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 the business on the agenda.  No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Executive (Calling in) meeting held on 13 May 2008 and the Executive meeting held on 20 May 2008.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Executive (Calling in) meeting held on 13 May 2008 and the Executive meeting held on 20 May 2008 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, 2 June 2008.

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 details of items listed on the Forward Plan for the next two meetings of the Executive.

This report seeks endorsement of the Without Walls Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-2025, entitled ‘York – A City making history’, which represents the deliberations of Without Walls Partners and the aspirations of local people in updating the Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement for 2008. 

[See also under Part B Minutes]

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the Sustainable Community Strategy ‘York – a City Making History’ be noted and endorsed.

                        (ii)        That the updated Local Area Agreement for 2008, as circulated at the meeting, be endorsed for submission to and agreement with the Government.

                        (iii)       That the LAA document be taken to the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee for referral to Government Office and subsequent Ministerial sign-off.

REASON:      To ensure that the Council meets its statutory duty to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement and in order to meet revised Government deadlines for the LAA.

[See also under Part B Minutes]

Members considered a report which asked them to endorse the Without Walls Partnership’s Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) for 2008-2025, entitled ‘York – A City Making History’, and the Local Area Agreement (LAA) indicators for 2008-2011.  The requirement to produce an SCS and a new version of the LAA had been introduced by legislation last October.

The SCS, attached as Annex A to the report, had been written as a document that could be used by partners to inform their own strategies and plans.  Ideally, it would become the ‘Masterplan’ for York, signalling the intended future direction of the City and how future decisions and actions would be taken.  It included references to the essential connection between the SCS and the Local Development Framework (LDF).  The indicators selected for the LAA had been included and identified within the SCS.  Full details, including baselines and targets where available, were set out in Annex B, with statutory attainment indicators shown in Annex C.  A revised version of Annex B had already been circulated to Members and included in the on-line version of the agenda.  A further revised version was circulated at the meeting and this version has now been incorporated in the on-line agenda.

Without Walls had approved the SCS and LAA on 29 April, with a recommendation that the documents be formally endorsed and adopted by the relevant bodies. 

With reference to the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, recommending that the Strategy be re-written, the Chair noted that both the LAA indicators and the SCS had already been through a long process through the Partnership Boards and were intended to be partnership documents.

RESOLVED: (ii)        That the contents of the Sustainable Community Strategy ‘York – a City Making History’ be noted and endorsed.

                        (ii)        That the updated Local Area Agreement for 2008, as circulated at the meeting, be endorsed for submission to and agreement with the Government.

                        (iii)       That the LAA document be taken to the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee for referral to Government Office and subsequent Ministerial sign-off.¹

REASON:      To ensure that the Council meets its statutory duty to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement and in order to meet revised Government deadlines for the LAA.

This report presents a revised Data Protection Policy for the Council, following a review of the information management policy framework which identified the current policy as no longer fit for purpose.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the draft Data Protection Policy be approved.

                        (ii)        That it be requested that future Member training include Data Protection responsibilities.

REASON:      To ensure that the Policy is fit for purpose and that Members are properly informed on the latest requirements regarding Data Protection legislation.

Members considered a report that presented a revised Data Protection Policy, prepared following a review of the Council’s information policy framework, which had identified the current policy as no longer fit for purpose.

The current policy, approved in December 2001, was deficient in that it did not explain the choices available to managers in complying with data protection legislation, nor how directors could be assured of compliance, nor Members’ policy requirements.  A proposed revised Policy was attached as Annex A to the report.  No changes were proposed to the procedures for dealing with information requests nor to the policy framework for records management.

The draft Policy aimed to apply a model similar to that used for financial management.  Alternatives to this ‘policy and audit’ model were:

• Centralised control, with all systems etc. authorised by a data protection officer.  Not recommended as it would be too costly and inconsistent with other management arrangements.
• To omit the audit element.  Not recommended as the Council would be unable to assure itself that the risk of non-compliance was minimised.

Members commented that it would be helpful to cross-reference some of the terminology used in the Policy to the relevant legislation.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That the draft Data Protection Policy be approved.¹

                        (ii)        That it be requested that future Member training include Data Protection responsibilities.²

REASON:      To ensure that the Policy is fit for purpose and that Members are properly informed on the latest requirements regarding Data Protection legislation.

[See also under Part A Minutes]

RECOMMENDED:That Council approve the Sustainable Community Strategy attached as Annex A to the report.

REASON:                  To ensure that the Council meets its statutory duty to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy.

[See also under Part A Minutes]

Members considered a report which asked them to endorse the Without Walls Partnership’s Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) for 2008-2025, entitled ‘York – A City Making History’, and the Local Area Agreement (LAA) indicators for 2008-2011.  The requirement to produce an SCS and a new version of the LAA had been introduced by legislation last October.

The SCS, attached as Annex A to the report, had been written as a document that could be used by partners to inform their own strategies and plans.  Ideally, it would become the ‘Masterplan’ for York, signalling the intended future direction of the City and how future decisions and actions would be taken.  It included references to the essential connection between the SCS and the Local Development Framework (LDF).  The indicators selected for the LAA had been included and identified within the SCS.  Full details, including baselines and targets where available, were set out in Annex B, with statutory attainment indicators shown in Annex C.  A revised version of Annex B had already been circulated to Members and included in the on-line version of the agenda.  A further revised version was circulated at the meeting and this version has now been incorporated in the on-line agenda.

Without Walls had approved the SCS and LAA on 29 April, with a recommendation that the documents be formally endorsed and adopted by the relevant bodies. 

With reference to the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, recommending that the Strategy be re-written, the Chair noted that both the LAA indicators and the SCS had already been through a long process through the Partnership Boards and were intended to be partnership documents.

RECOMMENDED:That Council approve the Sustainable Community Strategy attached as Annex A to the report.¹

REASON:                  To ensure that the Council meets its statutory duty to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy.