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.

At this point in the meeting, Members were invited to declare any personal, pecuniary or prejudicial interests, which they had not already included in their standing register of interests.

The Chair stated that he had a possible personal interest in item 6, as his Mother may be part of the steering group for Digital Inclusion.

To consider excluding the public and press from the meeting during consideration of agenda item 5 on the grounds that it contains information relating to ongoing negotiations with Trade Unions. This information is classed as exempt under Paragraph 4 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.

Resolved:            That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of agenda item 5 on the grounds that it contains information relating to ongoing negotiations with Trade Unions. This information is classed as exempt under Paragraph 4 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.

To accommodate the exclusion of the press and public, it was agreed to move item 5 to the end of the agenda.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2022.

Resolved:            That the minutes of the Customer and Corporate Services Policy and Scrutiny Committee held on 10 January 2022 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. Members of the public may speak

on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines have changed to 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 at 5.00pm on Thursday 10 March 2022.

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 on the

details at the foot of the 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've made some changes to how we're running council meetings. See our

coronavirus updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy ) for

more information on meetings and decisions.

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

This report and presentation at Annex A provides an update for committee members in relation to Digital Inclusion. 

The Head of ICT gave an update to Members on Digital Inclusion and Engagement.  The presentation at the Annex of the report provided an update for Members on the new governance arrangements for the digital inclusion partnership, the IT Reuse Scheme and its impact in the first year of operation and Connectivity. He noted the following:

·        The Communications Team recognised the need to blend on and offline engagements methods to encourage as many people as possible to be involved.

·        Members were asked to consider other areas for future reporting and review that were not already covered by other Committees.

·        The ICT team as working with colleagues in Housing to ensure connectivity in open play areas in new housing developments and that they have built in connection to the free WiFi service.  To extend this to existing social housing areas, the Committee would need to consider the costs and the best way to proceed for providing existing community spaces with WiFi access.

The Officer responded to a number of questions concerning the IT Reuse Scheme, free WiFi in areas of social housing, the roll out of the digital ResPark scheme, the Digital York steering group and email communications with residents.

Data on the age and location of recipients for the IT reuse scheme and information concerning the ease of use for the digital ResPark web pages was to be provided to Members after the meeting.

The Chair noted that following discussions with the Director of Customer and Communities, the next update would include more emphasis on financial inclusion.

Resolved:            That the update be noted.

Reason:              To keep the Committee updated.

This report provides information on approved Council motions from May 2021.

The Head of Civic, Democratic and Scrutiny Services presented the first bi-annual Motions Update to Members.    

The Monitoring Officer responded to questions regarding the actions of Executive Members and Officers following a motion having been passed by Council.

Resolved:           

                                             i.        That the update be noted.

                                            ii.        To remove completed Motions from the report for future reporting.

Reasons:

                                             i.        To keep Members up to date with the progress of Motions.

                                            ii.        To better track the progress of live Motions.

To consider the Work Plan for 2021/22.

Members considered the corporate scrutiny work plan covering the next meeting of this Committee and the meetings of the other Scrutiny Committees up until 31 May 2022.

The Chair updated Members with the planned changes to the pattern and focus of scrutiny meeting dates for the next municipal year. 

Resolved:            That the work plan be noted.

Reason:              To ensure that the Committee has a planned

programme of work in place and an overview of the other Scrutiny Committees.

This report provides Members of this Committee with an update on the Organisational Development Plan (OD Plan) which supports the Council Plan (2019-2023) and the Recovery and Renewal Plan (2020).

Members considered a report from the Head of HR and OD Corporate Services which updated them on the Organisational Development Plan (OD Plan) which supported the Council Plan (2019-2023) and the Recovery and Renewal Plan (2020).

In the public session, the Officer responded to a range of questions covering measuring the success of the plan, retention and recognition, how Sponsors would work together and the impact of Covid.

At 18:24 the meeting moved into private session, in accordance with the decision in Minute 53 to allow for Members to question Officers on the exempt Annex.

[19:00 Cllrs Rowley and Pearson left the meeting]

Resolved:             That

                                             i.   the update be noted;

                                            ii.   a further update be received in 6 months time; and

                                          iii.   Officers be asked to give further consideration to any implications which may arise as a result of Microsoft Teams becoming the main tool for electronic communications within the Council.

Reason:                To keep Members updated with the     Organisational Development Plan.