Executive
Set out below is a summary of the decisions taken at the Executive meeting held on Thursday, 26 November 2020. The wording used does not necessarily reflect the actual wording that will appear in the minutes.
Members are reminded that, should they wish to call in a decision, notice must be given to Democracy Support Group no later than 4pm on the second working day after this meeting. Please note that the recommendations to Council at items 15 and 16 on the list cannot be called in.
If you have any queries about any matters referred to in this decision sheet please contact Democratic Services.
6. City of York Council Recovery and Renewal Strategy - November Update
Resolved: That the contents of the report, and the further information provided at the meeting, be noted.
7. The Future of the Extended City Centre Footstreets
Resolved: (i) That the temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the phase 1 footstreet extensions be extended until the end of September 2021 in response to Covid-19, with a staffing cost of £20k.
Reason: To allow social distancing and the use of pavement café licences on major footfall routes through the city centre during the ongoing pandemic, in response to the government’s Safer Public Places guidance.
(ii) That the temporary TRO for Castlegate and Fossgate be continued until the end of September 2021 in response to Covid-19, with a staffing cost of £80k for Fossgate.
Reason: To allow the continued operation of the 22 pavement café licences that the temporary footstreets have facilitated, enabling businesses to operate under the social distancing measures required by Covid-19.
(iii) That approval be given to fund the costs of these measures from Transport Recovery budgets in 2020/21, including ‘Re-opening the High Street’ funding.
(iv) That the need to identify the £60k ongoing costs relating to 2021/22 as a one-off cost pressure in the 2021/22 budget be accepted.
Reason: To ensure that cost proposals are funded within council budgets.
(v) That the TRO from Monk Bar through to College Green and Deansgate be ended, as from 26 November 2020.
Reason: To remove temporary access restrictions and re-instate parking capacity for Blue Badge holders on double yellow lines and loading at the very edge of the footstreet area.
(vi) That the temporary extension of the footstreet hours to 8:00 pm be continued until September 2021, except when hospitality venues are required to close due to Covid-19 restrictions, when the hours will revert to 10:30 am – 5:00 pm.
Reason: To allow pavement café licences to operate in the early evening when hospitality venues are open, and to facilitate the increased demand for food and takeaways when they are required to close.
(vii) That the mitigation measures set out in paragraph 41 for Blue Badge holders and businesses affected by the temporary footstreet extensions be approved.
Reason: To reduce the impact on those groups that have been affected by the temporary footstreet extensions.
(viii) That the process to make Castlegate and the phase one footstreets permanent be initiated, and authority delegated to the Executive Member for Transport to make decisions on the final proposals, mitigations and process.
Reason: To reduce the vehicle / pedestrian conflict on the high footfall phase one streets, ensure that the permanent footstreet areas correspond with the full extent of the City Centre Access project to allow hostile vehicle attack measures to be brought forward in a single stage, and make permanent the temporary measures on Castlegate in accordance with the Castle Gateway masterplan.
(ix) That a full strategic review be undertaken of the city centre’s parking and disabled offer, as set out in the report, to be completed by Summer 2021 at a cost of up to £40k from the existing footstreet engagement and Local Transport Plan 4 budgets.
Reason: To ensure that the permanent footstreet extensions set out above are accompanied by appropriate mitigations for those who have been affected by the revised footstreets and to improve city centre accessibility.
(x) That the independent review of York’s disabled access offer in Annex 6 to the report be noted and that the issues raised be given due consideration through the strategic review of the city’s parking and disabled access offer.
Reason: To ensure that the issues raised are considered in the ongoing engagement and strategic responses.
(xi) That the design of the hostile vehicle mitigation measures that would protect the potential new permanent extended footstreet area at a cost of £50k from existing budgets be brought forward, to mitigate any delay caused by changing footstreets.
Reason: To speed up the full extent of the delivery of the City Centre Access project and give the best possible opportunity of avoiding the need for temporary measures for events.
8. York Railway Station Gateway – Funding and Delivery
Resolved: (i) That the scope, budget, delivery and procurement strategy of the project be approved.
Reason: To enable arrangements to be put in place to purchase land, place orders with utility companies and proceed with the detailed design and procurement of Packages 1, 2 and 4 of the scheme.
(ii) That the Station Gateway budget be increased by £12.250m to reflect the WYCA Transforming Cities grant funding.
Reason: To ensure that the capital programme reflects the latest funding position.
(iii) That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the s151 Officer and the Director of Governance or her delegated officers, to draw down further funds from the West Yorkshire-Plus Transport Fund to complete the land purchase negotiations and take such steps as are necessary to enter into the resulting legal agreement(s).
Reason: In order to acquire land from Canada Life (George Stephenson House) and Network Rail to enable the delivery of the scheme.
(iv) That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the s151 Officer and the Director of Governance or her delegated officers, to draw down funds from West Yorkshire-Plus Transport fund to place orders with utility companies to fund Package 1: Enabling Works (package value £2.04m) to divert services from Queen Street Bridge through the station car park.
Reason: To enable delivery of Package 1: Enabling Works.
(v) That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the s151 Officer and the Director of Governance or her delegated officers, to draw down funds from West Yorkshire-Plus Transport fund to issue a task order to commence detailed design of the scheme.
Reason: To enable the production of detailed cost plans and to progress the scheme to procurement.
9. Update on the Asset Management Strategy 2017-2022
Resolved: (i) That the amended revisions to the Strategy be approved, and adopted to shape future asset decisions for which this report will form the ‘Corporate Asset Strategy 2020-2025’.
(ii) That the position on the land forming the river bank adjacent to Scarborough Bridge, as set out in the report, be noted.
(iii) That approval be given to dispose of Oakhaven for the consideration set out in Annex 1 to the report in an off market sale with a backstop date for completion of 12 weeks and, should this backstop date not be achieved, to bring a further report back to Executive.
(iv) That a viability appraisal be undertaken on the potential disposal of the Morrell House site as part of the Self Build programme and that a further report be brought to Executive to agree the disposal route.
(v) That approval be given to dispose of the following properties / interests:
a) Land at Lingcroft Lane, Naburn;
b) 2 former herdsmens’ cottages (103 Heslington Road and 159 Mount View), to be disposed of on the open market.
(vi) That approval be given to release £120k from the HRA Housing Delivery Programme development fund into the capital budget to review Willow House and the adjacent estate, undertake public engagement and develop an outline business case for development within the Housing Delivery Programme.
(vii) That approval be given to release £150k from the CYC York Central budget to review the council’s land holding on York Central, and develop an outline business case for development within the Housing Delivery Programme.
(viii) That approval be given to lease 29 Castlegate as part of the commercial portfolio and to use the existing capital budget of £270k to undertake maintenance repairs to the property.
(ix) That approval be given to lease the Guildhall Business Centre to the University of York / York Science Park Ltd. on the terms set out in the report, and that authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Economy & Place (in consultation with the Director of Governance) to take such steps as are necessary to complete the list.
(x) That approval be given to purchase the existing Haxby Ambulance station site within the agreed budget should it become available for sale within seven years of the transfer of Haxby Hall.
(xi) That, should the purchase and lease to Yorkare of the ambulance station site proceed, its permitted use be restricted to a residential home within Use Class C2 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, or use(s) ancillary to the operation of Haxby Hall as a residential home, for a period of at least 25 years from the transfer of Haxby Hall.
(xii) That approval be given to dispose of the council’s shareholder interest in York Science Park Ltd. for £500k, and that authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Economy & Place (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to take such steps as are necessary to complete the disposal.
(xiii) That the performance of the commercial portfolio in respect of the impact of Covid-19 be noted.
Reasons: a) To establish clear principles to guide and shape future use of the council’s assets and to continue to carry out a programme of proactive work to shape the commercial and operational property portfolio further.
b) To support the ongoing economic vibrancy of the city while increasing the income from the council’s commercial property portfolio.
10. City of York Council's Relationship with Welcome to Yorkshire
Resolved: (i) That a contribution of £55,378 be made to Welcome to Yorkshire, funded from the council’s share of the estimated final surplus balance from the 2019/20 North and West Yorkshire Business Rates Pool, to support delivery of the WTY short-term business plan in 2020/21 and the outputs, outcomes, governance and monitoring arrangement set out in Annex B to the report.
(ii) That the proposal to further strengthen partnership working, and better reflect the pivotal relationship between York and Yorkshire in tourism promotion, be approved.
(iii) That it be noted that York’s tourism sector relies on both Welcome to Yorkshire and Make it York to promote the city, and that the two organisations are mutually dependent in their work to promote York and Yorkshire to potential visitors.
Reason: To provide funding to enable WTY to continue trading in the current year, subject to performance assessments against the Service Level Agreement, promote better joint working, and promote a clearer relationship between WTY and MiY which avoids duplication of effort.
11. Wenlock Children's Home Contract Variation and Extension with Hexagon Care Services
Resolved: (i) That approval be given to extend and vary the contract with Hexagon Care Services to facilitate a three-bed residential care provision for children with particularly complex needs.
(ii) That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of People (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to take such steps as are necessary to enter into the resulting agreement.
Reason: This provision is required to support sufficiency of places for vulnerable young people in the council’s care. Providing care for vulnerable children in the city rather than elsewhere results in better outcomes for children and more efficient use of council resources.
12. 2020/21 Finance and Performance Monitor 2
Resolved: That the finance and performance information and the actions needed to manage the financial position be noted.
Reason: To ensure that expenditure is kept within the approved budget.
13. Capital Programme - Monitor 2 2020/21
Resolved: (i) That the 2020/21 revised budget of £144.683m, as set out in Table 1 at paragraph 6 of the report, be noted.
(ii) That the re-stated capital programme for 2020/21-2024/25, as set out in Table 2 at paragraph 43, be noted.
Reason: To enable the effective management and monitoring of the council’s capital programme.
14. Treasury Management Mid-Year Review and Prudential Indicators 2020/21
Resolved: (i) That the Treasury Management activities to date in 2020/21 be noted.
(ii) That the Prudential Indicators set out in Annex A to the report, and the compliance with all indicators, be noted.
Reason: To ensure the continued performance of the council’s Treasury Management function.
15. Update on the Asset Management Strategy 2017-2022
Recommended: That Council approve:
a) the establishment of a capital budget of £3.9m, to fund the acquisition of the Head leasehold interest of the Eco Centre, Amy Johnson Way;
b) the investment of a further £100k to fund green infrastructure improvements to the building, providing an increase in revenue funded from the One Planet York budget; and
c) the delegation of authority to the Corporate Director of Economy & Place, in consultation with the Director of Governance, to complete the purchase once all due diligence has been satisfactorily conducted on the property.
Reasons: a) To establish clear principles to guide and shape future use of the council’s assets and to continue to carry out a programme of proactive work to shape the commercial and operational property portfolio further.
b) To support the ongoing economic vibrancy of the city while increasing the income from the council’s commercial property portfolio.
16. Capital Programme - Monitor 2 2020/21
Recommended: That Council approve the adjustments resulting in a decrease of £36.538m, as detailed in the report and in Annex A.
Reason: To enable the effective management and monitoring of the council’s capital programme.