Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.  No interests were declared.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during consideration of Annex 1 to Agenda Item 11 (Urgent Business – Riverbank Repairs: River Ouse, Scarborough Bridge to Clifton Bridge, on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial and business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Annex 1 to agenda item 11 (Urgent Business – Riverbank Repairs: River Ouse, Scarborough Bridge to Clifton Bridge), on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial and business affairs of particular persons (including the authority holding that information), which is classed as exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 18 November 2008.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Executive meeting held on 18 November 2008 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Executive’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00 pm on Monday 1 December 2008.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

To receive details of those items that are listed on the Executive Forward Plan for the next two meetings.

Members received and noted details of those items that were currently listed on the Forward Plan for the next two Executive meetings.

This report asks the Executive to consider which of the political groups should be invited to appoint the Lord Mayor for the municipal year 2009/2010.

RESOLVED: That the Conservative group be invited to nominate the Lord Mayor for the 2009/10 Municipal Year.

REASON:      In accordance with the agreed procedure, to provide continuity for future selection and to ensure that the Council has the necessary leadership to undertake its civic functions.

Members considered a report which asked them to decide which of the political groups should be invited to appoint the Lord Mayor for the 2009/10 Municipal Year.

Under the current points scheme for nomination of the Lord Mayor, the Conservative group, with a total of 36 points, would qualify to make the nomination.  Should Members wish to invite a different group to submit a nomination, this would require a change to the agreed procedure.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, it was

RESOLVED: That the Conservative group be invited to nominate the Lord Mayor for the 2009/10 Municipal Year.¹

REASON:      In accordance with the agreed procedure, to provide continuity for future selection and to ensure that the Council has the necessary leadership to undertake its civic functions.

This report responds to a motion approved by Full Council in June 2008, calling for an report outlining an action plan to target those geographic areas with the highest levels of child poverty in the City of York.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the report be noted.

                        (ii)        That Officers be requested to seek further discussion of the report at key partnership forums, in particular Inclusive York and YorOK Board, with the aim of creating opportunities to access collective support and resources to support the action areas outlined in the report.

REASON:      In order to respond to the Council motion and to address the issue of child poverty in York in the most effective way.

Members considered a report which responded to a motion agreed by Full Council on 30 June 2008, calling for an action plan to target those areas of the City with the highest levels of child poverty.

The report examined the definition of ‘child poverty’, research carried out on the impact of poverty on families and children, and the development of government strategies intended to address child poverty, including a set of new pilot initiatives announced on 23 June 2008.  In York, the issue was one of pockets of deprivation. Children living in certain areas of the City were more likely to be living in families that were income deprived and more likely to have poorer academic outcomes.  Overall, the figure for child poverty in York was below the national average but in five wards (Guildhall, Westfield, Hull Road, Clifton and Heworth) the figure was well above the national average.

The Anti-Poverty Strategy of Without Walls brought together existing and proposed new initiatives to work with partners to tackle poverty in the City.  Specific action areas to make a local impact upon child poverty levels, in the context of the over-arching strategy, were outlined in paragraphs 21 to 32 of the report.  They included:

• The work of children’s centres
• A preventative approach with targeted groups, particularly the teenage homeless, and
• Narrowing the gap – a two year project, funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, that started in June 2007.

In response to the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, Members noted that this issue could not be addressed by means of action plan in a single department but required a collective approach, involving external partners in the City as well as the Council as a whole.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the report be noted.

                        (ii)        That Officers be requested to seek further discussion of the report at key partnership forums, in particular Inclusive York and YorOK Board, with the aim of creating opportunities to access collective support and resources to support the action areas outlined in the report. ¹

REASON:      In order to respond to the Council motion and to address the issue of child poverty in York in the most effective way.

This report outlines a proposed refresh process for the Council’s Corporate Strategy and asks Members to endorse the process and agree to participate in a series of medium term planning workshops.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the broad principles contained in Option 2 in the report be endorsed.

REASON:      To give the Council’s corporate strategic planning greater coherence, and to improve the Council’s position under future inspection frameworks.

                        (ii)        That the Strategy be further developed with Members prior to formal submission of draft proposals to a future Executive meeting.

REASON:      So that the emerging Strategy can be refined in consultation with Executive portfolio holders and to meet budget requirements, and to ensure that any proposed changes made since the previous Corporate Strategy can be tracked.

Members considered a report which outlined a proposed refresh process for the Council’s Corporate Strategy (the Strategy), to ensure greater alignment with the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) and the Local Area Agreement (LAA).

From April 2009, the format of the Strategy would change.  The vision for the City in the SCS would be recognised as an overarching element.  Instead of the existing ten priorities, there would be eight themes, with a set of medium term (three year) improvements under each theme, as well as a set of one-year actions.  The existing Corporate Values would remain unchanged.  Quantifiable measures of overall progress would be produced during, and at the end of, each year.  This performance monitoring would be a key element of the Financial and Performance reports brought to the Executive. 

Members and Officers had already met for the first round of workshops to discuss one-year actions for 2009-10.  Further work was continuing to consider delivery arrangements and measurements for these actions.  A second round of workshops, to consider the medium term planning, would take place in January.  Members were invited to endorse the refresh process outlined in the report and to participate in the second round workshops (Option 2).  Option 1 was to leave the current corporate strategy unchanged.

Members acknowledged the value of the workshops in discussing proposals for inclusion in the Strategy but stressed the need to ensure that the Strategy contained realistic goals and that targets were deliverable within available resources.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That the broad principles contained in Option 2 in the report be endorsed.

REASON:      To give the Council’s corporate strategic planning greater coherence, and to improve the Council’s position under future inspection frameworks.

                        (ii)        That the Strategy be further developed with Members¹ prior to formal submission of draft proposals to a future Executive meeting. ²

REASON:      So that the emerging Strategy can be refined in consultation with Executive portfolio holders and to meet budget requirements, and to ensure that any proposed changes made since the previous Corporate Strategy can be tracked.

This report presents a draft IT Strategy for the Council for the next five years, designed to link closely to the corporate strategy and the agenda for change over the coming years and to reflect IT’s role as an essential enabler of transformation in the future.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the five themes set out in paragraph 10 of the report be approved.

                        (ii)        That the IT Strategy attached at Annexes A and B to the report be agreed.

                        (iii)       That progress on delivering the Strategy be reviewed on a six-monthly basis.

                        (iv)       That the development of proposals for a three year IT Development Plan, as set out in paragraph 20 of the report, be agreed.

                        (v)        That the development of proposals for a self-funding central pool of Project Managers and Business Analysts, as set out in paragraph 23, be agreed.

REASON:      In order to establish an attainable yet challenging vision for future services and to ensure that its delivery is effectively monitored.

Members considered a report which presented a draft IT Strategy for the next five years.  The draft Strategy had been designed to link closely with the Council’s Corporate Strategy and the agenda for change over the coming years, and to reflect the role of IT as an essential enabler of transformation.

The draft Strategy, attached as Annex A to the report and summarised in Annex B, had been structured in accordance with the five themes agreed by the Executive last year, following the review of the 2002-2007 Strategy.  These themes, set out in paragraph 10 of the report, were the main drivers for further IT development.  Each theme was broken down into ‘technology blocks’ to enable achievement of the vision statement.  These included a series of objectives for implementation or further exploration.  The Strategy would remain a ‘live’ document, enabling objectives to be reviewed on a regular basis.

With regard to monitoring progress of the Strategy a broader reporting mechanism was needed, to ensure that Members received reports on the progress of key business led projects.  Members’ views were requested on this.  Approval was also sought for proposed new arrangements for delivering and resourcing the Strategy, as outlined in paragraphs 20 to 23.  These would involve creating a three-year rolling investment plan for IT and exploring the establishment of a central pool of Project Managers and Business Analysts in order to create capacity to deliver the Strategy on time without the need to recruit expensive consultancy support.

In response to the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, Officers confirmed that the issue of accessibility had been addressed in the customer strategy and that the need to provide access to services in a variety of different ways, not just via IT, was accepted.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the five themes set out in paragraph 10 of the report be approved.

                        (ii)        That the IT Strategy attached at Annexes A and B to the report be agreed. ¹

                        (iii)       That progress on delivering the Strategy be reviewed on a six-monthly basis. ²

                        (iv)       That the development of proposals for a three year IT Development Plan, as set out in paragraph 20 of the report, be agreed. ³

                        (v)        That the development of proposals for a self-funding central pool of Project Managers and Business Analysts, as set out in paragraph 23, be agreed. ⁴

REASON:      In order to establish an attainable yet challenging vision for future services and to ensure that its delivery is effectively monitored.

This report sets out areas for investment in IT that have been identified and put forward by Directors and asks Members to review these proposals and decide which ones they wish to fund.

RESOLVED: (i)         That Option 2 be approved and that those bids with a Risk and Opportunity score of over 50 be funded and progressed, together with the time only projects, as set out in Annex A, subject to the total allocation given to this budget heading when the Council determines its overall budget for the forthcoming financial year in February 2009.

REASON:      To ensure delivery of those projects most likely to be of benefit to the Council and its customers, and to enable those projects that require time only and no investment to proceed.

                        (ii)        That it be noted that Bid no. 09CEX03 (Webcasting of Council Meetings) is subject to the decision made by Full Council on 25 September 2008 and thus should be dealt with in a further Officer report.

REASON:      In accordance with the decision of Full Council to ask for an Officer report on the contract negotiations for webcasting.

                        (iii)       That approval be given to release funds set aside to implement a replacement Home Care Monitoring System, as set out in paragraph 22 and Annex D.

                        (v)        That approval be given to release funds set aside to implement a replacement Performance Management System, as set out in paragraphs 23 and 24.

REASON:      To enable these two projects to be progressed without delay.

Members considered a report which set out areas of investment in IT that had been identified and put forward by Directors and sought a decision as to which of these proposals should be funded.

The bids had all been evaluated by the Corporate IT Strategy Group (CITSG) and were presented in priority order in Annex A to the report.  A revised version of Annex A, correcting some errors in the previous version, had been published with the on-line agenda and copies circulated to Members. A summary of each bid, with a breakdown of costs, was provided in Annex B.  The main benefits and efficiencies of each bid were summarised in Annex C and a summary of the bids rejected by CITSG was provided in Annex D. 

Members were invited to consider the following options:

Option 1 – to fund all the bids evaluated by the CITSG, as set out in Annex A.  This could deliver efficiencies of £703k per annum and would mean spending £3k less than had been allocated from the General Fund for 2009/10.

Option 2 – to fund only bids with a Risk and Opportunity score of over 50, as set out in Annex A.  This could deliver efficiencies of £687k per annum and would mean spending £41k less than the allocation for 2009/10.

Option 3 – to fund only bids with a Risk and Opportunity score of over 80, as set out in Annex A.  This could deliver efficiencies of £651k and would mean spending £58k less than the allocation for 2009/10.

Members were also asked to approve the release of funding set aside for the provision of an Electronic Homecare Monitoring System (as shown in the business case attached as Annex D) and for the replacement of the existing Performance Management System (PMS), as recommended by the Council’s Corporate Management Team.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That Option 2 be approved and that those bids with a Risk and Opportunity score of over 50 be funded and progressed, together with the time only projects, as set out in Annex A, subject to the total allocation given to this budget heading when the Council determines its overall budget for the forthcoming financial year in February 2009. ¹

REASON:      To ensure delivery of those projects most likely to be of benefit to the Council and its customers, and to enable those projects that require time only and no investment to proceed.

                        (ii)        That it be noted that Bid no. 09CEX03 (Webcasting of Council Meetings) is subject to the decision made by Full Council on 25 September 2008 and thus should be dealt with in a further Officer report. ²

REASON:      In accordance with the decision of Full Council to ask for an Officer report on the contract negotiations for webcasting.

                        (iii)       That approval be given to release funds set aside to implement a replacement Home Care Monitoring System, as set out in paragraph 22 and Annex D.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 132.

Any other business which the Chair considers urgent under the  Local Government Act 1972.

The Chair has agreed to consider under this item a report which highlights a recent significant riverbank collapse, with a number of health and safety implications, and seeks direction as to how Members wish to deal with this issue.

This agenda was re-published on-line on 27 November to include the above report and also to include an item asking Members to consider excluding the press and public during consideration of the exempt annex to the report (agenda item 2 refers).

RESOLVED: (i)         That an appropriate survey of, and minor repairs to, the collapsed area be undertaken, funded from existing revenue budget provision to be identified by the Director of Resources.

(ii) That a further updated report on the capital costs of repair in the longer term be brought back to the Executive in the very near future.

REASON:      So that the hazard to river users and the general public can be removed immediately and that further consideration can be given to how best to address this issue in the longer term.

Members considered a report which informed them of a recent significant riverbank collapse, with a number of health and safety implications, and sought direction on how Members wished to address this issue.

The Chair had agreed to deal with this item as urgent business, due to the potential risk to safety should a further collapse occur and the consequent impact on the City’s pedestrian / cycle route network.

The area in question was located on the north-eastern riverbank between Scarborough and Clifton Bridges.  Although the land itself was not recorded to be in Council ownership, the Council had responsibility for the river wall.  A 40 metre length of concrete capping beam had become dislodged and tipped into the river.  There were currently no budgets available for riverbank repairs on the Ouse.  Funding requested as part of the 2009/10 budget process was likely to be insufficient, as the bid had been submitted prior to this recent collapse.

Members were invited to consider the following options:

Option 1 – not to repair the collapse and allow the river to continue to scour the bank naturally along this stretch.

Option 2 – to undertake a survey and carry out repair and future proofing work as a matter of urgency.  This would need approval from Full Council for inclusion in the 2008/09 capital programme.

Option 3 – to address this issue as part of the ‘CRAM’ process, as already initiated in the 2009/10 capital budget cycle, for approval by Council in 2009.

In response to questions from Members, Officers confirmed that temporary stabilisation of the collapsed area was not an option and that a proper repair would be needed.  Any survey would need to extend beyond the failed area, looking at the whole of this stretch of the river bank.  Funding for the repair would not be available from the Environment Agency because the breach did not in itself compromise the flood defences and the Council was the riparian owner with responsibility for the maintenance of the bank.

RESOLVED: (i)         That an appropriate survey of and minor repairs to the collapsed area be undertaken, funded from existing revenue budget provision to be identified by the Director of Resources. ¹

(ii) That a further updated report on the capital costs of repair in the longer term be brought back to the Executive in the very near future. ²

REASON:      So that the hazard to river users and the general public can be removed immediately and further consideration can be given to how best to address this issue in the longer term.