How AGMA Works
The Executive Board
The Executive Board is the decision making body for sub regional governance in Greater Manchester. It consists of the ten Leaders of the Greater Manchester local authorities and also representatives of the Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence Authority, Police Authority and Waste Disposal Authority.
The diagram below provides an outline of the governance arrangements and structure presently in place for AGMA:
Commissions
The Constitution gives the Executive Board the power to establish strategic commissions. These are designed to discharge the functions of the Executive Board in respect of particular areas of work.
There are currently five commissions in operation:
• Environment
• Improvement & Efficiency
• Health
• Planning & Housing; and
• Public Protection
Combined Authority (GMCA)
From April 2011 the Manchester City Region is to receive new powers from Whitehall to work more effectively on significant issues including transport, regeneration and economic development.
Ministers have agreed plans to create the Greater Manchester Combined Authority - the first of its type in the country.
Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
The Government approved AGMA’s proposal for a business-led Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and officially encouraged Greater Manchester to establish the Partnership.
LEPs are designed to support business and local authorities to grow the local private sector, tackle major barriers to growth and develop shared strategies for the local economy to increase job creation.
The intention is that the LEP will “wrap around” the CA and “provide private sector leadership and expertise with a sharp focus on creating high value and sustainable jobs, increasing trade and investment, tourism and marketing and supporting supply chains” whilst the CA will be the statutory body which will provide a single focus and public accountability for economic development, regeneration and transport. The CA will take on the role of managing the relationship with the LEP on behalf of the 10 districts.
Business Leadership Council (BLC)
The BLC is designed to give the private sector a clearly identified role in the AGMA governance structure.
Its members are drawn from a representative cross section of business/industry sectors and sizes throughout Greater Manchester (including higher education), most of whom are at CEO, director or board chair level.
Its functions and powers include:
• advising the Executive Board on its ongoing policies and priorities;
• conducting its own reviews on the areas it believes will determine the future economic well-being of Greater Manchester; and
• where issues are particularly important, making recommendations directly to the Executive Board.
Democratic accountability and scrutiny
AGMA’s governance arrangements are designed to ensure that they have a thread of democratic accountability running throughout them.
This is achieved by:
• the Leaders being accountable within their own authority’s scrutiny arrangements for decisions made at the Executive Board
• giving any of the ten authorities the opportunity to raise issues at the sub regional level or question decisions taken at that level; and
• putting in place separate independent scrutiny arrangements for the sub regional governance function, carried out by elected members drawn from across the ten authorities.
Associate Authorities
To further increase partnership working a number of authorities from the surrounding areas have joined AGMA as Associate Members, these include the GM Integrated Transport Authority, GM Waste Disposal Authority, GM Police Authority and GM Fire and Rescue. The Associate Members may participate in the discussions at the Executive Board but cannot vote.
