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 asked to declare any personal interests not included on the register of interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interest which they might have in respect of the business on the agenda.

Councillor Horton declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in relation to agenda item 6 (Equalities Review – Draft Final Report) as a Friend of the Mansion House, in relation to the reference to a Heritage Lottery Fund bid for the Mansion House.

Councillor Hyman also declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in relation to agenda item 6 (Equalities Review – Draft Final Report), in relation to the reference to a Heritage Lottery Fund bid for the Mansion House as he had attended meetings in relation to the bid.

Councillor Hyman also declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in relation to agenda item 7 (Report on Council Petitions), in relation to the Burton Stone Community Centre petition, as the trustee of a charity that worked from the Centre.

Councillor D’Agorne declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in relation to agenda item 7 (Report on Council Petitions) in relation to the Walmgate/Navigation Road petition which he had presented to Council on 9 October 2014.

Councillor King declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in relation to agenda item 7 (Report on Council Petitions) in relation to the Peter Hill Drive, Clifton petition, as a Clifton Ward Member.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 8 September 2014.

Resolved:           That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 8 September 2014 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 7 November 2014.  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 this meeting may be filmed and webcast or audio recorded and that includes 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/downloads/download/3130/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings

It was reported that there had been two registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme, both in relation to the Castlegate petition listed in the schedule of petitions at Agenda item 7.

Dawn Moores, spoke as organiser of the Castlegate petition, which she handed to the Chair together with a resume of the many comments received regarding the Council’s proposals for the centre. The petition requested the Council to review the decision to remove the provision of holistic information, support and counselling for young people 16-25 in York, provided by Support Workers, Careers Advisors and Counsellors at Castlegate. She read comments from a number of professionals involved with the service in which all expressed their concerns at the closure of the Castlegate service. She reiterated that vulnerable young people found West Offices intimidating and that they were unlikely to access services provided there.                                                                                                          

Pip Davitt spoke, to refer to the 1614 signatories on the petition all who had expressed concern at the changes proposed to the Castlegate services. She referred to the friendly welcoming atmosphere at Castlegate and to the invaluable support and personal benefit she had gained from staff and the service which had enabled her improve her life.

This report provides draft content and actions for a new Equality Plan: ‘A Fairer York’ and asks for the Committee as part of its  remit to take an overview of equalities within the Council.

Consideration was given to a report which presented draft content for a new Equality Plan: A Fairer York which would be drawn up for consideration by Cabinet in December 2014.

Officers reported that the new Plan would take a city wide approach and that extensive consultation had confirmed that other agencies, partner organisations and partnership boards welcomed the new approach.

Members were asked to confirm whether the proposed priorities, draft analysis and the proposed actions, set out at Annex 1 of the report were correct.

Members requested the addition of the following Key Actions within the Plan:

·        Health & Wellbeing Priorities – in the reference to healthy diet, the inclusion of learning to cook for children

·        Health & Wellbeing – the encouragement of early intervention in relation to mental health to prevent later problems

·        An overview of the economic wellbeing of single parents in employment to ensure that provision had been made for their working longer

·        Update the reference on page 28 to the ‘night-bus’ operated by the York Street Angels, to include details of the new arrangements

Members also discussed the frequency of update reporting on the Plan to both CSMC and the Equalities Action Group. It was noted that as the Equality Plan was a partnership document that equality actions specific to the Council’s workforce would be picked up in the Council’s Organisational and Workforce Development Strategy which was in the process of being refreshed.

Following discussion it was

Resolved:       (i) That the priorities, draft analysis and actions be approved subject to the inclusion of the above additions to the Plan.

    (ii)  That updates on implementation be made to this Committee every six months as part of their bi-annual Workforce Strategy 2012-15 Monitoring Reports, and as part of the quarterly Finance & Performance Reports received by all Overview & Scrutiny Committees.

Reason:     To help ensure that relevant equality issues are reflected in the revised Equality Scheme. 

This report provides Members with their third update on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the previously completed scrutiny review on Engaging Communities (Annex A – Update on Community Engagement Scrutiny Review – to follow).

Members considered a report which provided the third update on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the previously completed scrutiny review on Engaging Communities.

Following the last update to the Committee in May 2014, Members were asked to consider the five outstanding recommendations following consideration of the implementation update information provided at Annex A by the Head of Communities and Equalities and the Democratic Services Manager.

Members highlighted that some Wards e.g. Micklegate/Fishergate did not have a resident or community association and that Ward Members would be best placed to assist with consultation in these areas. Officers confirmed that the Neighbourhood Management Unit were aware of this problem and that they endeavoured to match consultations undertaken with the most appropriate groups available in each Ward, to ensure the best response.

Following further discussion it was

Resolved:           That recommendations (vii), (viii) and (xii) arising from the Customer Engagement Scrutiny Review, be signed off as completed with the remaining recommendations being brought back to the Committee for review in six months.

Reason:     To raise awareness of those recommendations which are still to be fully implemented.

This draft final report presents the information gathered in support of the Equalities scrutiny review, together with the draft recommendations proposed by the Task Group, for this Committee’s consideration.

Consideration was given to the draft final report on information gathered in support of the Equalities scrutiny review, together with the draft recommendations subsequently proposed by the Task Group.

It was noted that the review had been undertaken with the aim of encouraging wider involvement in the Council’s democratic traditions, by raising awareness across York’s Communities of Identity, and in particular those that had protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. This had been part of scrutiny’s role in assisting the authority in achieving the excellence level for the Equality Framework for Local Government.

As Task Group Chair, Councillor Potter presented the report and the draft recommendations, highlighting the consultation event held at the Mansion House in June 2014 with representatives of the Black, Minority and Ethnic communities across the city and to feedback received from attendees, which had helped inform the recommendations.

Members expressed their support for the mandatory training suggested for corporate equalities and highlighted the need for additional member training to be mandatory. Officers referred to the general lack of support by Members for training and acknowledged that if Members endorsed particular training this could prove an incentive. Members suggested providing a joint training session on health and safety and equalities and diversity in order to offer a comprehensive session .  Members highlighted the recent changes to the voting age in Scotland which had given young people of 16 to 18 year old the right to vote during the recent Scottish referendum and to their support for the work of the national social enterprise ‘Bite the Ballot’ to address the lack of young people voting in Britain.

The Chair thanked Members of the Task Group for their work on this review and following discussion it was

Resolved:  That the draft recommendations arising from the final report of the Equalities Review, listed at paragraph 53 of the report be endorsed for submission to Cabinet.

Reason:     To support the Council in its efforts to achieve ‘Excellence Level’ in the Equality Framework for Local Government, and progress the work of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee in line with agreed scrutiny procedures and protocols.

To receive details of petitions received by the Council, in line with the Council’s published arrangements and any responses or proposed responses to those petitions, in accordance with the revised arrangement for petitions agreed by Council on 9 October 2014 (report to follow).

Consideration was given to a report which provided details of the new arrangements, agreed by Council in October 2014, for dealing with petitions received by the Authority. Full details of the new arrangements and process for responding to petitions, together with a range of potential options available to the Committee when considering petitions were set out at Annex B of the report.

To ensure some scrutiny of action was taken in relation to petitions received either by Members or Officers, the Audit and Governance Committee had agreed that details of and actions relating to petitions should now be considered by the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee. Council had also agreed to amend the Committee’s terms of reference to enable it to consider petitions, in accordance with the new arrangements, as set out at Annex A of the report.

Consideration was also given to the schedule of petitions received to which the new arrangements applied which included details of any actions taken to date, at Annex C. Members noted that a database was being set up into which all staff across the Council could enter details of any petitions received to ensure accurate coverage of their receipt.

Members confirmed that this arrangement for dealing with petitions had been put forward as an interim measure, pending the possible establishment of a Petitions Committee, which would be considered following the Annual Council meeting in May. They raised concern at the 10 signatory level applied to petitions pointing out that in some cases additional signatories would not possible.

The Assistant Director for Transport, Highways and Fleet reported on the robust system in place in City and Environmental Services for dealing with petitions received in the department. Members questioned the possibility of a similar process for receipt of petitions being adopted across the Council.

Following further discussion it was

Resolved:   (i)     That the Committee note the change in the Committee’s terms of reference to enable it to consider petitions received by the Council;

  (ii)      That the arrangements set out for handling petitions received by the Council, set out at Annex B, be agreed subject to the following amendment under the Process section, paragraph 4:

The Cabinet Member/s will have the option to consider the petition, prior to a CSMC meeting.

(iii)       That to ensure consistency across all departments Officers examine a common approach for dealing with petitions received by the Council.

(vi)       That Officers be requested to examine the wording of both the new and the e-petitions scheme to ensure consistency between the two.

(v)         That the new CSMC arrangements for handling petitions be brought back to the Committee for review in six months.

(vi)        That the schedule of petitions, at Annex C, and the actions taken to date, be received and noted.

(vii)        That the petition and comments received in relation to the review of the decision in relation to the transfer of services from Castlegate to West Offices be referred to the Cabinet (Calling-In) meeting on 25 November 2014 for consideration.

Reason:     To  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

This report provides an update on the progress with the agreed corporate scrutiny review on Supporting Older People, and asks Members to note the planned way forward.

Consideration was given to a report which updated on progress with the agreed corporate scrutiny review on Supporting Older People.

Following the Committee’s agreement in June 2014 to proceed with a corporate scrutiny review around supporting older people, the individual scrutiny committee had been tasked with identifying suitable review remit’s.

Members noted that:

·        Economic & City Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee – had review aims and objectives agreed however, following changes in Committee membership/Task Group meant that the review would not be completed by February 2015

·        Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee – had yet to present their suggested review remit. As a result the review would not be completed by the end of February 2015

·        Learning & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committee – had agreed not to contribute directly to this years corporate review at this stage

·        Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee – had been unable to identify a suitable topic

Members expressed their disappointment at the lack of engagement by the Scrutiny Committee’s in support of the corporate review. They highlighted the importance of the theme chosen and that any contributions from the Committee’s could have had a significant impact on services with increasing numbers of older people and issues around long term care.

Resolved:    (i)    That the Committee note the continuation of the two scrutiny reviews related to the originally agreed corporate theme and they be encouraged to complete their reviews this municipal year.

         (ii)      That the Committee’s disappointment be conveyed to those Scrutiny Committee’s who had not progressed the corporate topic for their lack of engagement with the corporate theme.

(iii)       That the Committee agree to abandon the corporate scrutiny review previously identified by the Committee for this municipal year.

Reason:     To ensure there is no work undertaken during the purdah period.

To consider the Committee’s work plan for the 2014/15 municipal year, including a verbal update on ongoing scrutiny reviews.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s work plan for  the 2014/15 municipal year. It was noted that there was little work scheduled for the 9 March 2015.

Resolved:   (i)     That the Committee’s work plan for 2014/15 be received and noted.

(ii)      That the scheduled 9 March 2015 meeting of CSMC be retained, subject to the Chair in consultation with Officers being able to cancel the meeting nearer the time, if required. 

Reason:     To assist in the formulation of the Committee’s work plan for the remainder of the municipal year.