Reporting Back Greater Manchester CA Scrutiny

Last month saw the second meeting of the new Greater Manchester Combined Authority Scrutiny Committees.

A scrutiny process is established in the laws which establish the city region Mayor (Andy Burnham), and in Greater Manchester these are just now taking shape. Three Scrutiny Committees have been established, each is made up of 15 councillors from across Greater Manchester (11 Labour, 3 Conservative and 1 Lib Dem). Under the legislation the Chair has to be from a political party that is different from the elected Mayor, so that is two conservatives and one Lib Dem.

Councillor Tim Pickstone is the Liberal Democrat on the Corporate Issues and Reform Scrutiny Committee, and one of two Bury councillors on that Committee (the other being East Ward Labour Councillor Stella Smith).

The first meet was mostly training, so this second October meeting was the first meeting getting down to business. The main issues considered were:

Greater Manchester Living Wage
The Mayor was there to discuss the proposal for Greater Manchester Combined Authority to sign up to the Living Wage Foundation’s ‘real’ living wage as an Employer.

Outside of London, the Living Wage Foundation’s ‘real’ Living Wage is set at £8.45 per hour and is reviewed and changed annually. By contrast, the National Living Wage is the legal minimum payable to those over the age of 25 and is set by Government. The National Living Wage is currently £7.50 per hour.

The idea is that the Combined Authority should ‘lead by example’ and become Living Wage accredited in order to encourage other employers to adopt this standard themselves.

The Accreditation would only apply to the staff currently directly employed by the Combined Authority (which is not that many at present), and also Greater Manchester Fire (and Waste from next year). At present there are hard any directly affected staff that are not already paid the ‘real’ living wage level, but the accreditation also applies to sub-contractors, so the CA would need to work with some contractors (e.g. secturity or cleaning companies which it contracts with) so they can comply as appropriate.

For me one issue which we do need to address is the significantly lower minimum wages which are currently allowed for people under 25 (e.g. £5.60/hour for 18-20 year olds or £3.10/hour for apprentices) which will be making it very difficult for young people to access bigger items like housing.

The proposal has since been agreed by the GMCA Executive. More information on the Living Wage Foundation here.

Future Work Programme
Much of the rest of the meeting was to determine which issues the Committee is going to Scrutinise at it’s monthly meetings going forwards.

The main role of this committees is to look at some of what are called ‘cross-cutting’ themes that the Combined Authority is dealing with.

The biggest one of these is around ‘School Readiness’. This is a particular issue for Greater Manchester because we are as a region significantly behind the national average – the percentage of children age 5 achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) in 2015 at 62.4% compared to 66% nationally. Almost two in every five children in GM do not reach a GLD this increases to one in every two children in receipt of free school meals and one in five children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). This is going to be a significant agenda item for the Committee in future months.

The second issue which we need to focus on is around budget and money, and the Committee received a briefing on GMCA budgets across the different GM authorities (Fire, Police, Waste, Transport etc) and agreed a plan to provide proper scrutiny at meetings running up to the 2018-19 budgets.

The papers for the meeting are here.
More information please ask – tim@burylibdems.net

UK – Firefighters cut by 1,146

Firefighters cut by 1,346 while fire safety audits down 14% – figures published last week have revealed. The number of firefighters (FTE) fell by 1,346, from 34,395 to 33,049, in the year to March 2017 a reduction of 4%.
The number of fire and rescue support staff saw a 10% decrease, from 7,952 to 7,132

The number of fire safety audits of buildings is down by 14% compared to the previous year.

Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government, commented:
“These figures show fire services across the country are being cut to the bone. Firefighters do an incredible job, but are increasingly finding themselves overstretched and under-resourced. The government must reverse these cuts and give fire services the resources to keep our communities safe.

As the Grenfell Tower tragedy showed, we urgently need to invest more in fire prevention. Fire services need more staff so they can carry out vital safety checks and ensure buildings are safe.”

More information
In total 40,180 staff (FTE) were employed by Fire and Rescue Services on 31 March 2017. This was a 5% decrease compared with the previous year (42,347 in 2016).

33,049 staff (FTE) were employed as firefighters on 31 March 2017. This was a 4% decrease compared with the previous year.

7,131 (FTE) were employed fire control or support staff, a 10% decrease compared with the previous year
See figures on fire prevention and fire safety audits here

Fire safety audits are carried out by Fire And Rescue Authorities to check that premises are being properly managed regarding fire safety.

Fire and Rescue Authorities carried out 54,247 fire safety audits in 2016/17, 14% fewer than in 2015/16 (63,201)

In 2015/16 the highest proportion of fire safety audits were carried out on shop premises (20% or 10,880), followed by care homes (14% or 7,391) and licensed premises (13% or 6,867).

17,000 (32%) of fire safety audits were deemed unsatisfactory. This led to 369 enforcement notices, 527 prohibition notices, 61 alteration notices and 68 prosecutions

Reporting Back – Bury Council’s Cabinet

Last month was the regular meeting of Bury Council’s Cabinet. This is the meeting of the eight Cabinet members from the ruling Labour Group,  also attended by the two opposition Leaders on the Council – though Labour changed the rules so we couldn’t vote at the meeting earlier in the year.

Councillor Tim Pickstone reports:

The full papers for the meeting are here, the main items which may be of interest to residents included:

Business Rates Discretionary Relief
You may recall a lot of discussion earlier in the year about a review of business rateable values which meant that many businesses were facing increases in Business Rates. The Government announced a relief scheme for small businesses in the March 2017 budget, which is up to local Councils to administer.
Bury will be paying relief to smaller companies with rateable values of less than £100,000. In 2017-18 this will be 60% of any increase in rates, which will be given to people automatically without any need to apply. There are similar but smaller levels of relief in the subsequent three years.

New Neighbourhood Engagement Plan – Implementation
People may (or may not!) have noticed that the Council very quietly abolished ‘Township Forums’ earlier this year. For us this was the Prestwich Township Form which met about four times a year at the Longfield where members of the public could come along and take part in discussions about the local area.
What replaces Township Forums is still being brought into place. As we understand this uses three ways of working:
– online engagement – using a new ‘online tool’ that the Council has paid for. (I asked at the meeting how confident we were that we were going to get members of the public to use a ‘Bury Council’ online tool, rather than the ones we’re all very familiar with to talk about local issues (like Facebook). I remain to be convinced that a Council can do this, but happy to be proved wrong…)
– meetings – ONE a year at a ‘Township’ level – so there is a meeting in Prestwich in November, and meetings at a ‘Ward’ level – no details yet.
– funding for community groups which are allocated either at a public meeting (two across Bury) called ‘The Pitch’, or a small budget to be given for ward councillors to allocate (with very clear rules on what this can be used for). For our area (Holyrood Ward) the three Councillors will work together on a single scheme, and we would want to make sure there was a fair and open process that everyone can see.
Some significant changes in this area of work, and early days to see if it will be an improvement on the Township Forum process.

New Homes to be built in Radcliffe
This item was restricted from the public because of commercial information so I can’t talk about any details, but the basics are have been made public by the Council.Essentially this is the Council building Eight two-bed homes on two current unused ‘garage sites’ in Radcliffe which are owned by the Council.
The properties would be for shared ownership, where a resident buys a share of the property and pays rent on the proportion they don’t own. They can then buy further shares in the property in the future. Our view is that Council’s should play a significant role in making sure that there are homes that people can actually afford to live in. If anything, Bury has been very slow to do this, and 8 new houses is not going to solve very much on its own. We would urge the Council to be more ambitious. Perhaps a better use of its money than buying commercial property outside of Bury…..

Any questions on any of the above – please ask! tim@burylibdems.net

Ed Davey: Rise in violent crime shows May failing to back Britain’s police

Violent crime has increased by 19% in the last year, figures published today have revealed.

Knife crime was up 26% year-on-year, while overall crimes increased by 13%.

Commenting on the reported rise in violent crime, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, said:

“People’s lives are under threat because Theresa May is failing to back Britain’s police.

“These increases in violent crime are frightening and it ought to be government’s first priority to protect the public. Yet with her police cuts, Theresa May has gone soft on crime and is letting the country down.

“Theresa May was the Home Secretary for six years: she ought to understand the needs of the police. Instead, she has left them out in the cold.”

UK facing “fly-tipping epidemic” with 1 million incidents in a year

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to act to tackle Britain’s “fly-tipping epidemic,” as figures revealed fly-tipping incidents topped a million this year for the first time since 2008.

• Local authorities in England recorded 1,002,154 cases of fly-tipping in 2016-17, up 7% on the previous year. This is equivalent to 114 every hour.

• The estimated cost to the taxpayer for clearing up fly-tipping was £58 million, up 16% on the previous year

• The number of prosecutions for fly-tipping fell by a quarter to 1,602, compared to 2,135 the previous year

Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government, herself a former Councillor for Norden in Rochdale. commented:

“Britain’s fly-tipping epidemic is spiralling out of control.

“Our roads and countryside are being turned into rubbish dumps, costing the taxpayer millions, but too many fly-tippers are being let off the hook.

“The government needs to do more to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.

“Cash-strapped councils need more funding so they can increase bin collections and stop charging people to get rid of large household goods.”

Reporting Back – Meeting the Mayor of Greater Manchester

Last week, Councillor Tim Pickstone met with Greater Manchester’s ‘Metro Mayor’ Andy Burnham. Two of Greater Manchester’s Lib Dem Group Leaders (Bury and Stockport) met with the Mayor as part of a six-monthly series of meetings between Lib Dem councillors across Greater Manchester.

Obviously at this first meeting we were unable to raise everything we wanted to raise, but focussed on four issues:

Greater Manchester Strategic Framework
I asked how realistic the Mayor’s aim of ‘less green belt land to be built on’ was going to be – a hugely important issue for people in many parts of Greater Manchester. The Mayor was clear that the position was ‘less’ green belt, not ‘no’ green belt, but that there would still be difficult choices and decisions that had to be made. I also asked about his previous support for increased housing in some of our town centres, particularly smaller town centres, and he said that he was keen to do this as part of a bigger plan to bring ‘life’ back into town centres where these are struggling.

Metrolink and Transport
We asked about Metrolink, and noted the current capacity issues especially on the Bury line. I raised with the Mayor the issue of early morning and late night travel – particularly an issue for people who have jobs that start very early, or finish very late (often some of the less well paid positions) and whether we could look at extending the operating hours of Metrolink or of bus routes. (Metrolink already operates in the night on the airport line.)

Andy Burnham said that there were opportunities with the potential for bus re-regulation to achieve an improved bus network for the county and that there was potential for growth, particularly given that bus usage has fallen by nearly a third in ten years.

Crime – 101 Number Delays
We asked about the significant delays that had been experienced by many people who ring the non-emergency policy number 101. Information secured through Freedom of Information requests had shown that almost a quarter of calls are ‘given up’, with average waits at the time of asking over 12 minutes. It was confirmed that action was being taken to address this.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority
With the new Mayor a lot of new systems are being put in place, with new arrangements for ‘scrutiny’ the Mayor and other bodies being set up at a Greater Manchester level. We called on the Mayor to have transparent process on how representatives of different political parties were included in this process. We also said we were keen as Liberal Democrats to play our full role in the Combined Authority where we can, for example if all-party representation to Government was needed.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Changes to Parliamentary Constituencies Proposed

The Boundary Commission for England has today published its revised proposals for new Parliamentary constituencies. This is part of a review to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 and to ensure all constituencies are the same size.

Under the revised plans Bury borough is split three ways: a ‘Bury’ constituency consitsing of the town of Bury, Tottington and Ramsbottom; a Kearsley and Radcliffe seat, and a Prestwich and Middleton constituency (which includes most of Whitefield). For Bury the proposals are slightly more sensible as both Radcliffe and Whitefield avoid being ‘split down the middle’ between two constituencies. The proposals don’t change local government boundaries – so everywhere which is part of Bury Council now, stays the same.

But this could just be a complete waste of public money. Obviously the Conservatives do not have a majority in Parliament, and their DUP allies have been opposed to the changes in Northern Ireland. Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to stop wasting public money on this review if it has no intention of finishing the job.

More information and to respond the the consultation at the Boundary Commission for England consultation website.

Cable: This was a speech of a brave PM with a disloyal Cabinet

Responding to Theresa May’s conference speech last week, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented:

“This was the speech of a brave Prime Minister struggling on, while her disloyal Cabinet colleagues openly plot against her.

“Rows over Brexit have left Theresa May only able to tinker around the edges of the great challenges the country faces, from the housing crisis to the future of the NHS.

“The conference season has shown both the Conservatives and Labour are bitterly divided, with the more moderate factions overwhelmed by their ideological extremes.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are united, offering a practical programme for government that will tackle social inequality while remaining economically literate.”

Anything you want us to ask Andy Burnham?

Bury’s Lib Dem Group Leader, Cllr Tim Pickstone is meeting ‘Metro Mayor’ Andy Burnham this week as a delegation of Lib Dem Group Leaders in Greater Manchester.

Anything you want us to ask him?

This is a summary of the GM Metro Mayor powers produced by the Centre for Cities.
In Greater Manchester the Mayor also has responsibilities as Police and Crime Commissioner for police and crime.

Let us know anything you would like us to raise: email tim@burylibdems.net

 

Metrolink 6% Fare Hike Condemned

Metrolink Fares are to to rise by around 6% a year until 2020, the ten Greater Manchester Council Leaders have agreed. The decision was to rise fairs by ‘inflation + 2.33%’ on 1 January 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. At todays inflation level that is an increase of 5.93% on 1 January 2018, and over the three years a fare rise of around 19% over three years.

The Liberal Democrat group leader on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, Oldham councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has condemned the decision by the Labour-controlled Greater Manchester Combined Authority to increase Metrolink fares by almost 6% from January of next year, well above inflation, as “another blow for hard-up passengers”.

“This decision made by the Labour Leaders of nine of the Greater Manchester local authorities, with the support of the Greater Manchester Mayor and the Conservative leader of Trafford Council, shows how out of touch they are with the financial situation of many tram passengers.

“This is the first of three years of pain as Metrolink fares will be steadily increased year on year, but the pain will not end there as from January 2021, fares will increase annually by 1% above inflation.”

“Labour complains constantly about the Conservative’s austerity and wage freezes in the public sector and then hits passengers who are feeling the pinch with unremitting fare increases. This is simply not fair – Metrolink is in profit. We should be encouraging more passengers to use the service and cracking down on fare evasion to increase revenue not hammering the fare-paying passengers who already use it.”

Councillor Sykes is also concerned about the impact this increase may have on our environment: “I repeat the comments that I made in advance of the rise in rail fares in July. Price hikes discourage tram use and encourage passengers to get back in their cars increasing air pollution and traffic congestion – this is not good for us or for our planet or Greater Manchester.”

Full Report here.