Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members and co-opted members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

(1)         Members must consider their interests, and act according to the

following:

(2)         Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

(3)         Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them. A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Members were asked to declare at this point in the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registerable interests they might have in respect of business on the agenda, if they had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. None were declared.

To consider excluding the public and press from the meeting during consideration of agenda item 4, Annexes A and B:

·        Annex A on the grounds that it contains information relating to any individual and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual (This information is classed as exempt under Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.

·        Annex Bon the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority. (This information is classed as exempt under Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.

Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during any discussion arising on the following documents:

·        Agenda item 4: Annex A on the grounds that it contains information relating to any individual and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual (This information is classed as exempt under Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006).

·        Agenda item 4: Annex B on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority. (This information is classed as exempt under Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006).

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Webcasting of Public Meetings

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During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (http://www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

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

The purpose of this report is:

i)             to approve the appointment of two Independent Non-Executive Directors.

ii)            to approve in principle the acquisition by City of York Trading Limited (CYT) the certain assets of an outside third-party company.

iii)          to ask Members to recommend to the Directors of CYT which Council Non-Executive Director should be appointed as permanent Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company.

The Managing Director of City of York Trading Ltd (CYT) gave an overview of the reasons the meeting had been requested. This was firstly to approve the appointment of two new Independent Non-Executive Directors, following a recruitment process after the resignation of a previous Independent Non-Executive Director in September. She noted that the Shareholders Agreement permitted the appointment of two Non-Executive Directors, and that the CVs of the successful candidates were included in Exempt Annex A. The second reason was to approve in principle the acquisition of the assets of a third-party company. It was part of CYT’s business plan to consider the acquisition of appropriate businesses which could add to its portfolio, particularly in the commercial sector. Productive discussions had taken place with the present owner and details were included in Exempt Annex B. The third reason was for the Shareholder to nominate a Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company as required by the Shareholders Agreement.

[The meeting then went into private session at 4:34 pm].

Resolved:

i.             To approve the appointment to the Company of two new Independent Non-Executive Directors whose CVs are contained within Exempt Annex A, and delegate authority to the Board of Directors of the Company and the Company Secretary to pass any necessary Board resolutions, make all necessary filings with the Registrar of Companies and all necessary updates to the statutory registers, letterhead, website, etc. of the Company in relation to said appointments.

Reason: To ensure CYT has an appropriate number of Non-Executive Directors on its Board as required by the CYT Shareholders Agreement.

ii.            To approve in principle the acquisition of the identified assets of Company W by CYT in accordance with proposals in this report at Exempt Annex B, and delegate authority to the Board of Directors of CYT to take any necessary steps to negotiate the terms and conditions of and conclude the acquisition of Company W in line with the contents of and proposals set out within the report and the annexes hereto.

Reason: To enable further growth of CYT’s non-Council recruitment business in line with the Company’s business plan.

iii.          To inform the Board of Directors of CYT that the Shareholder wishes Councillor Cuthbertson to be appointed as permanent Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company as required by the Shareholders Agreement, and delegate authority to the Board of Directors of the Company and the Company Secretary to pass any necessary Board resolutions and make all necessary updates to the statutory registers, letterhead, website, etc. of the Company in relation to said appointment.

Reason: To ensure the CYT Board has a Chair nominated by the Shareholder as required by the Shareholders Agreement.