As Councillor Bell had sent her apologies for the meeting, the Committee Support Officer asked for nominations for a Member to chair the meeting.  A Member nominated Councillor Muse, which was seconded by another Member and agreed by the Committee.

Decision

To appoint Councillor Muse as Chair for the meeting.

To allow Members an opportunity to [a] declare any personal, prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they might have in any items which appear on this agenda; and [b] record any items from which they are precluded from voting as a result of Council Tax/Council rent arrears; [c] the existence and nature of party whipping arrangements in respect of any item to be considered at this meeting. Members with a personal interest should declare that at the start of the item under consideration.  If Members also have a prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interest they must withdraw from the meeting during the consideration of the item.

Councillor Mandongwe declared a personal interest as a trustee of the Dimobi Children’s Disability Trust and stated that she would declare any conflicts of interests during the meeting and recuse herself from any related decisions.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2024.

Decision

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2024 be approved as a correct record.

The Committee considered the report of the City Treasurer that provided a high-level overview of the latest budget position for the Council in respect of its 2025/26 budget.

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources referred to the points and themes in the report which included:

·       Noting that the Council was forecasting an estimated budget shortfall of £101m in 2025/26, £126m in 2026/27, and £164m by 2027/28;

·       Mitigations approved in previous budget rounds included approved savings of £32m, the use of c£18m smoothing reserves in each of the three years, and a Council Tax increase of 4.99% (c£11m) a year. After these mitigations the gap reduced to £29m in 2025/26, £41m in 2026/27 and £77m by 2027/28;

·       Noting that councils faced a funding gap of £6.2 billion over the next two years, and this needed to be considered in the context of an estimated £24.5 billion in cuts and efficiencies in service spending that councils had made since 2010/11;

·       Noting that over the same period the Council had delivered over £440m of savings;

·       The 2023/24 outturn position reported to Executive 5 June 2024, reported an overspend of £5.3m. The second monitoring report of 2024/25 was considered by Executive on 13 November, reporting a forecast overspend of £20m. The ongoing implications of this overspend must be considered as part of the budget setting process;

·       Consideration of the Government’s Autumn Statement, noting that a key headline for Local Government was that Core Spending Power would increase by 3.2% in real terms in 2025/26;

·       Noting that Ministers had indicated additional funding would be targeted through a deprivation-based approach; and

·       A summary of the budget position, noting that the final budget position for 2025/26 would be confirmed at February 2025 Executive. This would be after the Finance Settlement was received and key decisions confirming the Council Tax and Business Rates tax base to be used to determine the collection fund position had been made in January.

The Committee also considered the report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) which provided officer-developed options to contribute to the balancing of the overall Council budget. Final options would be proposed following the announcement of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, expected prior to Christmas. The Committee was invited to consider the current proposed changes which were within its remit and to make recommendations to the Executive. The Committee would have the opportunity to review proposals in the context of the financial settlement again in February and make final recommendations for the Executive to consider on 19th February 2025 when the final budget decisions would be made.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Service overview and priorities;
• Service budget and proposed changes;
• Commissioning and procurement priorities;
• Workforce implications; and
• Equality and anti-poverty impact.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• How the additional funding announced by the Government would be used;
• The impact of the new route plan software for Home-School Transport;
• The impact of early intervention  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive 

This report provides an update on the development of the new Our Manchester Strategy for the city covering the period 2025 to 2035. It builds on a previous report to Scrutiny Committees in July 2024. This report summarises the second round of engagement activity, the findings that are most relevant to the work of the Committee, and includes an overview of the new strategy.

The Committee considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive which provided an update on the development of the new Our Manchester Strategy for the city covering the period 2025 to 2035. It built on a previous report to Scrutiny Committees in July 2024.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·       Providing an introduction and background, noting that The Our Manchester Strategy 2025 was the ten-year strategy for the city and was due to expire in 2025;

·       Providing a summary of the second round of engagement activity;

·       The findings that were most relevant to the remit of the Committee;

·       An overview of the new strategy, noting that the OMS would focus on twelve priorities over the next ten years; and

·       Following formal approval, the OMS 2025-2035 would be launched in April 2025.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the ambition of the Strategy and the strong partnership work in the city, including with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector;
• Concern that only 64.5% of respondents had agreed with the priority relating to climate change and that the Council needed to win over hearts and minds of residents and engage with partner organisations on this issue, noting that this was an important issue for many children and young people;
• Noting the consultation on the Climate Change Framework and that the 5-year plan for Greater Manchester was being reviewed, ensuring that these fed into the final document and that the importance of tackling climate change was emphasised;
• Positive comments about the engagement work that had taken place and thanking officers for their work;
• Engagement with children, including younger children, and young people, including university students;
• Highlighting and supporting the key priorities of the economy, equality and the environment;
• That reference should be made to providing pathways for 14 – 19 year-olds, especially those who were at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training);
• That the priority relating to sport and culture should place greater emphasis on opportunities for Manchester’s children and young people to play sports and participate in activities, rather than focusing on the two major football clubs, also noting that the cost of Premier League tickets was beyond the means of many local families but that this was not within the Council’s control; and
• How it would be ensured that under-represented groups were meaningfully included in shaping key priorities.

The Assistant Chief Executive advised that the original wording of the priority relating to climate change (“Manchester will be protected from the harmful effects of climate change”) might have resulted in some people disagreeing and that the wording had since been amended.  He highlighted that only 13.5% of respondents had disagreed with the priority, with 22.1% neither agreeing nor disagreeing.  He advised that climate change was a strong theme from the engagement with children and young people on the Strategy and from the engagement in relation to Child Friendly City, which officers had also taken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

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.

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

A Member asked for an update on the Education Climate Change Action Plan to be added to the work programme.  The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People suggested that this be raised with Councillor Bell on her return.

Decision

To note the report and agree the work programme, subject to the above comments.