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Meeting: |
Decision Session – Executive Leader, Policy, Strategy and Partnerships |
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Meeting date: |
17 July 2024 |
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Report of: |
Assistant Director, Policy and Strategy |
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Portfolio of: |
Cllr Claire Douglas, Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Policy, Strategy and Partnerships |
Decision Report:
A York pipeline of projects for the
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
Subject of
Report
1. The election of a Mayor for York and North Yorkshire and the establishment of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) provides an opportunity to secure funding to advance projects that support York’s priorities.
2. An initial pipeline of projects, Annex A, was developed for mayoral consideration. These projects were mapped against the longer-term strategic ambitions of the city, such as the 10-year strategies, actions contained within the current Council Plan and the emerging YNYCA Economic Framework, to reflect York’s priorities.
3. The pipeline has been reviewed by City of York Council scrutiny committees with suggestions from these committees reviewed by officers. The suggestions from scrutiny and officer recommendations are contained as Annex B with the revised pipeline based on this feedback contained as Annex C.
4. The Leader is invited to consider the pipeline and confirm that the projects identified in the pipeline are priorities for York, tasking officers to work with YNYCA to implement.
Benefits and Challenges
5. The benefit of approving the York pipeline is that it will provide a clear articulation of the priorities for CYC to work with the YNYCA to implement. This will provide consistency when working with the YNYCA and enable CYC to move at pace when funding opportunities that arise.
6. A challenge associated with the pipeline is ensuring that it is not seen as a ‘day one’ list but rather an articulation of short, medium and long-term priorities for the Council. This is reflected in a significant proportion of priority activity being for funding to develop business cases.
7. It must also be recognised that the list is not static and that CYC needs to flex dependent on opportunities that emerge given the shifting context in which both the Council and YNYCA operate.
Policy Basis for Decision
8. The pipeline has been mapped against actions contained within the Council Plan and the longer-term strategic ambitions of the city, including the 10-year strategies.
9. The pipeline also reflects the emerging Economic Framework of the YNYCA which is scheduled for Mayoral consideration in July 2024. This is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Emergent YNYCA Economic Framework
Financial Strategy Implications
10. The development of the York pipeline reflects the opportunity to work with the YNYCA to achieve the ambitions of York through securing funding that is available at a regional level. In doing so, it provides an avenue through which to progress priorities without the need to utilise limited Council resources or alternative funding routes.
Recommendation and Reasons
11. The Leader is asked to:
Confirm that the pipeline of projects reflects the priorities for York, tasking officers to work with YNYCA to implement.
Reason:
To enable officers to seek to progress funding bids based on the pipeline of projects as funding streams from YNYCA become available, noting funding business cases will still require Executive Member or Executive approval, dependent on the key decision threshold.
Background
12. This report is presented following the election of the first Mayor for York and North Yorkshire on 2 May 2024.
13. The Mayor will lead the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and will chair the Combined Authority Board.
14. The Mayor and Combined Authority has certain powers and responsibilities, devolved to them by central government. In summary, these include:
a. responsibility for a Mayoral Investment Fund worth £540 million over 30 years and the powers to borrow against funds
b. full devolution of the adult education budget
c. powers to improve the supply and quality of housing and secure the development of land or infrastructure
d. powers and funds to improve transport through a consolidated, devolved, multi-year transport settlement.
15. They will also have oversight of the future delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
16. The election of a Mayor for York and North Yorkshire and the establishment of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) provides an opportunity to secure funding to advance projects that support CYC’s core commitments and Council Plan ambitions, wider city opportunities aligned to 10-year strategies and support regional and Mayoral ambitions.
17. There are several funding streams delivered through the YNYCA including the Mayoral Investment Fund, the future delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and the Integrated Transport Settlement.
18. To provide a structured response to these funding opportunities, an initial list of projects to form a York pipeline for mayoral consideration was developed by CYC officers. These projects were mapped against the longer-term strategic ambitions of the city, such as the 10-year strategies, actions contained within the current Council Plan] and the emerging YNYCA Economic Framework, to highlight alignment with each authority’s priorities and the wider city narrative.
19. The draft pipeline was informed through internal consultation with Corporate Management Team and informally with the Council’s Executive members. It was then reviewed by each of the CYC scrutiny committees in June and July 2024. The draft pipeline is attached as Annex A, with the consolidated list of suggestions from scrutiny and officer recommendations contained as Annex B and the revised pipeline resultant from this feedback contained as Annex C.
20. The purpose of this report is to invite Leader consideration that the projects identified in the pipeline are priorities for CYC to work with YNYCA to implement.
21. If the Leader approves the pipeline, Officers will seek to advance funding bids based on the pipeline projects as funding streams from YNYCA become available. Where funding is awarded (either to develop a business case or to commence a project) individual Executive member or by Executive as a whole depending on key decision threshold requirements, will be invited to approve funding bids and business cases.
22. The York pipeline does not replace partner discussions with the Mayor, rather, ensures the Council is able to allocate resource to opportunities confident that prioritisation has been informed through elected member (representing residents) and partner discussion.
23. Discussions about regional activity have taken place with North Yorkshire Council officers to ensure there is alignment with North Yorkshire Council’s ambitions.
24. At this stage, it is proposed that the York pipeline is reviewed annually and within the context of the York electoral cycle. This might change however dependent on how mayoral funding opportunities are made available.
Consultation Analysis
25. The pipeline was developed by a cross-council group of officers before being considered by CMT and through informal Executive member engagement.
26. It was then subject to consultation with CYC scrutiny committees. The below table provides a review of dates at which the pipeline was discussed at scrutiny:
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Scrutiny Committee |
Date |
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Corporate Services, Climate Change and Scrutiny Management Committee #1 |
10 June 2024 |
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Health, Housing and Adult Social Care |
12 June 2024 |
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Economy, Place, Access and Transport |
25 June 2024 |
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Children, Culture and Communities |
2 July 2024 |
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Corporate Services, Climate Change and Scrutiny Management Committee #2 |
8 July 2024 |
27. Feedback was taken on board at each committee to create a rolling stock take of suggestions. Feedback is listed in Annex B for information.
28. Suggestions predominately focused on the ‘Well-connected economy’ section of the pipeline and the potential for YNYCA support for public transport and infrastructure improvements.
29. Additionally, Councillors were keen to ensure that the wider benefits of funding opportunities (cultural and social in addition to economic) were articulated within the pipeline.
30. Overall, the committees were broadly content with the content of the pipeline.
31. These recommendations have been reviewed by officers to assess consistency with Council Plan, wider city ambitions, and the YNYCA framework. The revised pipeline following this feedback is contained in Annex C.
Options Analysis and
Evidential Basis
32. The first option is to approve the pipeline. This is the recommended option. This will provide clear articulation of the priorities for CYC to work with the YNYCA to implement. This will provide consistency when working with the YNYCA and enable CYC to move at pace when funding opportunities arise.
33. The second option is to reject the pipeline. This would mean that CYC would need to be reactive to opportunities that arise from the YNYCA. Whilst it is anticipated that there will be an element of reactivity to seize unforeseen opportunities, a reliance on this approach would create a danger that funding bids would not align with Council Plan priorities and wider strategic ambitions in the city.
34. A third option is to ask officers to do further work on developing a pipeline. This would enable further contemplation of a pipeline for York but may lead to missed opportunities as funding streams come online. It is worth noting that the pipeline will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it still aligns with local and regional priorities.
Organisational
Impact and Implications
· Financial - There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. Agreeing a list of pipeline schemes will ensure that the Council makes the most of available funding opportunities and will help to manage the overall financial challenge facing the Council.
· Legal - Legal advice specific to the pipeline projects described in this report will be provided or continue to be provided as they develop.
· Information Technology (IT) - Digital connectivity & Smart Technologies should be recognised as a key enabler for the Combined Authority themes, priorities and project pipeline.
· Property – Property implications will need to be considered on projects identified going forwards, on an individual basis with resources deployed accordingly.
· Other
Housing - Reducing carbon emissions from our homes and fuel bills for our residents alongside providing additional new affordable housing are identified as priorities for the council and significant activity is already taking place to meet these ambitions. This report identifies the opportunity to both accelerate and increase the scale of this activity through devolved powers.
Carbon Reduction and Climate Change - The pipeline has been assessed against the Climate Change Strategy to ensure projects align with our net zero and climate ready ambitions. The Climate Change implications of individual projects will be fully assessed as part of the project development and governance.
Skills - Collaboration between the Combined Authority and constituent authorities will be a key enabler of the skills agenda in the region. The pipeline highlights some potential opportunities and these will be considered as part of the wider approach to regional skills development.
Risks and
Mitigations
35. No risks are associated with the approval of the pipeline. It will provide a clear priority list for York within the context of the YNYCA.
36. In contrast, not proceeding with the pipeline leads to the risk of missing opportunities to fund York priorities through the YNYCA. This may lead to poorer outcomes for residents or financial costs for the Council if it chooses to progress this work.
Wards Impacted
37. All.
Contact details
For further information please contact the authors of this Decision Report.
Author
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Name: |
Samuel Blyth |
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Job Title: |
Strategic Manager |
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Service Area: |
Corporate Policy and City Partnerships |
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Telephone: |
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Report approved: |
Yes |
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Date: |
09/07/2024 |
Co-author
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Name: |
Claire Foale |
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Job Title: |
Assistant Director of Policy and Strategy |
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Service Area: |
Policy and Strategy |
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Telephone: |
01904 552057 |
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Report approved: |
Yes |
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Date: |
09/07/2024 |
Background
papers
York-North Yorkshire Devolution and the Mayoral Combined Authority paper from the Corporate Services, Climate Change and Scrutiny Management Committee meeting of 11 December 2023 - https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s171700/Final%20Devolution%20scrutiny%20report%20111223.pdf
One City, for all: City of York’s Council Plan 2023-2027 - https://www.york.gov.uk/council-plan-1/one-city-2023-2027
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Economic Framework - https://yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/240318-YNYCA-Item-9-Economic-Framework.pdf
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority – Mayoral priorities and budget update 2024/25 - https://yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/240531-Item-10-Mayoral-Budget.pdf
York Climate Strategy 2022-2032 - https://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/file/8948/york-climate-change-strategy-2022-to-2032
York Economic Strategy 2022-2032 - https://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/file/8949/york-economic-strategy-2022-to-2032
York Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2032- https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s163774/Annex%20Di%20Health%20and%20Wellbeing%20Strategy%202022-32.pdf
Scrutiny committees considering the draft York pipeline of projects
Annexes
Annex A: York pipeline of projects
Annex B: Consolidated feedback from scrutiny committees
Each annex must be given a number or a letter, for example, ‘Annex A’, and be marked accordingly on the first page; also state which pages, if any, are ‘exempt’.
Annex C: Revised York pipeline of projects following officer recommendations
Abbreviations used in this report
CYC: City of York Council
YNYCA: York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority