Decisions

Councillor Cummins, Cabinet Member for Housing Services reported that

the report seeks formal approval of a contract to the approved bidder. The regulator requires the stock to be upgraded in line with current regulations, Pennington Choices Limited carried out a full review of general needs and sheltered blocks which identified a range of works necessary to ensure compliance, the LD2 smoke detection upgrade works are within the scope to complete.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet approve the award of a contract to the winning bidder AB Electrical and Building Ltd for the initial period to 31 March 2025 with the option to extend for a further 12 months until March 2026 at a value of £920,000.

·         Cabinet delegate finalisation of the terms of the contract to the Director of Law and Democratic Services in consultation with the Executive Director (Strategy & Transformation).

Reasons for recommendation(s):

Tenders were received from six contractors through the Procure Plus electrical framework, the tender was on a price and quality basis, it was procured through a mini competition. The winning bidder scored highest overall in the evaluation process. The evaluation of the tenders was carried out on a 70:30 price and quality/social value basis.

Corporate Procurement, (via STAR Procurement) has reviewed and is satisfied with the approach taken and the outcome.

Councillor Quinn, Cabinet Member Environment, Climate Change and Operations reported that this item relates to the Bury Biodiversity Strategy which embraces the first consideration of what the Council can do to meet its biodiversity duty. It outlines the current state of biodiversity in the Borough and the actions that we can take to conserve and enhance our biodiversity assets.

A draft version of the Strategy was approved for consultation by Cabinet in December 2023 and consultation subsequently took place between 9 January and 20 February 2024. The consultation responses received are summarised in the Consultation Report which is attached at Appendix B. Following consideration of the responses, several changes have been made to the Biodiversity Strategy and these are also set out in Appendix B.

Following a discussion regarding the monitoring of bio-diversity members were informed that the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit will have an ongoing role. To be qualified to monitor sites a person requires responsible body status, which anyone with this expertise can apply for. Further information on who monitors currently will be shared with Cabinet once known.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet note the responses to the public consultation and the proposed post-consultation revisions as set out in Appendix B.

·         Cabinet adopt the revised Bury Biodiversity Strategy (Appendix A), noting that it will be reviewed within the next five years.

·         Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director (Place), to make any minor non-material editorial amendments to the Biodiversity Strategy ahead of its final publication.

Reason for recommendations:

To ensure that the Council has an up-to-date strategy in place for the conservation and enhancement of Bury’s biodiversity assets.

Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that Bury Council is committed to delivering a new special school, working in collaboration with the Department for Education (DfE) and Oak Learning Partnership.

The scheme will be funded and delivered through the Department for Education Free School Programme with the Council being required to make a modest Capital contribution towards site remediation costs. Indicative Capital costs of £475,000 have been received by the Department for Education in relation to the Council’s obligations. Following detailed assessment these will be the subject of a further report to Cabinet once confirmed. Provision has been made within the Children & Young People Capital Programme to meet these costs.

A member reflected on comments from the community brough up at full Council regarding access. In response Councillor O’Brien advised that he is confident that those who currently use the site regularly will be able to continue and currently, work is taking place with Bury Football Club to consider other offers also.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet approve the disposal of the land on a long leasehold basis in accordance with the proposed terms as set out in section 4 of this report

·         Cabinet instruct the Monitoring Officer to enter into lease arrangements with the DFE.

·         Cabinet note that a full proposal of quantified abnormal costs will be submitted to Cabinet for approval at a later date.

Reasons for recommendation(s)

To unlock the delivery of a new SEMH secondary special school.

The proposed site boundaries ensure stakeholder considerations including strategic site access, future transport routes and contractor site management.

The PSV agreement between the Council and Department for Education (DfE) sets out the requirement for new specialist educational provision, including new Resourced Provision and new Free Special Schools.

The agreement has been subject to consideration by Cabinet and the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Committee and is subject to governance provided by the PSV Delivery Board and Schools Capital Board. The development of new specialist provision seeks to ensure access to a high quality continuum of provision, enabling the majority of children and young people with additional needs to access local provision, with appropriate capacity and resources to meet need.

The proposed new school will greatly enhance Social Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) provision in the borough and increase the overall range and type of provision that is available to support the successful education of children and young people in Bury. In addition, it will provide support for children in mainstream schools in Bury who may be experiencing SEMH difficulties.

Councillor Morris, Cabinet Member for Culture, Economy and Skills reported that in October 2023 Bury Indoor Market was closed due to the discovery of Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (RAAC) which posed a significant Health and Safety risk. 

Following the closure, 49 Traders (62 Units) who operated within the hall were either relocated, had their units reconfigured to continue operating, or arranged alternatives for their business.

During the consultation with traders to organise relocation, opportunities to move traders into the Millgate Shopping Centre presented themselves as Bury Council had recently entered a Joint Venture with Bruntwood to purchase the Millgate to regenerate the area, which links to the Bury Town Centre Master Plan.

By committing support, the traders that are now operating within the Millgate Shopping Centre are receiving a continued subsidy, which is over and above their rent and service charge, which is at a continued cost to the council of £163,250 plus variable utility charges throughout the proposed occupation period to March 2025. 

The level of subsidy is unsustainable and is creating increased budget pressures on Bury Council. 

The traders were advised that the subsidy would be revisited and reviewed in 12 months.  As traders were not relocated together, the date when the 12 months expires varies considerably. 

It is proposed that traders operating within the Millgate Shopping Centre be given notice that the subsidy they are receiving ends in March 2024.  This will allow traders 6 months' notice to either negotiate with the Millgate Shopping Centre for a formal lease or to consider alternatives. 

In response to a question regarding the cross-party group to look at appraisals members were informed there will be another meeting and a further update is anticipated to take place at the next Cabinet meeting in November. 

In response to a query regarding support given and how people were targeted Councillor Morris reflected that the Council focused on ensuring traders were offered a place to operate and continue trading. 

DECISION:-

·         Traders operating within the Mill Gate Shopping Centre be given notice that the support they are receiving ends in March 2025. This will allow traders time to either negotiate with the Mill Gate Shopping Centre for a formal lease or to consider alternatives, for example, relocation.

·         The total cost of the emergency response to the closure of the Indoor Market Hall is approved by the Cabinet as it is now over £500,000.00 which deems it a key decision.

Reasons for recommendations:

Although Bury Council is committed to Bury Market and the continued development of the Town Centre, continued support for a small number of relocated traders operating within the Mill Gate will create a considerable ongoing strain on Council budgets. Continued financial support for relocated Market Traders operating within the Mill Gate creates inequity for Mill Gate retailers. The continued support cost could be utilised to deliver the preferred option of the Market Hall feasibility study. Any decision in relation to an executive function which results in the council incurring expenditure which is, or the making of savings which are, significant having regard to the council's budget for the service or function concerned, in this case, the expenditure in excess of £500,000.00, is deemed as a key decision and must be approved by Cabinet.

Councillor Thorpe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation reported that the Council’s current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Financial Management system is supplied by Unit 4 (formerly Agresso Business World Software). The initial contract was signed back in 2004 and implemented for use by the Council from April 2006 onwards.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet approved the direct award of a contract to Unit 4 through the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) G-Cloud 13 framework for the continued use of the Unit 4 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Financial Management System for a period of three years from 1st January 2025 with the option to extend for a further period of one year at the discretion of the Council.

·         Cabinet delegated finalisation of the terms of the direct award including any clarifications to the Director of Law and Democratic Services in consultation with the Director of Finance and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

The Council has a legal obligation to have in place a financial management system to ensure that appropriate accounting records, management accounting functions and financial controls are in place so that finances are kept under review on a regular basis.

Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that this item concerns a new draft supplementary planning document that seeks to support the recently adopted Places for Everyone plan and the strategic housing sites at Elton Reservoir and Walshaw.

Members were asked to approve the draft supplementary planning document for a six-week period of consultation in order to establish stakeholder views on its content. Following consultation, all comments received will be fully considered and changes made where appropriate before the supplementary planning document is brought back to Cabinet for approval to adopt.

In response to a question regarding the provision of infrastructure requirements and the Council’s ability to enforce the infrastructure requirements regardless of the size of plot members were advised the purpose of the Places for Everyone Masterplan is to ensure this is done all developers must work towards this.

Members were encouraged to promote engagement with residents and to participate themselves.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet approves the draft Supplementary Planning Document 18 – Development Frameworks for Places for Everyone Strategic Site Allocations at Elton Reservoir and Walshaw attached at Appendix 1 for a six-week public consultation commencing no earlier than 15 October 2024; and

·         Cabinet delegates approval to the Executive Director of Place to make minor non-material editorial amendments to draft Supplementary Planning Document 18 – Development Frameworks for Places for Everyone Strategic Site Allocations at Elton Reservoir and Walshaw before consultation commences.

Reason for recommendations:

To ensure that stakeholders have an opportunity to have their say on the draft SPD.

Councillor Morris, Cabinet Member for Culture, Economy and Skills reported that the report relates to the Bury Art Museum roof which needs a large capital programme to repair it at a total cost of £655,050.04

The Council bid for a grant from the Arts Council MEND Fund and was successfully awarded £589,545 to which the Council have approved a matched amount of £65,505

The Council will need to enter into a deed of covenant with the Arts Council guaranteeing the building will remain as an Arts Museum for a further period of 15 years.

Members were advised that once the building contractor is appointed, we will know more details about how long the Art Museum may need to be closed and further information will be brought to a future Cabinet meeting along with additional information about taking an Art Museum programme out into community venues.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet note the award of £589,545 from The Arts Council with £65,505 match funding from Bury Council with a total cost of £ 655,050.04

·         Cabinet request approval to draw down of the £589,545 grant to Bury Council in phases as set out in the Arts Council Awards Schedule

·         Cabinet note the Grant Agreement requirement to enter into Deed of Covenant with The Arts Council of England with restriction on title over the freehold of the building for a period of 15 years. This means Bury Council commits the building to a minimum period of 15 years as an Art Museum.

·         Cabinet instruct the Monitoring Officer to undertake all legal work associated with the grant agreement.

·         Cabinet note the procurement process for a Quantity Surveyor and Construction Manager £12,278 limit and Heritage Architect £32,350 limit.

·         Cabinet approve the start of the procurement for a main building contractor for [works] up to a value of £526,924. This will be subject to a further Cabinet report in December 2024 to approve the contract.

Reason for recommendations:

Approval to draw down the budget, approve the requirement to enter into a Deed of Covenant and approve the procurement process is sought so that the first phase of the MEND grant is released by The Arts Council.

Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that this item concerns another new draft supplementary planning document  that supports a policy in the recently adopted Places for Everyone plan. The Holcroft Moss Planning Obligations supplementary planning document applies across the whole Places for Everyone plan area and is, therefore, being prepared jointly by the nine Places for Everyone districts.

Holcroft Moss is situated within the borough of Warrington and is a lowland raised bog that is thought to be the only known example in Cheshire that has never been cut for peat. It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and forms part of the Manchester Mosses Special Area of Conservation and therefore warrants strong protection.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet approves the draft Holcroft Moss SPD attached at Appendix 1 as the basis for a six-week public consultation commencing no earlier than 1st November 2024.

·         Cabinet delegates approval to the Executive Director of Place to make minor, non-material modifications to the draft Holcroft Moss Supplementary Planning Document before consultation commences, subject to consultation and agreement with the eight other Places for Everyone authorities. 

Reason for Recommendations:

To enable stakeholders to have the opportunity to provide comment on the draft Holcroft Moss Supplementary Planning Document before it is formally adopted.

Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that this item relates to the supplementary planning document 17, which sets out how the Council will deal with developer contributions towards education.

In June 2024, Cabinet members approved a draft of SPD17 for consultation purposes. Consultation was subsequently undertaken over a six-week period running from 15^th July to 19^th August 2024.

The comments received and the Council’s response to these are set out in the Consultation Statement which is appended to this report.

Following consideration of the consultation responses, a small number of changes have been made to the SPD and Members are now asked to note the consultation responses and to approve the revised SPD for adoption.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet note the responses to the public consultation and the proposed post-consultation revisions as set out in Appendix 2 to this report.

·         Cabinet approve the revised SPD as the final version to be adopted and published.

·         Cabinet delegate authority to the Executive Director (Place), to make any minor non-material editorial amendments to the SPD ahead of its final publication.

Reasons for recommendation(s)

SPD17 sets out how the Council will deal with developer contributions for education when determining planning applications for relevant developments that may impact on education provision, such as school places. The adoption of the document will ensure that all relevant planning applications are considered against up-to-date procedures, legislation and national planning policy.

Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth reported that following the adoption of the Places for Everyone Plan in March, we are working towards delivering the Northern Gateway site and the economic growth and employment opportunities that it brings.

It is proposed that governance structures are put in place to ensure robust control, management and monitoring of the various workstreams. 

This would provide a single statutory body and formalise joint working arrangements with Rochdale and the Combined authority.

The report also raises that the fact that the Northern Gateway site forms part of Greater Manchester’s Investments Zone, which is designed to help the site deliver growth and innovation in the advanced manufacturing and materials sector. 

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet endorses the development of formal of joint working arrangements with Rochdale Council to progress work on Atom Valley and Northern Gateway.

·         Cabinet approve Northern Gateway as part of Greater Manchester’s Investment Zone.

·         Cabinet note in principle the award of Investment Zone funding from the Investment Zone Flexible Spend fund for the purposes of delivery of the Western Access highway project.

·         Cabinet approve the procurement of a consultant to appoint and lead a multi-disciplinary team to advance the Northern Gateway site to a maximum sum of £600,000 to be funded from the IZ funding and in accordance with the Council's Contract Procedure Rules.

·         Cabinet delegates authority to the Monitoring Officer to finalise and execute any associated agreements.

·         Cabinet endorses the Western Access Procurement Strategy at Appendix F and delegates authority to the Executive Director (Place – Business, Growth and Infrastructure) to make adjustments to it as the Northern Gateway project progresses.

·         Cabinet endorses the interim governance arrangements for Northern Gateway, including approval of Northern Gateway’s:

a. Governance Framework,

b. Business Plan as appended to Part B of this report and

c. Procurement Strategy.

·         Cabinet authorises officers to explore potential delivery options for Northern Gateway, including exploration of Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC). Further reports will be brought to Cabinet with recommendations following conclusion of this workstream.

·         Cabinet notes the Rochdale Borough Council’s intention to take a similar report to their Executive.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

·         Significant progress is now being made to bring forward Northern Gateway allocations JPA1.1 and JPA1.2, which form part of the Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone (MDZ). This includes the recent adoption of Places for Everyone (PfE) Joint Development Plan in March 2024 and the designation of Northern Gateway as part of the Greater Manchester IZ.

·         The designation of the Greater Manchester IZ attracts significant funding alongside other financial incentives including the retention of business rates.

·         As result of these policy interventions and funding opportunities, there is a need for more structured and formalised working, resourcing and governance arrangements with Rochdale Council and GMCA to realise the opportunities, confirm the structure to move effectively into the delivery phase and ensure adherence to forthcoming government criteria relating to any funding.

·         Following the adoption of PfE in March 2024 and the on-going work on the Northern Gateway Development Framework (due to come to Cabinet later in the year), priority areas of work have been identified going forward, which are included in this report, informing the recommendation herein.

·         The IZ funding has been allocated from 1st April 2024, with a year-one spend deadline of 31st March 2025, along with other revenue funding, there is a need to move projects forward swiftly and flexibly to respond to these funding opportunities. As such, the report seeks delegations to the Executive Director (Place - Business Growth and Infrastructure), Leader of the Council and relevant Portfolio holder(s) to facilitate these processes and implement the respective Delivery and Procurement Strategies.

Councillor Thorpe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation reported the 2024/25 forecast revenue outturn position as at 30 June 2024, and the 2024/25 forecast capital outturn position as at 30 June 2024.

With regards to a question regarding the ISG going into administration and if any due diligence took place before the awarding of the contract. Members were advised that a response will be provided following the meeting.

In response to a member question regarding commissioning contracts members were informed that some commissioning contracts can be done in a commercial and competitive way, however others are specialist. One challenge is per placement costs and as a Council we try to positively influence this, we hold North West comparative data and we are in the ‘medium group’ although we are beholden to the market. It was agreed that this information can be shared with the Cabinet following the meeting.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet noted the 2024/25 forecast revenue outturn position as at 30 June 2024 of a £2.620m overspend (1.17%) against a net budget of £224.480m.

·         Cabinet approved the in-year updates and re-phasing of the capital programme, revising the capital delivery programme for 2024/25 to £90.312m which will form the basis for future in-year monitoring and reporting of performance.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

To update members on the Council’s budgetary position and actions taken or being taken to ensure budgetary targets are achieved.

This report is in accordance with the Council’s financial procedure regulations.

Councillor Thorpe Cabinet Member, Finance and Transformation reported that this report highlights progress against the 2024/25 Corporate Plan that was agreed by Cabinet in April.

Whilst remaining true to the LET’S Vision for 2030 to achieve inclusive economic growth and reduce deprivation, the Plan focused the input of the Council towards delivering that vision through three strategic objectives: Sustainable growth; Improving children’s lives; and Tackling inequalities.

Discussions took place regarding collaborative working and all departments supporting each other to achieve better outcomes for residents.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet notes the update on progress against the Corporate Plan 2024/25.

·         Agrees the development of a revised delivery plan for the remainder of this financial year.

Reasons for recommendation(s)

To enable transparency and robust monitoring of performance and delivery of the Corporate Plan.

Councillor O’Brien, Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Growth presented the Annual Adoption Report. This is the annual report from the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA): Adoption Now. Adoption Now acts as the adoption agency on behalf of six local authorities: of Bury, Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen, Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside.

Members reflected on the recent work and training delivered by young people and how beneficial it was to members.

DECISION:-

·         Cabinet members note the report and consider the key issues raised within the report.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

Under the national standards for adoption, all adoption agencies must provide to their responsible body, in this case the executive side of the local authority, a written report on the management, outcomes and financial state of the agency. The report must enable the executive to monitor the management and outcomes of the services in order to satisfy themselves that the agency is effective and is achieving good outcomes for children and/or service users, Further the report should enable the executive to satisfy themselves that the agency is complying with the conditions of registration. The report should also address any previous issues raised that require action or remedy. The annual report seeks to satisfy this requirement.

Regional Adoption Agencies were formed from 2017 onwards with the aim of improving outcomes for children by delivering services at a larger scale and encouraging innovative practice. Local authorities retain a statutory responsibility for adoption, but delegate some or all this work to RAAs. On 1 August 2023, there were 32 RAAs delivering services on behalf of 149 local authorities. This means that RAAs are responsible for delivering most of the adoption practice in England.

Bury children are allocated to and held by Adoption Now social workers at the conclusion of care proceedings when a Placement Order is made authorising the placement of a child with a prospective adopting family.

Apologies were received from Councillor Lucy Smith.

There were no work on the outside bodies or partnerships.