Agenda and decisions

Minutes of the meeting held on the 9^th November 2021.

Report of the Statutory Deputy City Mayor/Lead Member for Housing,

Property and Regeneration and Strategic Director Place.

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)

I Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve Salford Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Strategy 2022-2025

The Reasons are:

·         The Domestic Abuse Bill received royal ascent on 29^th April 2021.  The Act has placed a statutory duty on tier one local authorities including Salford as a lower tier authority to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children within refuges and other safe accommodation and provide clarity over governance and accountability.

·         According to the new Domestic Abuse Act, Tier One authorities including Salford City Council, with support from their Local Partnership Boards, must conduct a local needs assessment to determine the level of need for domestic abuse support for victims /survivors residing in or needing safe accommodation in their area. 

·         The Needs Assessment will support the development of a local strategy required by the Domestic Abuse Act. Understanding what domestic abuse is and how it impacts on individuals, families and communities is crucial to ensuring quality and cost-effective services are delivered in Salford.

Options considered and rejected were:

The development of the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation is a statutory requirement, therefore there were not any other options to consider

Assessment of Risk: Low

The source of funding is:

The MHCLG Domestic Abuse Capacity Building Fund has been allocated equally across Tier 1 local authorities in England, including Salford with £50,000 received by the council. 

Legal Advice obtained: Frances McBride   09/11/21 TEL NO: 0161 234 3417

The introduction of the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Strategy and its implementation plan gives effect to the new duties contained in Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. It ensures statutory compliance, provides governance and ensures public accountability.

Financial Advice obtained: Paul Hutchings 11/11/21 TEL: 0161 793 2574

·         The strategy itself has been funded through the Domestic Abuse Capacity Building Fund which was allocated to support local authorities with their preparation work and discharging the functions of the duty effectively.

·         Whilst the strategy itself has no further financial implications at this stage, there may be direct financial implications resulting from the implementation of the strategy.  The Government announced earlier this year that tier 1 local authorities will receive £125 million of funding to cover the cost of new burdens placed upon local authorities in meeting their new statutory duty under Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act for this financial year (2021/22). The allocation for Salford for 2021/22 is £677,601.  The funding is for one year and no announcements have been made about future year’s funding.   It is imperative that we have a fully costed plan of how this funding will be spent.

Procurement Advice obtained:  Emma Heyes – Procurement Category Manager 

Date Provided 16/07/21

The Council has a contract for Specialist Professional Services with Bloom, which was put in place in December 2019 for a period of four years, via the NEPRO3 framework. Call-off procedure is via direct  ...  view the full decision text for item 4.

Report for the Lead Member for Environment, Neighbourhoods and

Community Safety.

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)

I, Paul Dennett, Salford City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve:

The adoption of the proposals for Greater Manchester Minimum Licensing Standards for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles as they relate to licensed vehicles (Stage 2), whilst retaining existing colour policy for hackney carriage vehicles and existing frequency of vehicle compliance tests of two tests per year for all vehicles.

The Reasons are:

The adoption of the proposed standards will

-       deliver improved standards in relation to driver and operator standards in order to provide the public with safe, visible and high-quality taxi and private hire services,

-       help to achieve a greater level of consistency across GM taxi and private hire licensing regulation including licensing authority service delivery.

Additionally, the adoption of the proposed standards will contribute to the broader objectives of improving and integrating the transport system as a whole across Salford and Greater Manchester and the achievement of Greater Manchester’s clean air and carbon reduction goals.

Options considered and rejected were:

To reject the proposed minimum licensing standards and review Salford’s existing Taxi Licensing policy independently of neighbouring local authorities.

Assessment of Risk: Low. The costs impacts of the adoption of the minimum standards relating to licensed vehicles under Stage 2 are low. The majority of the requirements relating to vehicles are already reflected in full or are similar to Salford’s existing Licensing policy and processes.  The requirement for vehicles to comply with the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone emission policy will impact a minority of vehicles and will align with licensees’ interests to acquire compliant vehicles to avoid the need to pay daily charges under the Clean Air Zone.  Owners of non-compliant vehicles can apply for vehicle upgrade funding through the Clean Air Zone Financial Support Scheme, if they meet the funding criteria, to support this transition.

The source of funding is: The regulation of Private Hire Vehicles and Hackney Carriages can be funded from license fees based on cost recovery, as set out in statute.

Legal Advice obtained:Barbara Gora, Manchester and Salford Shared Legal Services: The Licensing Authority Salford City Council has the right to amend its Taxi Licensing Policy.

Financial Advice obtained: N/A

Procurement Advice obtained: N/A

HR Advice obtained: N/A

Climate Change Advice obtained:

Supplied by: Tim Cook – extract from Greater Manchester report to GMCA:

Link to Clean Air Plan

An important element of the overall approach is to provide clarity and long-term certainty for vehicle owners, so that they are able to plan the upgrade of their vehicles in a way that meets and contributes positively to GM’s Air Quality, Carbon and other environmental obligations. 

This will also help ensure that applicants to the Clean Taxi Fund, secured as part of the GM Clean Air Plan, will have a clear understanding of what locally licensed vehicle requirements will be over the longer term, for example in terms of  ...  view the full decision text for item 5.

Report of the Director of Public Health.