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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Economy & Place Policy & Scrutiny Committee |
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Date |
19 March 2019 |
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Present |
Councillors Pavlovic (Chair), Steward (Vice-Chair), Gates, Hunter, Mason and D Myers |
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Apologies |
Councillors D'Agorne |
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36. Declarations of Interest
At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests which they may have in respect to business on this agenda.
Cllr Mason declared personal interests in that he was the City of York Council representative on the Museum Trust Board and a Director of Make It York.
37. Minutes
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2019 be approved and signed by the chair as a correct record.
38. Public Participation
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
39. CYC Flood Defences
Members received an update on CYC flood defences. The Council’s Flood Risk Manager and the Environment Agency were in attendance to answer Member questions.
Members questioned whether public consultation on flood defence measures can make a genuine difference to proposals and also how the Environment Agency and the Council can help manage the expectations of the public with regards to changes in schemes as they progress.
Officers stated that consultation is important, not only to help explain the intricacy of schemes but also to learn what is ‘acceptable locally’ with regards to defences.
Officers were sympathetic to the views of Members and residents, particularly around Burdyke and Westfield Beck pump schemes. Officers stated that more work needed to be carried out to better understand the impact that these schemes could have. It was noted that currently, it was not clear that there would be significant benefit, however the schemes had not been abandoned and work would continue to better understand the impact.
Resolved: Members noted the report and the evidence presented by the Environment Agency in the session.
Reason: To update the committee on current plans for CYC flood defences.
40. 3rd Quarter Finance and Performance Monitor
Members considered the third quarter finance and performance monitoring report for Economy and Place. The Finance Manager and Corporate Director of Economy and Place were in attendance to answer any questions.
Officers stated that with regards to paragraph 5 and 6 that there is a great deal of work taking place to increase the resilience of the service. The service is receiving the investment that it needs to make this improvement both culturally and structurally.
Members questioned the levels of income generation expected from Waste Services as the forecast expected this to be missed at year end. Officers agreed and stated that it would be up to Members to decide on the desired income level however a bid had recently been submitted for a commercial waste contract, which should it be successful, would help achieve the target.
Members asked what would happen to the higher than expected income generated from Residents Parking and Season Ticket Sales. Officers stated that this income would go into the Council’s general fund.
Resolved: Members noted the content of the report
Reason: To update the scrutiny committee on the latest finance and performance position
41. Discretionary Business Rates Discounts Policy
Members considered a report from the Head of Economic Growth on the discretionary business rates discounts policy and the economic impact of this on York and its city centre.
Members were interested to know within the summary data supplied on rate values, what kind of vendor or activity attracted the £100 minimum rate value. It was noted that the Valuation office determine what the rateable value is for each business or activity (hereditament), although it was likely at that cost to be a cash point or a CCTV camera.
In response to a question on collection, the Officer stated that City of York’s collection of business rates was very good and in the current year was 98.9%.
In response to questions regarding the reduction and removal of the Revenue Support Grant, the officer stated that this support from National Government had decreased significantly in the last decade and whilst some of that has been offset by the increased retention of business rates allowed, the overall net income has reduced.
Resolved: That Members are asked to note and comment on the information provided in this report.
Reason: To inform Members of the economic impact of business rates in York.
42. Arts and Culture Implementation Update
An update report on the implementation of recommendations from a scrutiny review into the Impact of the Arts and Culture Sectors on the Economy of York, was presented to the committee.
Resolved: i) Members noted the contents of the report and agreed to sign off the recommendations included in Annex 1 that have now been implemented.
ii) The committee agreed that they did not require a further update.
Cllr M Pavlovic, Chair
[The meeting started at 17:30 and finished at 18:45].