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 a personal non-prejudicial interest in Executive item 6 (Future of the City Archives Service: Progress Update) as a retired Unison member.

Councillor Fraser declared a personal prejudicial interest in Executive item 8 (Reference: Financial Support to Voluntary Organisations) as the Council’s representative on the Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) Board of Trustees, left the room and took no part on the discussion or decision thereon.

Councillor Simpson-Laing declared a personal prejudicial interest in Executive item 8 (Reference: Financial Support to Voluntary Organisations) owing to the nature of her employment, left the room and took no part on the discussion or decision thereon.

Councillor Potter declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in Executive item 8 (Reference: Financial Support to Voluntary Organisations) as the Council’s Older People’s Champion.

Councillor Fraser declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 (Job Evaluation and Equal Pay) as a retired Unison member.

Councillor King declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 (Job Evaluation and Equal Pay) as several of his relatives were Council employees affected by equal pay issues.  The interest was not prejudicial as the decision on equal pay had already been taken and the presentation at the meeting was for information only.

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

Agenda Item 6(Job Evaluation and Equal Pay) on the grounds that it contains information relating to individuals.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 1 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 the following:

                                    Annex B to Executive Item 6 (Future of the City Archives Service: Progress Update) on the grounds that it contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons, which was classed as exempt under Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

Agenda Item 6 (Job Evaluation and Equal Pay) (minute 152 refers) on the grounds that it contained information relating to individuals.  This information was classed as exempt under paragraph 1 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 Shadow Executive meeting held on 10 January 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Shadow Executive held on 10 January 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record, with an amendment to minute 143 (Employment and Pay in York) to record the Shadow Executive’s thanks to officers for preparing the report and to the representatives for attending the meeting.

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 23 January 2007, 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.

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 30 January 2007:

The Shadow Executive:

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

oEfficiency Programme, including Strategic Procurement Programme (13/2)

o Thin Client/Competition Strategy (27/2)

oFuture of Connexions Service (27/2)

oYork Central/British Sugar Action Plan (27/2)

oCorporate Asset Management Plan (13/3)

oInformation Governance Strategy (10/4)

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 6 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 30 January, at page 15.  The report updated the Executive on the recent procurement exercise for the City’s archives services.

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

The Shadow Executive:

·  Suggest other alternative overall approaches to provision of the archives service should be kept under review.

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 30 January, at page 29.  The report informed Members of the amount of the base ward committee revenue and capital budget allocated in 2006/7 and asked them to consider, in response to a Council motion proposed by Councillor Potter on 5^th October 2006, the reinstatement of ward committee income budgets to the 2005/6 level.

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

The Shadow Executive:

·  Support Option 1, to restore the entire £163,890 reduction for the 2007/8 budget, on a recurring basis.

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 30 January, at page 33.  The report asked Members to consider a recommendation from the Executive Leader with regard to applications by voluntary organisations for financial support of over £5,000 from the Chief Executive’s voluntary sector funding budget.

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

The Shadow Executive:

·  Highlight the real worth of grant budget restoration for the next 3 year settlement period and request that reconsideration be given to the funding position regarding Older Citizens’ Advocacy York and York Older People’s Assembly, given their importance to York residents and the importance of the latter to the Council as a key consultation forum, which would otherwise have to be paid for directly.

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.

To receive a presentation from the Director of Resources on job evaluation and equal pay.

The Shadow Executive received a presentation from the Director of Resources on job evaluation and equal pay.

In relation to equal pay, the presentation outlined the Council’s agreed strategy, the related risks and the results so far.  With regards to job evaluation, the presentation detailed the key objectives, progress so far, costs and implications, and problems to overcome.

The Shadow Executive recorded their thanks to the Director of Resources for the presentation.

RESOLVED:             That the presentation be noted.