(a) Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel
Councillor Amanda Peers to answer questions, if any, on the business of the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel.
(b) Greater Manchester Combined Authority
The following councillors to answer questions (if any) on the business of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority:-
Greater Manchester Combined Authority - Councillor Elise Wilson
Greater Manchester Transport Committee - Councillor David Meller
Greater Manchester Waste Committee - Councillor Roy Driver
Minutes:
(a) Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel
Councillor Mark Weldon asked whether Councillor Amanda Peers, as the Council’s appointed representative on the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel, had any plans to improve the reporting arrangements to this Council of her work on the Panel in overseeing and scrutinising the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester in the exercise of their policing functions and responsibilities.
Councillor Peers responded that meetings of the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Panel were webcast and the work of the Panel was therefore open to inspection by anyone at any time. Councillor Peers further stated that while she considered the arrangements for the oversight of this role at the Council Meeting to be appropriate, she would nonetheless by happy to have further detailed discussions with any member in relation to the work of the Panel.
Councillor Weldon then asked whether Councillor Peers intended to raise the well-publicised issues with the introduction of Greater Manchester Police’s new Integrated Operating Police Operating System (iOPS) that had been intended to make it easier for officers to access police records and provide a single integrated platform to support public contact, police response and investigative activity.
Councillor Peers stated that she would be providing an update on this issue as part of her report under Summons Item 4(i) – ‘Cabinet Business;.
(b) Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Councillor Adrian Nottingham asked the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance (Councillor Tom McGee) whether he could provide an update on the progress of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
Councillor McGee responded that a report was due to be considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on Friday, 27 September 2019 that would provide a revised timetable for consultation on the Further Revised Draft of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
Councillor Brian Bagnall asked the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance (Councillor Tom McGee) whether this Council had been misled by the Mayor of Greater Manchester who had proceeded with a strategy to allocate greenbelt land for release when he did not have the power to do so.
Councillor McGee responded that he did not consider that the Council had been misled, and that the report that was due to be considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 27 September 2019 would provide additional clarity and direction for the progression of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
Councillor Colin MacAlister asked the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance (Councillor Tom McGee) whether the Mayor of Greater Manchester had pursued the development of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework as a Spatial Development Strategy rather than as a Joint Development Plan because this required less evidence to demonstrate a need for the release of greenbelt land for development. It was further stated that under current legislation a Spatial Development Strategy could not be used to allow for greenbelt release.
Councillor McGee responded that discussions remained ongoing between the government and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and that further clarity would be provided in the report that was due to be considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 27 September 2019.
Councillor Graham Greenhalgh asked Councillor David Meller whether in the light of a report issued by Transport for the North that revealed that the punctuality and reliability of rail services provided by Northern and Transpennine Express had deteriorated since last year, he would represent residents’ concerns in relation to any proposals that would seek to reduce or withdraw bus services that residents would otherwise need to rely on.
Councillor Meller responded that there was an argument to made for a number of the services within Greater Manchester that were operated by Northern to be taken over and run locally. Councillor Meller further stated that proposals were due to be considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in relation to the progression of bus reform that would allow for the regulation and control of local bus services that currently didn’t exist.