C I T Y O F Y O R K C O U N C I L
S U M M O N S
All Councillors, relevant Council Officers and other interested parties and residents are formally invited to attend a meeting of the City of York Council at The Guildhall,York, to consider the business contained in this agenda on the following date and time
Thursday, 15 December 2022 at 6.30 pm
A G E N D A
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1. Declarations of Interest |
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At this point in the meeting, 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.
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2. Minutes (Pages 1 - 18) |
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To approve and sign the minutes of the Council meeting held on 20 October 2022.
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3. Civic Announcements |
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To consider any announcements made by the Lord Mayor in respect of Civic business, including inviting the eligible Group to nominate the Lord Mayor for the next Municipal Year.
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4. Public Participation |
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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. The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Tuesday, 13 December 2022.
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 Public Meetings Please note that, subject to available resources, this 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
During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we're running council meetings. See our updates at www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy for more information on meetings and decisions.
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5. Petitions |
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To consider any petitions received from Members in accordance with Standing Order B5. Notice has been received of two petitions, to be presented by:
(i) Cllr Myers, on behalf of residents of Westminster Road, Greencliffe Drive and The Avenue, asking the council to provide options for a Low Traffic Neighbourhood to reduce through traffic on residential streets in this area; and.
(ii) Cllr Baker, on behalf of residents of the Bishopthorpe Road area calling for action to tackle the problem of vehicles using St Benedict’s Road as a ‘rat run’.
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6. Report of Executive Leader, Questions, and Executive Recommendations (Pages 19 - 32) |
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To receive and consider a written report from the Leader and ask questions on the work of the Executive, and to consider the Executive recommendations for approval, as set out below:
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7. Report of Deputy Leader and Questions (Pages 33 - 38) |
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To receive and consider a written report from the Deputy Leader and, to question the Deputy Leader thereon.
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8. Motions on Notice |
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To consider the following Motions on Notice under Standing Order B13:
Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council
(i) From Cllr Webb
Delivering Effective Customer Services to York Residents
“This Council believes that an effective council is one that appropriately supports its staff and is responsive to the needs of all its residents.
Council notes: · that at least one in ten people are not digitally connected, rising to more than four in ten for the over 75s; · older residents are less likely to wait for long periods to have their calls answered, and are more likely to have difficulty navigating numbered option-based customer service phone lines; · that the welcome 4 Cs council policy for comments, concerns, complaints and compliments is tempered by the Local Govt Ombudsman’s reported concerns about the way some council departments are responding to complaints; · the 2,500% increase in average call wait times for residents when calling the council for help over the past two years, from 42 seconds to 18 minutes, not accounting for those calls abandoned altogether; · the value and importance of calling residents back if their calls are not answered; · that the complexity and sometimes difficult experience of customer calls, as well as understaffing of the customer services team, are exacerbating the problem of poor staff retention.
Council believes quality of customer service reflects the importance the council attaches to residents’ issues, whether online, over the phone or in person.
It further believes: · that cuts to staffing and policy decisions taken by the current administration are a significant component in current poor response times; · that we do not currently know the extent of resident calls abandoned due to non-responses by the council; · that helping residents in the right way at the first opportunity saves time and money for the council; · suspending the call-back service to residents whose calls go unanswered sends the message that their issues are unimportant; · new approaches must be considered to operating the council’s customer services number to arrest the decline in responsiveness to residents; · the effect of the removal of staff from the customer services phone line is to make services far more difficult to access for some York residents; · current and former call-centre staff have been avoidably exposed to increased abuse and a deterioration in their working conditions due to poor political decision making both in policy and budgetary (staff) cutbacks.
Council resolves to request that the Executive, including as part of its current budget preparations: · publicly acknowledges the hard work of customer services staff and the impact of cuts on their ability to meet resident expectations, and apologises for the council’s ongoing inability to effectively respond to residents’ issues in a timely way; · urgently reinstates the customer services call-back service to residents; · commits to reviewing the functioning of the relevant council services as a priority, with a focus to include: - staffing and operating hours of the customer call centre; - ensuring access to non-digital council services is an easy, straightforward process; - categorisation of services on, and user-friendliness of, a council website a significant number of residents struggle to navigate; - monitoring and recording of abusive calls to staff, including a clear structure for escalation, response and staff well-being support.”
(ii) From Cllr Hollyer
York Opposes Voter ID Requirements “This Council notes that: · Voters will be required to show an approved form of photographic identification at polling stations from May next year, under measures in the Government’s Elections Act 2022. The secondary legislation is yet however to be finalised and implemented. · The total cost of the ID roll-out overall could cost £180m over a decade, according to Government’s figures. · According to the Electoral Reform Society, the accepted forms of photographic identification would disadvantage younger people. · In September the Electoral Commission issued a stark warning to the Government over their “fundamental concerns” and “alarm” over these plans – which it said could not “be delivered in a way which is fully secure, accessible and workable” in time for the local elections in May. · There were only four convictions resulting from the allegations of in-person voter fraud during the 2019 General Election. · Electoral Commission research has found that about 7.5% of the electorate do not have access to any form of photo ID. · Over 1,100 people were denied a vote in local government elections during the 2018 and 2019 Voter ID pilots. · After the May 2018 Voter ID pilots, the Electoral Reform Society concluded that the introduction of Voter ID is ‘a sledge hammer to crack a nut’. · Insufficient information regarding the introduction of the new voter ID policy has been shared with local councils ahead of the May 2023 election. · There is expected to be a substantial additional strain on staff and resources preparing for the introduction of these changes. Including the issuing of local electoral identity documents, communication of the new rules and the impact of training, retaining and recruiting election day staff who will have extra responsibilities at polling stations.
This Council believes that: · The introduction of mandatory Voter ID will undermine the democratic process and create barriers to exercising the right to vote, disproportionately affecting ethnic minority, low income, homeless, LGBT+, elderly, disabled and young people. · The Government should be trying to increase engagement in democracy, not hinder it. The Government should be urgently acting to increase voter registration and turnout.
Council therefore resolves to: · Request the Chief Operating Officer writes to the Cabinet Office to express the Council’s serious concern as to the introduction of mandatory Voter ID in any UK elections. · Request a report is brought to a public meeting outlining the plans and update on preparations to introduce mandatory voter ID for the May 2023 local election in York.”
(iii) From Cllr Fisher
Introduction of Council Tax Premium for Second Homes “The Council notes: · The regressive and unfair nature of the Council Tax system. · Second home ownership in York was estimated at 429 in 2020/21, according to the National Housing Federation, and is recognised to have a negative impact in terms of the supply of homes available to meet local housing need. · The negative impact of an increase in the number of second homes in terms of the supply of homes available to meet local housing need and residents being priced out of the housing market. · The average house price in York, which was estimated to be £315,202 in June 2022, according to the Land Registry. · That in 2018, City of York Council introduced a policy to charge an extra 50% (bringing it to a 100%) in Council tax on long-term empty homes in an effort to bring empty homes into proper use. · Following the announcement in May of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is still progressing though Parliament without a confirmed timeframe, Councils will be able to utilise a new discretionary council tax premium of up to 100% on second homes which are not let out or lived in for at least 70 days a year. · Initial, high level analysis, shows that the application of a 100% premium on second homes in York could generate in excess of £740k in additional Council Tax revenue.
Council therefore resolves to: · Request officers to bring a paper to a meeting of the Executive outlining the implications and options for implementing a 100% council tax premium of second homes in York, with a view to implementing the policy once national legislation has been granted Royal assent. · Request the Chief Operating Officer to write to relevant Minsters on behalf of the Council in support of the introduction of the council tax premium for second homes and seek assurance that loopholes that could see second home owners avoid the payment of the premium will be addressed.”
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9. Questions to the Leader or Executive Members |
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To question the Leader and/or Executive Members in respect of any matter within their portfolio responsibility, in accordance with Standing Order B11.
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10. Report of Executive Member (Pages 39 - 42) |
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To receive a written report from the Executive Member for Transport and to question the Executive Member thereon, in accordance with Standing Orders B9 and B10.
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11. Scrutiny - Report of the Chair of the Customer & Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee (Pages 43 - 48) |
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To receive a report from Councillor Crawshaw, Chair of the Customer & Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee, on the work of the Committee.
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12. Appointments and Changes to Membership (Pages 49 - 50) |
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To consider the appointments and changes to membership of committees and outside bodies set out on the list attached to this summons.
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13. Urgent Business |
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Any other business which the Chair considers urgent under the Local Government Act 1972.
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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 the Democratic Services officer responsible for servicing this meeting: · 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.
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