Report of the Head of Strategy and Policy Development – Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)

This report seeks the Committees views on a draft proposition for a GM Good Employment Charter in order to help deliver the priorities of ‘good jobs with opportunities for people to progress and develop’ and ‘a thriving and productive economy in all parts of Greater Manchester’

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Strategy and Policy Development, GMCA, which provided Members with details of a proposed GM Good Employment Charter in order to help deliver the priorities of ‘good jobs with opportunities for people to progress and develop’ and ‘a thriving and productive economy in all parts of Greater Manchester as set out in the Greater Manchester strategy(GMS).

The Head of Strategy and Policy Development referred to the main points and themes within the report which included:-

·                the Charter would have a tiered structure, enabling it to engage a wide range of businesses, public service providers and voluntary and community sector organisations and encourage them to meet higher employment standards by progressing up the tiers, learning from best practice, and thereby improve productivity and service quality;

·                The first tier of the Charter would be for those employers who supported the aims of the Charter and GMS, but were not yet in a position to meet the requirements of accreditation;

·                The next tier of the Charter – membership – would require employers to

·                become accredited, based around a small number of clear standards drawn from the areas raised in the consultation;

·                There were many existing accreditations in these areas, both local and national, so rather than duplicate existing standards, the proposed approach was to combine other accreditations into the GM standard, requiring fewer resources in setting up;

·                Engagement would continue with employers, employees, campaigners and others to develop and refine this proposition and prepare another public consultation document setting out the draft Charter to be published shortly; and

·                Dependent on the outcome of that consultation, a final Charter was expected to be produced by the end of the year.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committees discussions were:-

·                Consideration should be given to including the health service and employers in future consultation on the Charter;

·                How would the membership of the proposed Independent Panel, which would be set up to oversee the running of the Charter, be selected;

·                When would the next round of consultation take place;

·                How would the resources needed for the running of the Charter be provided;

·                It was hoped that within the requirements of the Charter there would be inclusion of the issues discussed around employment of the over 50’s population of Manchester.

The Head of Strategy and Policy Development acknowledged the comments made in relation to including the views of the health service and its employees in the next round of consultation and it was reported that they had already been included in the design of the charter to date.  In terms of the membership of the Panel, it was reported that this was still open to further discussion and the resources for the Charter would be discussed in the next round of consultation.

The Leader informed the Committee that the next round of consultation on the proposed Charter would be with the Greater Manchester Mayor, himself and other appropriate members of the GMCA, however, he did intend to bring the final version of the Charter before full Council before it was officially adopted.

Officers noted the comments previously made by the Committee around the e employment of the over 50’s and agreed that this would be looked at for incorporating into the final version of the Charter.

Decision

The Committee

(1)       Endorses the development and creation of a Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter; and

(2)       Requests that the draft consultation is submitted to Committee Members for information.