Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Executive - Wednesday, 14th September, 2022 2.00 pm

Venue: Council Antechamber, Level 2, Town Hall Extension. View directions

Contact: Michael Williamson 

Media

Items
No. Item

69.

Minutes Silence - HRH Queen Elizabeth II

Minutes:

As a mark of respect, all Members and Officers present stood for a minute silence in respect of the passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

70.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 128 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 22 July 2022

Minutes:

Decision

 

The Executive approved as a correct record the minutes of the meeting on 22 July 2022.

71.

Our Manchester Progress Update pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Report of the Chief Executive attached

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on key areas of progress against the Our Manchester Strategy – Forward to 2025 which reset Manchester’s priorities for the next five years to ensure the Council could still achieve the city’s ambition set out in the Our Manchester Strategy 2016 – 2025.

 

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that planning approval had been granted for the building of 128 properties in relation to the first project by the Council’s This City housing company at Rodney Street in Ancoats.  Almost a third of the homes would be made available at the Manchester Living Rent.  The development brought back into use a brownfield site in a highly sustainable location close to the city centre enabling residents to walk, cycle and use public transport to access local services and employment.

 

The Executive Member for Housing and Development also reported that a £20m bid for Levelling Up funding to jump start the transformation of Wythenshawe town centre had been submitted to the government by the Council.  If successful it would represent a leap forward for the regeneration of the town centre and help support the creation of hundreds of jobs – and thousands of new homes, including affordable homes, on nearby Council-owned brownfield land.

 

Councillor Leech sought clarification on when a decision by government on Manchester’s bid could be expected and what was the Council’s plan for the redevelopment of Wythenshawe if the bid was unsuccessful

 

The Executive Member for Children and Families reported that as part of the Our Year campaign, a Play festival was hosted last month on National Play Day to celebrate children’s right to play.  The event, held in partnership between Manchester City Council, the Manchester Play Network and Play England, attracted more than 3,000 attendees. It featured free activities ranging from messy play and sensory activities for toddlers and younger children to a climbing wall and DJ and circus workshops for children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

 

The Executive Member for Children and Families also reported that the provisional A Level and GCSE outcomes for Manchester schools, sixth forms and colleges compared very favourably to the national picture and to the last examined GCSE and A Level results in Manchester from 2019, which was a significant achievement particularly in the light of the considerable challenges of the last two years.

 

The Deputy Leader informed Members that the latest round of the Our Manchester Voluntary and Community Sector (OMVCS) grants programme had been launched.  The refreshed grant programme aimed to support VCS organisations with a track record of delivering services to Manchester people, with a focus on some of the city’s key priorities such as inclusion, health, tackling poverty and addressing climate change.

 

The Executive Member for Environment reported on a scientific study, partly funded by the Council, which involved four Manchester primary schools and demonstrated that selective planting of ‘tredges’ (trees managed as hedges’) between busy roads and playgrounds helped  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

72.

Revenue Global Monitoring pdf icon PDF 172 KB

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which provided an overview of the Council’s current financial position for 2022/23.

 

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources advised that since the budget was set in February 2022, there had been several significant changes that were impacting on the Councils financial position which was resulting in a forecast overall position for 2022/23 of an overspend of £20.1m,  a deterioration of £15.6m since the last report to Executive in July. This was mainly due to the announcement of a higher than expected one year pay award offer for 2022/23 (£9.5m), additional utilities inflation (£3.9m), higher than expected price inflation (£3.6m) and other pressures, largely relating to income shortfalls (£3.4m).This shortfall was projected to increase to

£33m next year and £73m by 2024/25.

 

In relation to the delivery of the required £13.4m of net savings, £3.2m were forecast to be delivered and £4.7m considered at medium risk. £5.5m had been mitigated through the use of reserves as part of the budget process, as delivery against the original plan in Adults services was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic in 2021/22. Officers were working to address these to ensure all savings are achieved or mitigated on recurrent basis.

 

At this stage there was no indication of any financial support from central government, consequently, all directorates where being required to review budgets and identify in year savings and mitigations to support the current year position, including bringing forward savings options being developed for next year, only filling vacancies where necessary for service and savings delivery and discretionary spend to be reduced or delayed amongst other mitigations.  Any remaining overspend which could not be mitigated in year would require a call on the smoothing reserve or the general fund reserve.

 

The inflationary pressures outlined in the report were expected to continue into future years.  This coupled with funding uncertainty increased the risks associated with setting a balanced and sustainable long-term financial plan and represented a deterioration of the Council’s financial position if no action is taken.  It was therefore vital that the Council continued with its programme of innovation and reform and developed its operating model to help tackle these challenges and keep the Council’s finances stable and sustainable.

 

A programme of budget cuts and savings totalling £60m was being developed and would be reported to scrutiny committees in November 2022.  To support and mitigate against the high levels of uncertainty a full review of reserves had been undertaken to enable a realistic and resilient budget to be set.  Whilst it was early in the financial year, vigilance was needed given there were significant uncertainties and risks to the position and inflationary pressures could increase further.

 

Officers were working to reduce the overspend through identifying in year efficiencies and working with suppliers to reduce and mitigate inflation requirements. Progress would be reported back to Executive in December.

Councillor Leech sought clarification on the level of inflation officers had used in calculating  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

73.

Capital Programme Monitoring 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 195 KB

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which provided an update on the progress against the delivery of the 2022/23 capital programme to the end of July 2022.  The report also provided the latest forecast of capital expenditure and the major variances since the Capital Programme Outturn report submitted in June 2022 and the proposed financing of capital expenditure for 2022/23 and affordability of

the Capital Programme.

 

The Executive Member for Finance and Resources reported that overall, there was underspend of £1.1m against the Capital Programme and consequently the capital budget would be reduced by this amount when it was next revised. There were also a number of projects which were currently forecast to require reprofiling over years and this would also be reflected in the February budget report.

 

The top 10 projects within the Capital Programme accounted for 79.4% of the total programme and the report provided a focussed look on each of these projects, as well as any other material changes relating to other parts of the programme since the last report to Executive.

 

The most significant risk facing the programme and major projects overall was the continued high levels of inflation being experienced, particularly where contracts were not yet agreed.  There were options available to the Council, such as entering fixed price agreements or elevating risk costs, but the inflationary risk was likely to be priced  in a prudent basis.  There was also an inflation contingency budget of £28m for the whole programme which could be accessed if inflationary pressures were greater than the contingency budgets built into existing cost plans.  Projects had requested drawdown of £6.7m to date to be approved by Council in October following Executive approval in July.  Officers would continue to monitor the construction market and seek to mitigate the price risks

 

The current modelling forecasted that the programme remained affordable within the revenue budget available including reserves. The model forecasted that the capital financing reserves held by the Council would be required to meet the costs associated with the Council’s borrowing by 2025/26.

 

Councillor Leech noted the overall reduction in the Highways budget and sought clarification as to whether the money available in future years for the highways budget would be sufficient.  He also expressed concern in relation to a number of major projects going further over budget in light of increasing inflation, and material costs and questioned whether the amount of contingency funding in these projects was enough.

 

Decision

 

The Executive note the report

74.

Capital Programme Update pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which informed Members of requests to increase the capital programme, sought approval for those schemes that could be approved under authority delegated to the Executive and asked the Executive to recommend to Council proposals that required specific Council approval.

 

The proposals which required Council approval were those which were funded by the use of reserves above a cumulative total of £10 million, where the use of borrowing was required or a virement exceeded £1m. These included the following proposed changes:-

 

·                ICT - Future Council Infrastructure Implementation – Hybrid Cloud Programme.  A capital budget virement of £0.618m requested, funded by borrowing via the ICT Investment budget. A capital budget decrease of £2.661m was also requested and approval of a corresponding transfer of £2.661m to the revenue budget, funded by Capital Fund, to enable the implementation of the ICT Hybrid Cloud Strategy, which sat under the wider ICT & Digital Strategy (currently in consultation phase) and was a key enabler in the delivery of ICT strategic objectives over the next five  years.

 

·                Public Sector Housing – Woodward Court external concrete repairs and Enveloping.  A capital budget increase of £0.500m in 2022/23 and £2.505m in 2023/24 requested, funded by HRA Reserves, to deliver external concrete repairs and balcony balustrade repairs alongside a planned programme of enveloping works to ensure clear logistical and economical benefit for the Corporate Estate.

 

·                Public Sector Housing – Fire Risk Assessments Additional Works.  A capital budget increase of £4.112m in 2022/23 and £0.773m in 2023/24 requested, funded from HRA reserves to deliver further fire protection/prevention related works beyond those already included in the HRA capital programme

 

The proposals which did not require Council approval and only required Executive approval were those which were funded by the use of external resources, use of capital receipts, use of reserves below £10.0m, where the proposal could be funded from existing revenue budgets or where the use of borrowing on a spend to save basis is required.  The following proposals required Executive approval for changes to the City Council’s capital programme:-

 

·                ICT – Mobile Data.  A capital budget decrease of £0.161m requested and approval of a corresponding transfer of £0.161m to the revenue budget, funded by Capital Fund to enable the discovery work required to build the specification for the tender documentation for a new contract to be in place by March 2023.

 

·                Growth and Development - House of Sport Fire Mitigation and Roof additional

·                costs.  A capital budget increase of £2.260m in 2022/23 requested, funded by Capital Receipts to enable fire remediation works and additional roof works to prevent water damage from roof and gutter leaks.

 

·                Private Sector Housing – This City – Postal Street PCSA Fees.  A capital budget increase of £2.4m in 2022/23 requested, funded by Capital Receipts to provide a budget envelope to cover the appointment of a contractor on a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA) basis until planning permission had been granted whilst options for future funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

75.

Manchester Sport and Physical Activity Refresh pdf icon PDF 511 KB

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods), which informed which highlighted the progress that had been made to date in delivering Manchester’s Sport and Physical Strategy and the amendments that were proposed to ensure the city remained on target to deliver a sustained increase in participation levels and how the city built back fairer from the impacts of the virus.

 

The Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure reported that since the launch of the Manchester Sport and Physical Activity Strategy in the summer of 2019, there had been significant progress in the development and achievement of the seven strategic themes.  Since the establishment of MCRactive, and despite the many challenges, officers had worked through the covid pandemic, attracted new world-class sporting events to the City, secured investment to deliver an unprecedented number of capital schemes, forged new relationships with health partners and created a one stop digital platform for residents to find activity across the City.

 

However, some challenges remained, and the COVID-19 pandemic had put Manchester in a very different place. So it was proposed some of the priorities and actions would be refreshed for the next six years to 2028. 

 

In doing so, it was proposed that organisations continued to respond to the outcomes from the consultation in 2017 on the priorities that were important to residents, but also to make sure the city responded to the changes in the landscape arising from the declaration of the Climate Change Emergency, the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, which exposed and exacerbate the inequalities that already existed across the city, the changing strategic priorities locally and nationally and rising inflation/ cost of living crisis.

 

Councillor Leech welcomed the steps that the Council had taken in relation to female only swimming sessions at Hough End Leisure Centre but commented that he felt that there was a need for more female lifeguards for these sessions.

 

Decision

 

The Executive approve the refresh of the Strategy.

76.

Manchester Climate Change Partnership Framework 2022 Update pdf icon PDF 128 KB

Report of the Director of the Manchester Climate Change Agency attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Manchester Climate Agency (MCCA), which provided an update on Manchester’s Climate Change Framework (2020-25) 

 

The Executive Member for Environment advised that the update of the Manchester Climate Change Framework had been developed to ensure it remained a live document, responsive to the needs of a changing city and the urgency of the climate emergency.  The purpose of the 2022 Update was to present the findings of detailed modelling done to identify granular targets for reducing the city’s direct emissions by 50%, to help the city stay within its carbon budget; provide an overview of ongoing work carried out in support of the Framework’s other headline objectives, notably on adaptation to climate change and recommend specific actions for delivery at local, regional, and national level by government and the wider public sector, private companies and third sector organisations, and communities and individuals, that would support the transition to a zero carbon and climate resilient city.

 

The Update had co-designed over 150 recommended actions organised into four categories according to where there was direct control to deliver, affect or influence the required change or outcome:-

 

·                To be delivered locally, where direct control lies in Manchester;

·                To work on at city-region level, with Greater Manchester partners;

·                To advocate for national government to do; and

·                To do differently, where there are opportunities to innovate.

 

It was reported that urgent action was needed to reduce direct emissions from  buildings and ground transport, and to increase renewable energy generation, if Manchester was to stay within its carbon budget.  Decisive action was also needed to assess the city’s vulnerability to climate change and to ensure the city was adapting its infrastructure, buildings, economy, and residents to be resilient to a changing climate.

 

It was highlighted that everyone had a role to play – individuals, organisations, local and national government and the cost of transitioning to a zero carbon, climate resilient city could not be borne solely by the public purse; there needed to be innovative ways to unlock private finance investment.

 

It was also noted that tackling the climate crisis brought opportunities to deliver wider strategic ambitions, including improving people’s health, reducing fuel and food poverty, creating new jobs and economic growth, and delivering a greener city for everyone.

 

In essence the update was a call to action for everyone in Manchester.  Manchester Climate Change Partnership (MCCP) would champion the delivery of the recommendations set out, but everyone needed to increase the pace and scale of their own activity, and reach out to support and collaborate with others, if the city was to succeed in achieving its ambitions.

 

To support the prioritisation of effort, in particular for reducing direct emissions, MCCP had asked MCCA to assess the comparative impact of the recommended actions, building on the insights already provided by the detailed emissions baseline and 50% reduction targets.

 

MCCP had also asked MCCA to develop options for tracking the city’s progress towards its zero carbon and climate resilient goals, in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

77.

Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan: Refreshed Climate Change Action Plan 2020-2025 and Annual Report 2021-22 pdf icon PDF 243 KB

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which presented a refreshed action plan for delivery of Manchester City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) between September 2022 – March 2025 and the latest Annual Report for the year 2021-22 of the CCAP 2020-25.

 

The Executive Member for Environment reported that the Council had made good progress to date in working towards its target to reduce its direct CO2 emissions by 50% by 2025 and was on track to meeting its targets.  Since 2020, the Council had exceeded its annual reduction targets, achieving 29.4% reductions so far.  The refreshed Climate Change Action Plan set out new actions, building on existing ambitions, for example, looking at ways to accelerate reaching net zero carbon even sooner than 2038; identifying opportunities to be bolder and avoiding any risk of complacency.

 

Having already put in place investment of approximately £192m to deliver the 5-year Plan, a further £800,000 of revenue investment had been secured as part of the 2022/23 budget setting for the Council.  In addition to this investment and as part of the CCAP, the Council had established a zero carbon finance and investment subgroup, with the aim of identify funding and finance models and opportunities to secure further resources required to deliver the CCAP. 

 

The refreshed CCAP also linked to other key and relevant city wide strategies and plans, such as the Local Plan, the Green & Blue Infrastructure Strategy, the GM Transport Strategy, Manchester’s Work and Skills Strategy and the Manchester Housing Strategy, enabling the Council to be bolder, even more ambitious and deliver even more across the City.

 

In terms of the Annual Report, updated analysis of the Council’s carbon emissions showed that, overall, the Council had remained within budget this year, (against an annual target to reduce emissions by 13%), emitting 22,807 tonnes of CO2 – 16% under budget. It had also reduced its direct emissions by 10.6% (-2,694 tonnes CO2) compared to 2020-21.  The report went on to detail a selection of key achievements made during this second year (2021-22) as well as overall progress to date for each workstream.

 

Decisions

 

The Executive:-

 

(1)      Notes the Annual Report.

 

(2)      Approves the refreshed 2020-25 Climate Change Action Plan

78.

Moving Traffic Offences Enforcement Overview Report pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) and Head of Network Management attached

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods), which provided an overview of changes in legislation which allowed local highways authorities to enforce moving traffic offences such as no entry, yellow boxes, banned turns, traffic restrictions and environmental weight limits.

 

The Executive Member for Environment explained that Government had committed to making the moving traffic enforcement powers, under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act (TMA) 2004, available to local authorities outside London. The regulations giving effect to these powers were laid in Parliament on 27 January 2022 and came into effect on 31 May 2022.  In making these powers available, the legislative opportunity had also been taken to consolidate, under the 2004 Act, the existing civil enforcement regimes for bus lane contraventions (outside London currently under 2005 regulations made under the Transport Act 2000) together with parking contraventions (England-wide currently under 2007 regulations made under the 2004 Act).

 

These powers enabled the Council as the highway authority to enforce certain moving vehicle offences such as no entry, yellow boxes, banned turns, traffic restrictions and environmental weight limits

 

An initial list of 15 enforcement sites was identified based on suggested problem areas provided by TfGM, the Neighbourhoods team and GMP.  An assessment had been undertaken to determine the initial enforcement sites and using the priority scoring process it was proposed that the following seven sites were selected for implementing civil enforcement of certain moving traffic and parking contraventions.  This included the enforcement of yellow box junctions, and restrictions on direction of travel and turning movements as provided for in Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act:

 

·                Stockport Road – Box junction/no right turn

·                Cheetham Hill Road / Elizabeth Street. (Near Manchester Fort, near the Lidl)

·                Ashton Old Road – Chancellor Lane – Fairfield Street (Pin Mill Brow) – yellow box

·                Princess Parkway – Palatine Road – Yellow box

·                Great Ancoats Street – Oldham Road – Oldham Street – Yellow box

·                Kirkmanshulme Lane / Mount Road – Compulsory Left Turn & Yellow box

·                Wilmslow Road / M56 jct 6 – Ahead Only

 

Before applying to the Secretary of State for a Designation Order to grant  the Council powers to undertake the enforcement of Highway Moving Traffic Offences, the Council was required to undertake appropriate consultation with GMP and residents on the proposed sites.

 

Given the challenges in determining the number of offences that would be committed once enforcement began, and what any ‘drop off’ rate in offences might be, it would be very challenging to accurately determine the resources required to manage this new area of work.  As such a staged approach to implantation was proposed, starting with a couple of locations and gradually increasing resources as more accurate data became available.


Councillor Leech sought clarity as to why a number of the sites identified related to just enforcement of yellow boxes and expressed disappointment that the junction of Princess Road and Nell Lane had not been included.

 

Decisions

 

The Executive:-

 

(1)     Agree that the Director of Highways undertake all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

79.

Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) and the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer attached

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) and Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, which outlined proposals for an Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) covering Manchester city centre and an area of Salford in the regional centre.  The report also sought confirmation that the proposals did not conflict with Council policy and that the Council put in place arrangements for the Chief Executive (as Ballot Holder) to hold the ABID ballot.

 

In recent years the city centre as the region’s economic hub has undergone transformational regeneration and benefitted from significant inward investment.  The visitor economy across Greater Manchester was worth £9.5billion and supported over 102,000 jobs, accounting for 8% of the people working in Greater Manchester, with most of this tourism activity clustered within the city centre.

 

Over the next five years, the tourism sector across Greater Manchester was set for a radical step change, powered by major investment in new attractions, accommodation, and visitor facilities. The proposed BID levy would support the development of the tourism and hospitality sector by providing additional funds for high profile, tactical marketing campaigns, by attracting more national and international business conferences and major sporting events to the city, by developing and attracting new consumer events to the city, and by improving the city’s welcome: helping to keep the entry points to the city centre cleaner, providing hosts at the railway stations and supporting hotels in ensuring secure environments for guests.

 

Following collaborative discussion, Manchester Hoteliers’ Association (MHA), supported by Marketing Manchester and CityCo, had stated that their preferred approach was the development of a private sector-led Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID).  The ABID approach focussed on a proposal developed by and voted on by potential levy-payers. All relevant businesses would contribute, but within a structure where the businesses would control the levy raised.

 

Membership of the ABID would be limited to hereditaments that were identifiable by the relevant billing authority as hotels or short stay serviced apartments which had a rateable value of £75,000 or more and where within the ABID area.  The formula for the levy would take into account the numbers of rooms/units available per night, the number of nights per month and the STR Published ‘Manchester Average’ Occupancy rate for each month LESS 5%. All of this information would be collated by the City Council.

 

The ABID Proposal and Business Plan had been formally submitted to the Council, along with a formal notice requesting that the Council (as lead authority) instruct the Ballot Holder (i.e. Manchester’s Returning Officer) to hold a BID Ballot.

 

Decisions

 

The Executive:-

 

(1)      Note the receipt of the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District 2023 – 2028 proposal from the BID Proposer, Manchester Hoteliers’ Association.

 

(2)      Confirm that the proposals do not conflict with any policy formally adopted by, and contained in a document published by, the Council.

 

(3)      Delegate to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer the authority to instruct the Ballot Holder to hold a BID ballot.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.