Content

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:
 
1.   
Approve the approach and methodology to pursue regeneration
opportunities where identified by Salford City Council. 

 

2.   
Authorise the Executive Director for Place and City Solicitor to
finalise and enter into legal arrangements with the identified
Strategic Regeneration Partners and the MOU (Memorandum of
Understanding) with Homes England and GMCA (Greater Manchester
Combined Authority) in consultation with the City Mayor and Lead
Member for Housing, Property and Regeneration
 
3.   
Authorise the setting up of the Forum, Executive Groups and other
groupings that allow governance and oversight to begin. 
 
The Reasons
are:
The city benefits from a healthy
development/regeneration programme and strategic partners who have
a long commitment to development across the city.
By accelerating the programme Salford can
realise the social
and environmental aims of the Salford Way and the Great Eight
across the whole city, continuing development in the regional
core but also accelerating growth across the townships.
 
The Forum, established through a series of
relationships through a Top Co with Homes England and GMCA,
alongside a series of Strategic Regeneration Partners (SRPs)
provides a new structure to supercharge growth and delivery within
Salford.  It will go on to shape a
Business Plan, harnessing the opportunities in the Forum with the
intention of progressing initial opportunities such as the
respective town centres of Swinton and Eccles. 
 
The Forum is one of the Place vehicles making
use of powers devolved to GMCA through the Devolution Trailblazer
Deal; which will enhance the levers and functions of the combined
authority to support growth zones and inclusion.  It is also responsive to Homes England’s
strategic plan 2023 to 2028 to drive high-quality regeneration and
thriving places, which will see Homes England join locally led
strategic partnerships, such as the Forum, nationwide.  
 
The Forum, is positioned to harness and
embrace the most relevant and up to date adopted policies, both
locally and regionally, throughout its lifetime. Through the
business plan model it is able to keep anticipating future change
and update its output; allowing Salford to lead the way in terms of
growth, inclusivity, affordability and Carbon Neutrality. In this
way, Salford is able to respond immediately to it’s share of
the Greater Manchester call to deliver 50,000 affordable homes and
30,000 Social rented homes by 2037 in line with the GM Strategic
Housing Strategy as well as the aspiration since Declaring a
Climate Emergency and established in the new Local Plan to build
Zero Carbon by 2028 to achieve Carbon Neutrality for Salford by
2038. 
 
Options considered
and rejected were:
A variety of options were considered ranging
from procurement of service contracts for individual opportunity
sites to Mayoral Development Zones.  The
other options were ruled out because they couldn’t deliver
the breadth of opportunities spread throughout the city in a
timeframe that would respond to need. 
They would also risk introducing cost inefficiencies that would
reduce the likelihood of project launch and success.  
 
Assessment of
Risk: Low
The OPA (Overarching Partnership Agreement).
and MOU set out an approach to work together rather than any
specific named projects and opportunities.  Appropriate checks and balances are inserted
through the Forum, Executive and Steering Groups.  The council retain full control over all decisions
upon its interests and assets. 
 
There are no positive obligations set out in
the legal documentation and each party can choose not to use the
agreement and pursue different working arrangements for any
opportunities, should it wish to with all parties free to disengage
from the process at any time.  The
council’s priorities are embedded in the document and upheld
the values and principles of the council (Salford Way and Great
Eight).
 
Further Development Agreements will be Risk
Assessed on their own merits relating to the specific
projects.  
 
Notwithstanding that
this arrangement is not subject to any procurement process, the
documentation shall consider and pre-empt the possibility of a
challenge being made by setting out how any challenge can be
robustly defended, without in any way fettering the Council’s
statutory discretion. In a worst - case possibility of a successful
challenge by an aggrieved party, the agreement shall detail how it
can be contractually unwound on a “no-fault” basis
between the Council and the development partner which avoids any
fall out, recriminations and expensive litigation with the
development partner and enables the Council to swiftly exit the
contractual obligations at minimal cost to the Council. This
mitigation measure has reduced any exposure to higher risk that the
Council might otherwise have been exposed to.
 
The source of
funding is:
Capital Programme
 
Legal Advice
obtained:
The Council has engaged external solicitors to
provide advice on the structuring of the arrangements and on the
form of OPA.  The Council has no
intention of putting any positive obligations on SRPs, either at
the time of entering into an OPA, or at any point in the
future.  The Council does not intend to limit the number of
SRPs.
 
External solicitors will continue to support
the shared legal services and delivery team with this project and
mitigate risks where possible and ensure compliance with all
relevant laws.
 
Financial Advice
obtained:
There are no direct financial implications
resulting from this report. 
 
Emerging schemes will require a robust
financial assessment on a case-by-case basis, to fully
explore:-
 

·          
capital funding opportunities and future revenue funding
requirements

·          
the impact of inflation on associated capital and revenue
expenditure

·          
implications of the Innovate programme
 
Should these recommendations be approved
Salford City Council will reserve the right to procure services
outside of this arrangement via the usual procurement
process.  Any related start-up costs for
the Forum will be covered by the approved Regeneration Capital
Programme in the first instance.  These
costs should be minimal, and the long-term ambition is that they
are to be covered by the Strategic Partners through the Development
Trust Account arrangements. 
 
Procurement Advice
obtained:
The delivery and operating model that has been
developed, in conjunction with both internal and external legal
input and advice, has no direct procurement implications as the
operating model described within the report sits outside the scope
and remit of the Public Contract Regulations (PCR’s)
2015.
 
HR Advice
obtained:
Not Applicable
 
Climate Change
Advice obtained:
The Programme looks at development in Salford
over the next 20 years and recognises the substantial challenges
and responsiveness that Climate Change will need from the Built
Environment sector. Sustainability is a core principle of the
partnership and early viability work developing the Programme
toolkit has shaped the documents that will form the Business
Plan. 
 
The Salford Way and Great Eight are primary
measures incorporated into the performance indicators.  The Great Eight specifically talks about Tackling
the Climate Emergency; Mitigating Climate Change through reducing
emissions and through adapting to extreme weather events including
extreme heat and flooding. 
 
Throughout the preparation of the Programme,
the team have been looking at GM targets of Net Zero by 2038 and
the Local Plan targets of all new build to be Net Zero by
2028.  The move away from a Carbon
heating system towards Electrification is also
modelled. 
 
The partnership model described by this report
is a possible way of securing the extra investment that might be
required where there is a viability gap. 
 

Contact Officer: Kurt Partington                         
Email: kurt.partington@salford.gov.uk
 
The appropriate scrutiny panel to call-in the
decision is the Growth and Prosperity Scrutiny Panel
 
 
Signed:  Paul
Dennett                                      
           
.
City Mayor
Dated: 23 May 2023                                                      
 
 
This decision was published on Monday 5 June 2023                                           
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on Monday 12
June 2023                                      
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.