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

Councillor Azra Ali declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in item 6 – Community Safety Partnership Overview.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2023.

Decision: That the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 10 October 2023, be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods).

This report provides an overview of Manchester’s bid to become ACES European Capital of Cycling for 2024. If successful, Manchester will become the first ever ACES European Capital of Cycling and this will enable the city to further prioritise cycling plans, infrastructure and policy across the city to benefit our citizens.

The committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an overview and sought the committee’s endorsement to the Executive of Manchester’s bid to become ACES European Capital of Cycling for 2024.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Providing an introduction and background;
• The content of Manchester’s bid, which was joint between Manchester City Council, MCRactive, TfGM, British Cycling, Marketing Manchester and GLL;
• The commitments made by partners for 2024, should Manchester’s bid be successful;
• The communications plan, including a bespoke campaign brand; and
• The outcomes and legacy should Manchester’s bid be successful.

Key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

• Noting the great facilities for cycling within Manchester, including the National Cycling Centre and indoor BMX track;
• Whether any activities would be undertaken to widen access to cycling to certain communities such as LGBTQ+ and ethnic minorities;
• The stigma around young people on bicycles and antisocial behaviour;
• The impact of illegal parking and flooding on cycling infrastructure, and how this would be addressed;
• Whether the proposed commitments would still be achieved if Manchester’s bid was unsuccessful;
• The activities and events that would be held in 2024 should Manchester be successful in its bid;
• Whether new walking and cycling routes were part of scheduled works already or if these were dependent on a successful bid;
• Current issues with the Bee Bike cycle hire scheme; and
• Expressing hope that Manchester’s bid to become European Capital of Cycling 2024 was successful.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport explained that the Council had been approached by ACES Europe to submit a bid to become European Capital of Cycling for 2024 as a result of the Council’s investment in cycling with partners. She explained that Manchester was home to the British Cycling and the Great Britain Cycling team at the recently refurbished National Cycling Centre. She stated that the Council had received investment of £70 million in recent years to deliver high-quality cycling infrastructure on highways and there was a strong network of volunteers, partners and local groups which worked to expand cycling participation through Bikeability courses, cycling coaching in schools and inclusive cycling programmes and events. She highlighted that Manchester’s bid aligned closely with the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and investment plan, Making Manchester Fairer and the Manchester Sport and Physical Activity Strategy. She explained that, if successful in its bid, the Council aimed to achieve a long-lasting legacy for cycling in Manchester and to transform and enhance the city’s cycling offer.

The Director of Neighbourhood Delivery explained that all members had received a copy of the bid document which was submitted to ACES Europe in August 2023 and that a follow-up delegation had visited Manchester in September to look at different examples of cycling within the city. He stated that the bid consortium included representatives from the Council, British Cycling, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), MCR Active, Marketing Manchester, GLL and Cycling UK and community and voluntary organisations had also been involved in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) and Chair of Community Safety Partnership, Manchester City Council.

This report provides an update on the implementation of the Community Safety Strategy 2022-25. It also provides information requested by Members at the Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee meeting on 6 September 2022.

The committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) and Chair of the Community Safety Partnership which provided an update on the implementation of the Community Safety Strategy 2022-25.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Providing an introduction and background to Community Safety Partnerships and the Community Safety Strategy 2022-25;
• Tackling neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour, particularly in student neighbourhoods;
• Safety of women and girls;
• Keeping children and young people safe;
• Early intervention and prevention, including trauma responsive interventions;
• Tackling serious harm and violence, including modern slavery and the RADEQUAL community campaign;
• The initiatives funded for 2023/24;
• Tackling drug and alcohol driven crime;
• Work to change offender behaviour; and
• The work and aims of the Community Safety Partnership’s Achieving Race Equality Task and Finish Group.

Key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

• What work was being undertaken to strengthen cohesion in communities where tensions may be rising as a result of conflict in the Middle East;
• Noting the work of RADEQUAL and the influence that disinformation (false information deliberately spread to deceive people)could have on young people;
• Expressing disappointment in the way that changes to Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) Student Safe operation were communicated to members;
• Expressing concern over staff turnover within GMP’s Neighbourhood Policing teams;
• The membership of the Safety of Women and Girls Steering Group and how members were appointed;
• What work was being done, beside nighttime patrols in the city centre, to ensure the safety of women in the nighttime economy and to implement Unite the Union’s ‘Get Me Home Safely’ campaign;
• What work the Council’s Youth, Play and Participation service were undertaking in south Manchester to dissuade young people from engaging in violence;
• Noting that 90% of people managed by Probation in Manchester were in settled accommodation following release from prison between January and March 2023, and querying what happened to the remaining 10%;
• How Greater Manchester’s performance in placing prison-leavers in settled accommodation after their release compared to other areas in England;
• Requesting further clarification on the unmet need within CAS3;
• Noting the seriousness of modern slavery and exploitation through international sponsorship schemes;
• The capacity to house all prison-leavers in Manchester;
• Whether accommodation for prison-leavers was in one locality or spread across the city;
• What was being done to address reoffending amongst young people; and
• Whether earlier intervention was required to address youth crime.

The Strategic Lead (Community Safety) explained the key priorities of the Community Safety Partnership, including keeping children and young people safe, early intervention and prevention, addressing drug- and alcohol-related harms and cross-cutting themes such as addressing disproportionality in services.

The Assistant Chief Officer of GM Probation Service provided an overview of the service and reiterated the benefits of working closely with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), as part of unification between the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies in 2021, in establishing a local service and enabling local commissioning. He acknowledged that three probationary units within Greater Manchester had been assessed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods).

This report provides an overview of progress made on developing Manchester’s approach to tackling serious violence.

The committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an overview of progress made in developing Manchester’s approach to tackling serious violence.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Providing an introduction and background to the Serious Violence Strategy 2022-2023;
• The Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) Strategic Needs Assessment 2023;
• An overview of serious violence in Manchester;
• Hotspot areas;
• Links between serious violence and deprivation;
• Serious violence amongst and against young people;
• Interventions and early indications of impact and outcomes; and
• An overview of the Joint Targeted Area Inspection on serious youth violence, which was undertaken between September and October.

Key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

• Requesting clarification on which protected characteristics as listed under the Equality Act 2010 were likely to be disproportionately affected by serious violence, with figures and statistics;
• Requesting further information on the work of the Peace Together Alliance and SAFE taskforce;
• Noting the importance of early intervention and querying what work was being undertaken with those already involved in serious violence;
• Whether data on homicides within the city was based on a month-by-month comparison;
• Highlighting the important early intervention and prevention work being undertaken by voluntary groups in local communities;
• Responses to crime and serious violence in communities and in the media;
• Whether a communications plan was in place to reduce fear and to highlight work to reduce instances of serious violence;
• How GMP positively communicated updates on serious violence incidents;
• What early intervention and prevention work was being undertaken specifically with young people; and
• The importance of the role of housing providers in early intervention and prevention. 

The Statutory Deputy Leader acknowledged some serious incidents of violence in Manchester in recent months, particularly involving young people as both victims and perpetrators, and he emphasised that one instance of serious violence was one too many. He stated that it was important to intervene early and to provide hope, aspiration, and positive activities for young people. He also noted that the vast majority of young people in Manchester did not engage in violence and that the Serious Violence Strategy and the Community Safety Partnership would work to reduce violence in the city.

The Strategic Lead (Community Safety) explained that the report provided an update on progress with the delivery of the Serious Violence Strategy, including current performance and key statistics on serious violence in Manchester and detailed the significant investment which had been given to the work of the Community Safety Partnership and the Violence Reduction Unit from a range of funding sources. She also informed the committee that the Partnership’s response to serious youth violence was recently subject to a Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) and the outcome of this would be published on 30 November 2023 with a report to this committee in January 2024.

In response to members’ queries, the Strategic Lead (Community Safety) confirmed that she would share the additional information requested. Regarding ongoing work to support those already involved in serious  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer.

This report provides a high-level overview of the updated budget position for 2024/25.

In opening the item, the Chair advised the committee that items 8 and 8a would be considered together and the committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer which provided an overview of the Council’s updated budget position for 2024/25 and a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which outlined the priorities for the services in the remit of this committee and detailed the initial revenue budget changes proposed by officers.

Key points and themes within the reports included:

• An estimated budget shortfall of £46m was expected in 2024/25, £86m in 2025/26, and £105m by 2026/27;
• This gap would reduce to £1.6m in 2024/25, £30m in 2025/26 and £49m by 2026/27 after the application of approved and planned savings and the use of c£17m smoothing reserves in each of the three years;
• The indicative medium-term financial position;
• A review of emerging pressures and budget assumption had been completed and provision made to address these where unavoidable, including inflation and pay awards;
• The planned public consultation on proposed council tax levels and savings and cuts measures;
• Next steps in the budget process;
• Providing an overview and information on the priorities of the Neighbourhoods directorate;
• The services under the remit of this committee;
• The base budgets for each service area for 2023/24;
• Current financial pressures and ongoing high inflation rates meant it was necessary to revisit the initial assumptions and identify further savings options for consideration whilst protecting service delivery;
• Noting that a temporary reduction in the annual £40k contribution to the security measures for the Christmas Markets whilst Albert Square is unavailable would be re-introduced once the markets return to Albert Square;
• A proposal to reduce libraries’ book fund budget by £30k to £0.65m per annum;
• Government grants and the income they provide;
• Workforce implications, including reviews of vacant posts;
• Future opportunities;
• The indicative medium-term budgets by service area; and
• The indicative medium-term budgets by type of spend/income.

Key points and themes that arose from the committee’s discussion included:

• Acknowledging the 13-year period of austerity and the Local Government Association’s warning that local authorities were facing a £4bn funding shortfall;
• Noting ongoing inflationary pressures and the advantage that a Fair Funding Settlement would provide;
• Expressing concern with the proposed £30k cut to the book fund budget;
• The impact of inflation on the Council’s income stream;
• Highlighting the additional burden placed on the Homelessness service as a result of the government’s plan to provide 7 days’ eviction notice to asylum seekers in temporary accommodation;
• The impact of the cost-of-living crisis increasing demand for Council services and support whilst the Council’s budget was being cut at the same time;
• The financial implications of cuts to homelessness grants, such as the Afghan Resettlement Funding; and
• Requesting further breakdown of the budget allocated to tackle crime and disorder.

The Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) provided an overview of the key points within the reports and explained that the Neighbourhoods directorate had a net budget of £66m with 1364 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit.

The monthly report includes the recommendations monitor, relevant key decisions, the Committee’s work programme and any items for information.

The committee considered a report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit which contained a list of key decisions yet to be taken within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

Members noted that there was only one substantive item listed on the committee’s work programme for December. The Governance and Scrutiny Team Leader endeavoured to identify any additional reports which could be brought forward to that meeting.

The Overview Report also included a briefing note for information on the RBDxP programme, in response to a recommendation made previously by the committee for further information on this. Several comments were made on this, which would be passed onto the relevant officers.

Decision:That the report be noted, and the work programme agreed.