Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests 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.

Councillor Fraser declared personal non-prejudicial interests in Executive items 5 (Street Scene Review) and 6 (Chief Executive’s Department Restructure – Deferred Posts) as a member of Unison.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Shadow Executive meeting held on 1 November 2006.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Shadow Executive held on 1 November 2006 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 Shadow Executive’s remit can do so. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 14 November 2006, at 10.00 am.

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

To consider the items on the agenda for the Executive meeting to be held on 21 November 2006, and to take a decision on whether to call-in any of these items.

Please note that the reports relating to these items will be published on the Council’s website on 10 November 2006. The website address is www.york.gov.uk  Copies of the Executive agenda and reports are also available for viewing at public libraries in York and can be obtained by telephoning Democracy Support Group on York (01904) 551088.

The Shadow Executive made the following comments on the Forward Plan at page 13 of the papers circulated for the Executive meeting to be held on 21 November 2006:

The Shadow Executive:

·  Note that the Leisure Facilities Strategy has been deferred pending public consultation and request details of this consultation.

·  Request that they are notified of the revised date for the Pothole Report.

·  Query what has happened to the Parking Review and request that an explanatory note is included where items are removed from the Forward Plan.

·  May require Officer attendance at the relevant Shadow Executive meeting/s in respect of the following items (current Executive dates in brackets):

o Budget Pressures – Adult Social Services (5/12)

oChild Protection Policy (5/12)

oCorporate Asset Management Plan (5/12)

oRevised Waste Strategy (5/12)

oLeisure Facilities Strategy (19/12)

oThin Client/ Competition Strategy (19/12)

oStrategic Procurement Programme (19/12)

oFuture of Archives (19/12)

oInformation Governance Strategy (19/12)

oData Protection Policy (19/12)

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 5 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 21 November, at page 15.  The report presented recommendations to improve the delivery of Street Scene services, developed following a review of the service during the summer.

Having discussed the issues set out in the report, the following comments were agreed:

The Shadow Executive:

·  Welcome the belated recognition of a number of the difficulties and failings that they have been pointing out for some time, particularly regarding terraced streets and roads with on-street parking problems.

·  Are concerned regarding the potential costs of re-branding again, after only a couple of years, and question if these are adequately detailed in the report.

·  Wish to ensure that Best Value and other performance indicators are reported on an individual ward basis to ward members.

·  Expect the proposed cleansing schedules to be made publicly available.

·  Request that the customer service standard covers verge, street tree and street furniture maintenance to ensure comprehensiveness.

·  Suggest that the Street Environment Officers (SEO) title is retained rather than redesignating as “Customer Champions”. The change  would be confusing to the public, who are used to who their SEO’s are, and the suggested name itself is misleading in as much as they would be Council officers rather than genuine local resident customer champions.

·  Would like to see as much continuity of SEO’s as possible in the new zones.

·  With regards to zone boundaries, suggest that the city centre boundary is adjusted to cover areas of heavy footfall outside the bar walls, including all city centre car parks and routes to/from the railway station.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Executive be asked to take the above comments into account when considering this item.

(ii)                        That the item not be called in.

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 6 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 21 November, at page 49.  The report invited Members to decide whether to proceed with recruitment to three permanent officer posts that were created, but not filled, when proposals for restructuring the Chief Executive’s Department were considered by the Urgency Committee in August 2006.

Having discussed the issues set out in the report, the following comments were agreed:

The Shadow Executive:

·  Reiterate their previous views on the need to fill these posts, including replacing the Scrutiny Manager post at that level.

·  Consider the replacement of the Scrutiny Manager to be of particular importance given the current situation in Scrutiny, where not a single new topic has been started halfway through the civic year, and in the light of the proposed expansion of scrutiny in the government’s White Paper on Local Government.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Executive be asked to take the above comments into account when considering this item.

(ii)                        That the item not be called in.

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 7 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 21 November, at page 61.  The report informed the Executive of the consultation exercise carried out in respect of the draft licensing policy agreed by the Licensing Act 2003 Committee on 7^th July 2006, and asked them to recommend the revised policy to Full Council for approval.

Having discussed the issues set out in the report, the following comments were agreed:

The Shadow Executive:

·  Consider the consultation arrangements in paragraph 11f to be wholly inadequate, with a substantial proportion of the population not reading the publication referred to, which means that the majority of residents will be left in ignorance of the consultation exercise’s existence.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Executive be asked to take the above comments into account when considering this item.

(ii)                        That the item not be called in.

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 8 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 21 November, at page 109.  The report advised of the ongoing work on the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and asked the Executive to recommend the draft SCI to Full Council for approval.

Having discussed the issues set out in the report, the following comments were agreed:

The Shadow Executive:

·  Support the Local Development Framework Working Group’s comments.

·  Are concerned that the consultation to be undertaken should be held outside of the busy Christmas holiday period, when many people are likely to miss it.

·  Note that no firm indication is given of the cost of documents for hard to reach groups, who do not have access to the internet.

RESOLVED:(i) That the Executive be asked to take the above comments into account when considering this item.

(ii)                        That the item not be called in.