Purpose

The report sought approval to accept additional funding on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester Local Authorities and enter into the funding agreement between Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to continue to support the delivery of the Greater Manchester Business Compliance Service (GMBCS)

The GMCA awarded GMBCS £300,000 to Tameside Council, on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester Public Protection Teams.

This was an amendment to the original grant of £580,000 awarded and accepted in April 2025.  This amendment sought to continue to fund Greater Manchester’s Business Compliance Support, providing business compliance advice covering environmental health, trading standards and licensing for an additional six-month period.

Decision

i)                   That approval be given to accept the funding on behalf of the ten Greater Manchester Local Authorities and enter into a grant funding agreement (Appendix 1) between Tameside Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to support the continued delivery of the new Greater Manchester Business Compliance Service.

ii)                That approval be given for Tameside Council to act as Lead Partner/authority and reallocates the GMCA funding to each of the other nine Greater Manchester Local Authorities by entering into a funding agreement with each of the other nine Greater Manchester Local Authorities, to support continued delivery of Greater Manchester’s Business Compliance Support.

iii)              That approval be given to continue with the collaboration agreement with the other nine Greater Manchester Local Authorities to support continued delivery of Greater Manchester’s Business Compliance Support.

Reasons for the decision

To accept additional funding of £300,000 for the continuation of the Greater Manchester Business Compliance Project. 

Alternative options considered

Reject the funding offer, but this will mean that Business Compliance Support will not be able to continue for the six-month period commencing 1 October 2026. This would leave Greater Manchester business without the support to help them comply with regulations covering environmental health, trading standards and licensing beyond September 2026.