Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Executive - Wednesday, 11th March, 2020 10.00 am

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

Contact: Donald Connolly 

Media

Items
No. Item

34.

Update on COVID19 (Coronavirus)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair agreed to the following item of urgent business due to the need to update Executive Members on COVID 19 (coronavirus) at a national and local level and the steps that had and were being taken in Manchester.

 

The Chief Executive advised that the Council was responding to national guidance that was being issued and reassured members that work had begun on Business Continuity Planning for the Council services. The Director of Population Health advised that as at the present moment, the UK was in a “containment” phase of tackling the spread of the virus but acknowledged that this was likely to change and the virus would spread further. He advised that the Prime Minister had called a meeting of COBRA earlier in the week and a further meeting would take place later in the wee to determine the country’s next steps.

 

In terms of Manchester, a COVID19 Locality Planning Group had been established and would report to the Health and Wellbeing Board on Wednesday 18 March. He advised that the number of reported cases in Manchester had been misreported in Manchester and in fact it was three Manchester residents who had been infected by the virus. A further two people were being treated in Manchester hospitals but were not Manchester residents. He advised that nationally, 382 cases had been reported and number shad not risen as sharply as some other European countries. The current approach of self-isolation was working well and plans were in place for more locality testing. The Locality Planning Group had established a number of workstreams, including communications, Schools/Early Years settings, homelessness and street based services, HROD (business continuity) and Primary Care work.

 

It was reported that restricting the spread of the virus amongst Adult Social Care and Care Homes remained a concern a priority and there was a need to ensure that Care Homes had appropriate Business Continuity Plans in place. On a positive note, the Director of Population Health advised that the number of new cases being reported of people infected with the virus in Wuhan, the epicentre, was reducing daily and was now in single figures.

 

The Executive Member for Adult Social Care thanks all the staff involved tin the co-ordinating work that had been undertaken to date. She explained that it was important that the Council, Councillors and residents listened and followed the advice of health professionals. She commented that business continuity plans would be subject to evolving discussions and that if any Members had any concerns she was happy to be a point of contact.

 

Decision

 

The Executive thanks the Chief Executive and Director of Population Health for the update.

35.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 528 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Decision

 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting on 12 February 2020 as a correct record.

36.

Manchester Climate Change Framework 2020-25 pdf icon PDF 213 KB

The report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer is attached.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In November 2018, the Executive agreed to establish a science-based carbon reduction target for Manchester, which required the city as a whole to adopt a carbon budget of 15 million tonnes of CO2 between 2018 and 2100. This would require a year-on-year reduction of at least 13%, emissions to be halved within five years, and lead to the city becoming zero carbon by 2038 at the latest. In March 2019 the Executive endorsed the Manchester Zero Carbon Framework 2020-38, as the city’s outline approach to meeting its targets, as proposed by the Manchester Climate Change Partnership and in July 2019, the Council declared a climate emergency. This declaration recognised the need for the Council, and the city as a whole, to do more to reduce its carbon emissions and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. It also demonstrated the Council’s commitment to be at the forefront of the global response to climate change and to lead by example

 

In February 2020 the Climate Change Partnership published a final version of the Framework, the Manchester Climate Change Framework 2020-25. The Framework was intended to provide the overarching structure for organisations to ‘plug-in’ their own bespoke plans, guided by 15 actions, as set out in the report, with the delivery of organisations’ plans to be supported and enabled by incentives, standards and infrastructure provided by the Manchester Climate Change Agency, the Council, Manchester’s strategic partners, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, UK Government and their agencies.

 

The report explained that to realise the zero carbon vision for the city the Framework committed to achieve four headline objectives:

 

·         Staying within the carbon budget for the city;

·         Climate adaptation and resilience;

·         Health and wellbeing; and

·         Inclusive, zero carbon and climate resilient economy.

 

In addition to the four headline objectives, the Framework also set out seven key areas where urgent action was required:

 

·         Buildings (new and existing);

·         Renewable energy;

·         Transport and flying

·         Food

·         The things we buy and throw away;

·         Green infrastructure and nature-based solution; and

·         Supporting and enabling residents and organisations to act.

 

The Climate Change Partnership had invited the Executive to consider three proposals in relation to the Manchester Climate Change Framework 2020-25:

 

·         Formally adopt the Manchester Climate Change Framework’s aim, vision, objectives and targets as the definition of what Manchester needs to achieve in order to ‘play its full part in limiting the impacts of climate change’;

·         On behalf of the city, endorse the Manchester Climate Change Framework as Manchester’s high-level strategy for achieving the aim, vision, objectives and targets; and

·         Deliver the Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan for the period 2020-25 in order to contribute towards the successful implementation of the citywide Framework.

 

It was commented that this report was one of the most important reports the Executive had had to consider for many years and it was reassuring to see that proposals to move to a green future were being developed in an Our Manchester way - working with residents and organisations to deliver this agenda. It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

37.

Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25 pdf icon PDF 218 KB

The report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Manchester City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25 sets out the actions that need to be delivered to ensure that the Council plays its full part in delivering the city’s zero carbon ambition.

 

It was reported that the Council has been working with partners to take action on climate change for over 10 years and had developed a series of action plans with associated targets, the most recent of which covered the 2016-20 period. The Council’s previous CO2 target was to reduce its direct emissions from buildings, energy and transport by 41% by 2020 from a 2009/10 baseline. The latest available data from 2018/19 revealed that a 48.1% reduction had been achieved.

 

The Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25 made a number of specific commitments:-

 

·                Deliver at least a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from the Council’s buildings, energy and transport by 2025 (from circa 30-32,000 tonnes in 2019/20 to circa 15-16,000 tonnes in 2024/25) via a 13% year on year reduction;

·                Report quarterly on progress against the actions in the plan and provide quantitative reports on data in tonnes of CO2; and

·                Become zero carbon by 2038 at the latest (based on the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research definition of zero which is at least a 95% reduction i.e. a reduction of 35,547 tonnes CO2 from the 2018/19 total which would mean that the Council’s direct emissions in 2037/38 would be less than 1,871 tonnes CO2).

 

It was reported that the estimated savings which would need to be achieved over the next 5 years would be:-

 

Direct Emissions Action 2020-25

Annual Carbon Saving (tonnes CO2)

Completion of Phase 1 Buildings Carbon Reduction Programme

1,400

Completion of Phase 1 (a) Buildings Carbon Reduction Programme - ERDF Supported

400

Phase 2 of Carbon Reduction Programme

3,000

Large scale energy generation scheme

7,000

Completion of the final year of the street lighting LED replacement programme

220

Estimated carbon emissions saving benefit from the decarbonisation of the National Grid

800

Completion of the Civic Quarter Heat Network and connection to the Town Hall, Town Hall Extension, Art Gallery and Central Library

1,600

Replacement of half of waste fleet vehicles with Electric Vehicles

900

Reductions to the Council’s Fleet through increase in number of Electric Vehicles

400

Reduction in staff travel via car, taxi, air, train

100

Total Estimated Savings

15,820

 

The Plan also set out the different roles the Council had, including enabling and influencing, reducing direct emissions and reducing indirect emissions.

 

The report highlighted that additional revenue and capital funding has been identified to respond to the 10 July 2019 Climate Emergency Declaration and to deliver the Plan which would be kept under review as further detailed funding for specific projects or programmes was agreed.  It was explained that the Council’s Zero Carbon Coordination Group and associated workstreams would be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Plan and identifying additional sources of internal and external funding.

 

Members again, noted the hard work that had gone into developing the Action Plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

38.

Planning and Climate Change pdf icon PDF 230 KB

The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Manchester’s commitment to climate change had been well documented, from adopting a science-based carbon budget of 15 million tonnes of CO2 between 2018 and 2100 and endorsing the draft Manchester Zero Carbon Framework as the city’s overarching approach to meet science-based targets on tackling climate change, to declaring a Climate Emergency in July 2019, which recognised the need for the Council, and the city as a whole, to do more to reduce its carbon emissions and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

 

The planning system was one of the ways which could help mitigate climate change and assist in influencing and supporting those involved in place-making and shaping the use of land and buildings. With regard to climate change there was a statutory duty on local planning authorities to include policies in their local plans that are designed to tackle climate change and its impacts. The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (as of 2019) now included a stronger emphasis on future development, previously lacking in the older version, stating that plans must “pro-actively shape places in a way that contributes to radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, minimise vulnerability and improve resilience”. It further notes that local planning authorities need to take account of the Climate Change Act 2008.

 

The report explained that the Framework also contained policies on a wide range of other topics such as significantly boosting the supply of housing, the use of land and the importance of development being viable to willing developers. The balance between these factors was left to local planning authorities to strike through its Local Plan preparation. Manchester’s current local plan, the Core Strategy was adopted in 2012 and was about to undergo a refresh and the Councils declaration on climate change would be at the heart of this review which would seek to align policy and processes to tackle this key issue.

 

It was also reported that whilst the NPPF may contain policies on climate change there was a distinct lack of practical advice and support to local authorities on how to secure a radical reduction in carbon emissions. For a local planning authority, the test was therefore how to address its vision for future development in the local plan process in the context of the NPPF. It was also recognised that there were other potential challenges at a national level which were likely to impact on the Council’s climate change ambitions such as the deregulation of planning through the expansion of permitted development rights.

 

Prior to the adoption of the Council’s development plan - the Core Strategy in 2012, the City’s quality agenda was supported by the Guide to Development Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). Endorsed in 2007, this provided the step change to a more comprehensive set of environmental policies in the Core Strategy. And with regard to climate change, the SPD set out a requirement, which still existed today, for planning proposals to be supported by an Environmental Standards Statement. The Core Strategy now embedded the principles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

39.

Re-designation of Northenden Neighbourhood Forum pdf icon PDF 749 KB

The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The concept of Neighbourhood Planning was introduced through the Localism Act 2011. It enabled local community organisations (comprising at least 21 individuals) to initiate and produce Neighbourhood Development Plans and Neighbourhood Development Orders. In order to do this a community organisation needed to apply to the Council for the designation of a Neighbourhood Area in their locality; and also for designation of the organisation as a Neighbourhood Forum.

 

The Northenden Neighbourhood Forum (the Forum) had applied for a re-designation of the forum as required by the relevant Act and Regulations. In November 2013 the Council designated a Neighbourhood Forum and a Neighbourhood Area in Northenden. The Neighbourhood Forum designation expired in November 2018, whilst the Neighbourhood Area designation remained in existence. The current application, if approved, would re-designate the Forum for a new five year period.

 

It was reported that the consultation on the re-designation had run from 17 December 2019 to 4 February 2020, and had received responses from nine organisations and individuals. Five responses objected to the re-designation, one was in support and three were neutral. The representations had been taken into account when making the recommendation in relation to the Forum’s application.

 

The assessment of the re-designation application, based on the analysis of the representations and the assessment of the Forum’s application pointed to some concerns with respect to the prevailing situation with respect to the Forum. Notwithstanding the concerns identified, the overall conclusion was that the Forum should be recommended for re-designation.

 

It was explained that whilst re-designation was recommended, it was clear that the Forum could benefit from some further guidance to ensure the Forum worked effectively with locally elected members and the wider community in Northenden and how it may expedite renewed progress on a neighbourhood plan, taking account of any updated evidence base and ensuring a robust community engagement programme.

 

Decisions

 

1.         To re-designate the Northenden Neighbourhood Forum organisation as a Neighbourhood Forum.

 

2.         To instruct officers to provide the feedback, as set out in paragraphs 5.5 and 5.6 of the report, to the Northenden Neighbourhood Forum.

40.

Wythenshawe Hospital Draft Strategic Regeneration Framework pdf icon PDF 230 KB

The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Neighbourhoods) is now attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) have developed a draft Strategic Regeneration Framework for the transformation of the Wythenshawe Hospital Campus. The draft Framework envisaged the development of the Wythenshawe Hospital Campus and its surroundings as a sustainable health village over a 10 to 15 year period, enhancing the Hospital whilst diversifying uses to include complementary commercial, leisure and retail set within a high quality, greener public realm. These proposed outcomes were in line with the Council’s existing Core Strategy policies for the Hospital and its surrounding area.

 

It was reported that the draft Framework addressed the opportunities to deliver a range of economic, social and environmental benefits for local residents and across Greater Manchester, whilst also placing net zero carbon ambitions for the Campus at the heart of the strategy. Importantly, the masterplanning work and strategy had considered future changes in accessibility and transport, including major investment in public transport and other strategic transport infrastructure that would enhance the accessibility of the site, as well as improved opportunities for walking, cycling and other sustainable transport planning.

 

At the forefront of the ambitions set out in the Wythenshawe Campus Strategic Regeneration Framework were the following key objectives:

 

·         To create an enhanced clinical environment that was in line with modern standards and delivered a hospital that was accessible and welcoming for patients and visitors;

·         To achieve net zero carbon development across the masterplan in line with the commitments of MFT, Bruntwood and Manchester City Council;

·         To deliver inclusive growth, ensuring that the local community derived maximum benefit from the investment into the Campus including (through job creation), local employment and training opportunities;

·         To support a masterplan that provided a range of employment, including jobs that could contribute towards a rise in productivity and pay in the foundational sectors of the economy, such as retail and social care;

·         To create world class research facilities to support the work of clinicians and academics in keeping MFT at the forefront of innovative developments in healthcare;

·         To ensure that MFT continues to attract the best people to work at the Wythenshawe Campus and to create a safe, efficient and stimulating work environment; and

·         To maximise the opportunities to develop MFT land for commercial uses which supported the work of MFT.

 

It was reported that the benefits to be secured for Wythenshawe, Manchester and Greater Manchester that would arise from the proposals set out in the draft Framework for the Wthenshawe Hospital Campus and its surroundings were potentially very significant

 

It was explained that subject to the approval, the intention was that the draft Framework would be the subject of a public consultation exercise that would take place between March and June 2020 involving landowners, local residents, businesses, developers, statutory and non-statutory bodies and other local stakeholders. Feedback would be gathered to help refine and finalise the Framework. Once the representations had been assessed, a final version of the Framework, incorporating any necessary amendments, would be brought back to a future meeting of the Executive for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

41.

Manchester Fort Draft Strategic Regeneration Framework pdf icon PDF 405 KB

The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Neighbourhoods) is now attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Manchester Fort Shopping Park was established as a bulky goods shopping destination in 2004 and had since evolved into one of the largest and most successful retail parks of its kind in the North West. It was a well-known feature of the City’s shopping landscape. The Park occupied a strategic location in North Manchester; adjacent to the intersection of the main radial routes of Cheetham Hill Road and Queens Road and played a significant role in contributing to the economy and social wellbeing of Manchester and complements the City Centre and established district centres of Cheetham Hill, Harpurhey and Newton Heath.

 

The owners of the Park were now looking to continue their long-term investment and commitment to ensuring that the Park continued to play its part in the continued regeneration, revitalisation and growth of North Manchester. It was noted that the Park was also located adjacent to the Northern Gateway area, which extended northwards from the edge of the City Centre to Queen’s Road, incorporating the neighbourhoods of New Cross, Collyhurst and the Lower Irk Valley. Over the next 10 to 15 years, the Council, working with Far East Consortium (FEC) intended to bring forward up to 15,000 new homes in this location and the Park would play a key part in the local retail offer for new and existing residents in the Northern Gateway.

 

The vision established in the draft Development Framework sought to make much more of the space currently dominated by the remnants of the bulky goods offer through a comprehensive redesign of this section of the Park.  It was envisaged that the redesign could be achieved through the sub-division or remodelling of the existing bulky goods floorplates facilitating a significant enhancement of the Park’s offer by creating an opportunity to deliver smaller, more flexible units capable of accommodating a variety of new formats, as and when leases came up for renewal or of earlier opportunities arose. It was explained that the vision may not be realisable in the short term, but it was important to set a positive context for the future, to support and encourage investment that sustains and enhances the Park.

 

Within the Park as a whole, the draft Framework envisaged some broadening of the retail offer, with the potential for a convenience food offer to help diversify and provide greater resilience for the Park, subject to proportionate testing of impact and alternative locations.

 

It was explained that the Park owners (Nuveen) had already undertaken a period of informal public consultation which provided the local community with an opportunity to view and comment on the draft Development Framework at an early stage of its preparation. This public consultation was publicised through approximately 2,000 information leaflets distributed to the surrounding community, social media posts and posters in community venues. Two public consultation events were held at the Shopping Park in July 2019 to provide local residents and stakeholders with the opportunity to find out more and to comment on the initial draft document. There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

42.

The Strategy to further improve Children Social Care Services pdf icon PDF 366 KB

The report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services Directorate is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Following Ofsted’s inspection in 2017 which judged Manchester’s Children’s Services to no longer be inadequate, the service had continued to make progress and improvements in the services it provided.  This was evidenced through independent peer reviews and through Ofsted’s focused visits in 2018 and more recently December 2019. However, it was evidently clear in order for the service to continue to make improvements as the Council strived for Manchester’s Children’s Services to be judged a ‘good or better’ by Ofsted, a key success factor was for there to be a stable, talented and confident workforce. 

 

It was explained that failure to achieve this could potentially undermine and reverse the progress that has been made to date, thus bringing a reputational and arguably financial risk the council.  Consequently,  the proposed strategy was intended to be flexible/adaptive in order to respond to changing fiscal and social policy over the next five years. As a result the strategic approach to service delivery would continue to be informed by a dynamic Directorate Business Plan which would be focussed on delivering safe, effective and efficient services.

 

In addition, the approach to service planning, delivery and service improvement and the basis for the services strategic endeavours would continue to be informed by the ‘Our Manchester’ behaviours, principles, relationship focussed practice, the signs of safety, passionate about our ways of working and performance; tracked and monitored via measurable goals and objectives articulated in our service practice model (Our Practice in Manchester) and Directorate Plan.

 

It was highlighted that improving the quality of social work practice was a key short, medium and long term priority for the service. To date, there had been significant progress with regards to the ‘infrastructure’ to support and underpin this and continuous improvement through self-assessment was now an embedded approach and would continue throughout the next five years.  As such, the report set out the following financial incentive proposals for the recruitment and retention of social workers, the impact of which would be reviewed 18 months after implementation and in accordance with the market rate policy to measure the success of the approach:-

 

Social Worker Level 1

£2,000 retention payment after 2 years’ service; paid either in a lump sum or alternatively in 3 instalments of £666 on their 2 year anniversary, 6 months later and a further 6 months after that. We propose to engage staff on the preferred option.

Senior Social Worker

£5,000 market rate supplement,

Team Manager

Continuation of £5,487 market rate supplement - supported with a consistent and clear set out objectives identified in About You.

 

It was noted that the aim of these proposals was to mitigate against a twofold risk associated with an unsuccessful recruitment and retention strategy and a continued reliance on high cost agency staff, who by the nature of their employment are less likely to buy into the organisation's vision and objectives.

 

Furthermore, it was explained that the proposed the initiatives as set out in the report would cost  £2.335m in 2020/21, reducing to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

Capital Programme Update pdf icon PDF 403 KB

The report of the Deputy Chief Executive and the City Treasurer is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report concerning requests to increase the capital programme was submitted. The report explained that all capital projects were reviewed throughout the approval process with regard to the contribution they can make to Manchester being a Zero-Carbon City. Projects did not receive approval unless the contribution to this target was going to be appropriate.

 

It was agreed to recommend six changes to the Council and to make a further three changes under delegated powers. These changes would increase the capital budget by £25.615m across 2019/20 to 2021/22, funded from borrowing, invest to save initiatives, government grants and capital receipts.

 

The report also provided a progress report on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (Education Basic Needs) project. The project included three expansions to existing special schools which met the needs of Manchester residents with an Education, Health and Care Plan. All projects had been developed to RIBA stage 2 design and were currently progressing to stage 3. All planning applications were due to have been submitted by April 2020 and works were expected to commence on site from May 2020 onwards with completion of schemes in summer 2021. The total anticipated cost of works being brought forward would be £20.2m funded by government Education Basic Need grant.

 

Decisions

 

1.         To recommend that the Council approve the following changes to the Council’s capital programme:

 

a)         Growth and Development – Piccadilly Gardens Phase 1. A capital budget virement of £1.811m is requested, funded by Sustaining Key Initiatives budget.

b)         Growth and Development – HOME Arches Phase 1. A capital budget increase of £0.215m is requested, funded by Borrowing.

c)         Neighbourhoods - Purchase of Electric RCV’s. A capital budget increase of £9.4m is requested, funded by £5.7m Borrowing and £3.7m Invest to save.

d)         Public Sector Housing - Northwards Housing 2020/21 Capital Programme. A capital virement of £10.406m is requested from Northwards Housing Unalllocated, funded by HRA (RCCO).

e)         Growth and Development – Carbon Reduction Programme Phase 2. A capital budget increase of £15m is requested, funded by Borrowing.

f)          Growth and Development – Carbon Reduction Action Plan Delivery. A revenue budget increase of £1m is requested, funded by Capital Fund.

g)         Growth and development – Greening of the City. A capital budget increase of £1m is requested, funded by Capital Fund.

 

2.         To approve the following changes to the City Council’s capital programme:-

 

a)      Highway Services – Levenshulme Active Neighbourhoods Early Works. A capital virement of £0.327m is requested from Highways Investment Programme, funded by Borrowing.

b)      Children’s Services – North Ridge High School – Special Capital Fund Additional Funding. A capital virement of £0.477m is requested from Special Educational Needs Grant Unallocated, funded by Government Grant.

c)       Public Sector Housing – Housing Delivery Model. A revenue budget increase of £0.100m is requested, funded by Housing Investment Fund.

 

3.         To note the update on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (Education Basic Needs) project.

44.

Revenue Budget Update 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 304 KB

The additional report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council’s revenue budget for 2020/21 was approved at Full Council on 6 March 2020 (Minute CC/20/17). The budget contained investment for priority areas including £9.9m for Children’s Services, £23.3m for Adult Social Care and £1.352m for Homelessness. It also included £7.5m of efficiency savings, of which £4.6m were being reinvested back into the budget.

 

At that meeting the Council had also approved an amendment to allocate a budget of £250k in 2020/21 for a one-off Spring Challenge Fund. The purpose of the funding was to provide a sustainable approach to improving neighbourhoods. This was to be funded from the Council's revenue contribution to capital budget that was held as part of the capital financing budget and was included within the revenue budget. Now the amendment had been formally approved Executive was asked to comment on how the Challenge Fund should be implemented.

 

It was also noted that two further budget proposals had been referred to the Executive by Full Council. Both were budget amendments that were not put to Council but were instead referred to the Executive for consideration. These were not yet included in the Revenue Budget for 2020/21:

 

·         To allocate a budget of £960,000 phased equally over three years to enable the Council to make available a £10,000 per annum Green Neighbourhood Investment Fund in each of the 32 wards, encouraging our neighbourhoods to participate in carbon reduction on a community-led basis shaped by the priorities of the Manchester Climate Change Action Plan; to be funded out of the proposed £2.079m contribution to the Business Rates Reserve for 2020/21.

 

·         To allocate a budget of £960,000 phased equally over three years to enable the Council to deliver a programme of target hardening (including further alleygating) in areas of benefit; to be funded out of the proposed £2.079m contribution to the Business Rates Reserve for 2020/21 and to allocate a budget of £1.5m to enable the Council to deliver road safety and traffic calming schemes in areas of need; to be funded from On Street Parking Reserve.

 

The Executive was also asked to comment on the approach they would like to take in consideration of these two budget proposals.

 

The report also detailed proposed additional capital funding of £15m to support the work to reduce the carbon produced from the Council’s operational estate and £1m for greening the city both of which, if supported, would be incorporated into the Council’s Capital budget. It also included the establishment of a revenue budget increase of £1m funded by the Capital Fund. This was to fund a dedicated team to deliver the commitments within the Carbon Reduction Plan.

 

Finally, there was a recommendation in the Capital Update report for a revenue budget increase of £100k funded by the Housing Investment Reserve. This initial investment was to provide additional capacity to allow work to establish the viability of a Manchester bespoke scheme, identify indicative land and any title or grant issues, and develop a report leading to full approval of a model  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

45.

Our Town Hall Project - Decision on the Notice to Proceed pdf icon PDF 605 KB

The report of the Deputy Chief Executive and the City Treasurer is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In a report to Executive in December 2018, it was noted that Lendlease had been selected as the preferred Management Contractor for the Our Town Hall (OTH) project (Minute Exe/18/120 refers).

 

The Council had engaged Lendlease as its Management Contractor to manage the project, procure the works, advise on risk and to contract with works package contractors who had the primary responsibility for undertaking the works. The Management Contractor would assume the financial and contractual burden associated with administering the works packages, but would not undertake any of the construction works itself. The Management Contractor was to be paid a fee for its services (split between the pre-construction period and the construction period) and be reimbursed the cost of its preliminaries and overheads.

 

The contract with the Management Contractor required that before the Council issued the Notice to Proceed (NTP) it had to satisfy itself that a number of key documents and dates had been agreed with the Management Contractor, including the supplemental particulars, project cost plan, date of completion, and the preliminaries cost schedule. It was reported that these documents had been agreed

 

The original capital budget for the Town Hall project of £306.1m was approved by Executive on 8 February 2017 (Minute Exe/17/27 refers) as part of the Council’s Capital Programme. Since that time the project had been through various stages of design, with the budget re-based at RIBA Stage 3 within an overall capital envelope of £305.2m. The capital movement between the original budget at February 2017 and latest budget of £305.2m was made up of transfers from the capital budget to support costs which could not be capitalised. These included design team expenses, programme managements costs, communications and minor changes on planned preventive maintenance.

 

At the point of NTP, the forecast capital cost projection remained at £305.2m. This allowed for budgets set aside to address residual risk and which would incorporate the costs of inflation movements, changes in scope/design and general contingencies. The overall construction budget was £243.483m. This included the value of the project cost plan and contract to be entered into with the Management Contractor, costs incurred prior to the appointment of the Management Contractor, and an allocation for other specific costs and contingencies.

 

Following consideration of the proposal to issue the Notice to Proceed by the Resources and Governance Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 24 February 2020 (Minute RGSC/20/17 refers) the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasure had taken the key decision to approve Capital Expenditure of £243,483,000 to Our Town Hall Notice to proceed with the main contract.

 

Decisions

 

1.         To note that on the basis of the Tranche 1 Works Packages procured to date (60% by value), and the level of design readiness to procure the balancing Tranche 2 (40%) packages, the project was suitably advanced for the Council to Commit to Construct, noting the arrangements that are in place to manage the risk of cost and programme overrun in the Tranche 2 Works Packages.

 

2.         To note that a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

46.

Establishment of new trading company as a vehicle for claiming exhibition tax relief at Manchester Art Gallery pdf icon PDF 275 KB

The report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer, Chief Executive and City Solicitor is now attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR) was introduced by the Government on 1 April 2017 and was a tax relief for museum or gallery-related companies (which could include a charity or other entity that did not actually pay any corporation tax) who created and installed new exhibitions, with 16% of the eligible costs of creating and installing exhibitions (including staffing and premises costs) able to be claimed back.

 

It was explained that a qualifying company must either be a charity that maintained a museum or gallery or a wholly owned subsidiary of a charity or local authority that maintains a museum or gallery.

 

As such it was proposed that approval be given to the establishment of a City Council wholly owned trading company called Manchester Art Gallery Exhibitions Productions Company Ltd (MAGEP). Once established this would enable the Manchester Art Gallery to benefit from the Government exhibition tax relief scheme in line with the budget efficiency proposals.

 

Decisions

 

1.         To agree to the establishment of the Manchester Art Gallery Exhibitions Productions Company as set out in this report. The arrangements would be finalised subject to final due diligence and further tax advice.

 

2.         To delegate authority to the City Solicitor and Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer in consultation with the Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure to take all necessary steps to establish the Company and set up appropriate Governance arrangements to give effect to the above resolution.

47.

Future Dates and Times of Executive meeting

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair informed Members that there was a need to hold an additional meeting of the Executive which would meet on Wednesday 25 March at 8:30am. He also informed Members of a proposal to move the time of the Executive meetings in the 2020/21 Municipal Year from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

 

Decisions

 

1.         To note that a further meeting will be scheduled for Wednesday 25 March at 8:30am.

 

2.         To note that the time of the Executive meetings in the 2020/21 Municipal Year move from 10:00am to 2:00pm

48.

Exclusion of the Public

The officers consider that the following item or items 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 Executive is recommended to agree the necessary resolutions excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of these items. At the time this agenda is published no representations have been made that this part of the meeting should be open to the public.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Decision

 

To exclude the public during consideration of the following item which involved consideration of exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons and public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

49.

Proposed Disposal of 16 - 18 Bennett Road, Crumpsall

(Public Excluded)

The report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) is attached.

Minutes:

The Executive considered a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development), on a proposal to dispose of a property at less than best value to Manchester Jewish Housing on the condition that they refurbished the property as either 2 or 4 dwellings and that those properties were let at social rent levels and subject to scrutiny of the costs and income by the Head of Development.

 

Decisions

 

1.         To authorise the disposal of the property at less than best value to Manchester Jewish Housing Association on the terms as set out in the report.

 

2.         To authorise the Head of Development and the Head of Housing Services to finalise the terms of the transaction and for the City Solicitor to execute the necessary documentation.