1.         Declarations of Interest 

At this point, Members are 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 of business on this agenda.

2.         Minutes  (Pages 1 - 26)

To approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 29 October 2020.

3.         Civic Announcements 

To consider any announcements made by the Lord Mayor in respect of Civic business.

4.         Public Participation 

At this point in the meeting, any member of the public who has registered to address the Council, or to ask a Member of the Council a question, on a matter directly relevant to the business of the Council or the City, may do so. 

Please note that the deadlines for registering to speak at our meetings have changed to two working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at remote meetings. The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Tuesday, 15 December 2020.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Remote Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this remote public meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission.  The remote public meeting can be viewed live and on demand at

www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

During coronavirus, we've made some changes to how we're running council meetings.  See our coronavirus updates at www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy for more information on meetings and decisions.

5.         Petitions 

To consider any petitions received from Members in accordance with Standing Order No.15.  Notice has not been received of any petitions to be presented.

6.         Report of Executive Leader and Executive Recommendations  (Pages 27 - 38)

To receive and consider a written report from the Leader and the Executive recommendations for approval, as set out below:

7.         Report of Deputy Leader  (Pages 39 - 42)

To receive a written report from the Deputy Leader.

8.         Motions on Notice 

To consider the following Motions on Notice under Standing Order 22:

Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 22.1

(i)          From Cllr Rowley

Call for 'Free after three' Parking initiative

“Now that we have come out of the second national lockdown and in recognition of a continuing significant improvement in Covid case numbers, Council believes this is the time to take all practical steps to support residents and city businesses in recovering our local economy and helping to protect jobs.

As part of this recovery, Council calls for a ‘Free after three’ car parking scheme. After a hopefully strong run up to Christmas Council is mindful that January sees a lull but businesses cannot afford this after the last nine months. The scheme would enable free car parking at any City of York Council car park after 3pm each day, seven days a week in January and February 2021.

The scheme would be likely to see a fall in overall parking revenue receipts but this will actually be modest against falls suffered in lockdowns already this year.  However it is not a zero sum game as the drop in revenue we now proactively enable will help save jobs, businesses and receipts like business rates.  Helping subsidise this scheme through the release of £250k from the general reserves is therefore a true case of spending now to avert a worse financial loss in the future.

It is proposed that Council delegate implementation of the scheme to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Leader.”

(ii)         From Cllr Craghill

Finding the Sweet Spot – Carbon Reduction and Economic Prosperity

“Council notes:

• The commitment made by this Council in March 2019 to achieving zero carbon by 2030 and ongoing work on a 2030 strategy and action plan.

• The pressing need to tackle poverty and inequality in York, exacerbated by the Covid crisis and the need to create new jobs and support our local economy as part of the Covid recovery.

• The innovative work being done by local councils as diverse as Amsterdam and Cornwall to use the globally acclaimed economic model developed by Oxford academic, Kate Raworth – now widely known as ‘Doughnut Economics” – to make sure that all their policy decisions achieve both environmental sustainability and economic/social equity.

www.doughnuteconomics.org and https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/climate-emergency/our-action-plan/what-is-cornwall-council-doing/decision-making-wheel/

Council resolves

·        To request officers to facilitate a wider understanding of the approach and how it can be used by arranging information sessions for elected members, relevant council officers and interested partner organisations.

·        To request Executive to consider the use of the doughnut economics approach to inform the current review of the council's ‘Better Decision Making Tool’, and also in due course the potential to inform future strategy development (for example on carbon reduction, anti-poverty work and the city's Economic Strategy).”

(iii)        From Cllr Hook

Stand up for Carers - Increasing Carer’s Allowance

“The pandemic has opened all our eyes to the importance of carers, whether employed in the care sector or unpaid people who care for family members.

Carers have been at the forefront of the Coronavirus pandemic response and continue to do a selfless and remarkable job in very difficult circumstances.

Despite this, the Government has overlooked these key workers and have failed to offer adequate support, and unpaid carers in particular have been left to face mounting financial and emotional pressures.

Carers UK research shows that unpaid carers in the UK have saved the state £530 million every day of the pandemic. It is time to give them the support they deserve.

Council notes:

·        Caring for people’s health doesn’t stop at the hospital exit, or the GP’s surgery door, there are approximately 6.5million volunteers in the UK who look after a family member or friend who is elderly or has a disability, or a mental or physical illness.

·        The financial and emotional challenges faced by unpaid carers have been made far worse by the Coronavirus pandemic.

·        There are around 19,000 carers in York, but many people who provide care do not recognise themselves as a ‘carer’.

·        The latest government figures show that 2,351 unpaid carers in York are entitled to receive Carer’s Allowance, although only 1472 currently do.

·        879 people who are entitled to Carer’s Allowance do not receive it due to overlapping benefits, these are mostly older carers on low incomes.

·        900,000 full-time unpaid carers rely on Carer’s Allowance at just £67.25 a week; it is the lowest benefit of its kind.

·        Carer’s Allowance has not been increased during the pandemic despite the pressure on carers and economic impact of Covid-19.

Council believes that more must be done to support unpaid carers, particularly as they continue to face major financial and emotional challenges working on the frontline of the response to the pandemic.

Consequently, Council resolves:

·        That the Council lobby national government to increase Carer’s Allowance by £1,000 a year, from its current rate of £67.25 a week to £87.25, in line with the £20 a week uplift in Universal Credit, including those who do not receive the Allowance due to overlapping benefits and with equivalent increase in Carer Premium and Carer Addition.

·        To call on the Government to expand the eligibility for Carer’s Allowance, by raising the earning limit from £128 a week to at least £139.52.

·        To request that the Executive Members for Communities and Adult Social Care & Health bring forward a report to a decision session, to highlight the work and voluntary efforts of careers in the city, including highlighting the work of the York Carers Centre. This report should further identify what is and can be done to support carers in York.”

(iv)       From Cllr Webb

Developing the next generation of workers

Council believes that the Covid recession is the worst time for young people to be leaving education or training and seeking to enter the jobs market in almost 30 years.

Council notes:

·        that from July to September, 16-24 year olds experienced the biggest percentage increase in rates of unemployment since the Labour Force Survey (LFS) started collecting quarterly data in 1992 – even before the initial furlough scheme ended;

·        that according to Job Centre Plus, York currently has well over 1000 16-24 year olds unemployed;

·        the continued importance of food services and accommodation to a visitor economy such as York’s and to the employment opportunities of young people more generally; this sector lost the highest percentage of jobs over the same quarter, with young workers worst affected;

·        that since August 2019, £0.5m of unallocated council apprenticeship levy has been returned to the Treasury due to it not being spent within an imposed two year deadline.

Council believes proper plans must be developed at both the national and local levels to ensure young people in York are not consigned to years of unemployment or low paid, unstable work.

Council resolves:

·        To request that the Chief Operating Officer, on behalf of the council, writes to the Chancellor and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, seeking a broadening of the Government’s ‘Kickstart’ Scheme beyond just those young people on Universal Credit and ‘at risk of long term unemployment’, and further, to push for a fully funded youth guarantee of jobs, training or employment;

·        To request that Executive steps up its commitment to apprenticeship training in the council to train and develop more young people, helping to avoid the requirement to send more York apprenticeship funding back to Government, and to report on its progress through bi-annual updates to either Executive or the relevant Executive Member Decision Session;

·        To support establishing a joint review, convened between Economy & Place and Children, Education & Communities scrutiny committees, to develop a robust strategy for ensuring that best use is made of all available support and funding for apprenticeships, both within the council and with partners and businesses throughout the city.”

9.         Questions to the Leader or Executive Members 

To question the Leader and/or Deputy Leader on their written reports, and to question the Leader and/or Executive Members in respect of any matter within their portfolio responsibility, in accordance with Standing Order 20.

Note to Members:  In order to facilitate the smooth running of the remote meeting, the Lord Mayor has decided to set a deadline of 35 minutes in total for the above questions and responses, to include 10 minutes for questions on the report of the Leader and 10 minutes for questions on the report of the Deputy Leader.

10.      Urgent Business 

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

Democratic Services Officer

Fiona Young

Contact details:

·        Telephone – (01904) 552030

·        Email fiona.young@york.gov.uk

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For more information about any of the following please contact Democratic Services:

·        Registering to speak

·        Business of the meeting

·        Any special arrangements

·        Copies of reports and

·        For receiving reports in other formats

Contact details are set out above.