Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare personal or prejudicial interests, that they might have in the business on the agenda.

Councillors D’Agorne and Potter declared personal non prejudicial interests in Agenda Item 5 (Update on Recommendations Arising from the Water End Councillor Call for Action (CCfA) as members of the Task Group that carried out the review.

No other interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Economic & City Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on 15 November 2011.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the Economic and City Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 15 November 2011 be agreed as a correct record.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered their wish to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is Monday 12 December at 5.00 pm.

To register please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of this agenda.

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

This report provides details of the 2011/12 forecast outturn position for both finance and performance in City Strategy and Housing Services. 

Members received a report which provided them with details of the 2011/12 forecast outturn position for finance and performance in City Strategy and Housing Services.

Discussion between Members and Officers included exploration of issues such as;

·        Park and Ride figures compared with overall percentages for bus passenger journeys

·        The reasons for lower deprivation levels in York

·        The percentage of youth unemployment and factors that contributed to this

Regarding Park and Ride figures Officers explained that the percentage showing usage had increased, mainly due to the way that the data had been collected. It was felt that there was a decrease in bus passenger journeys due to a number of factors such as; the introduction of a charge of 50p to use Park and Ride for those with concessionary passes, that car parking charges had remained static, and that the use of bicycles had increased.

Officers highlighted that although York had a low deprivation level when compared to other cities, pockets of deprivation continued to exist and that one concern related to having a highly skilled population and a lack of jobs matching these skills.

Some Members stated that they wanted Officers to provide figures for youth unemployment in the city (ages 16-24), and that the wider issue of the rise in University tuition fees had impacted on the rate.

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the report be noted.

(ii)      That figures for youth unemployment be included in future Monitoring Reports.¹

REASON:           To update the scrutiny committee of the latest finance and performance position.

This report presents Members with an update on progress made in implementing the recommendations arising from the Water End Councillor Call for Action.

Members received a report which presented them with an update on progress made in implementing the recommendations arising from the Water End Councillor Call for Action (CCfA).

At a meeting held on 27^th September 2011 the Cabinet Member for City Strategy considered 6 potential options for re-instating a separate left hand turn traffic lane. In their update Officers informed Members that consultation regarding Option 1 of this report (retaining both the cycle track build-out and the splitter island) and option 5 (introducing a central cycle feeder lane between two traffic lanes whilst retaining the splitter island) would start in the next week and would finish in mid January. Additionally, the consultation would include references to whether the cobbles should be removed to provide extra carriageway width.

It was also reported that Close Circuit Television (CCTV) would be installed at the junction at the end of the month, and that further consultation on the possible introduction of a point closure on Westminster Road/The Avenue had not been undertaken as the first consultation had not reached clear conclusions. In response to a Member’s question Officers confirmed that there had not been city wide consultation as they felt it was mainly an issue for residents in Clifton. They also confirmed that funding had been found to manage the residents’ consultation.

Members requested that a further update report be considered by the Committee at their meeting in March.

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the update on Recommendation 1 and the report be noted.

(ii)      That Recommendation 1 not be signed off as fully implemented.

(iii)     That a further update report be brought back to the Committee and be considered at their March meeting.

REASON:                     To raise awareness of recommendations that still need to be implemented.     

Members are asked to review the Committee’s Work Plan for 2011-12.

Members considered a report which presented them with the Committee’s work plan for the forthcoming year.

Discussion between Members suggested a further scrutiny review could be undertaken by the whole Committee, or a task group of the Committee this municipal year. The Scrutiny Officer advised Members that a new review could take up to 3- 4 months to complete and that this would need to be added to the Committee’s workplan. However, if the Committee wished to plan for early next municipal year the Scrutiny Officer could circulate via e-mail, previous ideas for topics that had been discussed. If Members wished to submit further ideas for future topics then these would be circulated as well.

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the work plan be noted.

(ii)      That a further update report on the implementation of recommendations arising from the Water End Councillor Call for Action (CCfA) be scheduled for the Committee’s March 2012 meeting.¹

(iii)     That an update/interim report from the Reducing the Carbon Footprint in the privately rented sector Task Group also be considered at the Committee’s March 2012 meeting.²

REASON:           To keep the Committee’s work plan up to date.