Report of the Assistant Chief Executive 

This report provides an update on the development of the new Our Manchester Strategy for the city covering the period 2025 to 2035. It builds on a previous report to Scrutiny Committees in July 2024. This report summarises the second round of engagement activity, the findings that are most relevant to the work of the Committee, and includes an overview of the new strategy.

The Committee considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive which provided an update on the development of the new Our Manchester Strategy for the city covering the period 2025 to 2035. It built on a previous report to Scrutiny Committees in July 2024.

Key points and themes in the report included:

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

·       Providing a summary of the second round of engagement activity;

·       The findings that were most relevant to the remit of the Committee;

·       An overview of the new strategy, noting that the OMS would focus on twelve priorities over the next ten years; and

·       Following formal approval, the OMS 2025-2035 would be launched in April 2025.

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

• To welcome the ambition of the Strategy and the strong partnership work in the city, including with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector;
• Concern that only 64.5% of respondents had agreed with the priority relating to climate change and that the Council needed to win over hearts and minds of residents and engage with partner organisations on this issue, noting that this was an important issue for many children and young people;
• Noting the consultation on the Climate Change Framework and that the 5-year plan for Greater Manchester was being reviewed, ensuring that these fed into the final document and that the importance of tackling climate change was emphasised;
• Positive comments about the engagement work that had taken place and thanking officers for their work;
• Engagement with children, including younger children, and young people, including university students;
• Highlighting and supporting the key priorities of the economy, equality and the environment;
• That reference should be made to providing pathways for 14 – 19 year-olds, especially those who were at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training);
• That the priority relating to sport and culture should place greater emphasis on opportunities for Manchester’s children and young people to play sports and participate in activities, rather than focusing on the two major football clubs, also noting that the cost of Premier League tickets was beyond the means of many local families but that this was not within the Council’s control; and
• How it would be ensured that under-represented groups were meaningfully included in shaping key priorities.

The Assistant Chief Executive advised that the original wording of the priority relating to climate change (“Manchester will be protected from the harmful effects of climate change”) might have resulted in some people disagreeing and that the wording had since been amended.  He highlighted that only 13.5% of respondents had disagreed with the priority, with 22.1% neither agreeing nor disagreeing.  He advised that climate change was a strong theme from the engagement with children and young people on the Strategy and from the engagement in relation to Child Friendly City, which officers had also taken into account in the development of the Strategy.  He confirmed that the results of the engagement work could be broken down by different characteristics, including age, so the views of young people could be appropriately weighted.  He also confirmed that engagement had taken place through the universities as part of phase 1.  In response to a Member’s comments about the reference to ‘residents’ median wages’, he advised that the wording of this section had been amended and that, following a comment at the previous day’s Economy and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee that earning levels should be referenced in the priority, further consideration would be given to the wording.  He advised that the priority “Have world-renowned things for everyone to see and do, showcasing our talent for sport and culture” was intended to reflect both activities that people in the city could participate in and events that would attract people into the city but that officers would review the wording of this for the next version of the document to ensure that it struck the right balance.  He advised that partners in the public, private and VCSE sector had been widely engaged with in the development of the Strategy, noting that this was a Strategy for the city, not just for the Council.  He reported that there would be further engagement with partners over the next few months over how the Strategy would be embedded into organisations.  In response to comments about engaging under-represented groups, he reported that feedback indicated that people wanted to be involved and included on an on-going basis and he drew Members’ attention to the priorities that our people would “be proud of our diversity, feel valued, included and that they belong” and would “be supported to participate, engage and influence decisions about their communities and neighbourhoods.”  He advised that there was already good practice in the Council in relation to this, including Child Friendly City, Making Manchester Fairer and Community Health Equity and that there would be a focus on extending good practice and applying it consistently across the Council. 

The Strategy and Economic Policy Manager advised that the development of the Strategy did not only take into account the responses to the consultation but also data from other work the Council had undertaken, such as Child Friendly City, and other evidence, for example, climate change targets were based on scientific information.  He recognised the important role of partner organisations in facilitating the engagement work.  He reported that there had been some engagement work at children’s centres and primary schools and that parents with young children had also been engaged with in many other locations. 

In response to questions from the Chair, the Assistant Chief Executive provided further information on the pop-up stalls, advising that the locations had been chosen to get coverage across different areas of the city.  He acknowledged that the consultation in phase 2 had not been as wide-reaching as phase 1, due to time constraints, but advised that it should be considered alongside the much more extensive engagement at phase 1.  He reported that earlier in the year officers from his service had met with Ward Councillors to ask for their suggestions for the best places within their ward to engage with residents, advising that the intention had been to engage with residents in locations where they would ordinarily be rather than asking them to attend a consultation event.

The Chair recommended increased community engagement to ensure under-represented groups were reached, that the Council benchmark against other cities and that measurable goals be set in order to evaluate progress, with periodic updates provided.

The Assistant Chief Executive reported that an implementation plan would be developed which would provide more specific information in relation to the twelve priorities.  He advised that the State of the City Report would be revised to align with the new Strategy and that this annual report would provide a range of indicators and narrative on progress towards the twelve priorities within the Strategy.  He informed the Committee that benchmarking with other cities was carried out as part of the State of the City work, as well as in relation to individual services.  He advised that further work would be done to engage with communities which were under-represented, linking in with other areas of work such as Making Manchester Fairer.

Decision

To note the report, recognising the importance of community engagement, particularly with under-represented groups, benchmarking against other cities and monitoring progress against measurable goals and noting the assurances from the Assistant Chief Executive that these are being addressed.