Agenda and minutes
Venue: West Offices - Station Rise, York YO1 6GA. View directions
Contact: Jane Meller Democracy Officer
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Apologies for Absence (5.31 pm) To receive and note apologies for absence.
Minutes: Apologies were received and noted from Cllrs Melly, Rowley and Waller. |
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Declarations of Interest (5.31 pm) PDF 222 KB At this point in the meeting, Members and co-opted 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. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.
An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.
[Please see the attached sheet for further guidance for Members.] Minutes: Members were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on the agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.
None were declared.
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To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2024. Minutes: Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting held on 11 November 2024 were approved as a correct record.
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Public Participation (5.33 pm) At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee. Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Thursday, 5 December 2024.
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 meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts. During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy ) for more information on meetings and decisions. Minutes: It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Debby Cobbett spoke on Item 7, York Climate Commission Update. She raised some concerns regarding the accuracy of the report, noting some omissions to the working groups and highlighted that the Commission’s website was out of date. She also urged the city to sign up to the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. |
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York Central Update (5.38 pm) PDF 268 KB The report provides an update on the York Central development since the previous update to scrutiny in March 2024. A further verbal update from the developer partners will be provided at the meeting. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Interim Director, City Development, presented the update to the committee and, together with the external partners, responded to questions from Members.
Members asked questions covering issue resolution, the provision of housing, including affordable housing, office space, including civil service accommodation, progress against funding and payback period, ward councillor and resident communications and sustainability.
It was reported that:
· An internal officer group had been put together to speed up the resolution of issues within the council remit. · The provision of commercial space was needed, as the city lacked a central business district; the office accommodation was designed to provide for the core technologies already present in the city, to enable industry growth and to provide jobs for graduates in these industries. · The Government Property Agency (GPA) act of behalf of various government departments, to arrange the co-location of departments to share costs. These offices operate at around 40% occupancy. · The funding position was on track and the payback period had been extended, as part of the devolution deal, to 2054. · Partners were aiming to achieve at least 40% affordable housing, subject to a government spending review due in 2025. · Phase one would deliver 1,000 homes over two years. · There would be a consultation to decide how to invest the community fund. They would continue to work Ward Cllrs and with residents on the consultation and to communicate safety messages. · Sustainability was a particular focus for all the project partners, the submitted plans were baseline proposals. Timber frame buildings were an aspiration for the whole scheme. The development was planned to be ‘car light’, to create a modal shift away from cars. · The 6,500 jobs to be created were permanent and unrelated to the construction phase of the development.
Resolved: That the report be noted. Reason: To keep the Committee updated on the progress of the York Central project. |
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Finance and Performance Monitor 2 2024/24 (7.05 pm) PDF 170 KB This report sets out the projected 2024/24 financial position and the performance position for the period covering 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024. Additional documents: Minutes: The Director of Finance presented her report on the projected financial position for 2024/25 and the performance position for April-September 2024. The Head of Business Intelligence noted that previous Member requests relating to benchmarking for energy performance certificates, carbon emissions data and freedom of information requests had been included in the report.
Members asked a range of questions which covered carbon emissions, customer call centre response times, housing benefit processing times, staff numbers and response times to complaints and FOI requests.
Officers reported that data was held on department wait times for call response, this information could be included in future reports. Response times had increased recently due to the garden waste initiative. The housing benefit measure related to the Department of Work and Pensions performance, officers agreed to liaise with customer services to look at CYC processing times. The risk increase for large projects related to the York Station Gateway.
The Executive Member for Finance and Major Projects reported that there was a system in place to add additional resources to customer services when a higher level of demand is anticipated. She also stated that the rise in staff numbers was a result of a cost saving strategy to reduce agency workers. A permanent work force also had the benefit of making the council a better employer.
Resolved: i. That the finance and performance information be noted. ii. That the continued work to identify savings be noted.
Reason: To ensure that expenditure was kept within the approved budget.
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York Climate Commission Update (7.24 pm) PDF 163 KB The report provides an update on the York Climate Commission following the previous report to scrutiny in 2022.
Minutes: The Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency was unable to attend the meeting and the Chair therefore asked Members to consider what should be included in a future report which would be rescheduled in the new year. Members made the following suggestions:
· Provide the Terms of Reference for the York Climate Commission (YCC), to provided context. · Examples of good practice. · How scrutiny could support the work of the YCC. · The role of the Combined Authority. · Reports from the working groups on what had been achieved to date.
It was also noted that the website was out of date and should be updated.
Resolved: That the item be added to the work plan and brought back to the committee at a future date, to be agreed by the Chair and Vice-Chair.
Reason: To ensure that the Committee has an opportunity to review the work of the YCC. |
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Work Plan (7.40 pm) PDF 274 KB To consider the work plans for the committee and for scrutiny overview. Additional documents: Minutes: Members considered the committee’s work plan and the scrutiny work plan for the four scrutiny committees.
Resolved: That the work plans be noted.
Reason: To ensure an overview of the scrutiny work programme. |