Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests which they might have in respect of business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2018.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2018 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Friday 8 June 2018. Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the remit of the Committee.

To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be filmed and webcast, or recorded, including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts or, if sound recorded, this will be uploaded onto the Council’s website following the meeting.

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting. Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (whose contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_20160809.pdf

It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Andy Mendus, Independent Member of the Audit & Governance Committee spoke on Section 106 agreements, which had been discussed at the previous meeting of this committee.  He thanked the Committee and Officers for their work so far and stated that he looked forward to seeing the annual reports that had been discussed. He also made a suggestion that moving forward, developers could be responsible for producing regular updates on S106 agreements, reducing the workload for the enforcement team who would only have to check the information.

The Executive Leader (incorporating Finance and Performance) will be in attendance to discuss his priorities and challenges for the forthcoming year.

The Executive Leader (incorporating Finance and Performance) attended the meeting to discuss his priorities and challenges for the forthcoming year.

He highlighted the following points from his report to the Committee:

·        CYC was about to sign a York Central Partnership Agreement with partners;

·        The masterplan for York Central was being developed by Homes England;

·        Much of the work being done on the Guildhall project was preparatory; and

·        A paper on Housing Delivery was being taken to Executive in July.

In response to questions from the Committee he stated that:

·        Customer satisfaction figures were not reflective of people’s experience and this was work in progress with new measures still being put in place. The Executive had already asked for a report back from the Assistant Director on Customer Service issues;

·        In relation to telephone payment, he was unsure if services could yet be paid for over the phone and he would update the Committee on this;

·        In relation to the under-spend and capital programme, the Council would only borrow where it was prudential to do so. The Capital Programme was approved as a 5 year scheme and included borrowing where appropriate;

·        There would be a paper to Executive covering details of ‘housekeeping’, such as repairing pot holes and increasing litter collections, which would be financed using the under-spend;

·        The Chief Executive was aware of sickness absence issues and was preparing some work with HR and the unions on policy and the involvement of scrutiny would be welcome; and

·        He would provide the Chair with details of the cost of the delay in the Guildhall process, both in terms of direct cost and the loss of potential revenue.

In response to questions on the overspend in the Economy & Place Directorate, the Corporate Director of Economy & Place, stated that additional investment had been made in this Directorate as there had been reductions in the anticipated revenue in planning and development management in line with the Local Plan and a reduction of £120K in anticipated revenue from Automatic Number Plate Recognition (AMNPR) on Coppergate, as the scheme had proved successful.

The over-spend in public realm and refuse collection was driven, in part, by sickness absence and an ageing workforce, which had resulted in increased spend on cover staff.

This report provides Members with details of new petitions received to date, together with those considered by the Executive or relevant Executive Member/Officer since the last report to the Committee.

Members considered a report which provided them with details of new petitions received to date, together with those considered by the Executive or relevant Executive Member/Officer since the last report to the Committee.

It was remarked that the e-petition tool is not fit for purpose. The Head of Civic and Democratic Services stated that the e-petition tool was the model that many Councils use.

Resolved:  That the petitions at Annex A be noted.

Reason:     To ensure the Committee carries out its requirements in relation to petitions.

This report provides an update on the implementation of the changes to this Council’s scrutiny function, resulting from its review of ‘Future Ways of Working in Scrutiny’ completed in March 2017.

Members considered a report updating and evaluating the implementation of changes to the Council’s scrutiny function, resulting from the review ‘Future Ways of Working in Scrutiny’ completed in March 2017. Specifically, the report reviewed the operation of a trial in relation to Economy & Place Scrutiny and the alignment of other Scrutiny Committees to Directorates.

Councillor Cuthbertson, attending the meeting as Chair of Economy & Place Policy Development Committee, stated that having a specific policy development committee allowed Members time and space to engage in horizon scanning. This enabled them to look more long term at items which may eventually come to Executive and give early input. His recommendation would be to continue with the trial.

Councillor Neil Barnes, former Chair of Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee, suggested this trial had worked well for the Policy Development Committee, but had not been as successful for the Scrutiny Committee. He explained that the Committee had struggled to find appropriate topics and so the focus had been more on overview.

During the debate Members highlighted that this had not been a particularly productive year for any of the Scrutiny Committees, which was highlighted in the Draft Annual Scrutiny Report. It was felt that Member engagement was an issue, as was support from Officers and that a cultural change was still needed if scrutiny was to become as effective as possible.

The Chair stated that last year’s review had included an option to run committees by function, which Members had been reluctant to try. However, it was clear now that Members of the Policy Development Committee had enjoyed long term policy work which showed that there was some strength in that model. Splitting workload by function would allow Members to play to their strengths and doing work they enjoyed would perhaps improve engagement.

In terms of aligning to Directorates, some concern was raised regarding the increased workload now faced by the Housing Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee.

After a lengthy debate and in light of some of the issues discussed, it was

Resolved:  That Members agree to;

1.   Extend the pilot arrangement with the two Economy & Place Committees for a further year running up to the local elections in 2019 to allow time for it to properly embed and in particular for the Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee to establish its area of focus more clearly now that it has operated for a year;

2.   Add this topic to the Committee’s work plan and form a Task Group to review how the scrutiny function moves forward for the next administration, and addressing the remit of the Health, Housing & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee; and

3.   Send out a communication to all Members to remind them of the process for submitting scrutiny topics.

Reason:     To ensure the most appropriate scrutiny model continues to be identified for York to ensure its effectiveness for the future.

This provides a further update on the implementation of recommendations from One Planet York Scrutiny Review.

Members considered an update on the One Planet York Strategy.

The Business Change and Performance Manager was in attendance to present the report and answer Member questions. He updated Members on the four outstanding recommendations from the One Planet York Scrutiny Review.

Members highlighted the need to give One Planet York information to all Members in order that they can engage residents.

Resolved:   That Members agree:

1.   To sign off recommendations B and N as complete; and

2.   That a further update be brought back to the Committee on recommendations K&L.

Reason:     To update the Committee on the progress of the One Planet York Strategy.

This report sets out work that is currently being undertaken across the Council in relation to Social Value.

At their January meeting Members requested a report on the Corporate Approach to Social Value. They considered a report setting out work that was being undertaken across the Council.

The Corporate Finance & Commercial Procurement Manager attended to present the report. She gave a brief background to the report, and the CYC context, and explained that the report also set out some of the opportunities and challenges that the policy presented.

In response to Member questions she stated:

·        This was a draft policy and was being circulated for Members’ views. This could be updated with Members comments incorporated;

·        In terms of the threshold CYC had looked at what other Councils were doing and made a suggestion based on that. If this was not successful once it was in place, it could be reconsidered;

·        The timeline for the policy could accommodate some scrutiny work. It was hoped that a report would be taken to Executive by the end of the calendar year, in order that a policy could be in place by the next financial year; and

·        One of the ideas in the policy was engagement with stakeholders and anchor institutions to encourage more local spend where appropriate. 

Resolved:  That Members;

1.   Note the contents of the report.

2.   Add this topic to the work plan for review

Reason:     To update the Committee on the corporate approach to social value

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s draft work plan for the municipal year.

Members gave consideration to the Committee’s draft work plan.

Resolved:   That the Committee’s work plan for 2018/19 be approved, subject to the following additions:

·        November – Corporate Approach to Social Value

·        September - Financial Inclusion Report

·        To convene a Task Group to consider Changes to the Scrutiny Committee Structure (Councillors Williams, Galvin, Reid and D’Agorne)

·        To convene a Joint ad-hoc Sub-Committee with Economy & Place Scrutiny Committee to look at Single Use Plastics, with a report back to CSMC

·        To delegate authority to the Head of Civic & Democratic Services, in conjunction with the Chair and Vice-Chair, to prioritise the order and timing of review work given the current shortages within the scrutiny team

Reason:     To ensure that the Committee has a planned programme of work in place.

This report summarises the work of the various committees for the municipal year June 2017 – May 2018, and asks Members to agree the report prior to its presentation to Council in July 2018.

Members considered the Draft Annual Scrutiny Report, which summarised the work of the five Policy & Scrutiny Committees for the municipal year June 2017 – May 2018.

Resolved:   That Members approve the Annual Scrutiny Report, which covers the period between June 2017 and May 2018, and refer to Council for endorsement.

Reason:     To enable its presentation to Full Council in July 2018, in line with Constitutional requirements.