Agenda and minutes

Venue: The George Hudson Board Room - 1st Floor West Offices (F045). View directions

Contact: Laura Clark  Democracy Officer

Items
No. Item

14.

Declarations of Interest

At this point in the meeting, 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.

 

Minutes:

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

 

Councillor Gates declared a personal interest as he had worked at Yearsley Pool in his youth and his Uncle had been Manager for many years.

 

 

15.

Public Participation

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered to speak can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Monday 30 January 2017. 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 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 (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/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_20160809.pdf

 

Minutes:

It was reported that there had been one registration to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme on the following item.

 

3. Called-in Item: Yearsley Pool Review

 

Fiona Evans spoke on behalf of Yearsley Pool Action Group. She explained to Members the long history the action group had in terms of campaigning to secure the pool’s future and discussed the involvement they had with the review. The group felt that a compromise had been reached with the preferred option that would be recommended to the Executive.

 

Councillor Craghill addressed issues around the future of the pool and raised questions surrounding how the pool could be community managed.

 

 

16.

Called-in Item: Yearsley Pool Review pdf icon PDF 131 KB

This report sets out a brief background to the item ‘Yearsley Pool Review’ which has been called in for pre-decision scrutiny ahead of consideration by the Executive at their meeting on 16 March 2017. The report also outlines the options available to this committee under the agreed pre-decision call in arrangements.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received a report which set out the reasons for the call-in and the role of the Committee, together with options available to it under the agreed pre-decision call-in arrangements.

 

In accordance with those arrangements, three Members (Councillors Boyce, Looker and D Myers) had called in the above item from the Forward Plan for the following reasons:

 

·        In advance of an Executive decision, to provide opportunities for closer scrutiny of, and seek assurances on, the financial model for the long term operation of Yearsley pool that to date have not been provided;

 

·        To understand how the Yearsley Pool Scrutiny Review that was abruptly ended mid-review, has contributed to the review and recommendations due to be presented to the Executive;

 

·        Furthermore, to learn how the proposals put forward to the Executive will secure the futures of both Yearsley pool and the planned new swimming pool at Monks Cross.

 

Councillor Looker spoke on behalf of the calling-in Members. She stated that deciding the future of the pool had been a 17 year process and that there was still a lack of clarity. Calling-in Members felt it was not clear at what point the 5 year funding from the New Homes bonus would begin or what would be in place to secure the future of the pool after 2023/24. She also expressed concern that there had been no Member involvement in the options/scenarios being put forward to Executive.

 

The Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism spoke in response to the points made by the calling-in Members. He clarified that there was no intention to run down Yearsley Pool. He went on to state that all options, including community options, had been fully explored.

 

The Chair commented that the report had been lacking in detail and that it was a cause of frustration for the Committee that not all of the options had been explored. The Committee felt that the pre-decision call-in process needed to be reconsidered by the administration as the current timescales were unworkable.

 

Officers were then invited to address the Committee and in response to Member questions stated that:

 

·        Multiple options had been considered and the four that had been presented to the Yearsley Pool Action group and GLL were:

1.   To continue running with current operating hours.

2.   To operate on a single shift basis (8 hour day).

3.   To operate with a 30% reduction in hours (to mitigate impact).

4.   To operate with a 10% reduction, with the hope that clubs would step in to run activities during the 7-9pm slot, bringing the pool back up to current operating hours.

·        The financial analysis of these options provided by GLL was currently with internal finance being assessed for due diligence. The figures had been received in late December and it was hoped they would be available in the next few weeks.

·        There had been considerable and lengthy discussions exploring community management of the pool, however no feasible option had been found.

·        Although a 10% reduction in hours may look  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

 

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