The Cabinet approved a number of contracts for works on Bury’s housing stock, including roofing and energy efficiency upgrades. They also approved, in principle, Bury joining the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Project Skyline scheme to provide new homes for children in care. A number of financial updates and staffing matters were also considered.

Regeneration in Prestwich

The Cabinet approved the appointment of VINCI Construction UK¹ as the main contractor for the construction of the Prestwich Village Travel Hub.

The Cabinet agreed to use the Pagabo² procurement framework to appoint the contractor, arguing that it would reduce the amount of time needed to appoint a contractor, and would provide access to contractors with sufficient experience to build the travel hub.

Councillor Bernstein questioned why the report on this item was received late. The Leader apologised and promised to avoid this in future.

The project will be funded with £14m from the GMCA, with some of this funding coming from the Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund (MCF) that provides funding for schemes that promote active travel.

Councillor Mike Smith requested that improvements to Milltown Street be considered as part of the regeneration of Prestwich.

Whitefield Town Centre Plan

The Cabinet agreed to withdraw the Whitefield Town Centre Plan. A revised version will be submitted to a future meeting of the Cabinet.

Milltown Street Bridge, Radcliffe

The Cabinet approved the award of the contract to replace Milltown Street Bridge in Radcliffe. Work will begin in spring 2025, if the GMCA’s Bee Network Committee agrees to provide an extra £650,000 to the scheme at their meeting on 28 November. The scheme will cost £3,199,015 in total, with all of the funding coming from the GMCA. The project has been delayed since the original bridge was damaged during the floods caused by Storm Eva in 2015.

Children’s Homes

Councillor Smith reported that the Department for Education (DfE) had confirmed that the new Star Academy³ free school in Radcliffe would now not be completed until July 2026, meaning that two years’ worth of students will have had to use temporary accommodation while the new building is built. Councillor Smith assured members that Bury Council would continue to work with the DfE and Star Academy to ensure that the school is built as soon as possible, and that no further delays occur.

A member of the public asked if, in light of the recent flooding in the Borough during Storm Bert, the Council believed its gully cleansing system was working. The Leader acknowledged that flooding had taken place in a number of locations, but argued that while gully cleansing was important, it would not solve all flooding issues, many of which were caused by the drainage systems, largely maintained by United Utilities, not being designed to cope with the increased volume of rainfall the borough was experiencing. He also reported that the council had increased the budget for gully cleansing in 2024, allowing for an additional 20,000 gullies to be checked and cleaned, and had put in place processes to check known flooding hotspots during extreme weather events.

The Cabinet approved a request to enter into a partnership agreement with the GMCA to provide ten new children’s homes across Greater Manchester, as part of the ‘Project Skyline’ scheme. The homes will provide places for 24 children with complex mental health issues, emotional and behavioural difficulties, or who are at risk of exploitation. The report stated that Bury was the only borough in Greater Manchester that did not have its own children’s homes and was therefore reliant on the private sector to provide this service.

Councillor Smith also reported that the DfE had confirmed that there were no current plans to develop any children’s homes in Bury.

Quarter Two Finance Report

The Cabinet considered a report on the Council’s finances for the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. The report stated that the general fund was forecasting an overspend of £3.011m (1.34% of the total budget) with the largest overspends being forecast in Adult Social Care and Children’s Services. Councillor Bernstein noted that the District Auditor had previously advised that an overspend of this size should be a cause for concern. Councillor Thorpe, Cabinet Member for Finance, stated that the overspends were due to the increased costs of providing services, and increased demand for services, but assured the Cabinet that the council was working hard to identify savings. Councillor Smith asked if increasing council tax by more than the previously agreed 5% was being considered, but was told by officers that this was not the case. The Cabinet agreed to approve the contents of the report, including a number of changes to the capital programme. They also approved a number of updates to the Housing Revenue Account budget, following the Six Town Housing⁴ stock being transferred back in-house in 2024.

Housing Stock

The Cabinet approved the award of a number of contracts to maintain the council’s housing stock, including for roofing, energy efficiency works and refurbishment of communal areas in flats. Councillor Bernstein queried whether similar contracts had previously been considered by either the Cabinet or the Council, but was told that new processes had been introduced following the Six Town Housing stock being brought back in house. Councillor Smith requested that more information be provided on the use of local businesses to carry out this work, and asked whether local companies were being used to deliver ‘social value’ as part of the contract. The Leader agreed to ask officers to produce a report on the use of local businesses to deliver these projects.

Staffing Matters

The Cabinet agreed to delete the post of Executive Director (Operations), currently held by Donna Ball, when she leaves the council in April 2025. The report noted that a number of senior managers in the Operations Department had either left the council or were planning to leave the council, and therefore the time was right to redistribute responsibility for operational services across the rest of the organisation.

The Leader thanked Donna Ball for her work during her time at the council and noted that she would continue to play a key role in supporting the changes until she leaves.

The Cabinet approved a number of changes to the senior management structure, including the creation of a new post of Director (Place Operations) to oversee a number of operational services including Waste and Recycling, Street Scene and Bury Market. The Corporate Core Department will take on responsibility for Public Protection, Community Safety and Emergency Response. The Health and Care Department will take on responsibility for Wellness. Responsibility for Facilities Management will transfer to the Business Growth and Infrastructure Department.

These changes will result in the Business Growth and Infrastructure Department being renamed as the Place Department, and will reduce the number of departments in the council to four.

Councillor Bernstein requested reassurance that there would be sufficient capacity to deliver these services following the restructure, but the Leader stated that the new structure was a strong model that would bring together key services.

The Cabinet noted the positive feedback in the recent Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review. The Review took place in October 2024, and was a follow up to the initial Peer Challenge that took place in 2023.

The Cabinet agreed to carry out a consultation on the proposed changes. The consultation will run from 5 December 2024 until 13 January 2025.

The Cabinet also agreed to endorse and note the Council’s partnership with the Care Leaver Covenant. The Care Leaver Covenant is a national scheme that connects care experienced young people with businesses that offer employment opportunities, training and other benefits. The council will create an officer post to act as an ambassador for the scheme, and will create opportunities to promote the scheme to local businesses.

Councillor Morris reminded members that voting was still open for the National Association of British Market Authorities “Britain’s Favourite Market” competition, in which Bury Market was shortlisted.