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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Shareholder Committee |
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Date |
24 June 2024 |
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Present |
Councillors Lomas (Chair) and Douglas |
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In Attendance |
Councillor Ayre (Leader of the Lib Dem Group) |
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Officers Present |
Debbie Mitchell, Chief Finance Officer Helen Whiting, Chief Officer - HR and Support Services (remotely) Dan Moynihan, Senior Lawyer (Contracts and Commercial) and Deputy Monitoring Officer |
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External Visitors |
Sandy Boyle, Managing Director (Yorwaste Ltd) Karen Bull, Managing Director (City of York Trading Ltd) Max Thomas, Chief Executive (Veritau Limited) |
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1. Declarations of Interest (16:32)
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.
2. Minutes (16:32)
Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting held on 19 March 2024 were approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.
3. Exclusion of Press and Public (16:33)
Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 7 (City of York Trading Ltd Update), Exempt Annex A 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.
4. Public Participation (16:33)
It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Gwen Swinburn spoke on governance issues. She raised concerns about the oversight of council-owned businesses and requested a governance review of the role and efficacy of the committee to ensure common standards and transparency.
5. Yorwaste Ltd Finance Update (16:37)
The Managing Director of Yorwaste Ltd provided the committee with an update on the company’s performance. It was noted that despite increased inflation costs this had been strong in terms of both safety and financial return, partly due to higher than usual landfill gas revenues. A significant drop in these revenues was anticipated but the company was benefitting from the retention of uncontracted third-party recycling and commercial collections growth. A decision on a planning application for a solar farm on the Harewood Whin site was expected during the summer, whilst options had been identified to respond to any changes in the government’s Simpler Recycling strategy.
In response to questions from the committee it was confirmed that full grid connection for the Harewood Whin scheme was not expected until 2034/35, although if the solar farm was approved it should be possible, subject to an application to Northern Powergrid for an appropriate connection, to export excess electricity using existing infrastructure in order to achieve self-sufficiency in electricity over this year.
Resolved: To note the reports from Yorwaste Ltd attached at Annex 1 to the report.
Reason: To ensure the Council was updated on the financial performance of Yorwaste Ltd.
6. Veritau Limited Business Update (16:49)
The Chief Executive of Veritau Limited provided the committee with an update on the company’s performance since March 2024. It was noted that while efforts had focused on establishing the new company (Veritau Public Sector Limited), the Group continued to attract new clients and been accepted onto the new YPO framework for internal audit and counter fraud services. Annual accounts for 2023/24 were in the process of being audited and a profit exceeding last year’s was expected; the final results would be reported to the next meeting of the committee. Feedback from annual client surveys was positive and the annual staff satisfaction survey showed a small improvement on 2023.
In response to questions from the committee it was confirmed that while client satisfaction surveys showed a shift from ‘excellent’ to ‘good’, response rates had been low and more significance should be attached to retention, which remained strong with 99% of clients indicating that they would continue to purchase services in 2024/25.
Resolved: To note the Group’s performance since the last business update report in March 2024.
Reason: To ensure the Council was updated on the performance of Veritau Limited.
7. Work Plan (16:54)
Members considered the committee’s work plan for 2024/25.
Resolved: That the work plan be noted.
Reason: To ensure the committee received regular reports in accordance with the functions of an effective Shareholder Committee.
8. City of York Trading Ltd Update (16:54)
The committee considered a performance update presented by the Managing Director of City of York Trading Ltd (CYT).
[Between 16:56 and 17:10 the press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of Exempt Annex A to the report].
Resolved: To note the confidential Performance Update from City of York Trading Ltd attached at Annex A to the report.
Reason: To ensure the Council was updated on the performance of City of York Trading Ltd.
Cllr K Lomas, Chair
[The meeting started at 4.31 pm and finished at 5.10 pm].