To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2018 .

Decision

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2018 as a correct record.

The Committee will consider the reports detailed below as part of the 2019/20 budget refresh process.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive and the City Treasurer which provided an update on the Council’s financial position and set out the next steps in the budget process.  The report summarised Officer proposals for how the Council could deliver a balanced budget for 2019/20.

In conjunction to the above, the Committee also received and considered the Neighbourhoods Directorate Business Plans and Strategic Development Business Plans for 2019/20, which set out in broad terms the directorate’s key priorities, key activities and revenue and capital strategy for 2019/20, which was a refresh of the directorate’s Business Plans for 2018/20 in the context of current resources, challenges and opportunities.

Taken together, the report and the directorate Business Plan illustrated how the directorate would work together and with partners to deliver Our Plan and progress towards the vision set out in the Our Manchester Strategy.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committees discussions were: -

·         Members recognised the hard work undertaken by staff delivering services in neighbourhoods;

·         Members unanimously stated that no consideration should be given to reducing the already stretched neighbourhood services;

·         That the results of the BHeard survey are circulated to all Members as soon as the results are available;

·         Consideration needed to be given to allocating additional funding to the neighbourhood service;

·         A review of the waste contract was required to ensure that it was still fit for purpose;

·         Neighbourhoods Services should not be outsourced;

·         Following the recent ward boundary changes consideration needed to be given to how resources are allocated across the city to reflect this;

·         How did the numbers of staff working in neighbourhood teams compare to other cities of similar size;

·         An assurance was sought on the figures relating to business rates;

·         How confident was the Executive Member for Neighbourhoods that the savings identified could be achieved from increased rates of recycling;

·         Clarification was sought on the reported underspend by Highways and was enough being allocated for the maintenance and repair of footways; 

·         An assurance was sought regarding that social value was included in the commissioning of services and contracts;

·         Consideration needed to be given as to how the Council could generate income;    

·         What work had been done to support district centres;

·         Clarification was sought as to where Social Housing would be built and an assurance was sought that ward members would be consulted with;

·         When building social housing consideration needed to be given to the planning and delivery of other services, such as schools and doctor’s surgeries to meet the demand of the local population;

·         The need to stop the Right to Buy scheme for social housing;

·         Public transport and connectivity needed to be improved across the city so that residents could access employment opportunities; and

·         What was being done to address homelessness especially for families living in temporary accommodation.

The Deputy City Treasurer responded by saying that the increased revenue from the collection of business rates and the increase in the council tax base had been modelled based on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive

This report provides an update on investment in cycling infrastructure in Manchester, reviewing schemes completed through the first phase of the Cycle City Ambition Grant, summarising proposals currently being developed and, in the light of additional resources being made available through the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, proposes an approach that could inform the development of a pipeline of future schemes to encourage higher levels of walking and cycling.  

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive that provided an update on the investment in cycling infrastructure in Manchester, reviewing schemes completed through the first phase of the Cycle City Ambition Grant, summarising proposals currently being developed and, in the light of additional resources being made available through the Mayor’s Challenge Fund, proposed an approach that could inform the development of a pipeline of future schemes to encourage higher levels of walking and cycling. 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         Describing these activities within a policy and strategy context;

·         An update on the schemes delivered to date;

·         An update on the schemes currently in development;

·         Describing the schemes identified for Phase 2 and how these were being developed, including an update on how schools would be connected to the cycle networks;

·         An update on the Mayor’s Walking and Cycling Challenge Fund and the development of the Beelines Network, an innovative new plan to create a city-region-wide cycling and walking network made up of more than 1,000 miles of routes, including 75 miles of Dutch-style segregated bike lanes; and

·         The strategic principals for developing future cycling and walking networks across the city.

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

·         The lack of cycle lanes in the north and east of the city compared to the south of the city;

·         The need to improve both the bus and metrolink service to the north and east of the city;

·         The Rochdale canal footway should be improved to provide a cycle route to connect the north of the city to the city centre;

·         The report did not include any information on the provision of cycle storage or consideration as to the use of experimental traffic orders to encourage cycling;

·         Consideration needed to be given to illuminating cycling routes, like the Fallowfield Loop to ensure cyclists were safe;

·         An analysis of cycling journeys needed to be undertaken with consideration given to linking district centres together with cycle routes;

·         The timing of the Chorlton cycle lane consultation was inappropriate and an extension of two weeks was recommended;

·         Not enough printed material had been available for the Chorlton cycle lane consultation exercise;

·         Concern was expressed that the Chorlton Road corridor consultation exercise was not transparent, with the views of cyclists and residents being dismissed. 

The Lead Member for cycling and active travel said that the lack of cycle lanes in the north of the city was recognised. She said to address this the first principal for future investment schemes had been that the first schemes in a future pipeline should be in parts of Manchester yet to receive significant investment with a particular initial focus on the north of the city.

The Executive Member for the Environment responded to the comments regarding the Chorlton Road corridor consultation exercise. She explained that at this time it was not necessary to extend the period of the consultation, however she would review this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive

This item seeks to address issues that the Committee had asked officers to report on, namely the communications associated with highway works, the planning and delivery of pavement and footway maintenance and the management of traffic flow across the city.

This written report focuses on the first two of these issues. It explains how planned maintenance work on pavements and footways is communicated to local residents and businesses and how the programme of footpath and pavement maintenance is developed and agreed.

A separate presentation will be given at the meeting by officers from both Transport for Greater Manchester and the City Council on the management of traffic flow. This will include an explanation of how roadworks are planned and what measures are taken to respond to events and incidents to try to ensure that traffic flow is effectively managed.  

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive that provided information on the communications associated with highway works and the planning and delivery of pavement and footway maintenance. In addition to the written report the Committee received a presentation from officers from both Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the City Council on the management of traffic flow. This included an explanation of how roadworks were planned and what measures were taken to respond to events and incidents to try to ensure that traffic flow is effectively managed.  

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         Information on the Highways Communication Strategy;

·         Information on roads and footway inspections undertaken in order to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the network or the wider community;

·         Information on the planned programmes of footway maintenance work that were developed to prioritise the worst condition footways on the Key Route Network (KRN) and Community Network (CN) and tie in with the road resurfacing programme where possible.  Works involved resurfacing or overlay of the existing footway, with kerb replacement where required; and

·         Information on how TfGM who had responsibility for the day to day management of the Urban Traffic Control system including the installation and maintenance of traffic signals manage this across the city.

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

·         The reported estimated footway that needed repair was a significant amount and was the resources allocated to deliver the scale of works required sufficient;

·         Was any of the income generated from pop up events used to repair any damage caused to the pathway;

·         The condition of the footways was not user friendly for any resident with a disability and would not pass the age friendly test, especially around district centres;

·         The length of time to repair defective footways was too long in many cases; and

·         Traffic flow needed to be better coordinated, especially when major events are taking place in the city to minimise the impact on residents.

The Head of Citywide Highways said that he acknowledged the comments regarding the condition of footways, however those conditions were not as challenging as the highway conditions. He advised that they had inherited a backlog of repair work however he was confident that improvements to the footway conditions would be delivered and emergency repairs would always be prioritised. In response to a comment from a Member he commented that inspections of district centres would be undertaken.

The Chair requested that the planned programme of repair work for footways be circulated to Members.

In response to a concern expressed by Members regarding the impact of planned major works scheduled to start in 2019 on both congestion and air quality, the Director of Operations (Highways) advised that a review of the planning for this had already begun. He described that the traffic modelling of these works was being done TfGM so this could then inform the scheduling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer – Neighbourhoods

This report provides Members with an update on demand for and performance of the Compliance and Enforcement service during 2017/18.

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Operating Officer, Neighbourhoods that provided Members with an update on demand for and performance of the Compliance and Enforcement service during 2017/18. The report also provided information on the activities undertaken around enforcement in relation to double yellow line tickets; obstruction of the highways; hot food providers’ waste contracts and how these are policed; enforcement activity undertaken by the Licensing and Out of Hours Compliance Team outside of the city centre area; tackling counterfeit goods, with particular reference to the Strangeways area; planning enforcement and legislation relating to the operation of Airbnb.

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         A description on the various teams that made up the Compliance and Enforcement service;

·         Comparative data on the number of requests for service received and the number of proactive activities undertaken;

·         An analysis of the main types of complaint received;

·         Information on the number of enforcement action taken, including data on prosecutions; and

·         Examples were provided to highlight the various activities and the outcomes achieved by the various teams.

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

·         Welcoming the reported activities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for flytipping;

·         Noting the increase in prosecutions particularly for flytipping and querying how this has been achieved and how the total amount of fines compares to previous years.

·         Noting the increase in noise nuisance complaints particularly in relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and querying whether the fees raised from the extension to Mandatory HMO licensing provided additional resources for enforcement.;

·         Noting that London Authorities had powers to require businesses to comply with strict time banded collections, which only allowed the collection of commercial waste at defined times and whether this could be introduced in Manchester city centre;

·         Would enforcement action be taken if someone parked on a double yellow line that was faded;

·         In recognition of the issues surrounding the Strangeways area, consideration should be given to having a dedicated officer dealing with this area;

·         What is the process for moving from working with people and businesses to achieve compliance to more formal action when they fail to comply; and

·         With the increase in development there were a lot of issues related to the construction industry and what was being done to address this.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods stated that the compliance teams had adopted the Our Manchester approach to work with residents and businesses to improve the physical environment. He said that officers would always work with businesses in the first instance to address any issues associated with commercial waste, however accepted the point raised by a Member that in some instances enforcement action was required sooner to prevent an issue from escalating.

The Strategic Lead, Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety welcomed the recognition of the work undertaken by the Environmental Crimes Team to drive the number of prosecutions. She explained that where prosecutions are secured the fines imposed by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

This report sets out the proposed terms of reference and work programme for the Behaviour Change and WasteTask and Finish group.

The Committee considered the report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit that set out the proposed terms of reference and work programme for the Behaviour Change and WasteTask and Finish group.

The Committee were invited to agree the membership of the Task and Finish Group; agree the terms of reference for the Task and Finish Group and agree the work programme of the Task and Finish Group, which would be reviewed by the group at each of its meetings.

Decisions

1. To appoint Councillors Hassan, Hughes, Jeavons, Kilptraick, Lyons, Reid, Wright as members of the Behaviour Change and Waste Task and Finish group.

2. The Committee approved the terms of reference and the work programme of the Task and Finish Group.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

This report includes details of the key decisions due to be taken that are relevant to the Committee’s remit as well as 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 agree.

The report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit which contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit and responses to previous recommendations was submitted for comment. Members were also invited to agree the Committee’s future work programme.

A Member commented that consideration needed to be given to the number of items on future agendas so as to allow enough time to scrutinise each item thoroughly.

The Chair informed the Committee that she would be meeting with Officers at the rise of this meeting to discuss the Work Programme and agree the items that were to be scheduled.

Decisions

The Committee notes the report and approve the work programme.