To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2024.

Decision: That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

This report provides an overview of the Council’s Workforce Strategy and highlights the progress and achievements made to build a talented, diverse and thriving workforce that has the capacity and capability to deliver the Corporate Plan, Our Manchester Strategy and deliver excellent services to residents.

The committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive which provided an overview of the Council’s Workforce Strategy and highlighted the progress and achievements made to build a talented, diverse and thriving workforce.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·       Workforce-related successes achieved in 2024 so far;

·       The five strategic priorities within the workforce strategy were:

o   Attract, develop and retain diverse talent

o   An inclusive employer that represents the communities that we serve at all levels

o   Develop world-class leaders and managers

o   High performing workforce that delivers great services for our residents

o   Healthy, engaged and thriving workforce.

·       The objectives and activities of the Council’s Talent Plan;

·       The objectives and activities of the Health and Wellbeing Plan, which launched in 2024;

·       How the Workforce Equality Strategy and Race Review Action Plan were delivered;

·       Key achievements in the last 12 months, including within leadership, management and education and learning;

·       Policy, processes and systems in place;

·       How equality, diversity and inclusion was celebrated and awareness raised in Council communications;

·       The disciplinary process;

·       The impact of the strategy;

·       A refresh of the strategy, which would launch in November through an extensive city-wide campaign designed to raise awareness and embed the strategy; and

·       Diversity targets.

Some of the key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

·       Diversity targets and how these compared with previous years;

·       The number of BAME staff at a senior level;

·       What key actions were taken to tackle the underrepresentation of BAME staff in senior roles;

·       If there was scope for collaborative initiatives with external organisations to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) goals across the city and to address systemic barriers to employment;

·       Whether the redefining of the disciplinary process was addressing issues with unconscious bias; and

·       If flexible working was offered to those employees struggling with stress and stress-related illness.

The Director of HROD and Transformation stated that the Council needed to be able to attract and retain talent, create the right culture, have staff who were healthy and supported and provide access to learning and development in order to tackle inequality in the workforce. He stated that significant progress had been made in the last year but that there was still more to be done. He explained that the refreshed Workforce Equality Strategy set out the work that the Council would continue to do over the next four years and highlighted targets to be achieved over this period. 

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The Head of Workforce Strategy recognised that the Council was continuing to make good progress since the independent Race Review in 2019 and that representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff had increased at all levels including senior management. He explained that there was a focus on staff experience and that the staff survey had highlighted positives, such as 88% of BAME respondents agreeing that the Council was a great place to work. He stated that the refreshed Workforce Strategy represented the next chapter of the Council’s equality, diversity and inclusion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

Report of the City Treasurer.

On 30 November 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, will deliver the Government’s Autumn Statement to the House of Commons. Alongside this report committee members will receive an update on the main announcements from the Statement, focusing on those which have a direct implication for local government funding.  

The committee considered a report of the City Treasurer which provided an outline of the government’s Autumn Statement, delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 30 November 2024, which had direct implications for local government funding.  

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The City Treasurer also provided a presentation at the meeting which highlighted the key points of the Autumn Statement and the expected impact on the Council’s budget position 

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Key points and themes within the report and presentation included: 

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·       The Government’s Autumn Statement did not include exact funding updates for local government but provided important indicators as to the outlook for council funding, which would be used to inform the medium-term financial plan and budget process; 

·       Taxation revenue increases of £41.2bn which would mainly be generated through a National Insurance increase, plus some wealth taxes and clamp down on avoidance; 

·       2025/26 Core Spending Power will increase by 3.2% in real terms, including £1.3bn increase in grant funding for local authorities, made up of: 

o   £600m additional social care funding; and 

o   £700m for targeted funding including inflation and additional funding to be distributed on a deprivation-based approach 

o   Plus £2.1bn from Council Tax +5.0% (OBR estimate) 

·       Business Rates update includes removal of charity relief for private schools and continuation of Retail Hospitality and Leisure reliefs at 40% 

·       Local government funding reform, including multi-year finance settlements from 2026/27; 

·       Funding for Children’s Services and Education; 

·       Capital funding implications; 

·       NHS funding; and  

·       Uncertainty remained over the distribution of large parts of this new funding.  

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Some of the key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included: 

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·       If there was an assumption that council tax would increase by 5%; 

·       Whether additional funding for social care would help to reduce pressures;  

·       How these announcements would affect the Council’s financial performance;  

·       The impact of increased National Insurance contributions on the Council and its contractors;  

·       UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) did not match previous funding received through the European Structural and Investment Programme (ESIP); 

·       If any work had been done to understand the impact on mainstream schools as a result of the removal of charity relief for private schools; and  

·       The impact on the Council’s relationship with Greater Manchester Combined Authority.  

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In response to queries, the City Treasurer explained that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) assumed a 4.99% annual increase to council tax up to 2028/29 which would make up a large part of additional funding for the Council. The City Treasurer welcomed the additional funding for social care but noted that this was a challenging area which was forecasted to overspend by £20m this year. He stated that the impact of this depended on the distribution allocation of other funds but acknowledged that the overall settlement was much better than anticipated, when compared to the Spring 2024 budget.  

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The City Treasurer explained that the announcements within the Autumn Statement impacting on Local Government applied to the 2025/26 financial year and would not impact the current financial year. He stated that the Council was forecasting an overspend for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

This report provides a mid-year review and update of the Anti-Poverty budgets, including the Household Support Fund.

The committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive which provided a mid-year review of and update on the Council’s anti-poverty budgets.  

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Key points and themes within the report included: 

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·       The Making Manchester Fairer programme and the Anti-Poverty Strategy; 

·       Council Tax Support, which paid up to 100% of council tax liability for eligible pension-age households and up to 85% for working-age households; 

·       Discretionary Housing Payments, which provided support to households in rented accommodation who need help covering rent shortfalls 

·       The Welfare Provision Scheme; 

·       Discretionary Council Tax Payments, of which £66k had been paid to 331 households under the core scheme up to 31 August 2024; 

·       Cost-of-living crisis budgets, such as the Cost-of-Living Fund and the Council Tenants’ Support Fund; and 

·       Household Support Fund, which was the largest temporary anti-poverty budget administered by the council and had been extended further to 31 March 2025.  

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Some of the key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included: 

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·       What metrics were used to measure the effectiveness of anti-poverty budgets; 

·       How the Council was balancing the need for supporting immediate crises with investment in long-term prevention of poverty; 

·       How pension credit was being promoted to those eligible;  

·       How could the Council ensure that help was provided to all those in need; 

·       If there was any partnership working or signposting to Samaritans;  

·       How rent increases within the private rented sector impacted demand and need for Discretionary Housing Payments; 

·       The success of the pension credit campaign so far; and  

·       What Household Support Fund 6 would look like and how many residents were expected to apply for this support. 

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The Deputy Leader stated that the Council had made it a political priority to support the most vulnerable residents experiencing financial hardship despite budget pressures and the impact of austerity, and the Council continued to protect this funding. She highlighted that there was immediate cost-of-living support, the Anti-Poverty Strategy which provided support in the medium-term and the Making Manchester Fairer programme which aimed to tackle the root causes of poverty in the long-term.  

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The Director of Inclusive Economy explained that 48% of children and young people in Manchester were growing up in poverty and 100,000 households were vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures. She reiterated that poverty was long-term, structural and endemic and although not every lever to address this was available to local government, the Council was committed to alleviating poverty. She stated that this work was underpinned by a wide range of Council services working together and that £42m was invested through core schemes such as Council Tax Support, the Household Support Fund and the Council’s own cost-of-living schemes.  Of the total £42m, MCC investment makes up £25m.??  

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In response to a query regarding measuring effectiveness, the Director of Inclusive Economy stated that reach and activity was being monitored. She explained that the Council took a ‘cash first’ approach to providing support and paid this directly into residents’ bank accounts where this information was held by the Council. Post Office vouchers were provided to residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

Report of the City Treasurer.

This report provides an overview of Manchester Energy Network’s performance targets and priorities outlined within the 2024/25 business plan, which was previously presented to the Resources & Governance Scrutiny Committee in March 2024.

The committee considered a report of the City Treasurer which provided an overview of Manchester Energy Network’s performance targets and priorities outlined within the 2024/25 business plan.

Key points and themes within the report included:

·       Providing an introduction and background to Manchester Energy Network which was developed to provide heat and power to buildings within the Civic Quarter utilising a gas-powered Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engine to negate the need to replace individual heat and power units; and

·       The 2024/25 business plan was built around the core values of clean and green energy; providing value-for-money; and a consistent and reliable energy supply.

The Assistant Director: Commercial Governance and Corporate Energy provided an overview of the Manchester Energy Network and explained why much of this information was commercially sensitive and contained within a Part B report later in the agenda.

In response to a member’s query regarding renewable gas guarantees of origin (RGGOs), the Assistant Director: Commercial Governance and Corporate Energy confirmed that work was underway to completely exit the Network from RGGO arrangements as these did not contribute to a zero-carbon pathway and members were assured that the decarbonisations solutions being progressed for the Network were fully compliant in line with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research recommendations.  

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit.

This report provides the Committee with details of key decisions that fall within the Committee’s remit and an update on actions resulting from the Committee’s recommendations. The report also includes the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee is asked to amend as appropriate and agree.

The committee received a report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit which provided details of key decisions that fell within the Committee’s remit and any items for information previously requested by the Committee.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

The officers consider that the following item contains exempt information as provided for in the Local Government Access to Information Act and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The Committee is recommended to agree the necessary resolutions excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Decision:

That the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following item which involved consideration of exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the City Treasurer.

This report provides an overview of the Manchester Energy Network’s performance against the targets and priorities outlined with the 2024/25 business plan, which was previously presented to the Resources & Governance Scrutiny Committee in March 2024.

The report provides an update on overall performance covering areas such as operations, finance and offtakers. There is also specific reference to the work undertaken to date to explore routes to decarbonisation, to provide assurance that this is the Network’s top priority in order to contribute towards the Manchester 2038 zero carbon pathway and offer a low carbon energy solution for existing and potential customers.

The committee considered a confidential report of the City Treasurer which provided an overview of the Manchester Energy Network’s performance against the targets and priorities outlined with the 2024/25 business plan.

Some of the committee’s queries and lines of inquiry included terms of a loan; contingency plans; viability of locations; and customer relationships.

The Chair also invited the Chair of Environment, Neighbourhoods and Climate Change Scrutiny Committee to attend the meeting, and she welcomed the report and the positive approach to the zero-carbon agenda.

Decision:

That the report be noted.