Report of the Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement and Strategic Lead - Commissioning

This report provides an update on the steps being taken on the Council’s procurement to support carbon reduction and to report on the Council’s consumption-based emissions (Scope 3) and what action is being taken to reduce these including information on the work done to develop the 10% environmental weighting criteria in procurement exercises. The report also outlines some priorities going forward for inclusion in CCAP 2025-30 over the next 5 years.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement and Strategic Lead, Commissioning that provided an update on the steps being taken on the Council’s procurement to support carbon reduction and to report on the Council’s consumption-based emissions (Scope 3) and what action was being taken to reduce these including information on the work done to develop the 10% environmental weighting criteria in procurement exercises. 

Key points and themes in the report and accompanying presentation included:

·         Providing an introduction and background that included a description of Scope 3;

·         Describing how the activity described supported the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan;

·         Describing the background and rationale for the 10% environmental weighting, including examples across different Council Directorates of results achieved since the 10% weighting had been formally adopted in 2022;

·         An update on Carbon Literacy training rates, noting that the Council had pledged to work towards achieving Gold Carbon Literacy Accreditation by March 2025;

·         Noting that the Integrated Commissioning and Procurement team were working with contract managers across the council to take greater responsibility for challenging specifications for procurement projects to ensure that subject matter experts within services were considering the carbon impact of the specification and developing insightful questions for inclusion in relation to the 10% weighting;

·         Examples of direct action being taken by the Council, such as the approach to Single Use Plastics and the contracts for Manchester Parks Cafes; and

·         Consideration of the approach to the measurement of Scope 3 emissions.

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

·         Welcoming the reported innovative work delivered to date;

·         What support was offered to support SME’s (Small and medium-sized enterprises);

·         Was the 10% environmental weighting requirement sufficient;

·         Discussing carbon literacy training and had there been any assessment as to the impact of this;

·         What measures were taken to ensure that potential suppliers were not greenwashing (Greenwashing is the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice);

·         Do we share good practice with other Local Authorities; and

·         All opportunities, including consideration of Planning applications should support this work.

The Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement and Strategic Lead, Commissioning said that the 10% weighting would be assessed by using a set of standard questions in addition to a number of bespoke questions that were applicable to the specific nature of a contract. He said that the 10% weighting applied to all contracts and that this was an appropriate level in the context of national procurement guidance so as to avoid legal challenge and to ensure the correct balance was struck with quality, adding that new national procurement regulations were expected soon. He commented that Manchester was leading the way both locally and nationally on this area of activity and that knowledge and good practice was shared with GM partners and other core cities. He commented that s106 funding secured via planning developments often delivered environmental improvements. He advised that guidance and support was offered to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report outlines the role of the North / Central / South Neighbourhood Teams in keeping the City’s neighbourhoods Clean, Safe and Vibrant.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) that described the role of the North / Central / South Neighbourhood Teams in keeping the City’s neighbourhoods clean, safe and vibrant. The teams’ proactive approach and response was based on the different characteristics and drivers of demand for each area within the city. The team played a key leadership role and were able to influence place-based priorities. The report provided a range of examples of how Officers collaborated internally and externally to deliver them.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Describing the strategic context of the Neighbourhood Teams role and core functions;

·         Consideration of the drivers of demand that influenced place-based delivery;

·         What delivery looked like in practice; and

·         Future considerations to shape the ongoing delivery of place-based priorities.

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

·         Recognising the important and good work that Neighbourhood Officers delivered and the positive relationships that had been established with local Members;

·         Were staff resources flexible enough to support activities in other localities as and when required;

·         What was the rationale for determining the Neighbourhood areas;

·         Noting the need to strike the correct balance, particularly in the city centre for services to respond to visitors, workers and residents;

·         What would the dashboard that was being developed measure;

·         Requesting an update on the work of the Climate Change Officers;

·         Welcoming the work of the Student Strategy Partnership and adding that representation from the Partnership should be a focus of a future Committee report and present at ward coordination meetings;

·         More information was sought in relation to the Intensive Neighbourhood Management Pilots;

·         Acknowledging the positive impact Neighbourhood Investment Fund had on local communities, including when activities and projects were delivered across wards and neighbourhoods;

·         Individuals needed to take responsibility for disposing of their waste in a responsible manner and not to litter or flytip;

·         The need to articulate and publicise the varied range of positive activities delivered by the Neighbourhood Teams and the positive contribution this had for the residents of the city; and

·         The need for services to recognise and celebrate the diversity of the city.

The Head of Neighbourhoods said that the Locality Areas had been established and agreed based on population data and there was currently no intention to review these. It was also how the Council collaborates with partners such as Greater Manchester Police and Registered Providers. He commented that the need to strike the correct balance and approach in the city centre was understood and all available opportunities, including ward coordination, resident forums, business groups facilitated discussions to inform priorities and the subsequent planning of activities and deployment of resources. He said that the dashboard that had been developed would report a range of relevant activities such as waste and recycling rates and bespoke Key Performance Indicators based on agreed ward priorities will be looked at. He commented that police data would also be included in this data set, and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report describes the work of the Licensing and Out of Hours Team.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) that provided an overview of the activity undertaken by the Licensing and Out of Hours Compliance Team which is part of the Compliance and Enforcement Service.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction to the service;

·         Discussion of the key areas of demand on the service;

·         Data on the number of requests for service (RFS), noting that in 23/24 the team received a total of 6,284 RFS, an increase of 47% since 2016/17 when the service was introduced;

·         Examples of proactive activities, including case studies of this work;

·         Describing the activity associated with Licensing Applications, noting that there had been a combined total of 2,470 licence applications dealt with by the team in 2023/24; and

·         Consideration of challenges and future initiatives.

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

·         Noting the significant breadth of activity the service engaged in;

·         How were resources deployed and priorities identified;

·         As the city grew there would be a need to increase capacity in the service as demand would grow;

·         What was the approach to assessing Temporary Event Notice (TEN) applications;

·         What is the response rate to noise complaints from residents, particularly in student areas;

·         Noting the shift patterns used and the extensive coverage this provided;

·         What was the approach to street pedlars, particularly on Market Street;

The Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety stated that priorities were agreed in consultation with Executive and local Members, as reflected in service plans, wider council strategies and policies and in accordance with statutory guidance. She paid tribute to the staff working across the service, commenting that they had a wealth of knowledge and experience and engaged positively with Councillors and residents to respond to issues and manage expectations when responding to issues. She commented that approximately a third of the work undertaken by staff was proactive and staff worked flexibly to accommodate their duties. She said that the licensing objectives were used when assessing the merits of any TEN application and objections would be submitted when considered appropriate to do so. She commented that they would work with organisers and monitor any event if a TEN was granted. She said that the team would always endeavour to respond to a noise complaint in a timely manner, however this would always depend on where staff were deployed at the time of a report being received e.g. if they received a call for a job in south Manchester but were currently dealing with a job in North Manchester it would take them some time to address the job they were dealing with and get to the other side of the city. Also the volume of jobs received in any night would also dictate how quickly they could respond. She commented that all complaints were followed up and the appropriate action taken. In regard to Street Pedlars she said that these were not required to be licensed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive

This report provides an update on the development of a new Our Manchester Strategy 2025-2035. A project team and steering group was formed in late 2023 ahead of the phase 1 engagement being launched in early 2024. This report provides a summary of the approach to engagement, the overall phase 1 engagement reach and a summary of the findings that are most relevant to the work of the Committee.

The Committee considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive that provided an update on the development of a new Our Manchester Strategy 2025-2035. A project team and steering group was formed in late 2023 ahead of the phase 1 engagement being launched in early 2024. The report provided a summary of the approach to engagement, the overall phase 1 engagement reach and a summary of the findings that are most relevant to the work of the Committee.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background, describing that the Our Manchester Strategy 2025 was the ten-year strategy for the city and the current Our Manchester Strategy was due to expire in 2025;

·         Officers had completed the first phase of development for the next Our Manchester Strategy for 2025 to 2035; and

·         Providing an update on the activity undertaken to date, a summary of the outputs from the first phase of the development for the new strategy, and a summary of the next steps.

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

·         Noting that 21% of consultees identified as disabled or having a health problem indicated that priorities needed to reflect this to ensure the city was accessible and inclusive to all residents;

·         Thanking officers for the scale and breadth of engagement undertaken, with a Member stating that the focused activity in her ward had been particularly well received by residents;

·         The need to use all available resources, including community press and radio to connect with and engage with different communities; and

·         Had the survey been available in different languages and formats.

The Head of City Policy welcomed the positive comments expressed by the Members. He said that the sessions held with ward Councillors had been very beneficial and provided an invaluable route to connect with local groups and residents. He said that the information and data obtained through both the universal questionnaire and targeted work would be subject to further analysis, using different lenses and appropriate weighting given to fully understand the responses and inform future priorities to be articulated in the new Our Manchester Strategy. He commented that a suite of engagement materials had been utilised, including an easy-read leaflet, a British Sign Language (BSL) video, and printed leaflets and providing translations of the universal survey in Manchester’s top five spoken languages (Arabic, Urdu, Polish, Farsi, and Kurdish). He said that initial indications showed that cleanliness, safety and crime, green spaces, public transport and community involvement were emerging as key themes for residents.

The Head of City Policy stated that he would arrange a follow up conversation with the Lead Member for Disability to help inform the next Our Manchester Strategy for 2025 to 2035.

Decision

To note the report.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

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

This includes the Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan Q4 emissions report (2023-24).

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.

In considering the item of information that had been provided the Committee noted that the increase in emissions for Quarter 4 (Q4) of 2023/24 showed that the Council had used 7,386 tonnes of CO2 during this period, equating to a total of 23,012 tCO2 in 2023/24. This exceeded the annual CO2 budget of 21,562, however, Manchester City Council remained on track to stay within the 5-year carbon budget for the period 2020-25.  The Committee discussed the issue related to the failure to decarbonise the National Grid and called for an end to any objections to the delivery of green infrastructure to accelerate carbon reduction. The Chair noted that this was precisely why the Council’s investment in a renewable energy Power Purchase Agreement was important. The Committee further noted that it would be considering the Manchester City Council 2020-25 Climate Change Action Plan 2023/24 Annual Report at its next meeting, further noting that the science-based carbon budget and associated actions for post 2025 were to be covered as part of the Climate Change Action Plan 2025-30 update report scheduled for January 2025. In response to a discussion relating to the reported increased emissions relating to streetlighting, the Head of City Policy commented that this could be attributed to an increased hours of usage.

Decision

The Committee notes the report and agrees the work programme, noting the comments raised during consideration of the previous agenda items.