To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2019.

To note the minutes of the meeting of the Behaviour Change and Waste Task and Finish Group held on 21 January 2019.

A recommendation was proposed and seconded to amend a section within item NESC/19/09 to the following:

The Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration welcomed the support for the stated commitment to deliver social and affordable housing for Manchester residents and reiterated the points made regarding the unfair budget cuts year on year. She said the enforcement team had issued over £250,000 in Civil Penalties to landlords to date and once recovered, this money would be reinvested back into the enforcement team.  She further informed the Committee that the Council had been successful in a bid to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for further funding for work to address Rogue Landlords.

The Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration further commented that an evaluation of the Selective Licensing scheme would be undertaken and this would inform discussions in regard to if this scheme would be extended into other areas, and due to the broadening of HMO licencing the team would be expanded to cover the new properties now covered by HMO licencing.

Decisions

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2019 as a correct record subject to the above amendment.

To note the minutes of the Behaviour Change and Waste Task and Finish Group meeting of 21 January 2019.

Report of the Director of Adult Services and the Strategic Director – Development

This report provides an update on the work that is taking place to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in the City; the use of temporary accommodation within the homeless service, including the inspection regime; and an update on Manchester Move and the Social Housing Allocations Policy.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Adult Services and the Strategic Director, Development that provided an update on the work that was taking place to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in the City; the use of temporary accommodation within the homeless service, including the inspection regime; and an update on Manchester Move and the Social Housing Allocations Policy.

The Deputy Leader referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         Homeless presentations had continued to rise compared to the previous financial year, in common with the growing picture across Greater Manchester and the UK;

·         Describing the work that was taking place to support people who were sleeping rough in the city;

·         An update on the Bed for Every Night initiative and the provision from April 2019;

·         An update on the Rough Sleeping Initiative;

·         The work progressed to work with the two Coroners for Manchester in order to improve the investigation and monitoring of homeless deaths;

·         An update on dispersed temporary accommodation and the ongoing work to improve the standard of this accommodation;

·         Information on the inspection of properties and the action plan that was being progressed;

·         Describing the activities to safeguard families in dispersed accommodation;

·         The approach taken to increase the number of large homes available for rehousing homeless families;

·         An update on Bed and Breakfast Accommodation, noting there had been a significant increase in the number of single presentations occurring in January 2019;

·         Describing the work to establish a hospital discharge protocol to reduce the number of people who present as homeless upon discharge from hospital;

·         An update on Homeless Commissioned Services;

·         The joint work with Children’s Services to develop a new pathway model which will better meet the needs of all young people in the city, including care leavers and young people with complex needs;

·         The work of the Section 21 team that had been established within the Housing Solutions service to work with households who had received a valid S.21 notice but remained in occupation of that property prior to eviction through the courts system;

·         An update on the work of the Private Rented Sector team;

·         Information on the Homefinder service and how this could be used as a resource to secure accommodation for homeless households;

·         Describing the initiative to maximise Social Housing Stock;

·         An update on Manchester Move, the Manchester Housing Allocation Scheme that set out the principles and rules by which people apply for social housing, including who qualified to join the housing register and how the Council prioritises who got a home;

·         An update on Social Housing in Manchester, noting that there was currently under 68,000 social homes in Manchester; and

·         Information on the Manchester Housing Register (MHR) and choice-based lettings (CBL) noting that the allocations scheme was currently being reviewed given the rising levels of homelessness and the cost of providing temporary and supported accommodation.

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

·         Homelessness was an issue that was taken very  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Solicitor

This report summarises the key features of Greater Manchester’s feasibility study and its Outline Business Case (OBC) to reduce nitrogen dioxide exceedances in Manchester and across Greater Manchester in the shortest possible time. This OBC has been developed by Manchester City Council collectively with all Greater Manchester local authorities and the GMCA, and co-ordinated by TfGM in line with Government direction and guidance.

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Solicitor that summarised the key features of Greater Manchester’s feasibility study and its Outline Business Case (OBC) to reduce nitrogen dioxide exceedances in Manchester and across Greater Manchester (GM) in the shortest possible time. This OBC had been developed by Manchester City Council collectively with all Greater Manchester local authorities and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and co-ordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in line with Government direction and guidance.

The main points and themes within the report included: -

·         Describing the context and background to the report;

·         Noting that poor air quality was the largest environmental risk to the public’s health;

·         The legal background;

·         Information on the Government’s UK Air Quality Plans;

·         Noting that TfGM had been coordinating the GM feasibility study on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities, who remain legally responsible for reducing NO₂ to legal Limit Values; and

·         Noting that the feasibility study process comprised a series of steps and processes, namely: Strategic Outline Case, Initial Evidence and Target Determination, Outline Business Case and Full Business Case.

The Committee had been invited to comment on this report prior to its submission to the Executive on the 13 March 2019. 

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

·         Consideration needed to be given to supporting small business through an appropriately funded vehicle replacement scheme;

·         Members questioned the reason why private cars were not included in the vehicles affected by the proposed Clean Air Zone;

·         Bus companies needed to take responsibility for their polluting vehicles that had a significant impact on the health outcomes of Manchester residents;

·         Had social and economic impact assessments been undertaken;

·         Priority should be given to supporting local taxi businesses to improve their fleet;

·         Transport poverty was an issue and more investment was required in public transport infrastructure across all of the city to encourage people not to use their car and to link people to employment opportunities;   

·         Publicity campaigns should be targeted at people not using public transport;

·         Electric vehicles remained expensive and there was a lack charging points; and

·         The consultation exercise, when launched, should involve ward coordination to ensure that as many residents as possible were engaged with this agenda.

The Committee then heard from Councillor Paul, Ward Councillor for Withington. He stated that he was disappointed with the proposals and the outline timescales, commenting that immediate action was required to address the harmful effects of pollution caused by vehicles. He questioned why private cars had not been included in the proposed plan, commenting that the vast majority of vehicles on the road were private cars, and the many of these were not compliant with emission standards. He further suggested that consideration needed to be given to other courses of action, such as introducing car free days.

The Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport stated that buses were one of the biggest contributors to poor air quality, noting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

Report of the Head of City Policy

In November 2018, the Committee and Executive agreed to the establishment of science-based carbon reduction targets for Manchester. This required the city to become zero carbon by 2038. Since then, the Manchester Climate Change Board, with the support of Anthesis, have developed a guide to support organisations in Manchester to play their full part in achieving this commitment. They have also developed a draft zero carbon framework 2020-2038 and started work to produce a draft action plan for 2020-25. This report sets out a framework for future action, the citywide progress that has been made since November 2018 and the specific contribution being made by the Council.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of City Policy, that noted that in November 2018, the Committee and Executive had agreed to the establishment of a science-based carbon reduction target for Manchester. This required the city to become zero carbon by 2038. Since then, the Manchester Climate Change Board, with the support of Anthesis, had developed a guide to support organisations in Manchester to play their full part in achieving this commitment. They had also developed a draft zero carbon framework 2020-2038 and started work to produce a draft action plan for 2020-25. This report set out a framework for future action, the citywide progress that had been made since November 2018 and the specific contribution being made by the Council.

The Committee had been invited to comment on this report prior to its submission to the Executive on the 13 March 2019. 

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

·         Noting that the Our Manchester Strategy set out the vision for Manchester to “be in the top flight of world-class cities by 2025” and committed the city to “playing our full part in limiting the impacts of climate change.”

·         The Council supported the Manchester Climate Change Board (MCCB) to take forward work to engage partners in the city to address climate change;

·         Noting that the Council had adopted a science-based carbon budget which was developed by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and committed the city to becoming zero carbon by 2038;

·         Manchester’s carbon budget was broken down into short, medium and long term allocations. Each carbon budget outlined the emissions not to be exceeded for each period, in order to ensure that Manchester met its overall emission reduction commitments to 2038;

·         Information on the Draft Zero Carbon Framework 2020-2038 and Action Plan 2020-22;

·         Information on the Council’s Draft Action Plan, noting the initial action plan which outlined the high level actions that the Council would undertake between April 2019 and March 2020 in order to produce a comprehensive action plan by March 2020;

·         This topic should be a regular agenda item at ward coordination meetings to ensure that as many residents as possible were engaged with this agenda; and

·         It was recognised that residents needed to be engaged in a meaningful way to ensure they are able to contribute to the ambitious targets.

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

·         The importance of retrofitting domestic properties and what was being done to support this activity;

·         Consideration needed to be given to developing green jobs that could then link into local colleges to develop green skills and employment;

·         It was important to engage all sections of the community in this agenda to deliver the required outcomes and Ward Coordination meetings and Neighbourhood Teams should be utilised to raise awareness of this important issue;

·         More needed to be done to raise awareness as to the urgency of this issue;

·         Expressing concern that the Greater  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

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.

Member’s noted that an Annual Work Programming Session was scheduled for the May meeting and requested that the following items should be scheduled for consideration at the appropriate time in the new municipal year; Section 21s, an update on the City Centre Public Space Protection Order consultation exercise, an update on the landlord licensing schemes, Highways Investment Programme update, Cycle Lanes and an update on waste and recycling.

Decisions

The Committee notes the report and approves the work programme subject to the above comments.