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

The Committee considered a report of The  Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer which  presented the annual overview of the Register of Significant Partnerships 2021.  A copy of the Register of Significant Partnership is attached at Appendix 1.

In addition to the scope, purpose and context of the Register, the report also included information about:

• The process followed for the production of the Register
• Entries added to the Register in 2021
• Proposed removals to the Register
• Partnerships where the assurance ratings have improved
• Partnerships where governance strength rating remains ‘Reasonable’ or ‘Limited’ following latest assessment
• Partnerships with a ‘Limited’ rating
• Partnerships where governance strength rating has reduced from ‘Significant’ to ‘Reasonable’, ‘Limited’ or ‘Weak’ since the last assessment

The Head of Programme Management Office (Commercial Governance & Directorate Support) introduced the report and highlighted that in light of comments from the Audit Committee, the format, range and robustness of questions in the annual self assessment form had been  strengthened. In addition, the ratings themselves had been  amended to provide consistency across the approach to ratings to align with other systems of governance (including for example, the Annual Governance Statement).

The key points of discussion in the meeting were:

• The proposed removal of Manchester Health and Care Commissioning Group (MHCCG) from the Register
• The extent to which partnership arrangements with the University of Manchester could be included on the Register
• The ‘reasonable’ assurance rating for the Manchester Safeguarding Partnership (MSP)
• Governance assurance ratings for Tenant Management Organisations (TMO)
• The timeline for the winding up of Manchester Working Limited (MWL)

In response to the proposal to remove MHCCG from the Register, it was agreed that the new successor body (Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board) shall be added to the Register to facilitate regular feedback to the Committee.  The Committee noted that the assessment of the new entity’s governance arrangements was in hand and that oversight would be established once the arrangements for the place-based lead for Manchester and its relationship with the Board had been agreed.

Noting that the Council had a number of joint development sites with the University of Manchester, a member asked about the feasibility of their inclusion on the Register.  The  Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer agreed to explore whether any projects / collaborative structures with the University fell within the scope of the Register.

There was a discussion about the ‘reasonable’ assurance rating for the MSP.  The Head of Programme Management Office (Commercial Governance & Directorate Support) advised that a number of activities were taking place to strengthen, governance, scrutiny and accountability within the MSP which indicated a positive trajectory for the entity and had contributed to its ‘reasonable’ assurance rating.

Noting the positive trajectory of assurance ratings for a number of TMO’s on the Register, there was discussion about the importance of maintaining robust governance arrangements for social housing entities within the city.  The Head of Programme Management Office (Commercial Governance & Directorate Support confirmed that the intention was for such entities to remain on the Register and therefore were required to submit evidence on a routine basis.  This would sit in parallel with contractual arrangements that were being developed with colleagues in the Council’s Audit function to underpin this monitoring arrangement.

In response to a question about the timescale for the winding up of MWL, The Head of Programme Management Office (Commercial Governance & Directorate Support) advised that it was hoped that the next update on the Register would confirm more information on how far the cessation of entity had advanced.

Decision

To note the latest update of the Council’s Register of Significant Partnerships