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.

Members were invited to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal interests, not included on the Register of Interests, or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interests they may have in respect of business on the agenda. No further interests were declared.

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 Friday 31 May 2013.  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.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting from members of the public under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme. There had however been one request to speak from a Member of the Council.

Cllr Alexander queried the reason for call in, particularly as the proposals would result in a combined authority to support economic growth and improvements to the highway network. Reference was made to cross party Leaders support to the establishment of the fund. One of the reasons provided for call in referred to the Leeds Economic Partnership which was a separate body. He confirmed that the York package of schemes shared the same objectives, as the West Yorkshire package, with benefit to the neighbouring authorities. Reference was also made to recent changes in government legislation in relation to future precepts. 

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 15 April 2013.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 15 April 2013 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair as a correct record subject to:

In Minute 22 – Minutes – The inclusion of a reference to the fact  that Cllrs Horton and Potter were unable to take part in the Committee’s meeting on 19 November 2012, owing to prejudicial interests in relation to the Call In of the Community Stadium Update decision.

To consider the decisions made by Cabinet on 7 May 2013 in relation to the above item, which has been called in by Cllrs Healey, Gillies and Richardson in accordance with the Council’s Constitution. A cover report is attached setting out the reasons for the call-in and the remit and powers of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee (Calling-In) in relation to the call-in, together with the original report and the decisions of the Cabinet.

Members received a report which asked them to consider the decisions made by Cabinet on 7 May 2013, in relation to the West Yorkshire Plus York Transport Fund (WYTF+). The report to the meeting provided an update on the development of the Fund, proposed details of the package of schemes, sought in principle support as to indicative levels of financial contributions and detailed governance proposals.

Details of the Cabinet decision were attached at Annex A to the report, with the original report to Cabinet attached at Annex B. The decision had been called in by Cllrs Healey, Gillies and Richardson on the following grounds:

1.   No comparison, detailed or otherwise, of the advantages and disadvantages of joining with the Leeds Economic Partnership as compared with the North Yorkshire and East Riding Economic Partnership have been put forward;

2.   The ‘York Package of Schemes’ as put forward has only demonstrable value to North Yorkshire and York whilst demonstrating none for Leeds and West Yorkshire;

3.   There has been a complete lack of debate and consideration of any precept which might need to be levied in order to progress the ‘York Package of Schemes.’”

Members were asked whether to confirm the decision (Option a) or to refer it back to Cabinet for re-consideration (Option b) as set out in the report.

Councillor Healey addressed the meeting on behalf of the Calling-In members making reference to the ten schemes put forward for consideration for the York package with all benefitting York alone rather than other member authorities. The beneficiaries of the three sources of direct contributions into the Fund were also questioned. He requested members to support referral back of this decision to enable further consideration to be given to examining schemes with a mutual benefit to both North and West Yorkshire.

Councillor Gillies also addressed the meeting as a Calling-In member expressing concern that information in connection with this decision was not in the public domain, suggesting that any decision taken was done so without all the necessary information. He questioned the consequences for the City if subsequent large scale funding did not materialise. Reference was also made to recent government announcements which could  affect future funding. He therefore felt that further comparisons should be carried out and that any decision made prior to that would be premature.

The Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability responded to the points raised, pointing out that there was a need to look at transport issues as a whole. With the plan for implementation of local schemes in the first 10 years of the fund, concentrating on larger schemes during the following decade. He referred to the strong case for involvement and to the potential advantages to be gained through economies of scale, staffing expertise with a combined core workforce and to the commonality of urban areas rather than rural.

Members went on to discuss the points raised and other issues in some detail. Questioning details of the proposed transport links to Leeds/Bradford airport, electrification  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.