Agenda and minutes

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To report any urgent action taken under the Constitution since the last meeting of the Cabinet.

No urgent decisions were reported.

Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair and Cabinet Members on any matters within the powers and duties of the Cabinet, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.  (Questions must be submitted no later than 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the meeting on the card provided.  These are available at the meeting. You can also submit via the Council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/publicquestions)

Members of the public were invited to submit questions to the Cabinet on any matters within its powers and duties, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.

Four public questions were submitted as follows:-

·         Relating to the timescale for the appointment of a free school provider at Woodford Garden Village and whether this would be before the January 2022 deadline for primary school applications.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance (Councillor Tom McGee) responded that the subject of the question also constituted a substantive item for consideration later on the agenda for the meeting.  However, it was stated that should a decision be taken to cease further consideration of proposals to relocate Queensgate Primary School, then there would only, be one option remaining which was the free school presumption and the report within the agenda outlined a prescribed chronology of events that would then need to take place which would include a competition period for academy sponsors to submit tenders.  This would mean that it would not be possible for a sponsor to be appointed prior to the deadline for the submission of applications for primary school places.

·         Relating to the provision of support for free car parking in the town centre, and whether a commitment would be given to the reinstatement of the 300 metroshuttle bus service.

The Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration (Councillor David Meller) responded that the Council was heavily promoting the use of public transport through initiatives such as the development of a new transport interchange in the town centre.  The budget amendment that was passed in relation to free parking was an attempt to support local businesses at a time when any and all support was welcome.  It was further stated that the metroshuttle bus service had originally been introduced with financial support from Tesco and had cost the Council £250,000 a year which was a significant ongoing cost for a service that attracted relatively low levels of patronage.  It was also noted that the routing of the service through the Underbanks area of the town centre may compromise the investments and interventions that were being made there.

·         Relating to whether the Council would publish how it would assess whether the responses to the Phase 1 consultation on the Stockroom would trigger the Phase 2 formal consultation on the future of Central Library and whether the results of the Phase 1 consultation would be made publically available.

The Cabinet Member for Citizen Focus & Engagement (Councillor David Sedgwick) responded that it was important to understand the engagement being undertaken at the current stage and a formal consultation stage.  It was stated that people were currently being asked what they would like to see in the Stockroom proposal and what the disadvantages of that might be as well.  If it was decided to move to a formal consultation then there would an opportunity to comment on the specifics set out in the proposal.  It was noted that the pre-consultation engagement being undertaken was identified as best practice for initiatives such as this.

Councillor Sedgwick stated that the Council wanted to make sure that Stockroom was inclusive and considered people’s ability access and use it regardless of age and circumstance.  The Council had also appointed specialist communications company to support council in this process.

Once the results of the engagement were known, the relevant Cabinet members would discuss these and determine whether it should proceed to the formal consultation stage.  The information set out in the engagement process will be published and submitted to scrutiny committee for consideration.

The Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration (Councillor David Meller) noted that the Council had published information via Facebook to reassure local residents that the Central Library building would not be demolished or abandoned and nor would the freehold be sold or redevelopment be permitted for residential use.  Should library  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider a joint report of the Cabinet Members for Resources, Commissioning & Governance; Adult Care & Health and Sustainable Stockport.

The report sets out the proposed Greater Manchester (GM) Final Clean Air Plan (CAP) and policy following a review of all of the information gathered through the GM CAP consultation and wider data, evidence and modelling work which is to be agreed by the ten Greater Manchester local authorities.

The Cabinet is recommended to give approval to the package of 20 recommendations as detailed within the report.

Officer contact: Mark Glynn on 0161-474-3700 or email: mark.glynn@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance (Councillor Tom McGee) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the proposed Greater Manchester (GM) Final Clean Air Plan (CAP) and policy following a review of all of the information gathered through the GM CAP consultation and wider data, evidence and modelling work which is to be agreed by the ten Greater Manchester local authorities.

RESOLVED – That with regard to the Greater Manchester Final Clean Air Plan, the Cabinet has:-

(1) Noted the progress of the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan;

(2) Noted the progress in the distribution of Bus Retrofit funding;

(3) Noted Ministers’ agreement to include the sections of the A628/A57 in Tameside which form part of the Strategic Road Network within the Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) and their request for Tameside MBC, TfGM and Highways England to establish the most appropriate solution for the charging mechanism to be applied on this section of the Strategic Road Network (SRN);

(4) Approved the GM Clean Air Plan Policy, at Appendix 1 noting that the policy outlines the boundary, discounts, exemptions, daily charges of the Clean Air Zone as well as the financial support packages offered towards upgrading to a compliant vehicle, including the eligibility criteria to be applied.

(5) Agreed the Equalities Impact Assessment, as set out at Appendix 2;

(6) Agreed the AECOM Consultation Report, as set out at Appendix 3;

(7) Agreed the proposed Response to the Consultation at Appendix 4 which has been prepared by TfGM on behalf of the ten GM local authorities;

(8) Agreed the Impacts of COVID-19 Report, as set out at Appendix 5;

(9) Agreed the Modelling report of the final CAP package, as set out at Appendix 6, and in particular that the modelling outputs of the final plan scheme show the achievement of compliance with the legal limits for Nitrogen Dioxide in the shortest possible time and by 2024 at the latest as required by the Ministerial Direction;

(10) Agreed the economic implications of the CAP Report, as set out at Appendix 7;

(11) Noted the update on the GM Minimum Licensing Standards, set out in section 3.1, and in particular that licensing conditions will not be used to support delivery of the GM Clean Air Plan;

(12) Approved a 6-week public consultation on the inclusion of motorhomes classified as MSP1 in the GM Clean Air Zone and on the inclusion of the A575 and A580 at Worsley commencing on 1 September 2021 and delegate authority to the Corporate Director (Place) and Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Cabinet Member with portfolio responsibility for Clean Air and Director of Public Health to approve the consultation materials;

(13) Noted that the GM Clean Air Charging Authorities Committee has the authority to make the Charging Scheme Order which establishes the GM Charging Scheme in line with the agreed GM Clean Air Plan Policy;

(14) Noted that the GM Charging Authorities Committee has the authority to vary the Charging Scheme Order if this is established as the most appropriate charging mechanism to be applied on sections of the A628/A57 part of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in Tameside;

(15) Noted that the Air Quality Administration Committee has the authority to agree the final form of the Operational Agreement for the Central Clean Air Service, and to authorise the making of the Agreement, on behalf of the ten GM local authorities;

(16) Noted that the Air Quality Administration Committee has the authority to:

(a)       establish and distribute the funds set out in the agreed GM Clean Air Plan policy;

(b)       approve the assessment mechanism agreed with JAQU to ensure that Clean Air Funds can be adapted if necessary;

(c)        keep the use of the funds under review and to determine any changes in the amounts allocated to each and their use and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider a joint report of the Cabinet Member for Children, Family Services & Education and the Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance (Councillor Tom McGee) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an update following its meeting on 29 June 2021 at which it considered the two options available to Local Authority regarding the management and governance of the new Woodford Garden Village school including the early response to the pre-proposal consultation which commenced on 1 July 2021.

It was noted that since the Cabinet decision of the 29 June 2021, significant opposition had already been received to the option of relocating Queensgate Primary School to the new site.  This had been evidenced from the online pre-proposal consultation survey, letters of concern from concerned parents and residents and directly from ward members (including via a petition).

Accordingly, the report recommended that the decision of 29 June 2021 be rescinded and replaced with an alternative decision.

RESOLVED – That with regard to ‘Woodford Development - New School Governance Decision Affecting the Queensgate Primary School Option’ the Cabinet has:-

(1) Given approval to the rescission of the Cabinet’s decision of 29 June 2021 (CAB307) with regard to ‘Woodford Development - New School Governance Decision’;

(2) Confirmed that the relocation of the Queensgate Primary School to the Woodford Development site is no longer an option for consideration by the Council;

(3) Affirmed that the only option now available to the Council is the presumption process which will establish the new school as an academy in order to meet the need for additional places;

(4)  Noted that the pre-proposal consultation which was launched on 1 July 2021 continues and forms part of the first stage of the free school presumption process, namely, to hold a Local Authority consultation prior to publication of a school specification and, the beginning of a competitive process;

(5) Given approval that the decision to publish the school specification for the new free school and begin the competition period be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) and the Director of Education in consultation with lead portfolio holders for Children, Family Services and Education and Resources, Commissioning & Governance;

(6) Given approval that the decision on the Local Authority’s preferred sponsor after the assessment period has concluded be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) and the Director of Education in consultation with lead portfolio holders for Children, Family Services and Education and Resources, Commissioning & Governance.

On:-

(a)  Matters (if any) referred to the Cabinet Meeting

(b)  Any called-in Cabinet Executive Decisions

There were no recommendations to consider.