|
City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
|
|
Meeting |
Economy and Place Policy and Scrutiny Committee |
|
|
Date |
11 March 2020 |
|
|
Present |
Councillors S Barnes (Chair), Daubeney (Vice-Chair), Douglas, Hook, Pearson and K Taylor |
|
|
Apologies |
Councillor Baker |
|
57. Declarations of Interest
Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests, that they might have in the business on the agenda. In respect of agenda item 4 [Update report on Planning Enforcement], the Chair advised that one of the cases included in the report was close to his home addresses and he had not been involved with the case. No further interests were declared.
58. Minutes
Resolved:
i. That the minutes of the meetings held on 10 December 2019 and 15 January 2020 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.
ii. That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2020 be amended to include the following amendments and brought back to the next meeting for approval:
· Minute 48 to be amended to: ‘That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2020 be updated to include the addition to minute 44 of it being suggested that HR may not be best placed to face to face staff survey HR interviews.’
· Minute 50: To be amended to include the addition of the following sentence at the end of the first bullet point: It was suggested that residents and employee representation should be included at all stages of the process
· Minute 52: That the democracy Officer email a suggested amendment regarding the wording of an additional bullet point to state that a number of Members expressed concern that whilst the voting mechanisms were in place for MiY’s obligations, this may not be sufficient to cover the issues raised by market traders
59. Public Participation
It was reported that there had been five registrations to speak under the council’s public participation scheme.
Johnny Hayes spoke on agenda item 4 [Update report on Planning Enforcement]. He noted that the planning enforcement team was overstretched and under resourced and was therefore not functioning satisfactorily. He referred to the Roomzzz aparthotel in York which he believed was taller than it should be and he was not happy with the way in which his FoI request concerning the matter had been handled.
Kevin Tuohy, Martin Spencer, Ian Weston and June Tranmer spoke on agenda item 5 [Make It York's Economic Development].
Kevin Tuohy explained that he would like MiY to invest in market traders and he urged them to seek help from traders to help them. He expressed disappointment in MiY engagement with traders and noted that there were opportunities to drive locals into the market.
Martin Spencer expressed a number of concerns regarding the management of the market, namely inadequate cleaning and shambles market website being 18 months out of date. He noted that the shambles market had a number of diverse and unique range of businesses and he invited Members to visit.
June Tranmer read out the comments made by Ian Weston (Chair of Guildhall Planning Panel), who was unable to attend the meeting. He detailed his correspondence with the Assistant Director Communities and Equalities in which expressed a number of concerns regarding the renewal of the MiY Service Level Agreement (SLA) in terms of performance metrics, residents’ requirements, priorities and views, and abandonment of targets. He proposed that the SLA included a requirement to consult with residents.
June Tranmer expressed a number of concerns regarding the Shambles market and it’s prominence in relation to visiting markets in the city. She referred to the 2009 city centre action plan noting that a number of items within that plan had not come to fruition. She urged the advertising of the market.
60. Update report on Planning Enforcement
Assistant Director for Planning and Public Protection and Principal Development Management Officer were in attendance to present the report. The Assistant Director responded to comments made by Johnny Hayes noting that Principal Development Management Officer would be meeting with him that week to discuss the matter. The Principal Development Management Officer outlined the report.
In response to Members, Officers explained:
· Each case was considered on its own merits
· The process and time involved in dealing with complaints
· Expediency was a policy matter not a staffing resource matter
Resolved: That the information in the report be noted.
Reason: To ensure members are aware of the work currently being undertaken in Planning Enforcement.
61. Make It York's Economic Development Priorities for 2020/21
Members considered a report that invited the committee to comment on the broad priority areas to be included in the Council’s service level agreement (SLA) with Make it York (MIY) for 2020-21 (as detailed in paragraph 6 of the report). Following consideration by the committee, a report would be taken to a Decision Session of the Executive Member for Economy and Planning in April.
· The current SLA included a reference to the tourism strategy
· More detail on the relationship between MiY and market traders would be included in the report going to the Decision Session of the Executive Member for Economy and Planning.
· The detail of the MiY contribution to the economic development priorities would be included in the business plan presented to the Shareholder Committee. The Corporate Director Economy and Place then clarified the decision making process for the MiY SLA.
· Skills and apprenticeship training was covered by the MiY sector development plan.
· There needed to be more engagement on an ongoing basis with different sectors.
· Clarification was given on the nature of MiY as a teckal company
The Chair proposed and Cllr Douglas seconded that the Chair of the Committee contact the Chairs of the Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee and Chair of Audit and Governance Committee stating concern that the Committee was unable to effectively scrutinise the economic development function of MiY under current scrutiny arrangements. A vote was taken with three members for and three members against. The Chair’s casting vote was in favour of the motion and it was:
Resolved: That the Chair contact the Chairs of the Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee and Chair of Audit and Governance Committee stating concern that the Committee was unable to effectively scrutinise the economic development function of MiY under current scrutiny arrangements
Reason: In order to effectively scrutinise the economic development function of MiY
62. Update report on Guildhall Project
Following the request from Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) to review the project status reporting for the Guildhall project, the committee considered a report that reviewed the project governance and risk management arrangements for the delivery of the project which inform the project reporting. Risk registers were included in the annexes to the report.
The Corporate Director Economy and Place and Head of Regeneration Programmes were in attendance to present the report. They explained risk ratings as detailed in the report annexes. In answer to Member questions they explained:
· How the project management system operated.
· That the risk register was live and how it was updated.
· The reporting mechanism to the Audit and Governance Committee
Resolved:
i. That the content of the report be noted
ii. That the role of the Audit and Governance Committee in monitoring the risks associated with major projects be noted.
Reason: To help Members understand how the Guildhall project is being delivered.
63. Update report on Apprenticeships and Skills Scrutiny review
Members considered a report that detailed the proposed remit and objectives of the Task Group to undertake a review of apprenticeships and skills. These were:
Aim:
The Task Group will engage with apprenticeship providers and
employers in the city with a view to bringing recommendations to
the Committee. The aim of the Task Group will be to explore means
by which CYC can work with partners in the city to maximise the
proportion of the apprentice levy that is retained and spent on
training to improve skills in York’s economy.
This is likely
to be achieved through partnership, including opportunities for
levy payers to work with SMEs and identify opportunities for levy
transfer where appropriate.
Objectives:
To evaluate the current number of levy payers in York based on best available knowledge so as to assess the value of funds available;
i. To understand the current apprenticeship training provision, the potential in York and the current spend;
ii. To identify the demand from companies who might want to offer apprenticeships;
iii. To examine best practices with regard to the transfer of the apprenticeship levy;
iv. To understand the use of the apprenticeship levy within City of York Council and how CYC can help facilitate best practice in the rest of the city with a view to meeting Council Plan priorities in terms of improving skills and sustainable development.
It was
Resolved: That the remit proposed by the Task Group be approved.
Reason: In order to progress the Apprenticeships and Skills Scrutiny review
64. Work Plan 2019-20
Members considered the committee’s work plan for the remainder of the 2019-20 municipal year. Following a suggestion for an update report on the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Corporate Director Economy and Place advised that this was an emergency planning function and it would not be appropriate for the committee to examine this during the crisis but could do so at a later point. He suggested that further advice could be sought from the Monitoring Officer.
Resolved: That the work plan as set out on page 81 of the agenda pack be agreed.
Reason: In order to keep the work plan updated.
Members expressed gratitude to all council employees for their work during the flooding.
Cllr P Kilbane, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.30 pm and finished at 7.30 pm].