The Lord Mayor invited those present to stand for a minute silence in memory of former Councillor Isobel Freeman who had served on the Council from 1999 to 2003 during this time served on the Community Regeneration, Employee Appeals and Wythenshawe Area Committees.

The Lord Mayor invited Mr David Steele who is a Manchester based singer, song writer and published post (known as The Blind Blogger) to address the Council and read two poems relating to his experiences as a blind person.

To submit for approval the minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2018.

Decision

To agree the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 3 October 2018 as a correct record.

The Leader of the Council moved a motion without notice to change the order of the Council business (Council Procedure Rule 19.1(c)), to allow the three Notices of Motion on: The International Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Cuts to Youth Services; and Exclusions of Pupils from Pupil Referral Units to be brought forward as the next three items of business.

Resolution

The motion was put to Council and voted on, and the Lord Mayor declared that it was carried.

Decision

That the order of business be changed and the three Notices of Motion: The International Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Cuts to Youth Services; and Exclusions of Pupils from Pupil Referral Units to be brought forward as the next three items of business.

Motion proposed and seconded:

Manchester City Council is a founder member and the host of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), and a Vice President of the Hiroshima-led Mayors for Peace; both of which have been working for over three decades to promote multilateral nuclear disarmament.

NFLA and Mayors for Peace work with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its work in encouraging over two thirds of United Nations members to agree to the International Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Council regrets that the Governments of the existing nuclear weapon states, including the UK, refuse to support the Treaty. Council fully supports the TPNW as one of the most effective ways to bring about long-term and verifiable multilateral nuclear disarmament. 

Council also calls on the United Kingdom Government to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:

?           Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first;

?           Cancelling the plan to replace its entire Trident nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons;

?           Actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals by supporting the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons and the ‘Good Faith’ Protocols within the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the UK Government to inform them of this resolution and urge them to take account of it.

Resolution

The motion was put to Council and voted on and the Lord Mayor declared that is was carried unanimously.

Decision

Manchester City Council is a founder member and the host of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA), and a Vice President of the Hiroshima-led Mayors for Peace; both of which have been working for over three decades to promote multilateral nuclear disarmament.

NFLA and Mayors for Peace work with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its work in encouraging over two thirds of United Nations members to agree to the International Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Council regrets that the Governments of the existing nuclear weapon states, including the UK, refuse to support the Treaty. Council fully supports the TPNW as one of the most effective ways to bring about long-term and verifiable multilateral nuclear disarmament. 

Council also calls on the United Kingdom Government to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:

?         Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first;

?         Cancelling the plan to replace its entire Trident nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons; and

?         Actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals by supporting the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons and the ‘Good Faith’ Protocols within the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the UK Government to inform them of this resolution and urge them to take account of it.

Motion proposed and seconded:

Council believes that this Government has failed young people by overseeing unprecedented cruel cuts to youth services across the country.

Overall spending on youth services in England has fallen by £737m (62%) since 2010.

Youth work as a profession has been eroded and undermined through funding cuts and market reforms. This has resulted in a reduction in the number of joint Negotiating Committee programmes, the number of providers employing Joint Negotiating qualified workers and the number of students enrolling in undergraduate programmes.

Between 2012 and 2016, 600 youth centres closed down and 3,500 youth workers lost their jobs.

Cuts to youth services have devastated the lives of young people by damaging community cohesion, making it harder to stay in formal education, and having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing. 83% of youth workers say the cuts have had an effect on crime and anti-social behaviour. Youth work is a distinct educational process offering young people safe spaces to explore their identity, experience decision-making, increase their confidence, develop interpersonal skills and think through the consequences of their actions. This leads to better informed choices, changes in activity and improved outcomes for young people.

?      Council believes that youth services should be made statutory, recognising the important role universal youth work plays in supporting young people to realise their potential.

?      Council notes that Manchester has established a Youth Partnership via the Manchester Youth Trust and we ask the Chief Executive to review Trust arrangements to ensure that it is tailored to the needs of Manchester communities.

?      We call upon the Secretary of State to promote and secure youth services in each local authority and to establish a national body to oversee youth service provision across the country.

?      We call on Manchester MP’s to support and campaign for statutory youth services.

Resolution

The motion was put to Council and voted on and the Lord Mayor declared that is was carried unanimously.

Decision

Council believes that this Government has failed young people by overseeing unprecedented cruel cuts to youth services across the country.

Overall spending on youth services in England has fallen by £737m (62%) since 2010.

Youth work as a profession has been eroded and undermined through funding cuts and market reforms. This has resulted in a reduction in the number of joint Negotiating Committee programmes, the number of providers employing Joint Negotiating qualified workers and the number of students enrolling in undergraduate programmes.

Between 2012 and 2016, 600 youth centres closed down and 3,500 youth workers lost their jobs.

Cuts to youth services have devastated the lives of young people by damaging community cohesion, making it harder to stay in formal education, and having a negative impact on their health and wellbeing. 83% of youth workers say the cuts have had an effect on crime and anti-social behaviour. Youth work is a distinct educational process offering young people safe spaces to explore their identity, experience decision-making, increase their confidence, develop interpersonal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

Motion proposed and seconded:

Council notes that figures for the most recent academic year show that 169 pupils were exclude from Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Hundreds of days lost from education for some of Manchester’s most vulnerable young people including looked after children, children with SEND and young people involved in gangs.

Often these young people are already way behind their peers both academically and socially and we know there is a direct correlation between attendance and attainment.

Council believes that continued exclusions serve to exacerbate the underachievement of excluded pupils and puts them at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives. Exclusion also punishes the pupil's family. Parents become solely responsible for their child during the period of their exclusion, working parents now need to find ways of looking after their children during the day

Research shows that a significant proportion of those young people who remain unsupported through exclusion go on to be adults displaying similar or more serious problems of anti-social behaviour and crime.

Council therefore resolves to:

1. Call on the Head of the PRU and leaders of alternative education provision to immediately cease the practice of excluding pupils from the City’s PRUs – exceptions being where there have been threats to life or where they may be a risk of serious injury to staff, pupils or visitors.

2. Ask that the Chief Executive undertakes a thorough review of the policy, procedure and practice of excluding young people from PRUs and reports her findings, with the agreement of the Committee Chair, to the Children’s and Young People Scrutiny Committee by February 2019.

3. Bring forward recommendations to change the practice of exclusions from PRUs to Council via the Executive no later than April 2019

Motion without notice – Suspension of Rule 18.2

The Leader of the Council moved a motion without notice to suspend Council Procedure Rule 18.2, to allow an amendment to be proposed to the Notice of Motion on Exclusions of Pupils from Pupil Referral Units.

Resolution

The motion was put to Council and voted on, and the Lord Mayor declared that it was carried.

Decision

That Council Procedure Rule 18.2, be suspended to allow an amendment to be proposed to the Notice of Motion on Exclusions of Pupils from Pupil Referral Units

Amendment moved by Councillor Stone and seconded by Councillor Russell /-

Resolution 2 final sentence, remove the word “February” and replace with the word “June”.

Resolution 3 final sentence, remove the words “no later than April 2019”

The amendment was put to Council and voted on.

The Lord Mayor declared that the amendment was carried.

The amended Motion was then put and carried unanimously.

Decision

Council notes that figures for the most recent academic year show that 169 pupils were exclude from Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). Hundreds of days lost from education for some of Manchester’s most vulnerable young people including looked after children, children with SEND and young people involved in gangs.

Often these young people are already way  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

To submit for approval the minutes of the meetings held on 17 October and 14 November 2018, and in particular to consider the following recommendations:

Exe/18/94        Global Monitoring and Budget Update

To recommend to Council that the revised Prudential Indicator for non HRA Capital Expenditure be set at £600m.

Exe/18/95        Capital Programme Monitoring 2018/19

To recommend that the Council approve the virements over £0.5m between capital schemes to maximise use of funding resources available to the City Council as set out in the appendix to these minutes. (Appendix attached)

Exe/18/96        Capital Programme Update

To recommend that the Council approve the following changes to Manchester City Council’s capital programme:

(a)     Strategic Development – Alexandra House. A capital budget allocation and transfer of £12.0m, £0.885m in 2018/19, £4.790m in 2019/20, £4.0m in 2020/21 and £2.325m in future years, to be met from £10.0m from the Estates Transformation budget funded by borrowing and £2.0m from the Asset Management Programme budget funded by capital receipts;

(b)     Neighbourhoods – Christmas Market Electrical Equipment. A capital budget increase of £0.137m in 2018/19, funded by borrowing.

(c)     Strategic Development – Car Hire, Etihad. A capital budget allocation and transfer of £0.960m in 2018/19, from the Strategic Acquisition budget, funded by Capital Fund.

(d)     Highways – Highways Asset Surveys. A virement from the capital budget to revenue of £1.5m, £1.2m in 2019/20, £0.15m in 2020/21 and £0.15m in 2021/22, funded via Capital Fund.

Exe/18/100     The Factory

(1)       To recommend to the Council to approve a Capital Budget increase of £18.97M, funded by prudential borrowing subject the requirement for the City Treasurer to manage the overall resourcing of the capital budget in a way that provides best value to the Council. This will increase the total capital budget for the construction of The Factory from £111.65M to £130.62M.

(2)       To recommend to the Council a Capital Budget virement from the Strategic Acquisitions Capital Budget of £1.286M, to cover additional land assembly costs, associated with the acquisition of and securing timely access to the Factory site.

(3)       To recommend to the Council a Capital Budget virement of £4.3M from the Sustaining Key Initiatives Capital Budget for the loan facility to Manchester Quays Riverside Limited, on commercial terms.

Exe/18/102     Sprinkler and Fire Safety Works Update

To recommend to Council that the budget for fire safety works be increased from £4.0m to £5.2m, being an increase of £1.2m to the Public Sector Capital Programme funded from revenue contributions from the HRA.

Exe/18/103     Capital Programme Update

To recommend to the Council these changes to the Council’s capital programme:

(a)     Neighbourhoods – Smart Litter Bins. A capital budget increase of £0.258m in 2018/19, funded by borrowing of £0.208m and reserves of £0.050m.

(b)     ICT – Data Centre Network Design and Implementation. A capital allocation and transfer of £3.108m, £2.964m in 2018/19 and £0.144m in 2019/20 to be met from the ICT Investment Plan budget, funded by borrowing.

(c)     Public Sector Housing – Northwards Replacement of Prepayment meters in High Rise Blocks. A capital allocation  ...  view the full agenda text for item 92.

The proceedings of the Executive on 17 October and 14 November 2018 were submitted. The Council was asked to give particular consideration to the following recommendations:

Exe/18/094 Global Monitoring and Budget Update - Council to approve the revised Prudential Indicator for non HRA Capital Expenditure be set at £600m.

Exe/18/095 Capital Programme Monitoring 2018/19 - Council to approve

the virements over £0.5m between capital schemes to maximise use of funding resources available to the City Council as set out in the appendix to the minutes submitted.

Exe/18/096 Capital Programme –Update - Council to approve the following changes to Manchester City Council’s capital programme:

            a) Strategic Development – Alexandra House. A capital budget allocation and transfer of £12.0m, £0.885m in 2018/19, £4.790m in 2019/20, £4.0m in 2020/21 and £2.325m in future years, to be met from £10.0m from the Estates Transformation budget funded by borrowing and £2.0m from the Asset Management Programme budget funded by capital receipts.

            b) Neighbourhoods – Christmas Market Electrical Equipment. A capital budget increase of £0.137m in 2018/19, funded by borrowing.

            c) Strategic Development – Car Hire, Etihad. A capital budget allocation and transfer of £0.960m in 2018/19, from the Strategic Acquisition budget, funded by Capital Fund.

            d) Highways – Highways Asset Surveys. A virement from the capital budget to revenue of £1.5m, £1.2m in 2019/20, £0.15m in 2020/21 and £0.15m in 2021/22, funded via Capital Fund.

Exe/18/100 The Factory - Council to approve the following:

a) Capital Budget increase of £18.97M, funded by prudential borrowing subject the requirement for the City Treasurer to manage the overall resourcing of the capital budget in a way that provides best value to the Council. This will increase the total capital budget for the construction of The Factory from £111.65M to £130.62M.

b) A Capital Budget virement from the Strategic Acquisitions Capital Budget of £1.286M, to cover additional land assembly costs, associated with the acquisition of and securing timely access to the Factory site.

c) A Capital Budget virement of £4.3M from the Sustaining Key Initiatives Capital Budget for the loan facility to Manchester Quays Riverside Limited, on commercial terms.

Exe/18/102 Sprinkler and Fire Safety Works Update - the Council to approve the budget for fire safety works be increased from £4.0m to £5.2m, being an increase of £1.2m to the Public Sector Capital Programme funded from revenue contributions from the HRA.

Exe/18/103Capital Programme Update - the Council to approve the following changes to the Council’s capital programme:

a)    Neighbourhoods – Smart Litter Bins. A capital budget increase of £0.258m in 2018/19, funded by borrowing of £0.208m and reserves of £0.050m.

b)    ICT – Data Centre Network Design and Implementation. A capital allocation and transfer of £3.108m, £2.964m in 2018/19 and £0.144m in 2019/20 to be met from the ICT Investment Plan budget, funded by borrowing.

c)    Public Sector Housing – Northwards Replacement of Prepayment meters in High Rise Blocks. A capital allocation and transfer of £0.752m, £0.058m in 2018/19 and £0.694m in 2019/20 to be met from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

Councillor Bridges responded to a question from Councillor Collins regarding work done to protect children from criminal exploitation in Manchester.

Councillor Leese responded to a question from Councillor Leech regarding beds for rough sleepers during the winter in Manchester

Councillor Stogia responded to a question from Councillor Leech regarding the impact of the introduction of Clean Air Zones.

Councillor Stogia provided a response to a question from Councillor Leech regarding pothole repairs

Councillor Stogia responded to a question from Councillor Leech regarding transfer of traffic onto local residential streets as part of the proposed new cycleway.

Councillor Leese responded to a question from Councillor Kilpatrick regarding the operation of soup kitchens within the city.

Councillor Richards responded to a question from Councillor Kilpatrick regarding the protection of tenants raising complaints on the quality of housing.

Councillor Stogia a replied to a question from Councillor Kilpatrick regarding the work by the Council to phasing out the use of fossil fuels by 2038.

[Councillor Collins declared a prejudicial interest in the question submitted relating to the first question asked for the reason that she serves as a board member of Manchester Youth Zone.]

To note the minutes of the following scrutiny committees:

Health – 9 October and 6 November 2018

Children and Young People – 9 October and 6 November 2018

Neighbourhoods and Environment – 10 October and 7 November 2018

Economy – 10 October and 7 November 2018

Communities and Equalities – 11 October and 8 November 2018

Resources and Governance – 11 October and 8 November 2018

The minutes of the following Scrutiny Committee meetings were submitted:

Health– 9 October and 6 November 2018

Children and Young People – 9 October and 6 November 2018

Neighbourhoods and Environment – 10 October and 7 November 2018

Economy– 10 October and 7 November 2018

Communities and Equalities – 11 October and 8 November 2018

Resources and Governance – 11 October and 8 November 2018

Decision

To receive those minutes.

To submit for approval the minutes of the following meetings and consider recommendations made by the committee:

Audit Committee – 5 November 2018

Health and Wellbeing Board – 31 October 2018

Licensing Committee – 22 October 2018

Licensing and Appeals Committee – 22 October 2018

Planning and Highways Committee – 18 October and 15 November 2018

Constitutional and Nomination Committee – 28 November 2018 (to follow) and to also consider any recommendations contained in the minutes of that meeting that are to be available at the meeting

Personnel Committee – 14 November 2018, in particular to consider the recommendation in:-

PE/18/28        Recruitment to the post of Executive Director Strategic Commissioning (including Director of Adult Social Services functions)

To recommend that during the period of act-up, the Council agree that the Director Social Care be paid the bottom SCP of the evaluated grade (SS5) for the Executive Director post, an annual salary of £121,692.

Standards Committee – 1 November 2018, in particular to consider the recommendation in:-

ST/18/21        Consideration of the introduction of DBS checks for all Members

To recommend to Council that it:

(a)       continues to carry out enhanced DBS checks with a check of the barred lists of members who sit on the Fostering and Adoption Panels or who undertake regulation 44 inspections of children's homes;

(b)       undertakes enhanced DBS checks, with a check of the barred lists, for all other elected and co-opted members who undertake “saved” regulated activities, namely

·         all members of the Executive,

·         all members of the Health and Wellbeing Board,

·         all members of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee,

·         all members of the Health Scrutiny Committee; and

(c)        requests all other members and co-opted members to agree to basic disclosure checks.

The minutes of the following meetings were submitted:

Audit Committee – 5 November 2018

Health and Wellbeing Board – 31 October 2018

Licensing Committee – 22 October 2018

Licensing and Appeals Committee – 22 October 2018

Planning and Highways Committee – 18 October and 15 November 2018

Personnel Committee – 14 November 2018

Constitutional and Nomination Committee – 28 November 2018

The Council was asked to give particular consideration to the following recommendations:

Personnel Committee 14 November 2018

PE/18/28  Recruitment to the post of Executive Director Strategic Commissioning (including Director of Adult Social Services functions)

The Council to approve that during the period of act-up the Director Social Care be paid the bottom SCP of the evaluated grade (SS5) for the Executive Director post, an annual salary of £121,692.

Standards Committee 1 November 2018

ST/18/21 Consideration of the introduction of DBS checks for all Members

The Council agrees to:

(a)       continue to carry out enhanced DBS checks with a check of the barred lists of members who sit on the Fostering and Adoption Panels or who undertake regulation 44 inspections of children's homes;

(b)       undertake enhanced DBS checks, with a check of the barred lists, for all other elected and co-opted members who undertake “saved” regulated activities, namely:

·         all members of the Executive,

·         all members of the Health and Wellbeing Board,

·         all members of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee,

·         all members of the Health Scrutiny Committee; and

(c)        request all other members and co-opted members to agree to basic disclosure checks.

Constitutional and Nomination Committee 28 November 2018

CN/18/95Membership of Council committees and representation on joint boards and joint committees

Membership of Committees

To recommend to Council the following changes in appointments to Committees and Joint Committees of the Council:

Decisions

1. To approve that during the period of act-up the Director Social Care be paid the bottom SCP of the evaluated grade (SS5) for the Executive Director post, an annual salary of £121,692.
2. To approve that the Council:

(a)       continue to carry out enhanced DBS checks with a check of the barred lists of members who sit on the Fostering and Adoption Panels or who undertake regulation 44 inspections of children's homes;

(b)       undertake enhanced DBS checks, with a check of the barred lists, for all other elected and co-opted members who undertake “saved” regulated activities, namely:

·         all members of the Executive,

·         all members of the Health and Wellbeing Board,

·         all members of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee,

·         all members of the Health Scrutiny Committee; and

(c)        request all other members and co-opted members to agree to basic disclosure checks.

3. To approve the changes to the membership of Committees and joint boards and joint committees, as detailed below:

To receive answers to any questions raised in accordance with Procedural Rule 24 on the business of: (a) the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, (b) the Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority, (c) the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, (d) the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee.

The Lord Mayor reported that no questions had been received regarding business of the Combined Authority, Joint Authorities and Joint Committees.

The report of the City Solicitor is enclosed.

The Council considered the report of the City Solicitor on key decisions that had been exempted from call-in.

Decision

To note the report.

The report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Council considered the report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing that informed the Council of the consultation responses received in respect of the revised Statement of Policy under the Licensing Act 2003. The report also presented the proposed final Statement of Gambling Policy for approval.

Decisions

1.    To approve the proposed amendments as detailed in the report submitted.

2.    To Approve the Gambling Policy Statement 2019-2022 fifth edition, as detailed in Appendix 2, of the report submitted.

The report of the City Solicitor is enclosed being the report of the Standards Committee since March 2018. The Committee has agreed to the timing of the production of the Annual Report being revised so that it becomes part of the evidence the Council uses to compile the Annual Governance Statement. The report submitted today is for less than 12 months as it is the first produced under the new annual timetable.

The Council considered the report of the City Solicitor which provided an update on the Standards Committee on the matters within the remit of the Committee since March 2018.

Decision

To note the report.