Agenda item

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration

The Mid Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports (PPRR) for the Supporting Places and Thriving Economy Portfolios are presented for consideration by the Committee. These provide a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priority outcomes through the Investing in Stockport programme and other key projects during the first half of 2015/16. They include forecast performance data (where this is available) and projected financial data for the Portfolios, along with an update on the portfolio savings programmes.

The Scrutiny Committee is requested to:-

(a) consider the Mid Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports,

(b) review the progress against delivering key projects, priority outcomes, targets and budgets for 2015/16.

(c) highlight key areas of and responsibility for taking forward corrective action to address any performance or resource issues.

(d) highlight any significant issues or changes to be fed back to the Executive alongside the Corporate Performance and Resource Report; and

(e) identify how areas of strong performance and good practice can be shared in other services.

Officer Contacts Joe Conmee/Michael Cullen on 0161 474 5396/4361 or email: joseph.conmee@stockport.gov.uk/michael.cullen@stockport.gov.uk

The Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing the Mid Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports for the Supporting Places and Thriving Economy Portfolios. The report provided a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priority outcomes through the Investing in Stockport programme and other key projects during the first half of 2015/16, with updates on key activity during the second quarter. They included forecasted performance data (where this was available) and projected data for the Portfolios, along with an update on the portfolio savings programme.

The Executive Councillor (Supporting Place) (Councillor Martin Candler) and the Executive Councillor (Thriving Economy) (Councillor Patrick McAuley) attended the meeting to respond to Members’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

 Supporting Places

·         The expected surplus against the budget of £0.368m for 2015/16 was commended. A general forecast of under-recovery of income in the Car Parking Service had been offset by the expected over-recovery of income in Engineering and Traffic Services and predicted surpluses in the cost of Public Realm services delivered by Solutions SK.

·         The range of enforcement activity undertaken during Quarter 2 had included the compulsory purchase of a long-term empty, domestic property. The property had been sold at auction with a building licence and agreement which meant that the deeds would not be transferred to the new owner until the property had been brought back to a habitable standard.

·         A Member enquired if there was anything the Council could do to help expedite the purchase of empty properties, although it was pointed out that the age of a property was only one of the factors that would be considered in the Empty Property Strategy. Although compulsory purchase was the ultimate sanction, the Empty Property Strategy set out the other processes which the Council followed.

·         Waste audits had not indicated any resistance to residents’ recycling of food waste. It was patterns of behaviour that needed to be changed. The Council was continually looking as to how it could improve recycling rates. Pressure also needed to be put on supermarkets to reduce the amount of packaging.

·         The air quality grant of £147,000 in 2015/16 was one off expenditure to procure improved real time monitoring equipment,

·         As part of the planning approval for the former Woodford Aerodrome site in Woodford, a traffic assessment and a package of cycling and public transport measures had been included as part of the Section 106 Agreement.

·         The restoration and re-development of Bramall Hall was being assisted by volunteers offering their time.

·         Some aspects of the capital programme had comparatively small amounts of expenditure incurred at this time of the financial year. Members asked for more detail with regard to this and a representative of the Corporate Director agreed to investigate whether more detail on current spend could be included in future Portfolio Performance and Resources reports.

·         Members requested more information on the £25,000 which had been earmarked to fund major events in Stockport. It was clarified that this related to culture, museums and leisure events. If necessary, the heading of this budget line should be re-worded.

·         A Member raised performance indicator SP.01 and the difficulty of maintaining the percentage of parks and open spaces assessed as satisfactory when the number of staff were being reduced, for example at Torkington Park in Hazel Grove.

·         The mitigation and complementary measures for the A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road were already being taken into account in certain planning applications. Complementary measures should not be taken into account as they had not yet been agreed. Mitigation measures were where an increase in traffic was expected and complementary measures were where a decrease in traffic was expected.

 Thriving Economy

·         The deficit being shown by the Stockport Business and Innovation Centre was highlighted. This would hopefully be countered in the future by letting individual units.

·         The Townscape Heritage Stage 1 bid for the Market and Underbanks which had been submitted with a total Common Fund value of £3.950m included a range of high and medium priority projects in accordance with the regeneration strategy for the area previously approved by the Executive. A Member requested details of the priority buildings included in the Townscape Heritage Stage 1 bid.

·         Members welcomed the Local Employment and Skills Agreements which had been developed for the SEMMMS Relief Road, Redrock, Stockport Exchange and the former Woodford Aerodrome site which would ensure minimum levels of Construction Apprenticeships, work experience placements, and training of sub-contractor workforces on these major developments.

·         A small percentage of people from Stockport were currently registered on the Greater Manchester Working Well pilot programme. A  Member asked for more information on the number of disabled people registered on the Working Well programme.

·         The survey for performance indicator TE.09 regarding the proportion of occupied retail, commercial and business premises within the borough’s district centres would be undertaken in Quarter 4 due to staff capacity.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That Members of the Scrutiny Committee be provided with a copy of the Empty Property Strategy.