Report of the Chief Executive attached

The Executive considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on key areas of progress against the Our Manchester Strategy – Forward to 2025 which reset Manchester’s priorities for the next five years to ensure the Council could still achieve the city’s ambition set out in the Our Manchester Strategy 2016 – 2025.

The Deputy Leader (Human Resources) provided an update on the work being undertaken to tackle homelessness advising that the Council had embarked on five key projects designed to shift the balance further from response to prevention, see fewer people in temporary accommodation and achieve better results for those who do end up there.  He commented that over the past few years, the Council’s Homelessness service had responded to exponentially growing need and, more recently, the challenges of the pandemic and these challenges were only likely to grow as the impact of an end to the eviction ban during the pandemic and the removal of the £20 uplift in Universal Credit came into effect.

The Executive Member for Environment provided an update on the progress being made on the Greater Manchester Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure strategy.  The strategy, which complemented the region’s 2040 Transport Strategy, set out a vision to make Greater Manchester an exemplar city region so that by 2030 residents, businesses and visitors would be able choose to travel by electric car or van with the confidence that they could conveniently re-charge their vehicles. This in turn would help improve air quality and support the wider goal of Manchester, and the wider region, becoming zero carbon by 2038 at the latest.

The Executive Member for Housing and Employment provided an update on the steps being taken to reduce the Council’s carbon emissions.  He advised around 300 council-owned homes in Newton Heath and Higher Blackley would receive £15m worth of sustainability improvements, benefitting from measures such as new heat pump systems, new radiators to replace existing gas heating systems, triple glazing, extra insulation and the installation of renewable, low energy lighting where needed in order to save 750 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.  He also advised that since 2005, Northwards Housing had spent £80m on making Manchester City Council-owned homes more energy efficient, reducing carbon emissions from them by 48%.

The Executive Member for Health and Care provided an update on the Carers Manchester Contact Point helpline, which had been set up to provide support and advice to unpaid carers in the city.  The Contact Point, set up in collaboration between Manchester Local Care Organisation adult social care commissioners and local voluntary and community sector organisations, had helped more than 1,000 different carers since it was set up in August 2020 – in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Leader commented that it was important that the city had been recognised as the 3^rd best city in the world by Time Out magazine with many of the themes of the Our Manchester Strategy coming together in the findings of a survey in which 27,000 residents and visitors participated. He added that the growth of a diverse economy with high levels of skill made Manchester an attractive proposition for companies to locate to and people to live and work.

Decision

The Executive note the update