Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Snow Room - Ground Floor, West Offices (G035). View directions

Contact: Bartek Wytrzyszczewski  Democracy Officer

Webcast: video recording

Items
No. Item

38.

Declarations of Interest

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.

 

Minutes:

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.

 

Councillor Flinders declared a non-prejudicial interest in relation to item 5 of the agenda (Allerton Waste Recovery Park) due to his employment at the company that had a contractual relationship with AmeyCespa.

39.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 88 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee meetings held on 28 November 2017 and 17 January 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:           That the minutes of the meetings of the Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee held on 28 November 2017 and 17 January 2018 be approved and signed by the Vice-Chair as a correct record.

40.

Public Participation

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 Tuesday, 6 March 2018.  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 that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be filmed and webcast, or recorded, including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts or, if recorded, this 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, i.e. tweeting. Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer in advance of the meeting.  Contact details are at the foot of this agenda. 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_f

or_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_201

60809.pdf

 

Minutes:

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme on general matters within the remit of the Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee.

41.

Finance & Performance Monitor 3 pdf icon PDF 121 KB

This report provides details of the 2017/18 forecast outturn position for both finance and performance across services within the Economy and Place Directorate. The paper incorporates data to December 2017 as reported to Executive on 8 February 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report providing details of the 2017/18 forecast outturn position for both finance and performance across services within the Economy and Place Directorate. This incorporated data up to December 2017 as reported to Executive on 08 February 2018. The Finance Manager, the Assistant Director (Transport, Highways and Environment) and the Corporate Director of Economy and Place were in attendance to summarise the report and answer Members’ questions. It was highlighted that the government had allowed the City of York Council to increase the planning fees by 20% at the end of January 2018 which meant that the overspend in development management would be reduced by the end of financial year.

 

Members queried the reasons for the high sickness levels in Waste and Public Realm and asked about the actions undertaken to reduce them. It was acknowledged that the sickness levels in those departments were higher compared with previous years, for which there were a number of contributing factors such as the substantial number of manual jobs in departments and an ageing workforce. It was explained that talks with HR had been held in previous months and a cost-control group had been established to scrutinise sickness levels and the relevant HR policies in order to agree the next steps in resolving the matter.

 

In response to Members’ questions, the following was noted:

·        the vehicle costs and the maintenance regime did not have a significant impact on overspend in the relevant departments;

·        some of the Public Realm budget had been passed over to the Ward Committees and further conversations with relevant committees would be held to determine the most effective ways of spending that capital;

·        some of the Wards had not spent any of the capital programme’s budget assigned to them (around £100k) and the reasons for that would be determined;

·        additional support in relation to spending of the revenue budget by Wards would be provided;

·        although there had been a delay of two months in construction at 17-21 Piccadilly, the other timescales in relation to the Castle Gateway project were not affected;

·        due to health and safety requirements resulting from the large number of properties to service, at least two staff members were assigned to each operating CYC bin lorry;

·        a small charge put on the commercial waste operators was beneficial as it helped to ensure that the vast majority (at least 95%) of the enterprises in York operated legitimately.

 

The Vice-Chair thanked the Officers and their staff for their hard work during the winter period.

 

Resolved:                     That the report be noted.

 

Reason:                        To update the Committee on the latest finance and performance position.

42.

Allerton Waste Recovery Park - Update pdf icon PDF 122 KB

The purpose of this paper is to update the Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee on the progress of the Allerton Waste Recovery Park (AWRP) project. This is a 25 year project in Partnership with North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) with the objective of delivering a sustainable alternative to landfill for the treatment of residual waste.

Minutes:

Members received a paper updating the Committee on the progress of the Allerton Waste Recovery Park (AWRP) project. The Economy and Place Programme Manager attended the meeting to provide an update and answer potential queries from Members. It was confirmed that since the deadline of the report full service had been launched, with only a minor delay attributed to the work undertaken to demonstrate that the required volumes of waste could be processed by the anaerobic digestion within 28 days. The Officer highlighted that the construction project had been a success and that, as a result, the relationship with North Yorkshire County Council had strengthened. The Officer apologised for the delay in arranging the site visit for Members which was now scheduled for 18 April 2018.

 

In response to Members’ questions, the following was noted:

·        plastic at the AWRP was separated from other materials through the Mechanical Treatment (MT) plant;

·        glass was also separated through the MT plant;

·        a combination of different plastics (with multiple layers, including biodegradable plastics) was often used in various packaging products – it was, therefore, important to encourage industries to change their film usage in order not to contaminate recyclable materials within that packaging;

·        the material composition risk was passed on to operating contractors as part of the scheme;

·        at the end of the 25 year contract, the plant would transfer to the local authorities and it was required to remain operable for a further five years;

·        recycling bins in the city centre may promote a change of behaviour but, due to the level of contamination, would be of little value.

 

Members highlighted that additional funding in relation to educating York residents about the benefits of recycling should be sought. It was also noted that Members could visit their local schools to promote the correct behaviour amongst children and their families.

 

Resolved:                     That the report be noted.

 

Reason:                        To inform Members about the progress of the Allerton Waste Recovery Park project.

43.

Workplan 2017/18 & Review of Committee's Performance pdf icon PDF 140 KB

To consider the Committee’s work plan for the remainder of the 2017/18 municipal year, and to review the Committee’s performance during the trial period of the new scrutiny model.

Minutes:

Members were asked to consider the Committee’s work plan for the remainder of the 2017/18 municipal year.

 

It was agreed that, due to the high number of substitutes in attendance at the meeting, feedback on the Committee’s performance during the trial period of the new scrutiny model would be gathered by email.

 

Resolved:           That the workplan be approved.

 

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

 

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