Agenda and draft minutes

Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 13th December, 2022 6.00 pm

Venue: Crompton Suite, Civic Centre, Oldham, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1NL. View directions

Contact: Constitutional Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies For Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dean and Wilkinson.

2.

Declarations of Interest

To Receive Declarations of Interest in any Contract or matter to be discussed at the meeting.

Minutes:

Councillor Harrison declared a personal interest in agenda item 8 (Policy and Overview Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2022/23 insofar as she is a Memmber of MioCare Board of Directors, a Wholly Owned Local Authority Company and  she is  a customer of Miocare by way of buying into its Careline and Response Service. 

 

3.

Urgent Business

Urgent business, if any, introduced by the Chair

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business received.

4.

Public Question Time

To receive Questions from the Public, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

Minutes:

There were no public questions for this meeting of the Committee to consider.

5.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 219 KB

The Minutes of the meeting of the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8th November 2022, are attached for approval.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2022 be approved as a correct record.

 

 

With the Committee’s agreement the following item, agenda item no.7, was considered prior to agenda item no.6, Transport Strategy.

 

6.

Northern Care Alliance (NCA) NHS Group - employment support, local recruitment, and ongoing items pdf icon PDF 300 KB

Report to follow

Minutes:

The Committee scrutinised an Update report presented by Donna McLaughlin, Director of Social Value Creation, Northern Care Alliance on employment support, local recruitment and ongoing items from the NCA NHS Group in relation to the Oldham Care Organisation.

 

The NCA is one of the largest employers in Oldham. In September 21 an update was provided to the Oldham Overview and Scrutiny Committee on employment support and local recruitment.  Questions were asked in that report which are summarized below alongside with a general update on progress.

 

Questions from the September 21 Report

Progress

Oldham Council to identify an officer who can promote this to schools particularly those who work with the most disadvantaged young people

Continue to work reactively with schools as they approach the NCA.  Keen to ensure we are focusing this work into the most disadvantaged young people.

Action: Committee Members are asked to consider potential recurrent funding options to continue to develop the pre-employment programme for young people into 2023.

 

Our dedicated programme, for young people was funded until October 2022 initially funded through GMCA and then extended through funding from the Prince’s Trust.  We do not currently have the resource to continue this.

Action: Committee Members are asked to consider potential recurrent funding options to enable the place-based pre-employment programme to continue beyond March 2022.

 

We continue to look for funding to maintain place-based programmes and have some small success with housing providers on a small scale. However, numbers will not be as they have in 2021 and 2022 without a dedicated resource.

 

NCA has agreed by 2025 the following ambitions:

·                     Create 1000 pre-employment opportunities across the NCA for those furthest away from the employment from a baseline of 320. 

·                     85% of pre-employment learners will be supported into paid work from NCA

·                     60% of those employed by the NCA to be residents of Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, and Salford.

·                     Support 1000 staff to become NHS Career Ambassadors by 2023.

 

Donna McLaughlin informed the Committee that the goal is to getting local people into jobs. In response to a question regarding funding she advised that some funding has been obtained via partnerships and some through grants.

Currently the Oldham Organisation was in the process of seeking other sources of funding with the ultimate aim of achieving funding via internal resources. The Organisation had given itself a time frame until 2025 to prove its concept. She advised that a further 12 months operation of the various programme initiatives the Organisation was involved with will give a clearer view of funding resources for the future of the concept.

 

Responding to Members concerns about avenues for local people to get themselves onto career ladders when the bar for entering a profession was so high for many people. Donna McLaughlin informed Members that they are working with employers on recruitment with the aim to enable a line of entry to their professions by people who do not have the required qualifications but who do have knowledge and experience which would give them  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Transport Strategy pdf icon PDF 420 KB

Including the Oldham Town Centre Parking Strategy (report to follow)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee scrutinised a report and presentation by Helen Fallon, Strategic Transportation Team Leader, setting out the Oldham Transport Strategy. The Oldham Transport Strategy sets out how Oldham will meet the ambitions set out in the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040 and sub strategies, whilst ensuring investment is prioritised to ensure Oldham’s Transport and Highways Network support a Healthy, Clean and Thriving borough.

 

The Vision for Oldham as set out in the strategy is to create a connected borough with increasing use of public transport and active travel that provides all people with safe and inclusive access to opportunities and healthy choices.

 

The Transport Strategy sets out the council's transport and highways ambitions in relation to:

·         A Healthy Oldham

·         A Clean Oldham

·         A Safe Oldham

·         An Accessible Oldham

·         A Connected Oldham and

·         A Thriving Oldham

 

The Oldham Transport Strategy and Delivery Plan align with the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040 ‘Right Mix’ ambition for half of all journeys to be made by active and sustainable transport modes by 2040. The aim of Oldham’s Transport Strategy is to reduce carbon emissions from transport, increase cycling, walking and public transport use and enable the borough to become an increasingly attractive place to live, work and visit.

 

Oldham’s Transport Strategy will support the borough’s ambitions for sustainable growth and development over the next 20 years.

 

The Delivery Plan sets out transport interventions to be delivered over the following time periods:

·         short term 0 - 5 years;

·         medium term 5 -10 years;

·         long term 10 – 20 years (up to 2040); and

·         beyond 20 years - 2040 onwards.

 

The Transport Strategy also includes the first proposed sub-strategy - an update to the Oldham Town Centre Parking Strategy. The refreshed Town Centre Parking Strategy is necessary to support the current regeneration proposals for the town centre, which are aimed at providing quality homes within the town centre, increasing office and service space, and promoting decreasing road traffic and increased access to public transport. These growth plans need to be supported by the right parking infrastructure, with the right levels of car parking provided in the right places at the right tariff. An updated car parking strategy is therefore needed to ensure that appropriate mechanisms and processes are in place to plan for future provision.

 

A number of recommendations have been made in the Parking Strategy which range from improvements to signage around the town centre, updates to parking technology, such as mobile phone application, Mobility Hubs, and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. Following the adoption of the Parking Strategy, work will be undertaken to establish a supporting delivery plan facilitating the implementation of the identified recommendations.

 

As actions are identified to support the aims set out in the Transport Strategy, Oldham Borough Council will be developing further sub strategies to support this, potentially including an Active Travel Sub Strategy to set out how we will ensure we meet our Transport ambitions to get more people walking, wheeling, and cycling.

 

Helen Fallon emphasised that the key aim  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 166 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered its Work Programme for 2022/23.

 

The Chair made reference to the Administration Budget being considered at the next meeting of the Committee on 26 January 2023 and informed Members that Budget Training would be held on 11 and 16 January and Members were invited to attend. These dates and times will be confirmed to Members.

 

Resolved:

That the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2022/23 be noted.

9.

Key Decision Document pdf icon PDF 22 KB

Key Decisions scheduled to be taken by the Council/Cabinet.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee reviewed the Key Decision Notice which provided an opportunity for the identification of items or policy or service development, not otherwise listed on the Committee Work Programme.

 

Resolved:
That the report and the Key Decision Notice be noted.