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. Councillor Cuthbertson declared an interest in item 10 (Make it York Service Level Agreement) in his capacity as a Trustee of York Museums Trust (appointed by the Council).  There were no further declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Economic & Place Development Committee held on 21 March 2018.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the last meeting held on 21 March be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered their wish to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is by 5pm on Monday 18 June 2018.  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 responsible for the meeting (the contact details are available at the foot of the agenda).

Filming or Recording Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be filmed and webcast, or recorded, including 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/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 under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The Executive Member for Economic Development & Community Engagement will provide an overview of his priorities and challenges for 2018/9.

The Executive Member for Economic Development and Community Engagement gave an overview of his priorities and challenges for 2018/19.

Members welcomed the update and in response to Members questions the Executive Member commented that:

·        Whilst CYC could acquire empty shops there needed to be a balance of providing a return on those shops to CYC. CYC was working with York Business Improvement District (BID) and York Forum to address this. It was a complicated picture as some of the empty buildings were owned by companies based in London. He confirmed there were no empty CYC owned shops in the city centre as of 6 June 2018. Discussion also took place regarding the work that would be undertaken to support the growth of secondary shopping areas.

·        The Economic Strategy and Skills Plan were designed to address low wage sectors, graduate retention and creating attractive employment opportunities, as well as affordable housing and the cost of living.

·        CYC was working towards the goal of being the greenest city in the North via the integration of the One Planet York decision making tool into every decision taken by the Council.

·        Residents’ comments during the consultation for My Castle Gateway had informed the process of consultation for York Central. The Assistant Director for Planning and Public Protection confirmed that CYC had been assigned two inspectors for the Local Plan.

·        There was a need to balance what the York Central site would provide i.e. the balance between Grade A office space, other types of work space and housing).  The Executive Member undertook to ask MiY for information on the demand for Grade A office space.

·        CYC could support small businesses in providing apprenticeships through the York Apprenticeship Hub. It was awaiting the outcome of a collaborative European bid led by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) in partnership with other Leeds City Region (LCR) Local Authority partners to re-launch a proactive independent brokerage service for employers (of all sizes) which would better support young people into apprenticeships / employment.

·        The Economic Strategy would be refreshed along the One Planet York principles after the 2019 local elections, and the need to examine this in line with the Skills Plan was noted. It was noted that MiY could provide quarterly economic trackers for the committee.

The Executive Member for Economic Development and Community Engagement was thanked for his update and it was:

Resolved:           That Members note the priorities and challenges for Economic Development and Community Engagement and Environment 2018/19.

Reason:              To understand the priorities and challenges for Economic Development and Community Engagement and Environment 2017/18.

The Head of Science City York will provide an update on the draft  Creative Industries Strategy.

The Head of Science City York provided an update on the drafting of a Creative Industries Strategy, highlighting the research and findings used to inform the process.

Members thanked the Head of Science City York for her update and following Members’ questions and comments, she advised that:

·        Creative Industries impacted different businesses in a number of ways and she highlighted a number of examples.

·        87% of jobs within the Creative Industries could not be automated, for example within the fields of AR, VR, heritage technology and way finding. There were also lots of different ways to use creative technologies in non creative fields.

·        An explanation of how small businesses were supported through advice was given. It was noted that a number of businesses were service based rather than product based.

·        Work had begun to improve the visibility of the Creative Industries through the creation of an online platform for content. The estimated cost for this was £50k for which the necessary funding would need to be sourced.

·        Regarding higher education opportunities in the Creative Industries, the University of York and York St John University were developing courses in these. University placements with AR and VR businesses were also in development. It was noted that a six month knowledge transfer partnership was being explored.

·        In terms of support from CYC for the Creative Industries, the Assistant Director for Communities and Equalities explained that the Corporate Management Team (CMT) had identified an opportunity for a funding source from LCR to support this.

Following Member comments and questions it was:

Resolved:           That Members note the update on the draft Creative Industries Strategy.

Reason:              To understand the draft Creative Industries Strategy.

Members will receive a presentation from the Head of Economic Growth on the implementation of the current economic strategy.

As Head of Economic Growth had given apologies for the meeting it was:

Resolved:  That the item be deferred to the next meeting.

Reason:     To enable the Head of Economic Growth to be in attendance to deliver the presentation.

This paper provides feedback from appropriate officers on the proposal made by Cllr D’Agorne to review CYC’s Residents’ Priority Parking Scheme (copy of topic registration form included at Annex A).  Members are asked to consider the work currently ongoing and its impact on this topic, and agree how best to progress this policy development review proposal.

This report provided feedback from appropriate officers on the proposal made by Cllr D’Agorne to review CYC’s Residents’ Priority Parking Scheme (copy of topic registration form included at Annex A).  Members were asked to consider the work currently ongoing and its impact on the topic, and agree how best to progress the policy development review proposal from Cllr D’Agorne.

The Assistant Director for Transport, Highways and Environment explained the officer response to Cllr D’Agorne’s proposal and the rationale for the recommendation to Members to consider undertaking two policy development reviews, starting with a review to examine how best to mitigate the effects of the city centre access works on disabled parking, to be followed by a holistic review of residents parking across the city.

Cllr D’Agorne then explained his scrutiny review proposal to identify efficiency savings, examine different processes to use e.g. new technology, and best practice from elsewhere.  etc

 Members discussed the benefits and negatives of the order in which the two reviews could be carried out. Following a robust discussion during which a number of views were expressed, it was:

Resolved: That;

                                 i.    The Committee undertake two policy development reviews, starting with an initial review to examine how best to mitigate the effects of the city centre access works on disabled parking permit holders.

                                ii.    Cllrs N Barnes, Cullwick, D’Agorne or Kramm and Steward form an informal Task Group to carry out some initial research in support of the residents parking review.

                               iii.    The  Committee receive a scoping report at its November 2018 meeting on the Residents Parking Review, informed by the informal work carried out by the Task Group.  The remit of the review to be inline with Cllr D’Agorne’s topic proposal as detailed in paragraph 9 of the report.

Reason:     To identify an appropriate parking model that will rationalise arrangements for residents parking across the city.

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s draft work plan for the municipal year.

The Committee considered the draft work plan for the 2018/9 municipal year. Members were reminded of the process for suggesting topics via the submission of a scrutiny topic proposal form.  The Scrutiny Officer was asked and updated Members on the progress of the Motion on single use plastics. Following discussion it was agreed that:

     i.        The Economic Strategy presentation be deferred to the 17 July meeting.

    ii.        The initial parking review to examine how best to mitigate the effects of the city centre access works on disabled parking permit holders be started at the 17 July meeting.

   iii.        The Update on the Development of a Community Asset Strategy for York be deferred to the 18 September meeting.

  iv.        A scoping report on the holistic review of residents parking to provided at the 20 November meeting.

Resolved: That the work plan for 2018-19be approved, subject to the above amendments.

Reason:     To ensure that the Committee has an agreed programme of work in place.

Any other business which the Chair considers urgent under the Local Government Act 1972.

This paper presents a new service specification for Make it York drafted in support of the renewing of the Council’s contract with Make it York (MIY) for the period 2018-21.

In accordance with section 100B(4)(b) of the 1972 Local Government Act, the Chair has agreed for the Committee to consider this report under urgent provisions, in order that it may comment on the draft service specification for the contract, (often referred to informally as the ‘service level agreement’ or  ‘SLA’), prior to its consideration by the Executive Member for Culture, Leisure & Tourism at the decision session on 23 July 2018.

In accordance with section 100B(4)(b) of the 1972 Local Government Act, the Chair had agreed for the Committee to consider a report under urgent provisions, in order that it may comment on the draft service specification for the new MiY contract, , prior to its consideration by the Executive Member for Culture, Leisure & Tourism at the Decision Session on 23 July 2018.

The report presented the new service specification for Make it York Which the Assistant Director for Communities and Equalities confirmed had been updated to include suggestions made by the Committee at previous meetings.

Members considered the draft SLA and made the following further suggestions: 

·        Schedule 1 Part 1) Objectives – point 1 (b) (ii) to change to: ‘Average wages for York residents and workers to be above national average year on year.’

·        Schedule 1 Part 2) Service Specific Requirements, Section 5 Sector Development  - addition of point 5.4 to refer to the Creative Industries Strategy.

Following Member feedback it was:

Resolved: That the draft MiY SLA be presented to the Executive Member for Culture, Leisure & Tourism Decision Session on 23 July 2018 with the addition of the suggested amendments above.

Reason:     To inform the Executive Member’s consideration of the draft agreement.