Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests, other than the standing declarations that they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Economic & City Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 13 July 2010.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Economic and City Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13 July 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

It is at this point in the meeting that 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:

Monday 27 September at 5.00 pm.

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

The Leader of the Council will be in attendance to report on his forthcoming priorities and challenges.

The Leader of the Council was in attendance to report on progress to date and forthcoming priorities in relation to his portfolio.

He circulated a briefing note ( a copy of which was attached to the agenda after the meeting) to Committee Members, which answered questions that Councillor Alexander had asked before the meeting such as;

• The priority order for development sites to be brought forward and how this would be done.
• The proportion of assets from Yorkshire Forward transferring into York.
• The governance arrangements for Local Enterprise Partnerships(LEPs) and the representation that York would have.
• The relationships that would exist between York, North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire which were related to economic development.
• The interconnectivity between York and other high profile tourist destinations for example London and Edinburgh.
• The impact that budgetary shaping would have on service delivery in York.
• The economic cost of housing demand in relation to supply in York.

Discussion then took place between Members and the Leader which related to;

• The proposal for York being part of the North Yorkshire and York LEP rather than the Leeds City Region LEP.
• The preferred governance arrangement for the proposed North Yorkshire LEP.
• Details of the priorities for the North Yorkshire and York LEP relating to the reduction of barriers restraining high growth business in rural areas and the enablement of the care sector to meet rising needs.
• That there was no reference made to the dualling of the ring road within the Accelerated Development Zone proposals.
• The reduced funding for eco housing within the Leeds City Region.
• Issues relating to Science City York
• The costs of development of small sites in the city

The Chair thanked the Leader for his attendance and his informative briefing note and update on various issues to the Committee.

This report provides Members with details of the 2010/11 forecast outturn position for both finance and performance in City Strategy and Housing Services. 

Members received a report which provided details of the 2010/11 forecast outturn position for finance and performance in City Strategy and Housing Services.

Discussion between Officers and Members centred on various issues and this included;

• Issues at Harewood Whin.
• The differences in the projected outturn position for 2009-10.
• Confirmation that the caseworker vacancy referred to in paragraph 23 of the report had now been filled and performance is expected to improve.

Members highlighted the issue of bus patronage to Officers and suggested that there had been a significant decrease, which could lead in turn to sustainable transport targets being missed. They felt that this issue could be a potential scrutiny topic in the future but wanted to wait until the next quarter’s figures were available to see whether a trend was emerging.

RESOLVED:             That the report be noted.

REASON:                  That the Committee is updated of the latest finance and performance position.

This report provides Members with update information on the implementation of recommendations made as a result of previously completed scrutiny reviews on Guidance for Sustainable Development and Planning Enforcement.

Members considered a report which updated them of the implementation of recommendations which had arisen from previously completed scrutiny reviews on Guidance for Sustainable Development and Planning Enforcement.

Members were informed that the Guidance for Sustainable Development scrutiny review was intrinsically linked with the Local Development Framework. As work was still ongoing with this, the Committee did not feel that they were in a position to sign any of the recommendations off at the moment and agreed to add this back to the work plan for reconsideration in March 2011.

Members then discussed the recommendations arising from the Planning Enforcement Scrutiny Review. They were informed that there had been a change in emphasis in relation to Section 106 agreements and that the Development Control team were currently conducting an internal audit regarding this. They  would be producing a report in relation to this within the next few months.

Members suggested that it would be possibly beneficial to discuss this issue at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:             (i)            That the report be noted.

(ii)               That the remaining recommendations from the Guidance on Sustainable Development scrutiny review and the Planning Enforcement scrutiny review be rescheduled on the work plan for consideration in March 2011.

(iii)             That no further report on the Guidance for Sustainable Development scrutiny review be commissioned at this present time.

(iv)              That the following recommendations arising from the Planning Enforcement scrutiny review be signed off as complete;

Ø      Recommendation 5(ii), A First Response Kit and appropriate training to use it.

Ø      Recommendation 9, That a copy of the final report of the Planning Enforcement Ad Hoc Scrutiny Committee be circulated to all Members involved with Planning Committees be signed off as completed.  

REASON:                              To raise awareness of those recommendations which have still to be implemented.

This report appraises the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the likely future of Regional Development Agencies and proposals involving the City of York to establish Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Members received a report which appraised them of the likely future of Regional Development Agencies(RDAs) and proposals which involved the City of York to establish Local Enterprise Partnerships(LEPs).

Discussion ensued around various questions including;

• The possible cost from the proposal for City of York Council working with other local authorities in North Yorkshire in regards to Key Account Management.
• The £1m cut to Visit Yorkshire
• The possibility of the Council taking on the responsibility of funding Visit York in the future. There were plans to review the Service Level Agreement and this would include looking at funding for Visit York. 
• Whether in publicising LEPs, that there would need to be a clear definition of their role.

Members suggested that it would be beneficial to consider the issue of LEPs at a future meeting, once they had been created.

RESOLVED:             That the report be noted.

REASON:                  To support corporate and partnership strategic objectives for the local economy.

Members are asked to review the Committee’s Work Plan for 2010/11.  Extracts from the Forward Plan are included for Members’ information.

Members considered the Committee’s work plan for 2010/11 together with extracts from the Forward Plan related to the Committee’s remit.

RESOLVED:           (i) That the workplan and Forward Plan extracts be noted.

(ii)                     That the following items be added to or moved within the work plan ¹:

·        The update report on the Broadway Shops Councillor Call for Action(CCfA) be moved from the  2 November meeting of the Committee to the meeting on the 7 December 2010.

·        The Final Report on the Newgate Market scrutiny review to now be considered by the Committee at their meeting on 7 December 2010.

·        The update on Major Transport Initiatives be slipped until the meeting scheduled for 7 December 2010.

·        An update report on the Water End CCfA be presented to the Committee on 7 December 2010.

·        That an update report on the role of the Local Economic Partnerships(LEPs) be presented to the Committee on 25 January 2011.

·        That an update report on the implementations of the recommendations arising from the  Planning Enforcement and  Guidance for Sustainable Development scrutiny reviews be scheduled for the meeting on 8 March 2011.

REASON:                              To assist in the planning of work for the Committee.