Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

The following prejudicial interests were declared and the Members took no part in the discussion and voting thereon:

The following personal interests were declared:

To approve and sign the minutes of the last Ordinary meeting of Council held on 9 October 2014 and the Extraordinary meeting held on 23 October 2014.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the last ordinary meeting held on 9 October 2014 and the Extraordinary meeting held on 23 October 2014 be approved and signed by the Chair as correct records.

To consider any announcements made by the Lord Mayor in respect of Civic business.

The Lord Mayor announced that this was the first Council meeting following the recent death of Richard Cregan, a former Labour Councillor for the Beckfield Ward.

Members stood for a moments silence in memory of the former Councillor.

The Lord Mayor also announced receipt of a gift of an embroidered Chinese picture from the Monks of Shaolin, of Henan Province in China.

At this point in the meeting, any member of the public who has registered to address the Council, or to ask a Member of the Council a question, on a matter directly relevant to the business of the Council or the City, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Wednesday 10 December 2014.

To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.

WEBCASTING NOTICE

Please note: this meeting may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the internet - at the start of the meeting the Lord Mayor will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed.

You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act. Data collected during this webcast will be retained in accordance with the Council’s published policy.

Public seating areas will not be filmed by the Council.

Fiona Evans spoke in support of the Yearsley Pool petition to be presented by Cllr Runciman as the next item on the agenda. She referred to the support of 6,500 residents who had signed the  petition and pointed out the health benefits of swimming for people of all ages. She also highlighted the unique nature of the pool for long distance swimmers and asked Members to support this valuable community asset and provide funding to keep the pool open for at least 5 years.

To consider any petitions received from Members in accordance with Standing Order No.7.  To date, notice has been received of one petition to be presented by:

(i)           Cllr Runciman on behalf of local residents requesting the Council to recognise the significance of York’s only large, unique, historic pool and to provide an adequate level of revenue funding to keep the pool open for at least the next 5 years to safeguard the health, fitness, safety and sporting needs of the local and wider community.

Under Standing Order 7, petitions were presented by the following Members for reference to the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee, in accordance with the Council’s new petition arrangements:

i)       Cllr Runciman on behalf of local residents requesting the Council to recognise the significance of Yearsley Pool and to provide revenue funding to keep it open for the next 5 years.^1.

ii)      Cllr Doughty on behalf of residents of Strensall, calling on the Council to put measures in place to protect children crossing the junction of Sheriff Hutton Road and The Village before a further accident occured.^2.

iii)     Cllr Gunnell on behalf of residents, requesting the Council to undertake a consultation for resident’s parking in Nunthorpe Grove.^3.

iv)     Cllr Douglas on behalf of 2,841 electors, requesting the Council to continue to fund the Burton Stone Community Centre for at least a further 5 years.^4.

To receive a written report from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes & Safer Communities, and to question the Cabinet Member thereon, provided any such questions are registered in accordance with the timescales and procedures set out in Standing Order 8.2.1.

Council received a written report from Councillor Simpson-Laing, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes and Safer Communities.

Councillor Simpson-Laing presented her report and requested male Councillors and Officers to sign up to the White Ribbon campaign against domestic abuse.

Notice had been received of six questions on the written report, submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders. The first four questions were put and answered as follows and Cllr Simpson-Laing undertook to provide Members with a written answer to the remaining questions.

(i)   From Cllr Barton

“Whilst congratulating Ian Floyd and his team for achieving a ‘5 year high’ in terms of a 98.04% rent collection rate, can the Cabinet Member outline what robust measures are to be introduced to collect the £¾ million plus which are nevertheless still outstanding, monies which rightly belong to the taxpayers of York, or is this huge amount likely to be written off?”

I am sure that the Director of Customer and Business Support Services, Ian Floyd,  will take the praise for the rent collection rate of the Housing revenue account but this actually falls in the remit of the director of Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods  Sally Burns.

I believe from the question that there is confusion between Council Tax and the Housing Revenue Account as the latter cannot be redirected into other areas of council spending. The HRA is the account where Council tenants’ rent is collected.

As I am sure Cllr Barton is aware rent money is not general taxation and cannot be spent on Council services, only on housing related services such as the continued Tenants Choice rolling programme, repairs, the building of new Council Homes, estate improvements, adaptations to council properties, and improving management and customer engagement

As my report notes Council Rent Arrears are at their lowest for 12 years. The Council has a number of sanctions for those in debt including not being able to move to another property – however this has been relaxed where tenants have been affected by the Bedroom Tax (Spare Room Subsidy) as otherwise their arrears would potential continue to increase.

The council’s approach to rent recovery is very much based on a preventative approach. This begins at the start of someone’s tenancy where the importance of timely rent payment is stressed. New tenants are expected to pay rent in advance and or come with their Housing Benefit application ready with evidence to support a claim.

The Housing Department ensures that it’s accessible at local advice sessions, along with money and employment advisers to help with maximising benefits and opportunities for employment, when residents are signing their tenancies or have a change in circumstances. I have created a pot for assisting people to downsize to reduce cost and I have ensured the use of the new build program to encourage this too. The Council also funds the Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) debt project which helps tenants manage their debt.

Ultimately action will be taken against tenants who are not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

To receive and consider a written report from the Leader on the work of the Cabinet.

Notice had been received of five questions on the written report, submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders. The first four questions were put and answered as follows and Cllr Alexander undertook to provide Members with a written answer to the remaining question. Councillor Alexander indicated that presenting this report and responding to questions upon it would be his last act, as Cabinet Leader and Leader of the Council, having resigned from the post as of this meeting.

(i)        From Cllr Aspden

“While a recovering economy has seen a reduction in the level of unemployment in the City, is the leader disappointed that the numbers in employment in the City are still fewer than in 2011 (contrary to the national trend) and that it will be 2020 before pre recession employment levels in the City are seen again?”

The Leader replied:

The numbers of those employed in 2011 are lower than pre-recession employment levels, and I can confirm for Coun. Aspden that the recession started much earlier than 2011.

The recession and the Government’s targeting of the public sector in response to the deficit has had a disproportionate impact on numbers employed in the city due to our previously higher than average reliance on public sector jobs.  So clearly it will take numbers in employment longer to return to 2011 levels.  But we are on that path and thankfully this council is working very actively in attracting inward investment and jobs to the city to help ameliorate this impact.

Whilst total numbers employed do paint part of the picture on the city’s economic performance, it must be seen alongside those claiming JSA to gain an accurate picture.  With only 1% claiming, this shows the city and indeed individuals themselves have done extremely well in adapting to a more balanced public-private sector York economy.

The irony of getting a question about total numbers employed as opposed to numbers claiming JSA is not lost on me from the Liberal Democrats, a party whose policies would stifle and constrain economic growth in the city were they ever again in a position to implement them.

(ii)      From Cllr Ayre

“What percentage of those in work are in part-time employment and how does this compare to the national average?”

The Leader replied:

(iii)     From Cllr Runciman

“How many residents attended each Community Conversation meeting and how does this compare to attendance at ward committees held before 2011?”

The Leader replied:

The numbers attending each CC meeting were provided up until the last ordinary full council meeting, which Coun. Runciman can refer back to. Since then, attendances have been as follows:

Ward Committee meeting attendances from 2008 to 2011 were:

To receive nominations for the appointment of a new Leader of the Council and Labour Group.

The Lord Mayor invited nominations for the appointment of a new Council Leader.

Councillor Simpson-Laing moved and Councillor Potter seconded and it was

Resolved:  That Councillor Dafydd Williams be appointed as the new Leader of the City of York Council.

As Vice Chair of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee, Councillor Simpson-Laing moved the following recommendation, in relation to the appointment process for the Director and Assistant Director of Adult Services contained in minute 53 of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee meeting held on 24 November 2014:

“Recommend:    That Council agree that a remuneration package for the Director of Adult Services be set at £88,000-£102,000.

Reason:        To progress the appointment for this critical role.”

On being put to the vote, the recommendation was declared CARRIED and it was

Resolved:  That the above recommendation of the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee meeting held on 24 November 2014 be approved. ^1.

To receive a report from Councillor Galvin, the Chair of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) on the work of the CSMC.

Council received the report of the Chair of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee at pages 89 to 92, on the work of the Committee.

Councillor Galvin then moved receipt of the report and it was

Resolved:   That the scrutiny report be received and noted.

Minutes of the following meetings of outside bodies, received since the last meeting of Council, have been made available for Members to view via the Council’s website at

http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ecCatDisplay.aspx?sch=doc&cat=12959&path=0

Copies may also be obtained by contacting Democracy Support Group at West Offices, Station Rise, York (tel. 01904 551088)

·        North Yorkshire Pension Fund Sub-Committee - 20 February, 22 May,10 July and 18 September 2014

·        North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel – 10 April and 17 July 2014

·        York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Council of Governor’s – 11 June 2014

·        Safer York Partnership/Drug & Alcohol Action Team Partnership Board – 31 July 2014

·        North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority – 24 September 2014

Members are invited to put any questions to the Council’s representatives on the above bodies, in accordance with Standing Order 10(b).

Minutes of the following meetings had been made available for Members to view on the Council’s website:

·        North Yorkshire Pension Fund Sub-Committee - 20 February, 22 May,10 July and 18 September 2014

·        North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel – 10 April and 17 July 2014

·        York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Council of Governor’s – 11 June 2014

·        Safer York Partnership/Drug & Alcohol Action Team Partnership Board – 31 July 2014

·        North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority – 24 September 2014

No questions had been submitted to representatives on outside bodies.

Councillor King reported his re-election as Vice Chair of the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority and Steering Group and Vice Chair of their Audit and Performance Committee.

To consider a report which sets out details of changes to membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board and an appointment to theMental Health and Learning Disabilities Partnership Board.

(i)      Changes to Membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board

(ii)      Appointment to the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Partnership Board

Cllr Cunningham-Cross, as Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board moved, and Cllr Looker seconded the following recommendations to Council:

Recommended: That Council agree:

(i)      The changes to the Terms of Reference of the Health and Wellbeing Board, with the removal of the Chief Executive, the addition of a further elected representative, nominated by the Council (Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Young People)and for the Cabinet Member with the portfolio for Adult Social Care to be a named member of the Board, as set out in the Board’s revised membership at Annex A.

(ii)      To appoint Councillor Funnell as a member of the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Partnership Board.

Reason:     To fulfil statutory requirements and in order to respond to a request for a nomination to the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Partnership Board for the remainder of the current municipal year.

Cllr Aspden then moved, and Cllr Steward seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

In paragraph 12 (i) on page 95 of the agenda, after the words “Health and Wellbeing Board, remove the rest of paragraph (i) and replace with the following:

 “as follows including the removal of the Chief Executive:

2.1       Board members will be required to represent their organisation with sufficient seniority and influence for decision making.  The membership of the Board will consist of:

i.      The Leader of City of York Council (“the Council) or his/her nominee, together with a further 3 elected representatives nominated by the Council.

ii.     Two representatives of the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group appointed by them

iii.    A representative of HealthWatch York appointed by them

iv.    The Director of Public Health (represented in CYC by the Acting Director of Public Health)

v.     The Director of Children’s Services, Skills and Education

vi.    The Director of Adult & Social Services

     vii.  A representative for the York Voluntary and Community Sector

viii.  A representative of the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

ix     A representative of Leeds Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

x.     A representative of the Independent Care sector

     xi.    A representative of the NHS Commissioning Board

xii.   A representative of North Yorkshire Police

xiii.  Other members appointed by the Board or the Leader of the Council after consultation with the Board.

On being put to the vote, the above amendment was declared CARRIED.

The original motion as amended was then put to the vote, and declared CARRIED and it was

Resolved:                     That the above recommendations as amended in respect of membership of the Health & Wellbeing Board and the appointment of Councillor Funnell to the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Partnership Board be approved. ^1.

Councillor Steward moved and Councillor Aspden seconded a motion to suspend Standing Orders in order to allow five Notices of Motion to be considered at the meeting.

Resolved: That Standing Order 12(ii) be suspended to allow five Notices of Motion to be considered at the meeting.

To consider the following Notices of Motion under Standing Order 12:

A – Motions referred from the Cabinet in accordance with Standing Order 12.1(a)

None

B – Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 12.1(b)

(i)        From Cllr Fraser

“Council welcomes the Government’s policy on integrated health and social care and local efforts to make this a reality for people in York, who should be central to NHS provision.

Council notes, however, the damaging impact of the £3bn Tory-Lib Dem Government’s top down reorganisation of the NHS, which is forcing local health economies to waste millions of pounds on pointless procurement exercises as they compete with the private sector for patient contracts.

This is all against a backdrop of severe financial pressure and significant historical underfunding of York’s healthcare system and mental health services in particular.

The cumulative effects on York patients include:

-         Restricted access to certain treatments and procedures due to the Government’s insistence that the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (VoYCCG) take on the historic debt of the former Primary Care Trust (PCT);

-         The excessive waiting times for access to talking therapies for those experiencing mental ill health; and

-         The imposition of funding cuts to York Hospital including reduced payment to the hospital for in-patient readmissions within 30 days and the imposition of an arbitrary threshold for A&E patient numbers above which the hospital only receives a percentage of the full tariff for emergency admissions.

Council resolves:

-         To request the Chair of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to make arrangements for Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider conducting a review on the impact on local health services based on so called ‘efficiency’ savings and chronic underfunding of the NHS in  York, to enable residents to understand what future services  will look like over the period 2015-2020;

-         To call on the city’s two MPs to lobby for a fairer deal in funding for York’s NHS;

-         To publicly condemn the estimated £3bn unwanted and ineffective top down reorganisation of the NHS;

-         To publicly support the NHS (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill which is being debated in Parliament and aims to halt privatisation in the health service by repealing sections of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 that enforce competition in the NHS;

-         To note the Labour Party’s commitment to increase NHS spending by £2.5bn per year mid way through the next parliament.”

(ii)      From Cllr Richardson

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        “Council agrees with concerns of residents that the Labour Cabinet has often forgotten it is there to serve residents and has failed to listen to their wishes and to properly engage.  The Cabinet has too often been wrongly focused on grand plans outside the city and on vanity projects rather then on vital services such as salt bins, rubbish collection and potholes.

With the move to no overall control councillors resolve to work together to deliver the services residents want, deserve and respect.  Council  ...  view the full agenda text for item 65.

A     Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 12.1(b)

(i)        Impact of Savings and Underfunding on the NHS (proposed by Cllr Fraser, seconded by Cllr Funnell)

“Council welcomes the Government’s policy on integrated health and social care and local efforts to make this a reality for people in York, who should be central to NHS provision.

Council notes, however, the damaging impact of the £3bn Tory-Lib Dem Government’s top down reorganisation of the NHS, which is forcing local health economies to waste millions of pounds on pointless procurement exercises as they compete with the private sector for patient contracts.

This is all against a backdrop of severe financial pressure and significant historical underfunding of York’s healthcare system and mental health services in particular.

The cumulative effects on York patients include:

-         Restricted access to certain treatments and procedures due to the Government’s insistence that the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (VoYCCG) take on the historic debt of the former Primary Care Trust (PCT);

-         The excessive waiting times for access to talking therapies for those experiencing mental ill health; and

-         The imposition of funding cuts to York Hospital including reduced payment to the hospital for in-patient readmissions within 30 days and the imposition of an arbitrary threshold for A&E patient numbers above which the hospital only receives a percentage of the full tariff for emergency admissions.

Council resolves:

-         To request the Chair of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to make arrangements for Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider conducting a review on the impact on local health services based on so called ‘efficiency’ savings and chronic underfunding of the NHS in  York, to enable residents to understand what future services  will look like over the period 2015-2020;

-         To call on the city’s two MPs to lobby for a fairer deal in funding for York’s NHS;

-         To publicly condemn the estimated £3bn unwanted and ineffective top down reorganisation of the NHS;

-         To publicly support the NHS (Amended Duties and Powers) Bill which is being debated in Parliament and aims to halt privatisation in the health service by repealing sections of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 that enforce competition in the NHS;

-         To note the Labour Party’s commitment to increase NHS spending by £2.5bn per year mid way through the next parliament.”

On being put to the vote, the motion was declared CARRIED and it was

Resolved:  That the above motion be approved. ^1.

(ii)      Additional Charges for the Collection of Residents’ Domestic Rubbish (proposed by Cllr Richardson, seconded by Cllr Steward)

“Council agrees with concerns of residents that the Labour Cabinet has often forgotten it is there to serve residents and has failed to listen to their wishes and to properly engage.  The Cabinet has too often been wrongly focused on grand plans outside the city and on vanity projects rather then on vital services such as salt bins, rubbish collection  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

To deal with the following questions to the Cabinet Leader and / or other Cabinet Members, in accordance with Standing Order 11.3(a):

(i)        To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Watson:

“By imposing the closure of Waterworld are you not prejudging the stadium planning application and placing your groups planning committee members into a preconceived decision?”

(ii)      To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Aspden:

“In view of the relatively low levels of unemployment in the city, what actions does the Cabinet intend to take over the next 4 months to address labour shortages in key sectors such as social care and the construction industry?”

(iii)     To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Steward:

“When did he become a believer in freezing council tax rather than increasing it?”

(iv)    To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Watson:

“What, if anything do you intend doing to address the concerns of the petitioners on the subject of Yearsley pool?”

(v)      To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Aspden:

“How much has the council paid to the Leeds City Region, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the local LEPs and how much of this has the authority received back (not promised, not national funding allocations) so far in increased investment in the city and its public services?”

(vi)    To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Steward:

“What will be the total cost of the council of the Lendal Bridge trial, including a breakdown of estimated officer time, once all fines have been refunded?”

(vii)   To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Steward:

“How much higher is the cost of the Lendal Bridge trial to the council due to the decision to initially only pay back people appealing?”

(viii)  To the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Tourism from Cllr Barton:

“In view of the news that York City Knights are no longer to be involved in the Community Stadium does the Cabinet Member not think that she, personally, should have issued a full and detailed explanation to her fellow Councillors about what is happening here rather than abdicate the responsibility to Officers resulting in a less than totally explanatory email being circulated?”

(ix)    To the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Tourism from Cllr D’Agorne:

What is the estimated total cost to York council tax payers for the proposed one day Tour de Yorkshire event in May 2015 and where will this money be found from?

(x)      To the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Tourism from Cllr Barton:

“Following York City Knights withdrawal from the Community Stadium venture, has the Risk Assessment Document been rewritten and any elements previously shown as “medium” upgraded to “high”?”

(xi)    To the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Tourism from Cllr Barton:

“What is the estimated cost to the Council of the legal proceedings referred to in the recent Community Stadium project warning issued by Officers to Members?”

(xii)   To the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Tourism from Cllr Cuthbertson:

“Listing each pool separately, for each month for the last 2 years  ...  view the full agenda text for item 66.

Forty five questions to the Leader and Cabinet Members had been received under Standing Order 11.3(a).  The guillotine having fallen at this point, Members agreed to receive written answers to their questions, as set out below:

(i)       To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Watson:

“By imposing the closure of Waterworld are you not prejudging the stadium planning application and placing your groups planning committee members into a preconceived decision?”

No.

The closure of Waterworld was agreed as part of the September Cabinet report.  The subsequent Full Council meeting in October gave its support to the progression of the project.  Planning consent is not required for the closure of Waterworld, thus it is not a planning matter.

(ii)      To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Aspden:

“In view of the relatively low levels of unemployment in the city, what actions does the Cabinet intend to take over the next 4 months to address labour shortages in key sectors such as social care and the construction industry?”

A shortage of labour in the construction industry is a national issue as projects get off the ground in higher numbers than anytime since 2007.  Clearly there will be a time lag in the labour market responding to that new confidence in the economy, but in York we are doing what we can to get people trained up to work in this sector.

There has been a lot of good work taking place this year which was highlighted through the construction scrutiny report, notably in the linking of construction businesses with education and training providers such as schools and colleges.

The ward member for Fulford I’m sure will be as pleased as I am to see the council’s procurement process acting as a mechanism for improving recruitment and training opportunities for local people on major capital projects like the extension of Fulford School and elsewhere in the city, on the Community Stadium.

Job Centre Plus is also working with its clients, training providers and employers to retrain and upskill local residents in both sectors.

In social care, there is an ageing workforce, with expertise leaving the sector and increasing demand for services, all of which is putting pressure on the delivery of quality care services.

Looking at the shortage of key workers in social care is a focus for the transformation of adult social care which includes the following proposals:

-      for recruitment and retention of key workers in York and what the council could contribute/enable; and

-      for how CYC’s Workforce strategy could be amended to support the recruitment of key workers

This work is at a relatively early stage but will be progressed by the relevant Cabinet Members over the period to which your question relates.

In March we have another Jobs Fair, building on the success of events held previously where employers, including those in each of these sectors, are linking up with those interested in working in these areas.

My Cabinet colleagues with responsibility for learning and skills and adult social care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.