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.

The following Members declared personal non-prejudicial interests in agenda item 5 (Community Use of School Premises) as governors of the following schools:

·        Councillor Fraser – Knavesmire Primary;

·        Councillor Horton – Copmanthorpe Primary;

·        Councillor King – Burton Green Primary;

·        Councillor Looker – Park Grove Primary & Canon Lee Secondary;

·        Councillor Potter – Tang Hall Primary;

·        Councillor Simpson-Laing – Carr Infants.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Shadow Executive meeting held on 21 March 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Shadow Executive held on 21 March 2007 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 3 April 2007, at 5.00 pm.

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 9 of the papers circulated for the Executive meeting to be held on 10 April 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):

oShould York be a World Heritage Site? (24/4)

oAlso Invite the Lord Mayor to attend for this item.

The Shadow Executive considered a report which was listed as item 5 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 10 April 2007, at page 11.  The report presented the final report for part A of the remit of the Highways PFI Ad-Hoc Scrutiny Sub-Committee in regard to Highways Maintenance and the recent Private Finance Initiative (PFI) bid.

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

The Shadow Executive:

·  Note this report and also that the annex does not make it clear that this is only Part A of the full scrutiny 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 6 on the agenda for the Executive meeting on 10 April 2007, at page 41.  The report asked the Executive to consider recommendations of the Executive Member for Children’s Services and Advisory Panel in respect of a proposal by Fulford School to enter into a prudential borrowing arrangement with the Local Authority.

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

The Shadow Executive:

·  Applaud government funding for modernisation and replacement of so many York secondary schools and express appreciation of the Director of Learning, Culture & Children’s Services and his staff and the schools involved in terms of winning the funding for the schemes.

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 briefing report which provides background information about the community use of school buildings.

The Shadow Executive received a briefing report from the Director of Learning, Culture and Children’s Services which provided background information about the community use of school buildings.

The briefing report discussed the provision of educational opportunities outside of the regular school day, adult education, the use of school buildings and Section 106 Agreement funding.

Members discussed the community use of sports and active leisure facilities at schools, including issues relating to capacity and facilitating use, particularly casual use.  They also discussed the provision of youth facilities at schools and the possibility of using Section 106 funding for adult education provision,

The Head of Sport & Active Leisure also attended the meeting to contribute to the discussion.  She provided an update on the social analysis of physical activity and use of facilities undertaken by Sport England.

The Shadow Executive thanked the Director for preparing the briefing report and officers for attending the meeting.

RESOLVED:             That the briefing be noted.

To receive a briefing report which provides an overview of the options open to the Council to increase the level of investment into new affordable homes within the city.

The Shadow Executive received a briefing report from the Head of Housing Services which provided an overview of the options open to the Council to increase the level of investment into new affordable homes within the city.

The briefing report outlined performance to date, detailed the key strategic issues that the corporate priority relating to affordable housing sought to address, and set out the key actions from the associated Delivery and Innovation Plan and how these would be achieved.

Members discussed issues relating to the provision of family homes, asset management planning and the engagement of local residents in this process, and allowing adequate time in the planning process for negotiations with developers.

The Shadow Executive thanked the Head of Housing Services for preparing the briefing report and attending the meeting.

RESOLVED:             That the briefing be noted.