Agenda and minutes

Members are requested to advise the Democratic Services Officer of any  apologies for this meeting.

Councillors Brierley, Guest and Palmer.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2023 are attached.

The minutes from the meeting held on 13 September 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Government guidance expected Members of Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.

Government guidance expected Members of Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.

Resolved: There were no declarations.

Executive's Forward Plan of Key and Non-Key Decisions:

Please find attached, a link to the Council’s Forward Plan, which details the forthcoming Key and Non-Key decisions that are due to be taken by the Cabinet, a Member of the Cabinet (Portfolio Holder) or a Designated Officer relating to the service areas of this Committee, at this time: Forward Plan of Key/Non-Key Decisions

The Committee considered the Council’s Forward Plan of forthcoming key and non-key decisions to be taken by the Cabinet, an Individual Portfolio Holder or delegated officers, in relation to the Resources Directorate.

Resolved: The Committee notes the forthcoming decisions, with no items being requested to be placed on a future agenda of the Committee.

Report of Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration and Assistant Director – Skills and Enterprise is attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration, David Proctor and Assistant Director – Skills and Enterprise, Claire Burnham, presented by the Assistant Directors which summarised the findings of initial draft of stages 1 and 2 (of 4) of the Wigan Economic Market and Employment Land Assessment (EMELA), prepared by AECOM, and to set that in the context of work on the Economic Strategy for the Borough and the Wigan Borough Local Plan.

Some of the key areas included in the Committee’s discussion were:

·           comparing data with other Boroughs across Greater Manchester (GM);

·           support available for new local businesses;

·           the impact of Covid-19 on existing businesses across the Borough;

·           plans for the Wigan and Bolton Growth Corridor; and

·           infrastructure across the Borough.

The Assistant Director – Skills and Enterprise informed the Committee that comparing data with other GM authorities could be challenging due to demographics, however, focus was directed toward per head of population rather than the size of the borough itself. Wigan ranked stronger in some areas than other GM authorities despite being a smaller Borough than Manchester. More detailed data would be shared with the Committee comparing data across Wigan with other, smaller local boroughs, such as Bolton.

The Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration advised Members that the EMELA was part of the work relating to how Wigan Borough would develop moving forward through the Local Plan. The study was focused on what market demand and economic aspirations would look like in the future, and what types of sites and business premises would be required across the Borough as a result, with

Health and Social Care being an important sector in the Borough’s economic growth plans.

The Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration informed Members that the Local Plan was a long-term strategy looking forward to 2040, and therefore it was vital that the plan was sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes over time and the Borough’s future needs. Through doing so the Borough would successfully meet demand and be able to grow its economy in future years to come.

The Assistant Director – Skills and Enterprise advised the Committee that when a new business approached the team with plans to locate within the Borough, the team would work with the business to understand their requirements including the size and type of site that they required, and  it would be assessed whether there were any vacant premises or land that could accommodate this business, with any incentives or financial support offered to a business being determined on a case-by-case basis.

The Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration informed the Committee that there were 6 growth locations within Greater Manchester, including the Wigan and Bolton Growth Corridor, which represented opportunities for the whole city-region to bring forward development scale and drive transformational change across all ten boroughs. These 6 growth locations were identified as an important strategic focus for GM through the GM strategy which highlighted a full range of strategic priorities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Report of Director – Environment is attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Director – Environment, Paul Barton, presented by the Climate Change Manager, Kerrell Boardman, which provided the third update on action on the climate crisis. The report included updates on each of the climate action themes, as well as an update on Wigan Council emissions for 2022/23 and Wigan Borough emissions for 2021, as well as looking ahead to priority actions on climate for the next 12 months.

Some of the key areas included in the Committee’s discussion were:

·           resolutions for flooding throughout the Borough;

·           plans to support residents in the private sector;

·           Climate Change Awareness training; and

·           plans in place to extend the use of solar panels across the council’s estate.

The Climate Change Manager informed the Committee of the plans in place which would help manage and reduce the likelihood of flooding in the borough’s known hotspots . A focus had been placed on nature based solutions, using the boroughs existing green space, such as tree planting and flower meadows.

Wigan Council’s Housing Team had been focussed on a fabric first approach, including the options such as external cladding to better insulate properties to help reduce energy consumption. The Housing team had a commitment that social houses and new developments would be built to net zero standards where appropriate, including the utilisation of air source heat pumps, were appropriate.

The Climate Change Manager advised Members that future plans were aimed at supporting our most vulnerable tenants across our borough, with the  government having signalled that future grants would be provided to the private sector, putting the onus on private landlords to ensure their properties were of standard of B or C. If these standards were not then met, the landlord would be subject to significant fines.

The Climate Change Manager informed Members that  the Council were planning to deliver inhouse Climate Awareness training  a third of the Council’s workforce over the next 12 months, with the other two thirds undertaken in the subsequent 2 years. The team had recently completed a climate awareness toolkit which had been created for all Ward Members to access and contained a lot of information that could be shared with residents.

The Climate Change Manager advised the Committee of the work taking place to raise awareness in primary and senior schools, with the aim  to encourage young people to make sustainable choices such as how they travel to school and  encourage schools to sign up to the Eco Schools programme, whilst also developing local “green schools” offer, where schools could gain Council certification without paying an annual fee.

The Climate Change Manager informed the Committee that one of the Be Well team’s priorities was to reduce energy demand from leisure centres that operated swimming pools, including the utilisation of solar panels where appropriate and a move to low energy LED lighting.

The Director – Environment advised Members that Wigan currently had one of the best recycling rates in GM (and wider), but there was still  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.