Last night was the regular meeting of Bury Council’s Executive Committee. This is the Committee that brings together the “portfolio holders” in the ruling Conservative Group, myself and the Leader of the Labour Group get to go as non-voting members.

Last nights meeting was an unusually packed agenda, with some very important issues agreed:

East Lancashire Railway Commuter Services
The Executive Committee noted the progress of the study that has been going on into the possibility of running “normal” passenger services on the East Lancashire Railway - without detracting from the heritage service that is currently offered. A number of options are being considered - running trams up the metrolink line and then onwards to either Ramsbottom or Rawtenstall; or running “heavy rail” services from Victoria to Heywood, and then onwards to Bury and Rawtenstall. The studies are in an early stage, but it would be very welcome money was ever available to make it happen.

Pimhole Renewal Area
The Executive Committee made a commitment to invest a further £5 million over the next five years in regenerating this area of east Bury.

CPA Improvement Plan
Following the successful CPA (Comprehensive Performance Assessment) of Bury earlier in the year a number of “areas for improvement” were identified. The Executive Committee agreed an “action plan” to address some of these areas. I asked about the need to support Councillors in their roles, and raised a concern that this was currently limited to the Executive Committee and Scrutiny Panels in the plan.

JAR Review Report
The Executive Committee noted the JAR (Joint Agency Review) report on Children and Young People’s services in Bury. The report was disappointing, with Bury only being marked as “adequate”. Staff are now devising a comprehensive action plan to improve services.

Youth Offending Team Inspection Report
We received a report on the inspection done into Bury’s youth offending team.

Review of Residential Accommodation
This was one of the most important items on the agenda. The Council is now proposing to review the residential accommodation that it provides to elderly people, and is now beginning a consultation process. The “recommended option” would make a very significant change for Bury, with the Council ceasing to be a provider to “standard” residential accommodation for older people, and only provide specialist residential accommodation for people with particular needs. I raised a concern that this major policy shift hadn’t been through the Council’s scrutiny process, and also asked for assurances that the review wouldn’t just look at residential accommodation, but also at the community and housing services for older people. For me its clear that people should be helped to live in their own homes and communities, but we need high quality community services for this to happen.

Moving Bury’s Tourist Office to the Fusileers Museum
The Executive Committee agreed to re-locate Bury’s Tourist Officer from its current location (with the “Met”) to the new Fusileers museum.

Alternative Service Delivery Options
We received an update into the review of different ways of providing some of the councils services - this seems to have been going on for ages, but hopefully things will begin to move forward on something soon.

Manchester Multi-Area Agreement
We received a report on the Manchester Multi-Area Agreement (normally called “MAA”s). This is a set of targets that Greater Manchester would agree with Government. The MAA has seven priority areas including reducing unemployment, improving housing and encouraging business expansion.

Local Safety Schemes
The Executive Committee approved over £1/2 million for road safety schemes this year. There are three schemes in the list in Prestwich:
- finishing off the Scholes Lane/Bury Old Road junction
- work at the junction of St Anne’s Road and Bury New Road
- a new scheme to make Heywood Road between Bury Old Road and Scholes Lane safer.
These schemes will now be consulted on before anything happens. I’ll be particularly asking for more information on the Heywood Road scheme, as this passes right rough our area of Prestwich.

Sorry for such a long report! Copies of all the papers for the meeting are available on the Bury Council Website here.
Any questions please ask!
Tim