ITEM NO.
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REPORT OF STRATEGIC DIRECTOR FOR SUSTAINABLE REGENERATION
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TO LEAD MEMBER FOR CUSTOMER AND SUPPORT SERVICES ON 1 MARCH
2010
AND LEAD MEMBER FOR PLANNING ON 2 MARCH (FOR INFORMATION)
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TITLE: AGMA PLANNING AND HOUSING TEAM: ESTABLISHEMNT OF POSTS
TO BE EMBEDDED IN SALFORD CITY COUNCIL
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RECOMMENDATION:
To approve the establishment of six posts which form the AGMA Planning and
Housing team, funded by AGMA, and embedded within the Planning and Transport
Futures section of the Sustainable Regeneration Directorate.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
AGMA Executive Board has agreed to an expansion in AGMA’s city regional
planning and housing capacity to deliver the work programme of the Planning and
Housing Commission, and to the embedding of the team within Salford City Council,
under the joint management of Chris Findley and Paul Beardmore (Director of
Housing at Manchester CC). The posts will be jointly funded by the ten GM Local
Authorities, and filled by means of three-year secondments from within the AGMA
family. This report provides details on the six posts, and recommends that they are
now formally established, in order that staff can be seconded.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: Minutes of AGMA Executive Board 18 December
2008. (Available for public inspection)
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KEY DECISION:
NO
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KEY COUNCIL POLICIES: Recruitment and Selection, Redeployment
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EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS: - NA
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK: High - AGMA’s new arrangements and the work of the
Commissions is highly dependent on a limited number of ‘embedded’ staff supported
by officers from within local authorities. Failure to appoint to the posts identified will
put at riskj the work programme of the Planning and Housing Commission.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING: Funding for these posts was agreed by the AGMA
Executive Board on 18 December 2008 as an annual recurring cost.
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by: NA
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by Accountancy Team. To be jointly funded
by the 10 AGMA districts.
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OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED: NA
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CONTACT OFFICER:
Chris Findley
TEL. NO. 0161 793 3654
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WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): All
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1. Background.
The AGMA Executive Board agreed on 19 December 2008 to a number of measures
and associated costs to enhance city-regional capacity to deliver AGMA’s increasing
priorities. These included the expansion of AGMA’s planning and housing capacity,
to support the Planning and Housing Commission (PHC) and deliver its work
programme. All city regional posts are to be embedded within (ie on the
establishment of) one of the GM Local Authorities, to undertake a city regional work
programme on behalf of AGMA as a whole. On 7 August 2009, AGMA’s Wider
Leadership Group (WLG) agreed that the Planning and Housing team would be
embedded within Salford City Council.
The principle of embedded capacity is that the existing capacity of the GM local
authorities will be used and further developed to deliver the city region’s priorities.
Small AGMA teams such as this one, work closely with officers in the ten Local
Authorities, and under the leadership of existing experienced managers, resulting in
efficiencies for the ten LAs as work is undertaken at the city regional level which
would otherwise need to be carried out in ten separate organisations.
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2. Details
2.1 Accountability
The team will be accountable to Roger Ellis, Chief Executive of Rochdale MBC and
AGMA Lead Chief Executive for Planning and Housing, and through him to the
Planning and Housing Commission, which is chaired, on behalf of AGMA, by
Councillor Derek Antrobus of Salford City Council.
The team will be managed, on behalf of the Planning and Housing Commission,
jointly by the AGMA Planning and Housing Leads, who are, respectively, Chris
Findley, (Assistant Director, Planning and Transport Futures at Salford CC) and Paul
Beardmore (Director of Housing at Manchester CC). It has previously been agreed
with their employing Authorities that Chris Findley spends 50% of his working week,
and Paul Beardmore 20% fulfilling these lead policy roles for the city region, and
Salford and Manchester City Councils are being reimbursed accordingly to enable
their capacity to be back-filled.
2.2 Team Structure
The composition of the team has been agreed by the senior managers above on
behalf of the AGMA Planning and Housing Commission, and is shown on the
attached structure diagram at Annex 1. There are six posts in total. Of these, two
are new posts:
 Planning Strategy Manager
 Housing Strategy Manager.
The remaining four posts are currently on the establishment of Wigan Council, within
the AGMA Policy and Research Unit, which is being re-structured in line with the
agreement of AGMA Wider Leadership Group on 7 August 2009. These will be
deleted from the establishment of Wigan Council and created on Salford City
Council’s establishment. The budget will be transferred to Salford City Council:
 Strategy and Programmes Manager (Planning and Housing): currently Deputy
Governance and Competitiveness, AGMA Policy Unit
 Assistant Planning Strategy Manager: currently Planning Policy Manager,
AGMA Policy Unit
 Assistant Housing Strategy Manager: currently Housing Policy Manager,
AGMA Policy Unit
 Policy Support Officer (Planning and Housing); currently Policy Support and
Research Officer (AGMA Policy Unit).
Job descriptions and person specifications for all six posts have been prepared and
agreed and are attached as Annex 2 a-f.
2.3 Costs
The budgets for the four posts to be deleted from AGMA PRU will all be transferred
towards the costs of this new team. The AGMA Executive Board on 18/12/08
approved additional resources of up to £140,000 per annum to meet the additional
costs over and above the resources attached to these four posts. All costs will be
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recharged by Salford City Council to AGMA, and funded by means of agreed
contributions from the ten GM Local Authorities, based on their populations.
A summary of the costs of the six posts, following Job Evaluation by Salford City
Council, is attached at Annex 3, and includes on-costs.
2.4 Recruitment
AGMA has agreed that all city regional posts are to be filled for a maximum of three
years, by means of secondments from with the AGMA “family” in order to grow our
local capacity. After three years, the postholders will return to their employers and
requirements of the city-regional service will be reviewed. The Council’s Legal
Team is advising on an appropriate Secondment Agreement document for each
appointment.
The following arrangements will apply to the six posts in this team:
Housing Strategy Manager: This post has already been filled, by agreement with
AGMA Chief Executives, through a secondment from Government Office North
West, in order to deliver AGMA’s immediate requirements arising from the Local
Investment Agreement with the Homes and Communities Agency in December
2009, which is part of the Statutory City Region pilot. The period of secondment will
terminate in March 2012.
Strategy and Programmes Manager: to be filled by transfer of the existing Deputy
Governance and Competitiveness, AGMA Policy Unit, as agreed by AGMA Chief
Executives 13 October 2009.
Four remaining posts: to be initially offered for three year secondments from within
the AGMA “family”. Following approval of this report, and the appropriate period for
scrutiny, the four vacant posts will be advertised within the AGMA family, on or soon
after 18 March 2010. In the event that any posts cannot be filled by such
secondments, they will be advertised to attract resources externally for a fixed term
period of upto 3 years. At the end of the fixed term the AGMA ‘family’ agree to assist
in the redeployment of these resources to avoid the burden of this lying purely with
Salford City Council.
3. Recommendation
To approve the establishment and appointment of six posts which form the AGMA
Planning and Housing team, funded by AGMA, and embedded within the Planning
and Transport Futures section of the Sustainable Regeneration Directorate.
Team structure Feb
10.doc
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