Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in business on the agenda.

Cllrs Reid, Sue Galloway and Jamieson-Ball each declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 7 (Selection of a Preferred Discus Bungalows Re-Development Partner) and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item, as members of the Planning Committee that would subsequently deal with the planning application in relation to the re-development.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following:

Annexes 1, 2 and 4 to Agenda Item 7 (Selection of a Preferred Discus Bungalows Re-development Partner), on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Annexes 1, 2 and 4 to Agenda Item 7 (Selection of a Preferred Discus Bungalows Re-development Partner), on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons, which is classed as exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 23 October 2007.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Executive meeting held on 23 October 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Executive’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00 pm on Monday 5 November 2007.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

To receive details of those items that are listed on the Executive Forward Plan for the next two meetings.

Members received and noted the details of those items that were listed on the Executive Forward Plan for the next two meetings of the Executive.

This report details the bids that have been received by organisations interested in being selected as the development partner for the Discus Re-development Project and seeks approval for a preferred development partner to purchase the sites and work with the residents, the Project Board, the Council and the wider community to re-develop the three Discus sites at St Anne’s Court / Horsman Avenue, Regent Street and Richmond / Faber Street.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report, and the progress of the Discus re-development project to date, through the work of the Project Board that has agreed the selection process, be noted.

REASON:      In accordance with the requirement to keep Members informed on the progress of major projects.

                        (ii)        That Option 1 be approved; that is, to select the partnership of Tees Valley Housing Group, York Housing Association and Southdale Homes Ltd. as the provisional preferred development partner to purchase and develop the three Discus sites, subject to the receipt of satisfactory planning consent, ground investigation surveys, the award of a Social Housing Grant and resolution of issues brought up as part of the evaluation, providing this does not affect the capital receipt to a point where it will affect the order of the evaluation scores.

REASON:      This developer scored the highest marks in the selection process.

(iii) That authority be delegated to the Director of Housing and Adult Social Services, in consultation with the Project Board, to agree a Heads of Terms and Conditional Development Agreement with the preferred development partner, to include the Discus Housing Objectives, subject to the Project Board’s confirmation of the agreements and prior consultation with the Executive Member, the Corporate Landlord and the Chief Finance Officer, in the event that the agreement may result in any reduction of the capital receipt.

REASON:      To secure an agreement with the Discus development partner that achieves all the outcomes agreed through consultation with stakeholders and interested parties.

Members considered a report which detailed the tenders received from organisations interested in being selected as the Council’s preferred development partner for the Discus Re-development Project.

A total of eleven tender submissions had been received, and evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria agreed by the Discus Project Board at their meeting on 11 June 2007.  The Board had then met on 25 September to discuss the four highest scoring bids and had agreed to invite the following three tenders to the presentation stage of the evaluation:

• Tees Valley Group / York Housing Association / Southdale Homes
• Hanover Housing Association / Accent Group / Keepmoat PLC
• Miller / Yorkshire Housing

At the presentation stage, these bids had been evaluated against an additional six criteria.  Details of the resulting scores were set out in Exempt Annex 1 to the report.  On the basis of these scores, the Board had selected Tees Valley / York Housing Assocation / Southdale Homes as their recommended preferred partner.

The report outlined the following options for Members’ consideration:

Option 1 – Accept the Project Board’s recommendation and sell the land to Tees Valley / York Housing Assocation / Southdale Homes, subject to certain conditions being satisfied.  This was the recommended option.

Option 2 – Reject the Board’s recommendations and approve one of the other tenders.  This would affect the capital receipt of the land sale and the type of re-housing provided.

Option 3 – Reject all the tenders and begin a new procurement process.  This would result in the development being delayed pending the re-tendering process and could lead to loss of Housing Corporation funding.

In commending the recommendations to Members, the Executive Member for Housing Services thanked all the Officers, residents and Project Board members involved for their hard work in reaching this stage of the project.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report, and the progress of the Discus re-development project to date, through the work of the Project Board that has agreed the selection process, be noted.

REASON:      In accordance with the requirement to keep Members informed on the progress of major projects.

                        (ii)        That Option 1 be approved; that is, to select the partnership of Tees Valley Housing Group, York Housing Association and Southdale Homes Ltd. as the provisional preferred development partner to purchase and develop the three Discus sites, subject to the receipt of satisfactory planning consent, ground investigation surveys, the award of a Social Housing Grant and resolution of issues brought up as part of the evaluation, providing this does not affect the capital receipt to a point where it will affect the order of the evaluation scores.

REASON:      This developer scored the highest marks in the selection process.

(iii) That authority be delegated to the Director of Housing and Adult Social Services, in consultation with the Project Board, to agree a Heads of Terms and Conditional Development Agreement with the preferred development partner, to include the Discus Housing Objectives, subject to the Project Board’s confirmation of the agreements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

This report asks Members to consider a recommendation, referred to the Executive by the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, to approve the Council’s environmental health and trading standards service plans.

RESOLVED: That the recommendations of the Executive Member be endorsed and the service plans approved.

REASON:      In line with Constitutional requirements and to comply with government guidance stating that these plans should be submitted to the appropriate Member forum for approval.

Members considered a report which presented a recommendation, referred to the Executive by the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, to approve the Council’s environmental health and trading standards service plans.

The service plans had been considered by the Executive Member and Advisory Panel (EMAP) at a meeting on 17 October 2007.  The Executive Member, on the advice of the Advisory Panel, had resolved to agree the plans and refer them to the Executive for approval.  The plans, together with the report to EMAP, were attached as Annex A to the Executive report.

RESOLVED: That the recommendations of the Executive Member be endorsed and the service plans approved.

REASON:      In line with Constitutional requirements and to comply with government guidance stating that these plans should be submitted to the appropriate Member forum for approval.

This report presents information on the findings of the Inspector who examined York’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and asks the Executive to recommend the amended SCI to Full Council for formal adoption.

RECOMMENDED:That Council adopt the Statement of Community Involvement, attached as Annex B to the Executive report, as part of York’s Local Development Framework (LDF).

REASON:                  To comply with section 18(1) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and so that the standards set out in the Statement can inform future community involvement in the LDF and in making decisions on planning applications.

Members considered a report which presented the findings of the inspection of York’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), and asked them to recommend the amended SCI to full Council for formal adoption.

Following submission of York’s draft SCI to the Secretary of State, an Inspector had been appointed to carry out an independent examination of the SCI.  The Inspector had judged the SCI to be sound but had recommended a number of minor amendments, details of which were set out in the Inspector’s Report attached as Annex A.   The Inspector had also recommended that changes put forward in response to comments received during the submission consultation be implemented.   All of the recommended changes had now been made to the SCI and the final document was attached as Annex B.

The Inspector’s Report was binding on the Council, so there was no option to make any further amendments to the SCI at Annex B.  The options available were either to adopt the SCI as recommended by the Inspector or to ask Officers to prepare a different SCI.  The latter was not recommended, as it would take approximately three years in view of the consultation stages required and would have considerable resource implications.

Members expressed their thanks to Officers for their hard work in progressing the SCI document to completion.

RECOMMENDED:That Council adopt the Statement of Community Involvement, attached as Annex B to the Executive report, as part of York’s Local Development Framework (LDF).

REASON:                  To comply with section 18(1) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and so that the standards set out in the Statement can inform future community involvement in the LDF and in making decisions on planning applications.