Agenda and minutes

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.

The following prejudicial interests were declared:

Note:The above members left the room during the debate / vote on the relevant items and took no part in the decisions thereon.

The following personal interests were declared:

To approve and sign the minutes of the Council meeting held on 30 June 2011 and the Extraordinary Council meeting held on 4 August 2011.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the Ordinary Council meeting held on 30 June 2011 and the Extraordinary Council meeting held on 4 August 2011 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

To consider any announcements made by the Lord Mayor in respect of Civic business.

The Lord Mayor announced that tickets had sold out for the John Barry concert to be held at the Barbican on 30^th October.

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 Wednesday, 5 October 2011.

The Lord Mayor announced that one member of the public had registered to speak at the meeting.

Andy Chase spoke on behalf of York Welfare Group, with reference to the Council’s consultation on the future of Elderly People’s Homes (EPHs).  He highlighted two areas of concern; namely, the proposal to reduce the overall number of places in EPHs, and the potential privatisation or outsourcing of services.  He expressed the hope that the choices of those in residential care would be respected and their concerns taken into account.

To consider any petitions received from Members in accordance with Standing Order No.7. 

Under Standing Order 7, petitions were presented by:

(i)           Cllr Hodgson, on behalf of residents of Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward, requesting that the Turf Tavern pub not be closed.¹

(ii)          Cllr D’Agorne, on behalf of residents of Fishergate, seeking an extension of the 20 mph zone in their area. ²

RESOLVED:       That the above petitions be referred to the Cabinet or appropriate committee.

To receive and consider a written report from the Leader on the work of the Cabinet, and the Cabinet recommendations for approval, as set out below:

A written report was received from the Cabinet Leader, Cllr James Alexander, on the work of the Cabinet.

A       Questions

Notice had been received of twenty-six questions on the written report, submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders. The first six questions were put and answered as follows:

(i)      From Cllr D’Agorne:

“Will this programme [Reinvigorate York] include reviewing all highway signing that detracts from views of the walls, bars and other historic features of the city, and can you assure us that additional cycle parking will be provided when railings are removed and outdated ‘butterfly’ (wheelbender) stands will be replaced with Sheffield stands?”

The Leader replied:

“This programme will include reviewing all highway signing that detracts from views of the walls, bars and other historic features of the city. I have not had any detailed discussions yet about cycle parking but I am happy to discuss this with Sir Ron Cooke.”

(ii)      From Cllr Cuthbertson:

“Given there will no longer be any capital receipt from Union Terrace car and coach park to fund Reinvigorate York, has the project been scaled down?”

The Leader replied:

“A partial capital receipt of £2m can no longer be committed to this scheme as the sale is not proceeding. However the ambition remains the same. Sir Ron Cooke is confident a lot can be achieved by using existing council budgets more wisely. We would like to see further investment in the city centre. We will have more of an idea of the financial position for 2012/13 when the government announces its grant settlement in December.”

(iii)     From Cllr Watt:

“Will the Council Leader accept my advice that it is unhelpful to service personnel to have their predicament ‘politicised’ by statements on the Covenant such as “Conservative Liberal-Democrat Cuts” and reference to pressures resulting from government policy to increase the size of the Territorial Army?”

The Leader replied:

“I was repeating the words said to me by military personnel I have met on a number of occasions since becoming council leader. Morale in the armed forces is not great when a government who promised to help the armed forces are sacking personnel on active duty. The cuts are coming from the government and that government is a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The Territorial Army will increase significantly in size and some members of the Territorial Army are reticent to declare to employers or potential employers the good work they do in the military because employers see this as a burden rather than a benefit. The military and the government has recognised this issue and the Council should play its part in also helping employers realise the benefits of employing members of the TA. The Community Covenant scheme goes some way towards this and this has the full backing of the military, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government and I would like to say this council.”

(iv)     From Cllr Barton:

“Before issuing his proposals on the Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

To consider the following recommendations for approval from the Audit & Governance Committee:

As Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee, Cllr Jeffries moved, and Cllr Brooks seconded, the following recommendations contained in Minute 21 of the meeting of that committee held on 26 July 2011:

“(i)     That Council amend the Council procedure rules to allow for four rather than five motions to be routinely presented to Council.

(ii)     That Council remove the following protocols and policies from the Constitution:

Protocol on report writing

Electronic Communications policy

Whistle blowing policy

Protocol on Councillor Working Groups.

Anti Money Laundering Guidance. ¹

(iii)    That Council increase the Chief Finance Officer’s authority to write off debts to sums up to and including £30,000. ¹

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

RESOLVED:       That the recommendations in Minute 21 of the Audit & Governance Committee meeting held on 26 July 2011 be approved. ¹

To receive the Annual Report of the Scrutiny Management Committee.

Council received the Annual Scrutiny Report from Cllr Galvin, Chair of the Scrutiny Management Committee.

To receive a written report from the Cabinet Member for Education, Children & Young People's Services and to question the Cabinet Member thereon, provided any such questions are registered in accordance with the timescales and procedures set out in Standing Order 8.2.1.

written report was received from Cllr Potter, the Cabinet Member for Education, Children & Young People’s Services.

Notice had been received of seven questions on the report, submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders.  The first three questions were put and answered as follows:

(i)      From Cllr Brooks:

“Is the Cabinet Member concerned that over 40% of pupils reported feeling lonely at school and could she explain what is being done to reduce that percentage?”

          The Cabinet Member replied:

“This is the percentage of pupils who reported feeling lonely at some point in the month preceding the survey.  To put that figure in context, only 8% of primary and 1.5% of secondary pupils reported feeling lonely often.  Each school has access to detailed information about the position in their organisation and schools have a variety of different systems in place to support young people.”

In response to a supplementary question asking why more detailed information on this area had not been included in the report, the Cabinet Member replied that it was not possible to include full details of every aspect of her portfolio area in a brief report to Council.

(ii)      From Cllr Barton:

”In view of the 2011 bullying survey which shows that over 40% of both primary and secondary school pupils experience some form of bullying on a daily basis, how might you suggest these figures be used to inform policy and practice development?”

          The Cabinet Member replied:

“Again, it is probably not true to say that 40% of pupils are bullied daily.  This is the cumulative figure incorporating a number of different categories, not all of which are mutually exclusive.  In one area, that of cyber-bullying, the figures are relatively low in York.  More analysis is needed to determine the reasons behind the statistics. 

In response to a supplementary question seeking results from two recent anti-bullying initiatives in schools, the Cabinet Member replied that she would report back on these after contacting those schools where these initiatives had been used. She further highlighted that, overall, 92% had reported feeling safe at school and 84% liked going to school. 

In response to a second supplementary question asking why the report had not mentioned the youth support services in connection with cyber-bullying, new integrated services for young people would be included in her next report, once implementation of the new services was complete.

(iii)     From Cllr Aspden:

”Could the Cabinet Member give more information on what she will be doing to work towards preventing future increases in the number of looked after children in York?”

          The Cabinet Member replied:

“It is sad that the number of looked after children has increased to 250, and it highlights the importance of early intervention work to support families at an early stage.  As mentioned in my report, the new ‘Front Door’ early intervention service is bringing together a multi-agency team to provide this support.  Since its introduction, there have been 2,650 contacts with the service.  The picture in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Minutes of the following meetings of outside bodies, received since the last meeting of Council, have been made available for Members to view via the Council’s website at

http://sql003.york.gov.uk/mgListOutsideBodies.asp?bcr=1

Copies may also be obtained by contacting Democracy Support Group at the Guildhall, York (tel. 01904 551088):

·        NHS Foundation Trust – meeting on 23 March 2011

·        North Yorkshire Police Authority – meeting on 25 March 2011

·        Safer York Partnership – minutes of meeting on 23 May 2011

·        Quality Bus Partnership – meeting on 9 June 2011

·        York & North Yorkshire Waste Partnership – meeting 30 June 2011

·        North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority – meeting on 25 July 2011

Members are invited to put any questions to the Council’s representatives on the above bodies, in accordance with Standing Order 10(b).

Minutes of the following meetings had been made available for Members to view on the Council’s website:

·        NHS Foundation Trust – meeting on 23 March 2011

·        North Yorkshire Police Authority – meeting on 25 March 2011

·        Safer York Partnership – minutes of meeting on 23 May 2011

·        Quality Bus Partnership – meeting on 9 June 2011

·        York & North Yorkshire Waste Partnership – meeting 30 June 2011

·        North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority – meeting on 25 July 2011

No questions had been submitted to representatives on outside bodies.

To consider the appointments and changes to membership of committees and outside bodies set out on the list attached to this summons.

RESOLVED:       That the appointments to, and changes to membership of, committees, outside bodies and working groups set out in the revised list circulated around the Council Chamber (and attached as an annex to these minutes) be approved. ¹

To consider the following Notices of Motion under Standing Order 12 submitted directly to Council:

(i)           From Cllr Riches

“Council notes:

·        That health funding rose dramatically during 13 years of Labour Government resulting in improved care, treatment and investment in new hospitals;

·        The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government’s promise not to pursue expensive top-down reorganisations of the NHS, and its subsequent planned £2bn top-down reorganisation of the NHS, through the Health and Social Care Bill;

·        York District Hospital needing to implement £12-£14m of cuts over the three years 2011-14, and for it to deliver existing services with 5-6% less funding, despite the Government’s commitment to real terms NHS funding increases.

Council expresses dissatisfaction at:

·        The removal of the requirement in the above Bill for the Secretary of State for Health to provide a National Health Service;

·        The Bill not providing the City’s new Health and Wellbeing Board with the power to ‘sign off’ changes to local health service provision, resulting in an absence of local democratic accountability that the Government claimed to support.

Council requests that the Chief Executive writes to Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, urging him to scrap the Health and Social Care Bill and to undertake meaningful consultation on the future of Health and Social Care, and also to write to the City’s MPs requesting their support for this course of action.”

(ii)          From Cllr Wiseman

“In order to further CYC’s encouragement of energy conservation and the benefits of renewable energy, the Council requests that officers formulate a policy relating to the installation of photovoltaic panels on roof tops, to assist in particular with the consideration of applications on listed buildings and in conservation areas.”

(iii)        From Cllr Aspden

Council welcomes the desire of the Government to make planning policy more acceptable by simplifying the National Planning Policy Framework.  However, Council is concerned that the proposals undermine the ability of local communities, including Parish Councils, to protect their local areas from inappropriate development.

Council is especially concerned that changes will combine with the recent decision by the Labour Administration to allocate land in the green belt for development as part of the LDF to create a situation whereby developers will feel encouraged to push for additional green belt land to be released.

“Council therefore resolves to write to the City’s MPs asking them to work towards changes to the framework to ensure protection of the green belt to strengthen the ability of Local Authorities to ensure that development is appropriate and in keeping with the surrounding area.”

(iv)        From Cllr Williams

“Council notes recent riots in different cities in England and the Conservative / Liberal Democrat Government's proposed cuts to the police service which will lead to 200 fewer police officers on the streets of York and North Yorkshire.

At a time of Government cuts to the police service, Council believes it is wrong to introduce police commissioners at a cost of £100 million and more as a result of a Government decision to waste money  ...  view the full agenda text for item 41.

(i)           Health and Social Care Bill

It was moved by Cllr Riches and seconded by Cllr Semlyen that:

“Council notes:

·        That health funding rose dramatically during 13 years of Labour Government resulting in improved care, treatment and investment in new hospitals;

·        The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government’s promise not to pursue expensive top-down reorganisations of the NHS, and its subsequent planned £2bn top-down reorganisation of the NHS, through the Health and Social Care Bill;

·        York District Hospital needing to implement £12-£14m of cuts over the three years 2011-14, and for it to deliver existing services with 5-6% less funding, despite the Government’s commitment to real terms NHS funding increases.

Council expresses dissatisfaction at:

·        The removal of the requirement in the above Bill for the Secretary of State for Health to provide a National Health Service;

·        The Bill not providing the City’s new Health and Wellbeing Board with the power to ‘sign off’ changes to local health service provision, resulting in an absence of local democratic accountability that the Government claimed to support.

Council requests that the Chief Executive writes to Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, urging him to scrap the Health and Social Care Bill and to undertake meaningful consultation on the future of Health and Social Care, and also to write to the City’s MPs requesting their support for this course of action.” ¹

Cllr Cuthbertson then moved, and Cllr Aspden seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“In the first paragraph:

-      At the end of the first bullet point, add ‘but also notes that money was not always spent efficiently and that the Labour Chaired Public Accounts Committee recently noted that productivity in the NHS actually declined in the last decade.’

-      In the third bullet point insert at the beginning, ‘Labour’s failure to control public spending and the build up of massive debts has left’

-      At the end of the third bullet point, delete ‘despite the Government’s commitment to real terms NHS funding increases.’ and insert: ‘even though the Coalition Government have provided real terms NHS funding increases.’

In the second paragraph:

-      Delete ‘Council expresses dissatisfaction at’ and insert ‘Council further notes’

-      Delete the first bullet point and replace with: ‘That Ministers have given assurances regarding the legal duties of the Secretary of State to provide a National Health Service, but that further clarification is required to reduce concerns.’

-      In the second bullet point, delete ‘The Bill not providing’ and insert ‘Concerns that the Bill does not provide’

In the final paragraph:

-      delete all from ‘to scrap’ to ‘Health and social care’ and replace with – ‘accept amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill aimed at further clarifying the duties of the Secretary of State and other concerns raised and also writes to the City’s MPs requesting their support for this course of action’.

On being put to the vote, the above amendment was declared LOST.

The original motion was then put to the vote and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To deal with the following questions to the Cabinet Leader and / or other Cabinet Members, in accordance with Standing Order 11.3(a):

(i)      To the Cabinet Leader from Cllr Firth

“Can the Cabinet Leader say whether the Council’s debt position for 2011/12 has increased or decreased since he became Leader?”

(ii)      To the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from Cllr Wiseman:

“What is the cost to the Council tax payers of York for the staffing and funding of Union Officers?”

(iii)     To the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from Cllr Galvin:

“Given that the Council has to make cuts and reduce staffing levels, can the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services justify spending Council Tax Payers money on the transfer of two experienced Planning Enforcement Officers to act  as Union Representatives whilst still being employed by the Council?”

(iv)     To the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from Cllr Cuthbertson

“How many Freedom of Information requests were received regarding the sale of Union Terrace Car and Coach park? On what dates were they received and how many have not yet been responded to?”

(v)     To the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from Cllr Firth

“Can the Cabinet Member say how many businesses she met with at the recent meet the buyer event?”

(vi)     To the Cabinet Member for City Strategy from Cllr Aspden

“Given the recent results of the Fulfordgate residents parking ballot and parking issues associated with the University, will the Cabinet Member commission a report into the interrelated parking issues for the Heslington Lane area of Fulford before the end of the year?”

(vii)    To the Cabinet Member for City Strategy from Cllr Hyman

“Can the Cabinet Member say what steps he intends to take to increase the number of companies that allow the use of Taxi Cards?”

(viii)   To the Cabinet Member for City Strategy from Cllr Cuthbertson

“Given the reports of conflict between vehicles and cycles caused by the layout of the new style speed cushions outside Joseph Rowntree School, can the Cabinet Member say if he intends to allow the cushions to continue to be used in groups of three elsewhere in the City?”

(ix)     To the Cabinet Member for City Strategy from Cllr Aspden

“Can the Cabinet Member say when he expects the petition from residents regarding road safety on Selby Road, Fulford to be considered at a Decision Session?”

(x)     To the Cabinet Member for Health, Housing & Adult Social Services, from Cllr Taylor

"With the proposals under consultation to reduce the provision in our Residential Elderly Persons' Care Homes from 276 to 200 beds, will the Cabinet Member guarantee that, under the new proposals, there will be sufficient beds to meet the needs of York's ageing population?"

(xi)     To the Cabinet Member for Health, Housing & Adult Social Services, from Cllr Cuthbertson

“Can the Cabinet Member say how many responses to the consultation on Elderly Person’s Homes have been received and how many people attended each of the public meeting events?”

(xii)   To the  ...  view the full agenda text for item 42.

Seventeen questions had been submitted to the Executive Leader and Executive Members under Standing Order 11.3(a).  The guillotine having fallen at this point, Members agreed to receive written answers to their questions, as set out below:

(i)      To the Cabinet Leader, from Cllr Firth

“Can the Leader say whether the Council’s debt position for 2011/12 has increased or decreased since he became Leader?”

          Reply

The Council’s debt position for 2011/12 was reduced by the Labour administration by £1.7m in the budget amendment passed by Full Council on 30^th June 2011. Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors disagreed with this move and voted against.

On 30^th August 2011 there was agreement by the Group Leaders of the three main parties to purchase land on York Central which is strategically critical for the development of the site for up to £1.5m.

It is disappointing the land which was owned by Yorkshire Forward was not gifted to the Council as it was already in public hands. I contacted Vince Cable MP before Christmas asking for this to be considered and he never responded. If the land was sold to another organisation or held in trust this would have caused difficulties for York being its own master in terms of the local economy.

I was expecting the funds for this purchase to come from the £1.5m capital receipt from the sale of the Kent Street site to the Fire Service. I was alarmed to learn that the budget voted for by Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors on 24^th February 2011 was already predicated on this sale at this price. Therefore without the sale progressing by the Labour administration, the council would have found itself with a £1.5m black hole in the capital programme.

In total, the debt position of the Council is currently at least £200k less than it was when I became Leader of the Council.

However, it is important to note that the capital programme agreed for the coming years before Labour took control of the Council will lead to increases in the debt position of the Council.

(ii)      To the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from Cllr Wiseman:

“What is the cost to the Council tax payers of York for the staffing and funding of Union Officers?”

          Reply

The cost for the last full year 2010/11 was £120k (£1.79 per property or £0.61 per resident).

This calculation per household is based on the Council Tax base.

(iii)     To the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services from Cllr Galvin:

“Given that the Council has to make cuts and reduce staffing levels, can the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services justify spending Council Tax Payers money on the transfer of two experienced Planning Enforcement Officers to act as Union Representatives whilst still being employed by the Council?”

          Reply

(from the Council Leader)

As my Leader portfolio includes staff relations, it is appropriate for me to answer this question. The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A) which was passed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.