Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.

Members were asked to declare at this point in the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on the agenda, if they had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.  No interests were declared.

At this point in the meeting, any member of the public who has registered to address the Council, or to ask a Member of the Council a question, on a matter directly relevant to the business of the Council or the City, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Tuesday, 4 October 2022.

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It was reported that 7 people had registered to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme, in relation to the business on the agenda; namely, the Devolution Deal.  Two of the registered speakers were unable to attend.

Lee Probert spoke on behalf of Higher York, supporting the Devolution Deal as a focus for inward investment and an opportunity to secure other funding sources, in order to advance the shared priorities of York and North Yorkshire.

Joan Concannon spoke on behalf of the Bio Yorkshire Partnership, welcoming the Deal and highlighting the economic, cultural and social benefits it would bring to the region.

Geoff Beacon, a local resident, welcomed the proposed new combined authority and expressed the wish that it abandon the Local Plan and make positive changes to residents’ way of life.

Hon. Alderman Brian Watson asked why Members were now supporting devolution and stressed the need for full consultation, including with residents, before proceeding further.

Peter Richardson, a local resident, urged Council to reject the Devolution Deal, on the grounds that it would not deliver enough funding to divide between the city and towns of the region.

To consider the Executive recommendations for approval in respect of the above report to the Executive meeting on 6 October 2022.   A copy of the report is attached for reference. 

Executive recommendations to follow

Cllr Aspden moved, and Cllr D’Agorne seconded, the following recommendations contained in Minute 40 of the Executive meeting held on 6 October 2022:

“Recommended:That Council:

                             (i)      Approve the minded to Devolution deal.

(ii)      Approve The Governance Review as identified in Appendix 1 to the report.

(iii)     Approve publication of the Scheme at Appendix 2 for consultation and delegate to the Monitoring Officer any changes and actions needed to ensure that a full consultation exercise is conducted for the area.

(iv)    Delegate authority to the S151 Officer, in consultation with the Executive Members for Finance and Major Projects, to approve with North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC), work up the details of, and implement the financial arrangements, including a risk share mechanism and funding source.

(v)     Grant approval to cashflow, with NYCC, initial implementation costs of £600k (ahead of the funding being available to be drawn down) and agree to receivea further report once the full implementation costs are known.

(vi)    Approve the creation of a Joint Devolution Committee with NYCC and delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader, to approve the final terms of reference as agreed with NYCC.

(vii)    Approve the addition of £2m to the Capital Programme for affordable low carbon homes with any expenditure subject to the agreement of the S151 Officer upon business case approval and confirmation of grant conditions.

Reason:     On the basis of the content of the report, and the beneficial Devolution Deal.”

On being put to the vote, the recommendations were declared CARRIED unanimously, and it was

Resolved:  That the above recommendations be approved.