Agenda item

To question the Leader and/or Executive Members in respect of any matter within their portfolio responsibility, in accordance with Standing Order B8.

Members were invited to question the Leader or Executive Members.  Questions were received from the floor from the following Members, and replied to as indicated:

 

Questions to Councillor Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport

 

Funding for dualling the outer ring road

 

From Councillor Widdowson: It’s become clear that the failure to secure funds for the government to dual the outer ring road as promised is due to a breakdown in communication between the council and the government. Who exactly is to blame for this? The council for not communicating the increased costs, the York Outer MP or the North Yorkshire Mayor for not lobbying the Government effectively or the Government for not providing the funding?

 

Response: I think we understand the situation differently, there has not been a failure in communication, at the time everyone involved in lobbying for funding did not know the full cost of the project. We have achieved receiving funding for the original estimated cost, and we will now move forward in phases as planned. We have a new head of projects, who has come from National Highways and is well placed to bring the project forward at pace. We are working through those procurement packages, the legal and design and are engaging with the DfT on the funding and transferring that over. FOI requests are further slowing down officers, if there are anything specific around the funding, I am happy to look into those questions for you but I don’t see it from the same angle as you.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Widdowson: That doesn’t really answer my question, Labour controls all levels of government, the government have announced they are funding the dualling in full, but they are not. It’s obvious there has been a breakdown in communication that no amount of obfuscation or gas lighting hide, who should the residents who are consigned to spending hours in congestion hold accountable?

 

Response:  As I’ve said, there’s been no disastrous breakdown in communication, we asked for funding for dualling the outer ring road, the ask was based on previous estimates, the lobbying was going on simultaneously, we were successful in obtaining the funding because of the lobbying, residents will see those benefits start to emerge as quickly as possible, we are moving forward with the parts that will bring the greatest benefit and unlock housing development opportunities, residents will see those benefits soon.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Ayre: The government and the York Outer MP have said unequivocally that they have funded the full dualling, and you’re saying there isn’t.  How can that not be a failure in communication, when you’re saying completely the opposite?

 

Response: We asked for funding based on the original cost of the ring road. That’s the funding we’ve got.

 

20mph speed limit in Bishopthorpe

 

From Councillor Nicholls: First of all, thank you for consulting widely with Bishopthorpe residents and agreeing the 20mph speed limit. Is there any possibility of bringing in a weight limit on lorries going past schools morning and afternoons?

 

Response: Thank you, I am really delighted to have brought that forward for Bishopthorpe and to have worked with you on that. We are really serious about road safety and that 20mph limit is the first step in making the roads safer for your community and setting out the process for how we can make roads safer in other communities. We have funding from the Mayor to do that and we are going to come back and look at how we tackle the roads where compliance wasn’t great and how we can have 20mph outside every road where people are living. You raise a good point about the risk presented by HGVs travelling too fast through the village, this is an ongoing problem, due to haulage companies situated outside Bishopthorpe and Copmanthorpe having to go through one village or another, it’s a problem for both villages. I don’t want to do one thing in one village that would have a detrimental effect on the other, we have looked at weight limits, unless there is a structural issue it is hard to put a weight limit on lorries. We could put a weight limit for environmental reasons but those can be overridden by the lorries coming through, so I will talk to officers and continue conversations about how we reduce the risk to those villages. I am not convinced that a weight limit is the solution but I’m happy to work with you to look at what we can do around HGV traffic.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Merrett: What plans are there to bring the benefits of 20mph speed limits to other parts of the city?  In particular, will the Executive Member consider including all of the Groves area in a single 20mph zone?

 

Response:  Every year over 200 collisions in York result in death or serious injury, over half of those involve pedestrians and cyclists. Roughly every year around five people lose their lives on the roads and thirty-five people suffer life changing injuries. Speed is a contributing factor, and it is not reasonable for it to carry on. We know that we need to introduce speed reduction across much of the city, particularly where people live and where people are trying to walk and cycle around the city. I am absolutely in support of bringing it first and foremost to the communities that are asking for it and I’m well aware that the Groves area is wanting to see safer roads where people live. I am working with officers on how we roll out that more widespread 20 mph programme, Bishopthorpe has been really useful in that trial and our understanding of how we implement first of all signs only and then what other measures we include, to be successful as well as signs there often needs to be design changes to the roads plus some Police enforcement and I’m working with Councillor Coles, the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner to look at bringing in some police enforcement to the 20mph zones. Officers will be putting together a strategic programme to roll out 20 mph to other communities in the city. We have a significant number of requests, and I will bring that forward and share with those of you whose communities are asking for it.

 

Bollards in Copmanthorpe

 

From Councillor Steward: Residents in Copmanthorpe would like half a dozen bollards opposite the Royal Oak Pub on Main Street, they’ve been quoted a figure of £7,000 for a feasibility study.  Would the Executive Member for Transport look into that and get a more realistic figure for these bollards?

 

Response: I am not aware of the bollard application, I am happy to look at what is being requested. The first thing to do is understand what residents are trying to achieve, part of the reason for the cost will be to assess the road conditions and the best solution for what you are trying to achieve. Often it seems more expensive than it is, the bollards are not going to cost that much but part of the cost is in the design and implementation of the scheme to make sure it is safe, accessible, meets highways requirements, and that it achieves what it is trying to. I don’t know the specifics of this project but I’m happy to request information from officers at my next briefing, I would hope we can do something for a reasonable price and achieve the outcome residents are looking for.

 

Questions to Councillor Kilbane, the Deputy Leader

 

UK Film Production Summit

 

From Councillor Clarke: Can the Deputy Leader explain how the UK Film Production Summit can benefit the city and what it means for jobs and career pathways for the current and future generation?

 

Response:  The UK film production summit which is coming to York in November is being organised by Aesthetica, whose art prize is being launched tonight with support from ourselves, and the Combined Authority. Every single UK film and games company is coming to York, tv and film production companies, games producers, have the opportunity to see what a great place York is and that they could base their business, or their satellite here. We have a thriving cluster of digital media professionals and experts.  We can showcase the city and they can come and make their films and games here; it’s already happening, I had another request for filming yesterday and this is the key point for residents, the film, games and tv industries do not have high bars for entry so if you are not particularly academically gifted then it is a route into a decent job and a decent wage. We need to make sure that these opportunities are available for young people and older people looking to switch careers. It’s the first time this summit has happened and all these companies have come together in the UK and we are looking forward to securing these opportunities for York and it’s residents.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Clarke: On the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, can you explain how that festival develops career opportunities and how it attracts visitors to the city?

 

Response: It is a global event and a BAFTA nominated film festival, so if you get your film shown in York then it can be nominated for a BAFTA and we have had films that debuted in York go on to win BAFTAs. People from all over the world come to York and say what a great place it is to do business, so it really adds a buzz to the city when it is here and most importantly students from all of our state secondary schools in York, assisted by some of the industry experts, write, produce and direct a film that is debuted at the Aesthetica film festival on the Sunday. I urge you all to come along, it says to those kids, there is a career for you here in York.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Crawshaw: Is there an opportunity to use events like this to push the narrative that the city is open and inclusive and to start that conversation with parts of the community that feel disconnected or have a skewed view of what the city is really like.

 

Response: Yes, it’s a great opportunity there really is something for everyone, drama, comedy, there are fringe events that are accessible to everyone, and you get exposed to difference in a different setting that is comfortable and relaxed and you get to experience different cultures, to enable us all to understand each other.

 

Questions to Councillor Webb, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education

 

Free school meals for primary school children in the city

 

From Councillor Cullwick: In 2023 you were elected on a very clear promise to ensure that a free school lunch was to be provided to every primary school child in the city, can you please give us an estimate of the date by which you will deliver this promise?

 

Response: Since 2023 we’ve had a lot of change in the country, we’ve now got a national government offering to deliver free school meals, free school breakfasts in all primary schools. We are in a pilot phase for that right now and I’m feeding back on the good and bad points on that. It’s obviously impacted on what we are doing in York as well. I’ve been surprised at how successful the breakfast programme has been, if you look at some of the scrutiny work the universities did for us it showed that the breakfast offer is making a huge difference. I am hopeful the Labour government will bring this forward soon. We have trialled free school lunches at Westfield Primary School, that’s going well and residents and families really support what Labour have done over in Westfield. We’ve been trialling our breakfast offer at Burton Green and this has been expanded to Fishergate. We have a plan to expand further and we now have a steering group for York Hungry Minds and schools register their interest and consider how they can make it work in their schools. Opposition members who were invited to join the steering group have purposefully declined that opportunity, I can forgive the Conservative group who have a lot going on between you but the Liberal Democrats have purposefully declined being involved in that group, I assume that has come from the leadership as individual members appeared pleased to be invited and engaged. We are moving forward and doing our best.

 

Point of order: From Councillor Steward on a point of accuracy, the conservatives have said that they will attend, and Councillor Nicholls is the representative. Councillor Webb offered his apologies for the misunderstanding.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Cullwick: Given that your answer clearly shows that your promise will not be kept, would you like to take this opportunity to apologise to families across the city who have been misled and are not receiving free lunches and who are effectively subsidising it elsewhere through their council tax?

 

Response: I think that’s an absolutely shocking way to talk about supporting children in our most deprived communities. A disgraceful thing to say, we should be supporting our young people in every way we can. It clearly speaks volumes about the Liberal Democrats opposition to helping families in York. We are moving forward as much as we can. I would ask that your question writer try to think of more questions so that you don’t ask the same thing again and again.

 

From Councillor Ayre: The Liberal Democrats have been quite clear that we are happy to be part of the steering group, we’ve asked a specific question requesting the minutes of the previous meeting of the steering group and the members of the steering group, will he guarantee that all members who take part in that steering group will have access to the previous minutes of that meeting and who was in attendance so they can fulfil their duties as councillors?

 

Response: Some of the members of the steering group are not councillors, I’ve followed the rules and officer advice regarding the numerous FOIs that you have put in. Turn up to the meeting and find out what’s happening, I am not trying to hide anything, get involved.

 

Question to Councillor Douglas, Leader of the Council

 

The Rugby World Cup

 

From Councillor Baxter: Will the Leader join me in celebrating the fantastic impact that hosting the women’s rugby world cup has had on our city, not only bringing world class athletes but also inspiring young people, boosting our economy and strengthening the city’s reputation for championing women’s sports.

 

Response: It’s really been a highpoint of the year, the gifts we have in front of us here are a reminder of the welcoming ceremony that I attended along with Councillor Rowley to welcome four international women’s rugby teams to York, that was Canada, Spain, Fiji and New Zealand. It was one of the most uplifting days I have had and the amazing women elite athletes that were on show, not only their competitive nature and their readiness for the tournament but also the way they supported each other along that route where we know that the Black Ferns really are an elite team whereas others, Spain, for example, were at their first international tournament. It was really heartening to see how they supported each other, and they were really happy to be in York; it was a joyous event. I attended a couple of games while they were here, World Rugby and the RFU were really complimentary about the work York has undertaken to put on the campaign and are looking at York as the future for more international sport. It really has driven participation for rugby for women and girls in York, the legacy is really important. I think we can all agree we saw some great rugby, had a great time and it added something very special to the city over the summer.

 

Questions for Councillor Kent, Executive Member for the Environment and Climate Change

 

Parks Investment Fund

 

From Councillor Rose: Acomb is the lowest public green space per capita of any ward in the city and one of the lowest in the county. It’s great therefore to see Viking Road on the list of park investment, it’s the only proper park in our ward, it has brambles growing, sinking wooden stepping stones and the side to the main area falls off every few months and we do a lot of maintenance but it would be good to get proper renovation. How does the algorithm work to put it on the list and how confident can we be in the things on that list?

 

Response: I am really pleased that the Parks Investment Fund is coming forward as quickly as it is. The scrutiny group that looked at it set out the criteria with the highest weighting to go to areas with the highest deprivation which is a weighting of four, after that is age of play equipment and need of repair, after that it’s key infrastructural repairs for footpaths, fencing and equal weighting has been given to the retention or expansion of our green flag status parks which is a key ambition of ours to increase that across the city and also the availability of third party funding for projects that couldn’t go ahead otherwise or stand alone. On that basis all CYC parks were put through this and Viking Park did make the cut currently, I am hoping that some more schemes will also make the cut. I have very good news for you, our neighbourhood caretaker team were also out there this morning bramble clearing, there will be an opportunity for you to speak to the project manager about what you want done before it’s finalised.

 

Supplementary from Councillor Coles: Could Councillor Kent say any more about the council caretakers that have been announced this week, it seems a big step forward, they feel like community superheroes doing what members of the community want.

 

Response: All of you can look forward to hearing from your community ward information officers to arrange walkabouts, that’s going to involve ward councillors, housing officers, housing repair teams and community groups if they wish. This is an add-on service to the core public realm team carrying out their scheduled work, to give that local response. It’s available to every ward across the city unless the Liberal Democrats decide not to avail themselves of it which I really hope they don’t as it’s of great benefit to all residents, we want York to look and feel great and for everyone to feel happy.