Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, 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 any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests that they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Economic Development & Transport Policy & Scrutiny Committee held on 10 May 2017.

At this point in the meeting, it was confirmed that the Impact of Arts & Culture on York Economy Scrutiny Task Group would preserve the same membership and would be presenting its draft final report at the next meeting of this Committee on 26 July 2017.

It was also confirmed that future updates on the implementation of the outstanding recommendations arising from the Grass Verges Scrutiny Review would be presented to the Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair then confirmed that he had written a letter to the Executive Member to raise the issue of job losses in the City (as per Paragraph 56 of the Minutes from 22 May 2017) and that the Executive Member would be invited to the following Committee meetings at which Members could raise further questions.

Resolved:     That the minutes of the meeting of 22 May 2017 be approved as a correct record and then signed by the Chair.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak at the meeting can do so. The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Wednesday 21 June 2017. 

Members of the public may speak on an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit. To register, please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the contact details at the foot of the agenda.

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

Please note this meeting may be filmed and webcast, or recorded. This includes any registered public speakers who have given their permission. This broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts or, if recorded, it will be uploaded onto the Council’s website following the meeting.

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 e.g. tweeting. Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (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/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_20160809.pdf

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Members will receive the attached terms of reference of the committee agreed at the Annual Meeting on 25 May 2017.

Members received the Terms of Reference of the Committee agreed at the Annual Meeting on 25 May 2016. The Corporate Director was in attendance to introduce his directorate team and to assist in the scoping of the Committee’s work. He explained the role and the functions of three Assistant Directors who would help the Committee keep abreast of potential economic and infrastructure developments taking place more than one year in the future, taking account of the corporate vision for the City and the Council’s strategic objectives, with an emphasis on tackling potential challenges that may arise in due course.

In response to Members’ questions, it was noted that:

·        the Committee’s work would include holding informal gatherings such as workshops or meetings with partners/external advisors who have the relevant expertise;

·        an innovative approach toward the work, including informing the future decision-making by Executive Members of the Committee, would be required;

·        strategic thinking was preferred over operational outcomes (any recommendations on which would be mainly discussed during the Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee meetings).

Resolved:     That Members note the Terms of Reference.

Reason:        To ensure that Members are aware of the Committee’s work.

The Committee will receive presentations from the directorate team of Chief Officers on their respective work areas as follows:

·        Mike Slater – Assistant Director, Planning & Public Protection

·        James Gilchrist – Assistant Director, Transport, Highways & Environment

·        Tracey Carter – Assistant Director, Regeneration & Asset Management

·        Dave Atkinson – Lead Officer for Programmes and Economy and Place Policy

The Committee received presentations from the directorate team of Chief Officers on their respective work areas.

Further to his presentation, the Assistant Director for Planning and Public Protection provided the following as issues that the Committee might want to consider:

·        the community infrastructure levy approval as it contained potential scope for policy development for the City’s future use;

·        regional planning and economic development, including considering impact that CYC’s decisions had on other regions and sharing our knowledge and expertise with others (professional regional collaboration with other bodies and authorities);

·        ways of integrating volunteer residents into planning and public protection issues and methods of increasing resident engagement in order to develop further relationships with the city

In discussing this work area, Members identified other potential topics of interest: the potential for future fracking applications, regional guidelines on taxi licensing and tackling e-Crime.

The Assistant Director for Regeneration and Asset Management provided an overview of her portfolio of work, objectives and practices, focusing on the strategic overview as well as tackling challenges such as striking the balance between financial and commercial outcomes and providing social value of assets for community. Following Members’ questions, a number of areas for potential consideration were discussed:

·        increasing the use of the Council’s commercial assets;

·        the economic performance of properties in the City and maximising commercial opportunities in York;

·        developing the Community Asset Strategy increasing the potential for using community assets in different ways.

The Assistant Director for Transport Highways and Environment then delivered a summary on his work areas and suggested the following for the Committee’s consideration:

·        vehicle replacements (Fleet Management) and fleet replacement strategy in order to improve air quality and encourage a move towards more environmentally friendly public transport vehicles;

·        non-infrastructural solutions to  traffic management.

In discussing this work area, Members identified other potential areas of interest, including the City’s long-term policy on parking and advising businesses on Business Continuity Planning.

Finally, the Lead Officer for Programmes and Economic and Place Policy was in attendance to cover his portfolio of work and proposed the following for the Committee consideration:

·        equality, diversity & inclusivity topics such as closing gender pay gap, creating an inclusive economy, improving alignment with One Planet York principles and diversifying the Council’s workforce;

·        minimising the impact of congestion or carbon footprint in new developments;

·        building in metrics and performance assessment into the Council’s economic strategy.

Resolved:                      That Members note the presentations.

Reason:                To familiarise Members with the scope of the Committee’s work and develop the Committee’s work plan.

In the light of possibilities identified for the new Committee under item 5 above, Members will begin to compile a preliminary work plan for 2017/18.

The Chair outlined the draft work plan for the period of July 2017 – January 2018. In light of the presentations received, it was agreed that a small cross-party working group would be formed and meet for the first time before the next Committee meeting on 26 July 2017 in order to consider a small number of key areas for policy development. The following councillors were nominated for the working group: Cllr Kramm, Cllr Dew, Cllr D Myers, Cllr Cuthbertson.

Resolved:                     That the work plan be approved and the above working group be set up.

Reason:                        To ensure that the Committee has a planned programme of work in place.