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.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included in the register of interests, any prejudicial interests or disclosable pecuniary interest which they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. None were declared.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered to speak can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Friday 13 September 2013.  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.

It was reported that there had been two registrations to speak at the meeting under the Councils Public Participation Scheme.

Councillor Crisp expressed her support to the called in item: Closer Working with Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA) She stated that the campaign was for 1 years worth of advertising at LBIA to attract leisure, business and international visitors, inward investors and students to the City of York. The primary target airline would be British Airways (BA) which would increase inward investment enquiries bringing more employment opportunities to the City. She stated that the campaign was backed by Visit York and was a positive step to market and invest in the City.

Cllr Hyman expressed his concerns about the called in item. He supported the “call in” on the basis that the report to Cabinet on 3 September did not, in his opinion, present an appropriate business case or show comparisons to other suitable sites, such as railway stations or show clear figures just percentages.

He added that, in his opinion, it was the wrong time of year to be advertising at LBIA as their main airline Jet 2 would not be running at full capacity between November and February.  He questioned if any visitors to any regional, European or international airports actually read the advertisements about visiting other cities.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 12 August 2013.

Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 12 August 2013 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider the decisions made by the Cabinet on 3 September 2013 in relation to the above item, which has been called in by Cllrs Aspden, D’Agorne and Taylor in accordance with the Council’s Constitution. A cover report is attached setting out the reasons for the call-in and the remit and powers of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee (Calling-In) in relation to the call-in, together with the original report and the decisions of the Cabinet.

Members received a report which asked them to consider the decisions made by the Cabinet on Tuesday 3 September 2013, in relation to closer working with Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA). The report to the meeting summarised the proposed promotional activity to be undertaken at LBIA as part of the city’s efforts to maximise access to international markets.

Details of the Cabinet’s decision was attached at Annex A to the report, with the original report to the Cabinet attached at Annex B. The decision had been called in by Councillors Aspden, D’Agorne and Taylor on the following grounds:

1.   With a projected £3.7 million budget deficit and ongoing cuts to basic street level services we do not believe this should be a spending priority.

2.   We are not convinced that the proposal represents value for money at the current time.

3.   We do not believe that the criteria is in place to satisfactorily measure the effectiveness of this expenditure.

4.   Despite claims by the Cabinet Leader in July 2012 that he was “in negotiations to secure direct transport links between the Airport and York”, there is currently no link. The cost of this project would make more sense if such a direct link existed and passengers could easily get from Leeds-Bradford to York.

Members were asked whether to confirm the decision (Option a) or to refer it back to Cabinet for re-consideration (Option b) as set out in the report.

Councillor Taylor addressed the meeting on behalf of the Calling-In members expressing concern at the cost and location of the advertising campaign and queried whether the chosen approach was the effective use of the funds allocated.  In his opinion, targeting specific companies, such as American businesses, large law and accountancy firms and making use of the Science City York Journals would be more appropriate.

The Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture & Social Inclusionresponded, on behalf of the Cabinet Leader, who had not been able to attend the meeting, to the concerns raised and stated that the campaign had been designed to boost interest from both the business and leisure visitor economy by taking advantage of the Airports 450 flights per week. LBIA would offer the city the opportunity to advertise to a market of 2.7million passengers a year, from a catchment of 75 destinations, in over 25 international countries providing value for money. She stated that pending agreement with LBIA a customer survey would be prepared by officers to satisfactorily measure the effectiveness of the expenditure. She confirmed that work to secure a renewed transport link was in discussion with commercial operators.

A general debate ensued, during which the Cabinet Member and Officers responded to a range of issues raised broadly relating to the location, cost and analysis of the advertising campaign.

RESOLVED:                That Option (a) identified in the report be approved and that the decision of the Cabinet be confirmed.

REASON:                     In accordance with the requirements of the Council’s Constitution.