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 meeting of the Executive held on 28 April 2009.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Executive meeting held on 28 April 2009 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have 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 11 May 2009.

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 those items currently listed on the Forward Plan for the next two Executive meetings.

This report follows up reports presented last year on York’s economic position and asks Members to consider options for further action and areas of investment, in the light of the Budget Council decision to allocate £186,000 of LABGI money (Local Authority Business Growth Initiative) for follow-on initiatives.

RESOLVED: (i)         That approval be given to commit:

a)     a)     £25,000 to Visit York to enable a research and marketing campaign to attract shoppers from York’s hinterland shopping catchment area into the city centre;

b)     b)     £20,000 as a one-off contribution to enhance the York in Bloom campaign;

c)      c)      an additional £30,000 as a one-off contribution to enhance festive showpieces and Illuminate York;

d)     d)     £15,000 to the York shop-front scheme (detailed in Annex A to the report);

e)     e)     £30,000 to enable Future Prospects to employ an additional worker for 12 months, focused on providing and co-ordinating debt advice;

f)        f)        £20,000 to supporting the action plans of the Learning City partnership to support skills and enterprise (as detailed in Annex B);

g)     g)     £5,000 to the Skills Fest initiative (as detailed in Annex C);

h)      h)      £5,000 to the development and extension of a construction skills academy in York (as detailed in Annex D).

REASON:      To help support York’s position in the current economic climate and to allocate the LABGI funding approved by Full Council under the three investment strands previously agreed by the Executive.

                        (ii)        That further updates on York’s economic climate and an assessment of the effectiveness of actions initiated as a result of the report be received at future meetings.

REASON:      To keep Members informed of progress on these matters.

Members considered a report which provided an update to the ‘One City’ reports on York’s economic position presented to the Executive in 2008.  The report set out options for further action and areas of investment, in the light of the decision made at Budget Council in February to allocate £186,000 of LABGI funding (Local Authority Business Growth Initiative) for follow-on initiatives.

One City sought to identify areas of investment and projects that could be supported in the short term to help the City through recession.  Previous actions approved by the Executive under the One City theme had concentrated on three strands: supporting business, boosting confidence and supporting those most vulnerable.  The report provided an update on each of the projects supported.

The initiatives recommended for consideration as part of the Council’s further response to the current economic situation, using available LABGI funding, were listed in paragraph 54 of the report.  It was noted that additional information in respect of these initiatives and the ‘One City’ projects already approved by the Executive had been circulated to Members before the meeting.  [This information has since been published on the Council’s website as Annex E to the report on this item].  In response to Members’ questions, Officers confirmed that consideration would be given to extending the duration of the Illuminate York festival and that discussions with the Museums Trust on the shop-front or ‘Windows of Opportunity’ scheme would include commercial properties owned by the Council that were currently vacant.

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

RESOLVED: (i)         That approval be given to commit:

a)     £25,000 to Visit York to enable a research and marketing campaign to attract shoppers from York’s hinterland shopping catchment area into the city centre;

b)     £20,000 as a one-off contribution to enhance the York in Bloom campaign;

c)      an additional £30,000 as a one-off contribution to enhance festive showpieces and Illuminate York;

d)     £15,000 to the York shop-front scheme (detailed in Annex A to the report);

e)     £30,000 to enable Future Prospects to employ an additional worker for 12 months, focused on providing and co-ordinating debt advice;

f)        £20,000 to supporting the action plans of the Learning City partnership to support skills and enterprise (as detailed in Annex B);

g)     £5,000 to the Skills Fest initiative (as detailed in Annex C);

h)      £5,000 to the development and extension of a construction skills academy in York (as detailed in Annex D).¹

REASON:      To help support York’s position in the current economic climate and to allocate the LABGI funding approved by Full Council under the three investment strands previously agreed by the Executive.

                        (ii)        That further updates on York’s economic climate and an assessment of the effectiveness of actions initiated as a result of the report be received at future meetings. ²

REASON:      To keep Members informed of progress on these matters.

This report provides an update on the roll-out of kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections to all households, to help achieve the City’s 50% recycling target for household waste by December 2010.           

RESOLVED: That the progress made on kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections be noted and that the proposed timetable for the city-wide expansion of the service be approved.

REASON:      To help achieve the City’s target for the recycling of household waste and meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act, in the light of the success of the pilot scheme.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the roll-out of kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections to all households, to help achieve the City’s target of recycling 50% of household waste by December 2010 and meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003.

In October 2007, Members had agreed to a roll-out of recycling across households from April 2009, the details of which would be subject to the findings of a pilot project to be carried out in The Groves area.  The progress made on the development of phases 1 and 2 of this project (terraced properties and flats) was detailed in paragraphs 13 to 26 of the report.  It was reported that residents had generally had no difficulty in managing their waste in the alternate week collection period.  Participation by residents in the recycling scheme had been good, with 83% of residents of terraced properties and 99% of residents of flats classed as participating.  The recycling rate for houses was approximately 35%.

A timetable for the roll-out of kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections (AWCs) was presented in paragraph 28 of the report.  Phase 3 would upgrade to a full service those properties in The Groves currently receiving limited recycling.  The city-wide roll-out would begin in July with Phase 4, culminating in the provision of recycling to farms and isolated properties (Phase 7) in October 2010.  The ‘migration’ of all properties onto AWCs would be an ongoing process from July 2009 to December 2010.  Members indicated that it would be helpful to have details of which particular streets would be included in each phase of the roll-out, to assist them with enquiries from constituents.

With reference to the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, Members noted that the Labour amendments to the budget would not have made any difference to the timing of the roll-out, since it was a question of organisation rather than funding.  They queried the reasons for the Shadow Executive’s support for weekly collections in terraced areas and noted that they had identified no resources for this proposal.

RESOLVED: That the progress made on kerbside recycling and alternate weekly collections be noted and that the proposed timetable for the city-wide expansion of the service be approved.¹

REASON:      To help achieve the City’s target for the recycling of household waste and meet the requirements of the Household Waste Recycling Act, in the light of the success of the pilot scheme.

The Chair noted that Cllr Sue Galloway, the Executive Member for Housing & Adult Social Services and Cllr Vassie, the Executive Member for Leisure, Culture & Social Inclusion, would be standing down from their respective posts after the Annual Council meeting on 21 May 2009.  He recorded Members’ thanks to Cllr Galloway for her six years of service on the Executive and to Cllr Vassie for his two years of service.  Cllr Vassie in turn expressed his thanks to Officers from all departments of the Council for their help and support over the past two years.