Agenda, decisions 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 asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal interests, not included on the Register of Interests, or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they may have in respect of business on the agenda.

Cllr Levene, declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in relation to agenda item 7 – Delivery of the Tour de France in York and Yorkshire 2014, as his employer was involved in the delivery of a project for the Tour de France.

Cllr Williams, declared a personal non-prejudicial interest also in relation to agenda item 7 – Delivery of the Tour de France in York and Yorkshire 2014, as his employer Yorkshire Water had been involved in sponsorship of the cultural festival, arranged as part of the event.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Monday 19 January 2015.  Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the remit of the committee.

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

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

“Please note this meeting will be filmed and webcast and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission.  This broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting.  Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (whose contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/download/3130/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings

It was reported that there had been four registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme and that one Member of Council had also requested to speak on items, details of which are set out below:

Pinch Point Scheme, A19 South Transport Corridor – Phase 1

Graham Cheyne spoke on behalf of residents of Selby Road/ Naburn Lane of their concerns at the proposals for Phase 1 of this scheme, particularly in relation to the safety aspects for residents and air quality. He also referred problems arising from the recent addition of signalisation and closure of the northern link on the roundabout.

George Walker spoke to focus on residents concerns in respect of the procedure and feedback in relation to the scheme bid and consultation in respect of the Pinchpoint scheme. He referred to the three Phases and the need for resident consultation to ensure an holistic approach was taken of the overall scheme. He also highlighted the issues that a bus lane would present, in particular in relation to noise, air and light pollution.

Mary Urmston spoke to represent Fulford Parish Council, she asked Members to support the Officers fourth recommendation, to defer the decision until a later date to enable all phases of the scheme to be considered jointly. She confirmed that this would ensure that residents were aware of full details of all three schemes including funding information and developers contributions etc.

Cllr Aspden, as Local Member,  spoke to request Cabinet to delay a decision on the final scheme, pending publication of plans for all three phases. If however Members supported the recommended option, he requested comprehensive public consultation in respect of phases 2 and 3 and referred to issues arising from the proposed bus only lane which residents felt would add to existing congestion.

Delivering Marketing, Culture, Tourism and Business Development – Make it York

Jane Gibson, spoke in support of the business plan for Make it York, as the Chair of Visit York. She requested Members support for the next stage in developing the new approach to delivering marketing, culture, tourism and business development in the city. She also expressed her thanks to all concerned with their plans for the new organisation.  

Members received and noted details of those items on the Forward Plan for the next two Cabinet meetings, at the time the agenda was published.

This report sets out the legal and financial implications of making automatic repayments for the Lendal Bridge Penalty Charge Notices following the motion passed at full Council on 11^th December 2014.

Resolved:  That Cabinet agree to:

i)          Instruct officers to instigate a process to automatically provide written notification to all persons issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) (who has not received a payment) in respect of Lendal Bridge advising them of the online refund request process to contest their PCN.

ii)        Confirm that the deadline for submitting a claim under the scheme will be 31^st December 2015.

iii)       Approve the use of £150,000 of New Homes Bonus (from 2014/15 allocation) to fund the administrative costs of making repayments.

Reason:      (i)     To ensure the means of contesting the PCN is widely communicated and all reasonable attempts have been made to inform persons issued with a PCN of the process.

(ii)   To provide certainty for everyone involved and ensure financial accountability and good governance of the process.

(iii)   To provide appropriate budgetary provision for the costs of administering the refund scheme.

Members considered a report which set out details of the motion passed by Council on 11 December 2014 in respect of the automatic repayment of Lendal Bridge Penalty Charge Notices.

Consideration was given to the following options and, in particular the legal and financial implications arising from each:

Option 1:  Make arrangements for the automatic notification of everyone who was issued with a PCN (who has not yet received a payment) at their last known address to advise them of the extended process, whilst maintaining the current Lendal Bridge refund request process and promote an extended deadline date through the appropriate media channels. 

Option 2:  Automatic payments – seek out and pay back individuals without requiring any validation of their details.

Option 3:  Maintain the current Lendal Bridge refund request process and promote the extended deadline date through the appropriate media channels.

Members noted that an extension of the deadline for repayment and further promotion of the current refund process was likely to increase the administrative costs by approximately £100-150k.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that Members had taken note of the issues raised by residents in relation to the Lendal Bridge PCN’s which had resulted in agreement to the repayment of the fines.

Following further discussion it was

Resolved:  That Cabinet agree to:

i)          Instruct officers to instigate a process to automatically provide written notification to all persons issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) (who have not received a payment) in respect of Lendal Bridge advising them of the online refund request process to contest their PCN.

ii)        Confirm that the deadline for submitting a claim under the scheme will be 31^st December 2015.

iii)    Approve the use of £150,000 of New Homes Bonus (from 2014/15 allocation) to fund the administrative costs of making repayments. ^1.

Reason:      (i)     To ensure the means of contesting the PCN is widely communicated and all reasonable attempts have been made to inform persons issued with a PCN of the process.

(ii)   To provide certainty for everyone involved and ensure financial accountability and good governance of the process.

(iii)   To provide appropriate budgetary provision for the costs of administering the refund scheme.

This report presents a design proposal for the first phase of the Pinch Point Scheme concerning the A19 south transport corridor. Cabinet are asked for their approval to implement the proposed engineering works to the A64/A19 interchange, following recent consultation.

Resolved: That Cabinet agree to:

i)          Note the results of the consultation relating to Phase 1 of the A19 south Pinch Point Scheme, as shown at Annex A of the report;

ii)        Approve the proposed design for Phase 1, as shown at Annex D of the report, and direct Officers to proceed to implementation;

iii)       Delegate authority to the Director of City and Environmental Services to make any required alterations to the scheme as a result of the Road Safety Audit recommendations, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Economic Development.

Reason: In order comply with the Department for Transport funding submission, to tackle congestion through capacity improvements for highway works in connection with the planned Germany Beck development.

Members considered a report which presented design proposals for the first phase of the Pinch Point Scheme concerning the A19 south transport corridor for approval to implement works to the A64/ A19 interchange.

Members were reminded of the successful bid to the Department for Transport (DfT) pinch point fund in October 2013, which provided £1.93m towards a scheme to tackle congestion through capacity improvements and support growth. It was noted that since the award of funding changes had been required to the original scheme, which covered approximately 1.2km of the A19, south of the Designer Outlet to Fulford. Also owing to its size the work had been separated into three separate phases with each being progressed independently and linking into the proposed works at Germany Beck.

Officers responded to earlier speakers comments, confirming that consultation was not normally undertaken prior to the submission of funding bids and that there was no direct relationship between each of the phases of the scheme. Officers confirmed however that consultation would be undertaken with the local community in relation to each phase. It was also confirmed that the Safety Audit, currently being undertaken, would consider the safety implications of closing the northern point on the southern roundabout, with the final decision being taken on safety grounds.

Members noted that the works were largely capacity improvements for all northbound traffic from Selby and that journey times through the interchange would be improved for inbound public transport.

Following consideration of the following options and consultation responses at Annex A:

Option 1

a.          Approves the proposed design for Phase 1 of the Pinch Point Scheme, shown at Annex D of the report, as consulted upon, and directs Officers to proceed to implementation.

  b.         Delegates authority to the Director of City and Environmental Services to make any required alterations to the scheme as a result of the Road Safety Audit recommendations, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Economic Development.

Option 2 - Chooses not to approve any design for Phase 1 of the PinchPoint Scheme;

Option 3 - Defers a decision on the Pinch Point Scheme until a later date, and at such time as all Phases can be considered jointly.

It was

Resolved: That Cabinet agree to:

i)          Note the results of the consultation relating to Phase 1 of the A19 south Pinch Point Scheme, as shown at Annex A of the report;

ii)        Approve the proposed design for Phase 1, as shown at Annex D of the report, and direct Officers to proceed to implementation;

iii)       Delegate authority to the Director of City and Environmental Services to make any required alterations to the scheme as a result of the Road Safety Audit recommendations, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Economic Development. ^1.

Reason: In order to tackle congestion through capacity improvements for the A19 and comply with the DfT funding submission.

This report follows earlier reports to Cabinet on this new organisation and updates Members on progress made to date. It also asks for agreement on the financial elements of the business plan and reports on work towards establishing the legal framework of the company, following which a further report will be issued. 

Resolved:  That Cabinet agree to:         

(i)           The financial elements of the Business Plan, at Annex 1 of the report, as a basis for establishing the new company ‘Make it York’

(ii)          Require the Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods and the Director of Customer and Business Support Services, in consultation with the Leader, to produce a further report on the governance and outcomes of the legal process in March 2015.

Reason:     To provide Members with a follow up to earlier Cabinet reports and the financial details of the business plan to ensure that Members are aware of the progress to date in respect of the new organisation.  

Members considered a report which asked Cabinet to agree the financial elements of the business plan for the new organisation, Make it York set up to develop a new approach to delivering marketing, culture, tourism and business development in the city.

Members were pleased to note the progress made since the October Cabinet meeting and their attention was drawn to the financial risks which could impact on the business plan. It was also noted that work would continue towards the establishment of the legal framework of the company following which a further report would be submitted for consideration.

Officers confirmed that the Make it York Board had met twice to consider the business plan at Annex A which covered a 3 year period and it was noted that cautious assumptions for income and expenditure had been made for the early years in business.

Members referred to the importance of the body to the business community from which they had already received a high level of support.

Resolved:  That Cabinet agree to:         

(i)           The financial elements of the Business Plan, at Annex 1 of the report, as a basis for establishing the new company ‘Make it York’

(ii)          Require the Director of Communities and Neighbourhoods and the Director of Customer and Business Support Services, in consultation with the Leader, to produce a further report on the governance and outcomes of the legal process in March 2015. ^1.

Reason:     To provide Members with a follow up to earlier Cabinet reports and the financial details of the business plan to ensure that Members are aware of the progress to date in respect of the new organisation.  

The purpose of this report is to update Cabinet on the outcomes achieved through the delivery of the Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ in Yorkshire in July 2014, and in particular the impact of the second day start in York.

Resolved:  That Cabinet agree to note the outcomes achieved against the delivery objectives of the Tour de France in York.

Reason:     To ensure that Cabinet receives full details of the outcomes of the Tour de France event,  both for the city and regionally, together with information on lessons learnt in relation to any future similar events.

Consideration was given to a report which updated Cabinet on the outcomes achieved through the delivery of the Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ in Yorkshire in 2014, in particular the impact of the second day start in the city.

Details of the local delivery, communications including the event management and lessons learned and the economic and commercial benefits were reported. Member’s attention was drawn to examples of the legacy for communities, culture and health and to the provisional outturn compared to budget for the event, which had shown a net balance of £49k and would be managed as part of the Communities and Neighbourhoods budget.

Officers paid tribute to Team York and all staff, partners, agencies and communities involved for their input into the success of the event.

Members viewed a video which provided a taste of the event around the city.

Members shared their highlights of the Tour de France and associated events and acknowledged its success and the resulting legacy for the city. They confirmed that lessons had been learnt from the delivery the Grand Departy Concert but pointed out that this should not overshadow the success of the overall event. 

 Resolved: That Cabinet agree to note the outcomes achieved against the delivery objectives of the Tour de France in York.

Reason:     To ensure that Cabinet receives full details of the outcomes of the Tour de France event, both for the city and regionally, together with information on lessons learnt in relation to any future similar events.