The report of the Chief Executive is enclosed.

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 Leader made reference to the use of the term Manchester Living Rent within the report and explained that this would be a way to increase the homes that all Manchester people could afford.  She explained that it would be set below Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels and would also be cheaper to residents than the standard Government definition of Affordable Housing (80% of market value for a particular area).  In essence it would  mean that regardless of where a home was in the city, it could be affordable to anybody and it was a clear and straightforward way of describing what the Council meant when it had pledged to provide low cost homes that people could afford.

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported on the Rodney Street development, the first planned development by the Council’s new housing delivery company This City, delivering 128 new homes, all of which will be built to low carbon standards, with 30% available at the Manchester Living Rent.  He also reported that a planning application had been submitted for more than 700 new homes, with around half of them to be affordable with a range of tenures, alongside a new high school a community hub and green spaces, to be built on the Former Jackson’s Brickworks site, a disused brownfield site in east Manchester.

The Deputy Leader reported on the continued support that the Council and its partners were providing for any Ukrainians escaping the invasion of their country.  A meet and greet point staffed by a council duty officer and volunteers from across the authority had been established at Manchester Airport, with the British Red Cross on call if further support was required.  More than £60,000 had been raised by the MCR Ukraine Welcome Fund, set up by the We Love Manchester charity in partnership with Manchester City Council, to help assist arriving Ukrainians. The first grant of £30,000 had been awarded to Ardwick-based charity Europia.  It would fund a dedicated support worker to co-ordinate advice and practical support for arrivals and contribute towards a hardship fund which the support worker would help administer.  As of May 16 2022, 177 would-be sponsors under the government’s Homes For Ukraine scheme had come forward and 42 of a potential 449 beneficiaries had arrived in the city.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport reported that the Council had secured £4.9m in Government funding for further work to reduce carbon emissions from more council-owned buildings with a further Council contribution of £1m which would deliver an almost £6m scheme to cut emissions from seven buildings.  The move was another step towards the Council’s goal of halving its direct carbon emissions by 2025 as it works towards becoming zero by 2028 – in line with the citywide target.  She also reported that consultation was underway on proposed walking and cycling improvements in the city centre (Active Travel) with the proposals aim to support the ambition set out in the Council’s City Centre Transport Strategy for 90 per cent of morning peak time journeys into the city centre to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2040.

In relation to the decarbonisation scheme, Councillor Leech asked whether any re-calculation on the long term savings on  cost of energy had been undertaken given the soaring increases in energy costs.  He also asked whether there was any substance in a tweet made by the Rt Hon James Grundy MP for Leigh, stating that that Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone was to be shrunk to Manchester city Centre and whether this would have any impact on the Active Travel proposals.  He also commented on the challenges residents had reported to him on accessing the checks required for taking in Ukrainian refugees, including being required to pay for electrical safety checks.

Councillor Johnson asked for clarity on whether the Council was on track for achieving its target of becoming carbon zero by 2038.

The Deputy Leader acknowledged that there had been some challenges for residents who were taking in Ukrainian refugees and requested that Councillor Leech provided details of these issues so that she could investigate and resolve. 

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport advised that she would arrange a specific briefing for all Elected Members around the decarbonisation target for both the Council and the City.  The Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer commented that in terms of energy price calculations, when the bid for the further government funding had been  finalised, it had been estimated that this would save £33,000 per annum and this was being re-calculated at present.  In terms of the Council’s action plan for achieving zero carbon, this was currently on track and was regularly scrutinised by the Council’s Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Committee.

The Leader commented that it was still Manchester’s and Greater Manchester’s position to submit a proposal of a non-charging clean air zone plan by 1 July 2022.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People welcomed the proposals for a new High School within the planning application for the Former Jackson’s Brickworks site and reported that more than 40 organisations had pledged their support to 2022 Our Year, a year-long campaign to create an array of activities, opportunities and experiences for the city’s children and young people and help create a lasting legacy which would make Manchester one of the best places to grow up in.  There was a packed programme of events, activities and opportunities underway and a flavour of these were referred to.

Decision

The Executive note the report.