Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members will be invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the 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 Kirk declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 5 (Cultural Quarter for York, linking the City Centre and the York North West Development Sites), as a director of York Theatre Royal.

Councillor Scott declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 5 (Cultural Quarter for York, linking the City Centre and the York North West Development Sites), as a member of York Theatre Royal and as his partner  did unpaid work experience at York Theatre Royal.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2008.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Management Committee held on 25 February 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 Committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Friday 18 April 2008 at 5 pm.

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

This report introduces Cllr Tina Funnell as Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee, who will update Members on the activities and work to date of the Committee.

Members received a report which introduced Cllr Tina Funnell, Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee, who updated them on the activities and work to date of the Committee.

The update covered the following areas:

·  Progress on the development of a Local Involvement Network (LINk) for the City of York area;

·  The Health Scrutiny Committee’s contribution to the “Annual Health Check” – the assessment process for NHS Trusts for 2007/8;

·  Planned work for the remainder of the municipal year;

·  Other relevant issues connected with the health and social care of the citizens of York.

In the light of the current Scrutiny Officer vacancy, Cllr Funnell highlighted the need to prioritise the review on provision for elderly people with dementia.

Members expressed concern regarding this vacancy and emphasised the need for it to be filled as soon as possible.

RESOLVED:            (i)            That the update be noted;

(ii)               That the Committee’s serious concern about the Scrutiny Officer vacancy and their view that it should be filled as soon as possible to provide ongoing support for the health scrutiny work, as well as other scrutiny work, be noted;

                        (iii) That a report be provided to the next meeting detailing the resources available for scrutiny work, statutory requirements, topics registered, capacity to deal with current and new topics, and the implications of the Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act, and that the Head of Civic, Democratic & Legal Services be required to attend to explain why the Scrutiny Officer vacancy was not being filled.

REASON:      To inform Scrutiny Management Committee of the work and progress of other Scrutiny Committees, and to update them on the current capacity of the Scrutiny Team.

This report asks Members to consider a scrutiny topic registered by Councillor Hogg to examine the vision developed in 2007 for a Cultural Quarter for York, linking the city centre with development sites in York North West.

Members received a report which asked them to consider a scrutiny topic registered by Councillor Chris Hogg to examine the vision developed in 2007 for a Cultural Quarter for York, linking the city centre with development sites in York North West.

Cllr Hogg and the Head of Arts & Culture attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions on the topic.

Members noted that no written comments had been provided from the York North West Team, in City Strategy, or from the York Central Board.  Councillor Moore proposed and Councillor Scott seconded a motion that consideration of the topic should be deferred to the next meeting to allow these comments to be provided and the report requested on the capacity of the Scrutiny Team to be considered.  On being put to the vote, this motion was lost.

Members highlighted the need to consider the effect that a Cultural Quarter would have on other areas of the city and proposed a number of revisions to the suggested remit, attached at Annex E of the report.

RESOLVED:            (i)            That it be agreed to proceed with a review of the topic;

                        (ii) That the suggested remit at Annex E of the report be agreed, with the following amendments:

                        a) To refer to the Cultural Quarter in inverted commas in the title of the topic and key objective ii.;

                        b) To add some additional wording to the overall aim, to read, “and to consider positive and any adverse effects on the city in doing so”;

                        c) To add some additional wording to key objective iii., to read, “including connectivity to other areas of the city”;

                        d) To add a key objective iv., to read, “To understand the implications for the whole city in terms of retail, its economy and other cultural or leisure based events within the city”;

                        (iii) That an ad-hoc Scrutiny Committee be established on a 2:2:1:1 basis.

REASON:      To allow the review to commence immediately in order to reach a conclusion prior to the submission of the Council’s business plan, in approximately 6 months.