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 or any other general interests they might have within the remit of the Committee.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in relation to the business on the agenda or any other general interests they might have within the remit of the Committee.

Councillor Taylor declared a personal non prejudicial interest in agenda item 4 (Presentation on Managing Public Parks) as he is a member of the St Nicholas Fields Management Committee.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 25 January 2012.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Learning and Culture Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 25 January 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Scrutiny Officer circulated a copy of the final report on the Review of Demographics in York Schools (Minute 35 refers) to the Committee for information.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak on an item on the agenda or an issue within the committee’s remit can do so.

Anyone who wishes to register or who requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer for this meeting, details of whom are listed at the foot of this agenda.

The deadline for registering to speak is 5.00pm the working day before the meeting, in this case 5.00pm on Tuesday 28 February 2012.

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

An initial presentation on City of York Council’s management of public parks will take place, in support of the Committee’s proposed scrutiny review.

Members received a presentation from the Head of Parks and Open Spaces on the management of public parks by the City of York Council, in support of the Committee’s proposed scrutiny review.

He provided Members with information about the Green Flag Award, a national accreditation scheme whereby parks are judged by external peers on a number of themes.

Members were reminded that issues around public parks had been raised at last year’s scrutiny work planning event by Councillor Barnes due to concerns over proposed cuts affecting Hull Road Park.  Members acknowledged that Hull Road Park had been seen as a “Cinderella Park” in comparison to other parks such as Rowntree Park which had been awarded Green Flag status. However they noted that Hull Road Park had benefited from improvements during the past year. As a result of the information provided during the presentation, Member agreed a scrutiny review on the management of public parks was not required.

However, Members expressed interest in visiting both Hull Road Park and Rowntree Park to see how the parks now compared. The Head of Parks and Open Spaces advised Members that the cafe at Rowntree Park was currently being rebuilt/refurbished and suggested Members may wish to wait until later in the year to undertake their visits when this work would be complete.

RESOLVED:             That a review on the management of public parks not be undertaken at the current time.

REASON:                  To ensure compliance with scrutiny procedures and protocols.

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s workplan for the 2011-12 municipal year.

Members considered the committee’s work plan for the remainder of the 2011-12 municipal year.

Members were advised that in addition to those items listed on the work plan, the Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Young People’s Services would be in attendance at the next meeting.

The Assistant Director (Lifelong Learning and Culture) advised Members that the Chief Executive of York Museums Trust (YMT) apologised for the fact that she would not be able to attend the next meeting to present the YMT Partnership Delivery Plan Update Report as she had to attend a Trustees Meeting. However she confirmed that she would prepare a written update for inclusion in the agenda papers. The Assistant Director stated that if Members would like to commence the YMT review on collections management at this meeting, the YMT Collections Manager would be happy to attend the meeting. Members confirmed they were happy with this arrangement.

The Scrutiny Officer confirmed that the next meeting, on 21 March, was currently the last meeting scheduled in the calendar for the current municipal year. The Chair suggested that it would be beneficial for the committee to meet again before the end of the municipal year and requested that a meeting be arranged during the first two weeks of May.

RESOLVED:             (a)       That the work plan be updated as detailed above.

                                    (b)       That a further meeting be arranged to take place at the beginning of May and Members be consulted on suitable dates.

REASON: To progress the work of the committee.

The Chair of York@Large will be in attendance at the meeting to discuss the ongoing work of York@Large and how it works with the Council and other partners to deliver any joint services.

The Chair of York@Large attended the meeting to discuss the ongoing work of York@Large and how it works with the Council and other partners to deliver joint services.

She explained that since her presentation to the Committee a year ago, York@Large had had a busy and active year contributing to the City’s strategic discussions around economic resilience and sustainability together with social wellbeing, and she updated Members on their achievements under the following 5 priority areas:

Priority 1         International recognition for the City’s culture and heritage

Priority 2         Support a diverse, inclusive and cosmopolitan culture

Priority 3         Encourage more people more often to get involved in cultural activities

Priority 4         Create High Quality Public Spaces

Priority 5         Promote York as a creative city

A full copy of the information provided at the meeting has been published with the online agenda on the Council’s website.

The Chair of York@Large responded to Members queries regarding specific issues which were raised during the discussion which included the following:

·        Festivals – concern raised that some of the smaller festivals could get overlooked as a result of focusing on 5 major festivals. It was noted that all festivals would be encouraged but York@Large would be working with the tourism industry to promote some festivals at international level (priority 1)

·        Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations – Members were advised that the programme has changed beyond all recognition due to support from partners.

·        York Stories – Councillors would be asked to provide their own “York Story” during the coming months

·        York 800 Events – Members suggested it would be useful to keep a record of those events which are specific to York 800 to distinguish from other events which are taking place but would take place in any year.

·        Buskival – will take place during June. Normal busking acts would be suspended and there will be specific busking points to make it more of a show and so acts could be judged.  

Members were then given the opportunity to view the York 800 DVD.

RESOLVED:             That the update on York@Large be noted.

REASON:                  In order that Members are kept informed on work undertaken by the Council’s strategic partners.