Content

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)
 
I Paul
Dennett, City Mayor, in
exercise of the powers contained within the City Council
Constitution do hereby
approve:
·        
Authorise the proposed use of the £941,000
funding allocated to Salford from the Greater Manchester (GM) Live
Well Implementation Support Fund towards the local roll out of the
Live Well programme, as detailed in the report.

·        
Authorise the allocation for 50% of this funding
(£470,500) to passported directly to the VCSE sector (via
Salford CVS) to be used for, supporting the ‘places’
element of the work.

·        
Authorise use of the remaining 50% funding
(£470,500) to be invested in the VCSE-led Wellbeing Matters
social prescribing programme, managed by Salford CVS
The Reasons are:
Salford is well placed to implement the key principles of the GM
Live Well programme through existing workstreams such
as;
·        
Our approach to prevention programme which
aims to build and strengthen prevention and early intervention
across the city working together with partners and
communities.
·        
Our Ignite programme aims to deliver a new
targeted prevention model for adult social care to prevent, reduce,
and delay the need for a care act assessment.
·        
Our Salford Locality Health and Care
Neighbourhoods Transformation Group aims to deliver more safe,
effective, and integrated neighbourhood services (as part of the
NHS’s Ten Year Health Plan).
·        
Our work implementing the GM Economic Inactivity
Trailblazer programme through Elevate Salford and the Salford
Employment Hub is delivering positive results in supporting more
people on a pathway into work.

·        
Our WorkWell
Vanguard Service is providing evidence-based support to
individuals with their occupational health needs and to overcome
barriers to work.
Options considered and rejected were: To not accept this
grant and invest this money in Salford.
Assessment of Risk: Medium
The source of funding is: Grant
awarded to SCC by GMCA

 
Legal Advice obtained:
The report sets out the Council’s
proposed approach to implementing GM Live Well locally and seek
Cabinet approval for how funding will be allocated to support the
programme.
GMCA approved the GM Live Well Implementation
Support funding of £941,000, based on a per capita approach,
and the proposal is for 50% of the funding to be used direct to the
VCSE sector and the remaining 50% to support VCSE-led social
prescribing programmes.
It is important that the Council complies with
the terms of the grant offer letter received from GMCA and that its
use is in line with the terms and requirements for the purposes of
the fund as set out in the body of the report, with additional
expectations also required as described, to avoid any potential
clawback for failure to comply. The distribution of grant funding
by the Council is excluded from the competition requirements set
out in the Council’s Contractual Standing Orders as grant
funding is a different type of legal arrangement to a
services contract with different implications.
Contracts for goods and services (and works) are subject to public
procurement legislation, but grants are not contracts for provision
of services so are not subject to the procurement rules. Grants are
also not subject to VAT., whereas services contracts
are.
Should the Council wish
to passport the terms of the funding to receiving organisations,
Legal Services will be happy to assist in drafting any appropriate
back-to-back funding agreements to protect its position.
The programme builds on
existing work being undertaken in the city with partner
organisations and Salford CVS, and the two proposals for the use of
the funding compliment that work.
Governance and
leadership of the Fund is provided by the establishment of the Live
Well Steering group to oversee the implementation and monitor
allocation of funding and performance, as well as risks and
financial management. The steering group will report to the local
Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure political oversight is also
provided, as set out in section 7 of the report.
It should also be noted
that the Subsidy Control Act recently came into force on
4th January 2023 (together with Government statutory
guidance). These replace the previous State Aid rules. The purpose
of the regime is to assist public authorities to award subsidies in
a way which minimises any negative impacts to competition and
investment.
When providing financial
assistance to a third party, the Council should consider whether
the award may constitute a subsidy that would give a provider an
economic advantage which would have the effect of distorting
competition with other providers operating in the same marketplace.
The Subsidy Control regime is permissive in comparison to the
previous State Aid regime, in that a subsidy can still be
compliantly awarded if it complies with the seven ‘subsidy
control principles’ (or alternatively falls within the
recipient’s Minimum Financial Assistance threshold of
£315,000 over the previous 3 financial years). It is
important to ensure that the Council has an appropriate audit trail
to demonstrate that it has considered the ‘is it a
subsidy’ test and, where applicable, the application of the
subsidy control principles in case an award was challenged. Shared
Legal Services can support with this analysis if
required.
 
Even
if any of the individual grants fell within the definition of a
subsidy, and a particular organisation has exceeded its own
£315k limit, the Council can still offer the public funding
to that particular organisation so long as the subsidy complies
with the seven subsidy control principles.
 
Salford CVS should ask applicants for grant funding to confirm
how much public funding they have received within the last 3 years
to support any subsidy control assessment undertaken by the
Council.
Financial Advice obtained:
The
financial implications reflect £941,000 awarded to the
Council in 2025/26 which will require City Mayor approval to
increase the revenue budget in this financial year.  As the
grant is non-recurrent, appointments to new posts and any other
commitments should only be made on fixed term basis to avoid a
long-term cost for the Council once the funding ends.
Procurement Advice obtained:
It
is imperative that the Council complies with the terms of the grant
outlined in the offer letter received from GMCA to reduce the risk
of potential clawback of monies. Grants are currently not captured
within the Council’s Contract Standing Orders (CSO’s).
Contracts for goods, services and works are subject to public
procurement legislation however, grants are not contracts and
therefore are not subject to the same procurement rules or
governance arrangements.
As
highlighted in the legal comments, when providing financial
assistance to a third party, the Council should consider whether
the award constitutes a subsidy that would give a particular
provider an economic advantage which would have the effect of
distorting competition with other providers operating in the same
marketplace. The Subsidy Control regime is permissive in comparison
to the previous State Aid regime, in that a subsidy can still be
compliantly awarded if it complies with the seven ‘subsidy
control principles’ (or alternatively falls within the
recipient’s Minimum Financial Assistance threshold of
£315,000 over the previous 3 financial years). It is
important to ensure that the Council has an appropriate audit trail
to demonstrate that it has considered the ‘is it a
subsidy’ test and, where applicable, the application of the
subsidy control principles in case an award was
challenged.
Salford CVS to ask applicants for grant funding to confirm how
much public funding they have received within the last 3 years to
support any subsidy control assessment undertaken by the
Council.
HR Advice obtained: N/A
Climate Change Advice obtained: N/A
 
The following documents have been used
to assist the decision process:
 
-      

GM Live Well Implementation Fund – GMCA
Decision report (28 March 2025)
-      
GMCA grant agreement
-      
Cabinet Briefing report
 
Contact Officer:  Gillian
McLauchlan                              
Telephone number: 0161 793 3585
 
The appropriate scrutiny panels to
call-in the decision is the;

-      
Community & Neighbourhoods Scrutiny
Panel

-      
Health and Adults Scrutiny Panel
                       

 

Signed:
       Paul
Dennett                     
  Dated:     14.10.25                              
.
                       
City Mayor
 

For
Democratic Services use only

 

This decision was
published on 14.10.25                                            

This decision will
come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 21.10.25                   
                              
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.