomas (Lab) Bury Rishi Shori (LAB) Andrea Simpson (Lab) Manchester Richard Leese (LAB) Sue Murphy (Lab) Oldham Jean Stretton (LAB) Abdul Jabbar (Lab) Rochdale Richard Farnell (LAB) Allan Brett (Lab) Salford Paul Dennett (LAB) John Merry (Lab) Stockport Alex Ganotis (LAB) Wendy Wild (Lab) Tameside Kieran Quinn (LAB) John Taylor (Lab) Trafford Sean Anstee CON) Alex Williams (Con) Wigan Peter Smith (LAB) David Molyneux (Lab)
5. That the appointment of the following 5 GMCA members (4 Labour and 1 Conservative) to the Standards Committee for 2017/18 be agreed:-
Page 107 Councillor Cliff Morris (Labour), City Mayor Paul Dennett (Labour), Councillor Alex Ganotis (Labour), Councillor Jean Stretton (Labour) and Councillor Sean Anstee (Conservative).
6. That it be noted that the GMCA, in December 2015 appointed 1 Co-opted Independent Member, Geoff Linnell, to act as the Chair of the Standards Committee and 1 Independent Person, Nicole Jackson, to assist the Monitoring Officer and Hearing Panel in dealing with allegations that members of the GMCA have acted in breach of the GMCA’s Code of Conduct, be noted and to also note that the term of office of these appointments is for 4 years with effect from 18 December 2015.
7. That the appointment of the following 5 GMCA members Committee (4 Labour and 1 Conservative) to the Resources Committee for 2017/18 be agreed:-
GM Mayor Andy Burnham (Labour), Councillor Richard Leese (Labour), Councillor Kieran Quinn (Labour), Councillor Peter Smith (Labour) and Councillor Sean Ansteee (Conservative).
8. That the appointment of the following 4 members (3 Labour and 1 Conservative) from the nominations received from the GM Local Authorities to the Audit Committee for 2017/18 be agreed:-
Councillor Sarah Russell (Manchester – Lab), Councillor Colin McLaren (Oldham – Lab), Councillor Chris Boyes (Trafford – Con), Councillor Pam Stewart (Wigan – Lab).
9. That the appointments by the GM Local Authorities to the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee for 2017/18, as set out in the report, be noted.
District Members
Bolton (3) David Chadwick (Lab) Guy Harkin (Lab) Stuart Haslam (Con) Bury (2) Noel Bayley (Lab) Rhyse Cathcart (Lab) Manchester (5) Azra Ali (Lab) Andrew Fender (Lab) Naeem Hassan (Lab) Dzidra Noor (Lab) Chris Paul (Lab) Oldham (3) Mohan Ali (Lab) Chirs Goodwin (Lab) Howard Sykes (Lib Dem) Rochdale (3) Phil Burke (Lab)
Page 108 Shah Wazir (Lab) Pat Sullivan (Con) Salford (3) Roger Jones (Lab) Robin Garrido (Con) Barry Warner (Lab) Stockport (4) Christine Corris (Lib Dem) Annette Finnie (Con) Tom Grundy (Lab) John Taylor (Lab) Tameside (3) Warren Bray (Lab) Peter Robinson (Lab) Doreen Dickinson (Con) Trafford (3) Robert Chilton (Con) Mike Cordingley (Lab) June Reilly (Con) Wigan (4) Mark Aldred (Lab) Pat L Holland (Lab) Eunice Smethurst (Lab) James Grundy (Con)
10. That the following appointments by the GM Local Authorities to the Health and Social Care Strategic Partnership Board for 2017/18 be noted:
District Member Substitute Member Bolton Cliff Morris (Lab) Linda Thomas (Lab) Bury Rishi Shori (Lab) Andrea Simpson (Lab) Manchester Richard Leese (Lab) Bev Craig (Lab) Oldham Eddie Moores (Lab) Jenny Harrison (Lab) Rochdale Richard Farnell (Lab) Jacqui Beswick (Lab) Salford Paul Dennett (Lab) John Merry (Lab) Stockport Alex Ganotis (Lab) Wendy Wild (Lab) Tameside Kieran Quinn (Lab) Brenda Warrington (Lab) Trafford Sean Anstee (Con) John Lamb (Con) Wigan Peter Smith (Lab) Ken Cunliffe (Lab)
11. That the appointments of the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham and Councillors Sean Anstee and Richard Leese, as the two GMCA Vice Chairs, to the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership for 2017/18, be agreed and that the GMCA consider the appointment of a fourth member at the July GMCA meeting.
Page 109 12. That the appointments of the following 5 GMCA members to the Manchester Growth Company Board for 2017/18 be agreed:
Councillors Richard Leese, Sean Anstee, Jean Stretton, Ebrahim Adia and City Mayor Paul Dennett.
13. That the following 3 GMCA members (including the Portfolio Lead for Skills, Employment & Apprenticeships) be re-appointed to the Skills and Employment Partnership:-
Councillors Sean Anstee (Portfolio Lead for Skills, Employment & Apprenticeships), Jenny Bullen and Abdul Jabbar.
14. That Councillor Alex Ganotis, GMCA Green-City Region Portfolio Lead be appointed to the GM Low Carbon Hub for 2017/18.
15. That the following 3 members be re-appointed to the Greater Manchester Investment Board for 2017/18:-
Councillors Richard Leese and Kieran Quinn and that the appointment of a further member be confirmed at the July GMCA meeting.
16. To note the appointment of the GM Mayor to the Greater Manchester Land Commission for 2017/18.
17. That Councillors Richard Leese, Paul Dennett and Kieran Quinn be appointed as GMCA members to the Greater Manchester Land Commission for 2017/18.
18. That the establishment of 3 Overview & Scrutiny Committees, as set out in the new GMCA Constitution be noted. Each Committee will have a membership of 15 members each, having regard to any nominations received from the constituent councils (ensuring political balance is met; 11 Labour, 3 Conservatives and 1 Liberal Democrat per Committee). The 3 Overview & Scrutiny Committees for 2017/18 are:
a. Corporate Issues & Reform b. Economy, Business, Growth & Skills c. Housing, Planning & Environment
19. That the appointment of Susan Ford as the GMCA Designated Scrutiny Officer for 2017/18, be agreed.
20. That the GM Mayor, Andy Burnham and Councillor Sean Anstee be appointed to the Regional Leaders Board for 2017/18 and to note that there remains a GMCA
Page 110 member vacancy on the Board and this will be confirmed at the July GMCA meeting.
21. That the appointment of City Mayor, Paul Dennett to the Atlantic Gateway Board for 2017/18, be agreed.
22. That the appointment of City Mayor, Paul Dennett as a GMCA representative and Councillor Sue Murphy as a GMCA substitute member to the NW European Programmes Local Management Committee for 2017/18, be agreed.
23. That the appointment of the following 5 GMCA members to the Greater Manchester European Structural Fund (European Programmes) Local Management Committee for 2017/18 be agreed:-
GM Mayor, Andy Burnham, Councillors Sue Murphy, Alex Ganotis, Kieran Quinn and Jean Stretton.
24. That the appointment of the following 3 representatives from the nominations received from the GM Local Authorities to the North West Flood and Coastal Committee for 2017/18, be agreed and to note that those Members appointed be requested to appoint their own substitute.
Councillors Alan Quinn (Bury), Nick Peel (Bolton) and Neil Emmott (Rochdale).
25. That the GM Mayor’s decision to appoint a Fire Committee consisting of 15 Members (11 labour, 3 Conservative and 1 Liberal Democrat) be noted and the following Membership be approved:-
District Member Bury Joan Grimshaw (Lab) Bolton Mohammed Ayub (Lab) Manchester Tommy Judge (Lab) Afia Kamal (Lab) Oldham Steve Williams (Lab) Derek Heffernan (Lib Dem) Rochdale Shaun O’Neill (Lab) Salford Jane Hamilton (Lab) Jillian Collinson (Con) Stockport Walter Brett (Lab) Tameside Barrie Holland (Lab) Trafford David Acton (Lab) (Chair) Michael Whetton (Con) Wigan John O’Brien (Lab) Kathleen Houlton (Con)
Page 111 100/17 APPOINTMENT OF TWO INDEPENDENT MEMBERS TO THE GMCA AUDIT COMMITTEE
Richard Paver, GMCA Treasurer introduced a report updating the GMCA on progress with the appointment process of independent members to the GMCA’s Audit Committee and proposed that the GMCA appoint two independent members to the Committee.
RESOLVED/-
That the appointment of Gwyn Griffiths and Catherine Scivier as independent members of the GMCA’s Audit Committee, be agreed.
101/17 SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS 2017/18
GMCA Members considered the cycle of meetings for 2017/18. It was agreed not to hold a GMCA meeting during August.
RESOLVED/-
1. That the following schedule of meetings for GMCA for 2017/18 be approved:-
Friday 28 July 2017 - Manchester Friday 29 September 2017 - Trafford Friday 27 October 2017 - Salford Friday 23 November 2017 - Stockport Friday 15 December 2017 - Bolton Friday 26 January 2018 - Wigan Mid-February – potential budget meeting (meeting to be confirmed) Friday 23 February 2018 - Bury Thursday 29 March 2018 - Oldham Friday 27 April 2018 - Rochdale (meeting to be confirmed) Friday 25 May 2018 - Manchester Friday 29 June 2018 - Tameside
2. To agree that any urgent issues arising during August be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the GM Mayor and the appropriate portfolio lead.
Page 112
MINUTES OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER COMBINED AUTHORITY, HELD ON FRIDAY 28 JULY 2017 AT MANCHESTER TOWN HALL
PRESENT
GM MAYOR Andy Burnham DEPUTY MAYOR Baroness Beverley Hughes (Police and Crime) BOLTON COUNCIL Councillor Linda Thomas BURY COUNCIL Councillor Rishi Shori, Deputy Mayor MANCHESTER CC Councillor Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor OLDHAM COUNCIL Councillor Jean Stretton ROCHDALE MBC Councillor Richard Farnell SALFORD CC Councillor John Merry STOCKPORT MBC Councillor Alex Ganotis TAMESIDE MBC Councillor Kieran Quinn TRAFFORD COUNCIL Councillor Sean Anstee WIGAN COUNCIL Councillor Peter Smith
OTHER MEMBERS IN ATTENDENCE Fire Committee Chair Councillor David Acton GMWDA Councillor Michael Young
OFFICERS IN ATTENDENCE GMCA Chief Executive Eamonn Boylan GMCA – Deputy Chief Executive Andrew Lightfoot Bolton Council Sue Johnson Bury Council Pat Jones-Greenhalgh Manchester CC Joanne Roney Oldham Council Carolyn Wilkins Rochdale MBC Steve Rumbelow Salford CC Ben Dolan Stockport MBC Laureen Donnan Tameside MBC Steven Pleasant Trafford Council Joanne Hyde
Page 113 Wigan Council Donna Hall TfGM – Chief Executive Jon Lamonte GM HSCP – Chief Officer Jon Rouse GMCA – Monitoring Officer Liz Treacy GMCA Simon Nokes GMCA Julie Connor GMCA Sylvia Welsh GMCA Amanda Fox GMCA Nicola Ward
120/17 APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received and noted from Councillors Cliff Morris (Bolton - Cllr Linda Thomas attending), City Mayor Paul Dennett (Salford – Cllr John Merry attending), and Nigel Murphy (GM Waste – Cllr Michael Young attending).
Chief Executives – Margaret Asquith (Bolton - Sue Johnson attending), Jim Taylor (Salford – Ben Dolan attending), Theresa Grant (Trafford – Joanne Hyde attending) and Jim Taylor (Salford – Ben Dolan attending).
121/17 CHAIR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS AND URGENT BUSINESS
a) Manchester Arena Attack Update
The Mayor informed the meeting that the funeral for the Saffie Rose Roussos, victim of the Manchester Arena attack had taken place earlier this week and re-iterated that the thoughts of members of the GMCA remain with all the bereaved families and of the families of the people who were injured on that evening. He praised the response of all GM emergency services during and after the event. He also welcomed the appointment of Sir Bob Kerslake to Chair an Independent Review into the preparedness of GM services to the Manchester Arena Incident and lessons learnt from the incident.
Councillor Richard Leese further reported that Manchester City Council had held an Extraordinary Council meeting where discussions had began regarding the installation of permanent memorials for the victims and informed members that a Strategic Recovery Group had been established to look at ways that Greater Manchester, as a whole, could support those affected by the attack. The first meeting had taken place recently with Bev Hughes, Deputy Mayor, representing the GMCA, with the establishment of a welfare and health workstream to be overseen by the Group, acknowledging that this may result in lifetime support for some, if not all, victims.
The Mayor confirmed that obligations would continue to be met and thanked colleagues for their work and support in the aftermath of the incident. He also
2 Page 114 advised that Councillor Peter Smith had submitted a bid to the Department of Health to assist with the provision of specialist support. GM Police have also been visiting schools in recognition that young people would continue to require support.
b) Grenfell Tower Fire
The Mayor reminded members that following the devastating Grenville Tower Fire in Kensington, Greater Manchester had established a Task Force to review all high rise towers in the sub-region. He expressed his thanks to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service for all their work in progressing this work.
Councillor David Acton, the Chair of the Fire Committee, provided the meeting with an overview of the work undertaken following the fire, advising of the outcome of recent national fire testing of cladding and insulation. The removal and replacement of materials was going to be expensive, albeit essential, with discussions on financial support to continue. Current Fire and Building regulations were not fit for purpose and need to be changed. The GM Task Force will have assessed 491 tower blocks by mid-September and the development of the Fire Safe and Secure Strategy was currently under development.
He further advised that recent investigations had also recommended that sprinkler systems should be installed across all high rise towers. It was hoped that this would be a recommendation for implementation going forward. Discussions with Government do need to progress on the basis that all new buildings do need to have fire prevention as a priority measure.
Councillor John Merry spoke on behalf of Salford City Council, providing an update on recent testing procedures, advising that work was underway to evaluate solutions going forward, including short term measures such as 24 hour fire marshals and improvements to alarm systems. Work was to continue with a view to ensuring the needs and safety of tenants was addressed.
The Mayor further added that the GM Fire Committee was best placed to respond to the outcome of the work of the GM Taskforce Group and he would work with the Chair, David Action to agree what work was required by the Committee with a view to bringing back a proposal to the GMCA in September 2017.
RESOLVED/-
That the update report be noted and that a report on GM’s High Rise Task Force and Fire Safe and Secure Strategy be submitted to the September meeting of the GMCA.
3 Page 115 122/17 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Councillor Richard Leese declared an interest in relation to item 24 as a Board member of Manchester Life Developments.
123/17 MINUTES OF GMCA MEETINGS HELD ON 30 JUNE 2017
The minutes of the GMCA Annual Meeting and GMCA Ordinary meeting held on the 30 June were submitted.
RESOLVED /-
That the minutes of the GMCA Annual Meeting and GMCA Ordinary Meeting held on 30 June 2017 be approved as correct records.
124/17 MINUTES OF THE GREATER MANCHESTER LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP HELD ON THE 17 JULY 2017
RESOLVED /-
That the minutes of the GM Local Enterprise Partnership held on the 17 July be noted.
125/17 MINUTES OF THE TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER COMMITTEE HELD ON THE 14 JULY 2017
RESOLVED /-
That the minutes of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee held on the 14 July be noted.
126/17 GMCA SCRUTINY POOL APPOINTMENTS PROCESS
The Mayor circulated a list of proposed appointments to each of the 3 new GM Overview and Scrutiny Committees following nomination from the Greater Manchester Local Authorities, advising that it was proposed to appoint 11 members to each Overview and Scrutiny Committee with a view to the additional members from the pool to be appointed at the GMCA meeting on 29 September 2017.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the first eleven nominations to each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees be approved as follows:
CORPORATE ISSUES & REFORM OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY 1 Bolton Darren Whitehead LAB 2 Bury Stella Smith LAB 3 Manchester Zahra Alijah LAB 4 Oldham Ateeque Ur Rehman LAB
4 Page 116 5 Rochdale Neil Butterworth LAB 6 Salford David Jolley LAB 7 Stockport Yvonne Guariento LAB 8 Tameside John Bell CON 9 Trafford Nathan Evans CON 10 Wigan Pam Stewart LAB 11 Bury Tim Pickstone LIB DEM 12 Vacancy 13 Vacancy 14 Vacancy 15 Vacancy
ECONOMY, BUSINESS GROWTH & SKILLS OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY 1 Bolton Susan Haworth LAB 2 Bury Jane Lewis LAB 3 Manchester Ahmed Ali LAB 4 Oldham Chris Goodwin LAB 5 Rochdale Michael Holly CON 6 Salford Kate Lewis LAB 7 Stockport Elise Wilson LAB 8 Tameside Yvonne Cartey LAB 9 Trafford John Holden CON 10 Wigan Charles Rigby LAB 11 Stockport Mark Hunter LIB DEM 12 Vacancy 13 Vacancy 14 Vacancy 15 Vacancy
HOUSING, PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY 1 Bolton Elaine Sherrington LAB 2 Bury Rachel Skillen LAB 3 Manchester James Wilson LAB 4 Oldham Hannah Roberts LAB 5 Rochdale Linda Robinson LAB 6 Salford Robert Sharpe LAB 7 Stockport Elise Wilson LAB 8 Tameside Gill Peet LAB 9 Trafford Rob Chilton CON 10 Wigan Lynn Holland LAB 11 Stockport Lisa Smart LIB DEM 12 Vacancy 13 Vacancy 14 Vacancy
5 Page 117 15 Vacancy
2. That the remaining four appointments to each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be considered at the GMCA meeting held on 29 September 2017, noting that political balance and gender would need to apply in accordance with the constitution.
127/17 GMCA APPOINTMENTS
RESOLVED /-
1. To appoint Councillor Jean Stretton to the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership.
2. To appoint Beverley Hughes, Deputy Mayor as a representative of the GMCA to the Regional Leaders Board.
128/17 GREATER MANCHESTER STRATEGY REFRESH
The Mayor introduced a report providing the refreshed Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS) which will be developed with communities at the centre of its ambitions. Designing policies with the engagement of residents was central to unlocking the key objectives of the strategy. It is also important that the strategy recognised the different life stages of residents in GM, with a focus on social as well as economic outcomes.
He further added that the next stage of the strategy development would include developing the principles into practices with each of the GMCA’s Portfolio Leads and bringing individual priorities to future meetings of the GMCA for closer examination.
Councillor Richard Leese proposed an amendment to paragraph 2.1,with the need to be more explicit in terms of GM’s commitment to climate change:
‘A place at the forefront of action on climate change, with clean air and a flourishing natural environment’.
Councillor Kieran Quinn advised of a number of areas that should be strengthened, including internationalisation as a key to the growth of the economy, and the aspiration of creating an orbital transport link around GM, which was just as important as links to the regional centre.
Beverley Hughes highlighted the importance of emphasising the interdependencies of the individual elements of the strategy alongside the 10 priorities. In acknowledging that data was available to support the delivery of the Strategy, in developing Implementation Plans a range of performance indicators will need to be considered to push forward the delivery of ambitions.
Councillor Peter Smith reiterated the need to engage with communities, advising of the imperative of having the right people to develop the
6 Page 118 Implementation Plan that can be delivered on a local level. He also emphasised the importance of changing the family life experience in a holistic way and the removal of barriers to achievement. Targets do need to be developed recognising the process to reach those overall aspirations.
Donna Hall reminded the meetings that outputs on a neighbourhood level and the relationship between the strategies collectively to deliver these outputs was important.
Councillor John Merry also reminded the meeting that the GM Strategy needs to be owned by the GM Local Authorities in addition to the GMCA to ensure delivery of its aspirations, adding that the ‘asks’ of Government do need to be clear in order to achieve the required outputs.
The Mayor reported that all schools should be encouraged to sign up to the school readiness principles as contained within the GM Strategy, in addition to the development of an outcomes framework to monitor the outputs of the GM Strategy.
In conclusion, members supported the above comments for incorporation into the strategy.
RESOLVED /-
1. That (subject to the changes to the narrative as discussed) the revised Greater Manchester Strategy be approved.
2. That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Mayor to approve the final changes to the GM Strategy, reflecting the above comments.
3. That it be agreed that additional public facing material on the GM Strategy be developed and that the strategy should be formally launched in early-Autumn.
4. That the GM Strategy Implementation Plan, also under development, linked to portfolio priority actions, be noted for submission to the GMCA on 29 September 2017.
129/17 GREATER MANCHESTER MOVING – 2017-21
Councillor Peter Smith, Portfolio Lead for Health and Social Care shared the final version of the Greater Manchester Moving Plan (2017-21), also considered by the Health and Social Care Partnership Board held earlier in the day, which aimed to promote physical activity to improve the physical and mental health of people in GM.
The Mayor commented that this was a good and positive strategy for promoting levels of activity as a pathway to better health and wellbeing. He
7 Page 119 further announced the appointment of Chris Boardman as the Cycling and Walking Commissioner for GM and welcomed the support he will bring to this important agenda.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the GM Moving Plan for 2017-21 be endorsed and supported.
2. To continue to lead and support the implementation of GM Moving, further embedding physical activity within the work of GMCA, and to continue to work collaboratively with Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership Board and Sport England through the MOU.
3. That the development of the Implementation Plan be supported.
130/17 TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER BOARD – APPOINTMENT OF NON EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
The Mayor introduced a report seeking approval to extend the appointments of Mr Richard Paver, Mr Edward Pysden and Mr Les Mosco as Non-Executive Directors of Transport for Greater Manchester.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the short term extension of the appointments of Mr Richard Paver, Mr Edward Pysden and Mr Les Mosco as Non-Executive Directors of TfGM to 31 March 2018 be approved. 2. That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive of TfGM to formalise the terms of their re-appointment.
131/17 URBAN PIONEER AND NATURAL CAPITAL UPDATE
Councillor Alex Ganotis, Portfolio Lead for Green City-Region, introduced a report which provided members with an update on the progress of the Urban Pioneer Project, including how this may support delivery of the Mayors’ ambition for a Green City Region. He added that the pilot project looked to create clean, safe places for inclusive growth and maximise GM’s natural capital, and further suggested that the City of Trees initiative may be further practical project to help the sub region achieve wider ambitions around healthy lives and economic growth.
The Mayor echoed his comments that this project had great potential and could bring many benefits to GM.
RESOLVED /-
That the report be noted and the Urban Pioneer Project Plan be approved.
8 Page 120 132/17 LOCAL ENERGY ADVICE PROGRAMME (LEAP) FOR FUEL POOR
Councillor Alex Ganotis, Portfolio Lead for Green City-Region, introduced a report which detailed an opportunity to initiate a free GM-wide Local Energy Advice Programme (LEAP) aimed at supporting the alleviation of fuel poverty in GM. He reported that Tameside Council had been a pilot for this scheme and that it was envisaged that this would be rolled out across GM.
The report also summarised ‘Flexible Eligibility’, the new element to Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funds, which are provided by utility companies to assist fuel poor residents.
Councillor Jean Stretton, Portfolio Lead for Equality, Fairness and Inclusion welcomed the report and informed members that Oldham Council had succeeded in reducing fuel poverty through their current programme and would welcome the new programme to support more families. Oldham staff will be participating in the programme and training.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the delivery of the proposed Local Energy Advice Programme (LEAP) across GM to assist fuel poor residents be agreed and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on LEAP be approved and supported.
2. That the proposed GM Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent (SOI) be approved to enable GM to further assist vulnerable residents through ECO funds where appropriate and placed on the GMCA website, as required by BEIS.
3. To note that the statement has been developed in consultation with all 10 local authorities.
133/17 BREXIT MONITOR – MONTHLY REPORT
Councillor Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor and Portfolio Lead for Business & Economy, introduced a report which updated members on the key economic and policy developments in relation to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). He added that the report demonstrates increasing levels of uncertainty due to an unstable UK economy and that unemployment figures for GM remained high, both of which were serious concerns for GM.
He advised that transitional arrangements post 2019, should be on a longer rather than shorter term transition, reiterating the need to be involved in the ongoing Brexit discussions.
The Mayor reiterated the sentiments in relation to Brexit discussions, adding that the meeting of Elected Mayors was still to take place and that he would
9 Page 121 be pushing for the establishment of a Brexit Committee on a national and regional level.
RESOLVED /-
That the July Brexit Monitor be noted.
134/17 LOCAL GROWTH FUND APPLICATIONS
Councillor Richard Leese, Portfolio Lead for Business and Economy, introduced a report which provided details of business cases for four schemes, seeking funding from the Local Growth Fund 3. These schemes were recommended to the GMCA approval by the GM Local Enterprise Partnership (GMLEP) on 17th July 2017. He further commented that there was not sufficient capital for the skills system going forward, and that it would be necessary for GM to press for other funding opportunities.
The Mayor informed members that the Digital Summit had been held in June, with representatives from the skills sector which had highlighted the need for greater emphasis on children and schools around digital skills and the existing workforce to provide increased opportunities in higher education for skills conversion courses.
Beverley Hughes suggested that the cyber innovation hub project could have potential links to the work GM Police was undertaking into cyber and digital crime.
Councillor Peter Smith advised that funding had now been secured to implement the Health and Social Care Information Management and Technology Strategy.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the Skills Capital Strategic Outline Business Case (gateway 1) be approved that it be agreed that the applications process should be launched in August 2017.
2. That the Digital Skills Outline Business Case (gateway 2) be approved as a portfolio scheme and that authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer, in consultation with the Portfolio Lead Member for Skills & Employment and the Portfolio Lead Member for Digital City Region.Gateway 3, to sign-off for individual elements.
3. That the International Screen School Manchester Full Business Case (gateway 3) be approved and that it be agreed that a grant should be offered subject to the following conditions being met prior to drawdown of funds:
o Finalisation of detailed scheme costings
10 Page 122 o MMU Board approval of the Business Case and confirmed commitment to the capital sums required to deliver the scheme. o Appointment of the construction contractor o Sign off that the project is State Aid compliant
4. That the Cyber Innovation Hub business case (Gateway 3) be approved and that it be agreed that a grant agreement should be issued to Manchester City Council, subject to agreement of the operating model of the Cyber Hub.
5. That the development of a full business case for the Productivity Programme be noted and submitted to the GMCA on 29 September.
6. That the addition of the Local Growth Fund 3 spend on Skills Capital, Cyber Hub and Screen School to the GMCA capital programme be approved.
135/17 GREATER MANCHESTER EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
Councillor Sean Anstee, Portfolio Lead for Skills, Employment & Apprenticeships, introduced a report which updated members on the development of an Employer Engagement Framework across GM partners. He reported that long term dialogue was crucial to the success of employer engagement and that there were already strong links within the business community which could be used to further strengthen engagement with SME and independent businesses.
He further re-iterated the value of work experience, as evidence shows that a person is more likely to enter work or further education following this opportunity.
The Mayor was concerned about some of the context of the report which indicated that on average 40% of children in GM were not school-ready when going to Reception, and that 47% left school without a GCSEs. This was a significant challenge that would need to be addressed in multiple ways across a number of workstreams. Councillor Sean Anstee added that these figures represented GM averages, in some places the situation was much worse.
He also highlighted the opportunities created in attracting businesses to the region with a wide ranging accessible workforce with inherent skills.
Beverley Hughes further added that in promoting the ‘The Mayor Employment Charter’, the contribution of the public sector as a significant employer should be included.
11 Page 123 RESOLVED /-
1. That the proposed five key employer engagement priorities be noted.
2. That the progress made to date in moving towards ‘excellent employer engagement’ be noted.
3. That the areas for immediate focus within each Priority over the next 6 months, as highlighted in Section 4 of the report, including the alignment and support for The Mayor Employment Charter, be noted.
4. That an Action Plan be developed for each element above which will set out key partners and lead which will be presented at GMCA in September/October 2017.
136/17 TRANSPORT FOR THE NORTH AND RAIL NORTH
Councillor Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor, introduced a report requesting the GMCA to re-affirm its decision to become a constituent authority of Transport for the North (TfN) and to consent to the making of regulations to establish TfN as a statutory Sub-National Transport Body (STB).
He drew members’ attention to section 4.6 of the report, which reflected a late change from the Department for Transport stating that Combined Authority representatives on Transport for the North must be elected Mayors. Representations will be made to Government on the basis that those Combined Authorities with devolved powers should be able to select their own representative to the Board rather than it being prescribed by the Department for Transport.
The Mayor reminded members of the recent announcement of the Government’s decision to move forward with Cross Rail 2 and the impact on schemes in the north of England including HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail, Leeds-Manchester electrification and the Northern Hub was highlighted, with further discussions to be held with Government seeking reassurance of the investment required to progress these crucial schemes.
As a consequence a ‘Northern Rail Summit’ has been scheduled for the 23 August 2017, which would provide the opportunity for both the public and business sectors to discuss the implications and next steps for rail in the north.
Councillor Richard Leese concurred with the Mayor’s points, and added that the Northern Powerhouse needs large scale transport infrastructure and commitment from Government to ensure it can reach its potential. He reminded the meeting that a Public Inquiry reports on the Northern Hub had now been with Ministers for 2 years. The Department for Transport had also commissioned a report from Steer Davies Gleaves which had been concluded but not yet released. He also highlighted the impact of underinvesting in rail
12 Page 124 which has led to safety issues surrounding platforms 13 & 14 at Piccadilly due to overcrowding, the Chair of Network rail has advised that the Leeds – Manchester electrification required track and signal improvements.
In supporting comments, Councillor Sean Anstee added that the pace of conception to delivery of schemes needs to be expedited, together with the use of future technology to develop ambitious transport schemes
Councillor Jean Stretton also reminded colleagues that there was not a fair spread of resources with priority given to spend on infrastructure schemes in the South East of England rather than the North of England.
In conclusion the Mayor suggested that the issues be further debated at the GMCA on 29 September following the Northern Rail Summit on 23 August.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the decision of 29 July 2016 to become a constituent authority of a statutory Transport for the North (TfN) be reaffirmed.
2. That , subject to recommendation 3, to consent to the making by the Secretary of State of regulations under section 102E of the Local Transport Act 2008 to establish Transport for the North (TfN) as a Sub- national Transport Body (STB) and to TfN having such concurrent local transport functions as specified in paragraph 4.3 of this report.
3. That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, to consent to the final draft of the regulations before they are laid before Parliament.
4. That TfGM be requested to consent (if required) to the draft regulation providing TfN with the concurrent PTE function under section 13 of the Railways Act 2005.
5. That the transfer of the membership of Rail North Ltd (RNL) to TfN, be agreed, subject to entering to an agreement with TfN preserving for GMCA rights equivalent to those under the RNL Members’ Agreement.
6. That it be agreed to pay to TfN after the transfer an amount equivalent to the sums currently paid to RNL in respect of GMCA’s membership of RNL.
137/17 GMCA REVENUE OUTTURN 201617
Councillor Kieran Quinn, Portfolio Lead for Finance & Investment, introduced a report informing members of the revenue outturn for 2016/17, the position
13 Page 125 on reserves and seeking approval of the transfer of funds to earmarked reserves.
RESOLVED /-
1. That it be noted that the GMCA transport revenue outturn position for 2016/17 is in line with budget after transfers to earmarked reserves.
2. That the GMCA Economic Development and Regeneration revenue outturn position for 2016/17, which shows a favourable position of £1.311 million after transfers to earmarked reserves, be noted.
3. That the contribution to earmarked Economic Regeneration and Development reserves, as summarised in paragraph 3.1 of the report, be approved.
4. That the contribution to earmarked transport reserves, as summarised in paragraph 5.1, be approved.
5. That it be noted that the TfGM revenue position for 2016/17 shows a favourable position of £0.090 million against budget, as detailed in paragraph 6.
6. That the position on reserves, as detailed in paragraph 7, be noted.
7. That it be noted that the final outturn position was subject to the completion of the annual external audit to be finalised by 30 September 2017 which will be reported to the GMCA Audit Committee at its meeting in September.
138/17 GMCA CAPITAL OUTTURN 2016/17
Councillor Kieran Quinn, Portfolio Lead for Finance & Investment presented a report informing members of the GMCA capital outturn for 2016/17.
RESOLVED /-
That the 2016/17 outturn capital expenditure compared to the forecast position presented to GMCA in January 2017 be noted.
139/17 GMCA CAPITAL UPDATE 2017/18
Councillor Kieran Quinn, Portfolio Lead for Finance & Investment ,introduced a report which provided the first quarterly update of the GMCA 2017/18 capital expenditure programme. He reported that appendix 1 summarised the capital programme for the year and the forecast outturn and that there should be a correction noted to the two lines of the table in relation to ‘Other Metrolink Schemes’ that should read, Trafford Line – current forecast £44.413m
14 Page 126 (variance of £5.797m) and Metrolink renewal – current forecast £2.247m (variance of £0.7m) both of which have no impact on the bottom line forecast.
RESOLVED /-
1. That an increase to the capital budget of £71 million in connection with Skills Capital (Growth Deal 2 and 3), as detailed within paragraph 8.7, be approved.
2. That an increase to the capital budget of £15 million in connection with the International Screen School Manchester, as detailed within paragraph 8.11, be approved.
3. That an increase to the capital budget of £5 million in connection with the Cyber Innovation Hub, as detailed within paragraph 8.12, be approved.
4. That the current 2017/18 forecast compared to the 2017/18 capital budget ben noted.
140/17 STOCKPORT TOWN CENTRE ACCESS PLAN PHASE 2B AND STOCKPORT BRIDGE
The Mayor introduced a report a report seeking full approval and the release of the necessary funding to enable the delivery of the Stockport Town Centre Access Plan Phase 2B scheme and the advanced bridge works.
Alex Ganotis, Leader of Stockport Council, provided the meeting with an overview of the works underway in Stockport Town Centre re-iterating the benefits to the transport system across GM in response to these improvements.
RESOLVED /- That full approval for the Stockport Town Centre Access Plan Phase 2B scheme, including the advanced works package for Stockport Interchange Bridge and the associated release of £16.121 million and £3.730 million, respectively of funding from the Local Growth Deal budget to enable the delivery of the schemes, be approved.
141/17 GREATER MANCHESTER ROAD PERMIT SCHEME YEAR 4 PERFORMANCE UPDATE
The Mayor introduced a report which updated the GMCA on the fourth year operation of The Greater Manchester Road Activity Permit Scheme (GMRAPS) and provided a report which gave a financial forecast for the fifth year of operation.
RESOLVED /-
15 Page 127 1. That the financial review and forecasts, as set out in Section 2, be noted.
2. That, based upon the financial update, set out in Section 2, the scheme not be amended during year five of operation.
142/17 GREATER MANCESTER INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK PROJECTS UPDATES
Councillor Kieran Quinn, Portfolio Lead for Finance & Investment introduced a report seeking GMCA approval for investments to AZoNetwork UK Limited and SGV (Salford) Limited. The report also provides an update on FPE Global and switchmybusiness.
RESOLVED /-
1. That that the funding applications by AZoNetwork UK Limited (investment of £500k) and SGV (Salford) Limited (loan of £2,000k) be conditionally approval and progress to due diligence.
2. That authority be delegated to the GMCA Treasurer and Monitoring Officer to review the due diligence information 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 loans at a) above.
3. That the changes to the commercial terms in line with the updates provided on FPE Global and switchmybusiness as set out in the confidential part of the agenda be approved.
143/17 GREATER MANCHESTER HOUSING INVESTMENT FUND – ANNUAL REPORT
Eamonn Boylan introduced a report which informed members of the outturn position of the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund for 2016/17 and noted the position in relation to the indemnity entered into by each of the Local Authorities in relation to the GM Housing Investment Loan Fund.
RESOLVED /-
That the outturn position of the Git also be noted that there has been no requirement for the GM Local Authorities to account for any impairments as a result of the performance of the Fund.
16 Page 128 144/17 GREATER MANCHESTER HOUSING INVESTMENT LOANS FUND – INVESTMENT APPROVAL RECOMMENDATION
Councillor Richard Leese declared an interest in relation to item 24 as a Board member of Manchester Life Developments.
Eamonn Boylan introduced a report seeking approval of the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund loans.
Councillor Richard Leese provided members with an overview of the impact of the Crusader Mill Works scheme, which was used by local artists, work was now underway to find them alternative space in East Manchester, as greed by Department for Education, on a peppercorn rent basis. He further added that there was still unmet demand for residential developments for young professionals particularly in the city centre and Salford and that there will be continued re-investment into schemes once loan monies begin to be returned.
RESOLVED /-
1. That the GM Housing Investment Loans Fund loans in the table below, be approved
BORROWER SCHEME DISTRICT LOAN Capital & Crusader Works Manchester £25,450,000 Centric (Cinna mon) Ltd. Casey Living Hulton Lane Bolton £950,000 Ltd. Former Delph Delph Chapel Oldham £987,000 Chapel Ltd. Hillcliffe Harvey Street, Wigan £664,000 Homes Ince Ltd.
2. That the use of £130,000 of City Deal receipts to provide additional mezzanine lending to Former Delph Chapel Ltd, noting that this investment will be subject to the approval of the Homes and Communities Agency to be obtained through the GM Housing Investment Board be approved.
3. That Manchester City Council be recommended to approve the above and prepares and effects the necessary legal agreements in accordance with its approved internal processes.
145/17 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
17 Page 129
Members noted that the commercially sensitive information contained in Items 27 and 28 Greater Manchester Investment Framework Projects Update and Greater Manchester Housing Investment Fund – Investment Approval recommendations was taken as read during consideration of the Part A Greater Manchester Investment Framework Projects Update (minute ref 142 & 143/17 refers) and for this reason the exclusion resolution was not moved.
146/17 GREATER MANCHESTER INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK AND CONDITIONAL PROJECT APPROVALS
CLERK’S NOTE: This item was considered in support of the Part A Greater Manchester Investment Framework Projects Update at minute 142/17 above.
147/17 GREATER MANCHESTER HOUSING INVESTMENT LOANS FUND – INVESTMENT APPROVAL RECOMMENDATION
CLERK’S NOTE: This item was considered in support of the Part A Greater Manchester Investment Framework Projects Update at minute 143/17 above.
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