Agenda and minutes

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 asked 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 the business on the agenda. 

Councillor King declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (minute 24 refers), as a member of the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2013.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting of 10 September 2013 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Referring to minute 19 (Work Plan), Councillor Warters expressed his dissatisfaction that an item on the Policy on Tethered Horses had not been included on the agenda for the meeting.  He stated that a report on this issue had been requested sometime ago.  The Scrutiny Officer apologised for this omission and it was agreed that the item would be included on the agenda for the next meeting.

At this point in the meeting, 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.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Monday 11 November 2013.

At this point in the meeting, Cllr Fraser withdrew from the meeting to avoid a potential conflict of interest of roles.

It was reported that there were no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The Chair, referring to the issue that had been raised by Mr Sutcliffe under the Public Participation item at the previous meeting, gave a verbal update on the action that she had taken following the meeting.  She stated that she had met with two representatives from RACY to discuss the issues that had been raised.  Details were given of the timeline in which the changes had been implemented and the consultation that had taken place with the members of RACY.  The new model was one that was in place in other local authorities.  The Chair stated that, having attended the meeting, she was satisfied that appropriate consultation had taken place and that the new arrangements would improve links with the Police and would continue to provide support for retailers.  Copies of the timeline for the implementation of the changes, along with copies of the documents that RACY had sent to its Members during the consultation were tabled for Members’ consideration.   

The Chair reminded Members that RACY’s operational issues were not within the remit of the Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee but that their role related to ensuring that retailers were receiving the support they required.

Resolved:  That a letter be sent to Mr Sutcliffe outlining the action that had been taken to investigate the issues he had raised at the previous meeting.

Reason:     To ensure that Mr Sutcliffe is aware that those issues that had been raised and which were within the remit of the Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been investigated.

The Cabinet Member for Environmental Services will be in attendance to discuss his priorities and challenges.

The Cabinet Member for Environmental Services had been due to attend the meeting to discuss his priorities and challenges but was now unable to be present.  It was therefore proposed to reschedule his attendance to the meeting on 14 January 2014. 

It was agreed that officers would note the questions that Members were intending to raise with the Cabinet Member and would seek responses following the meeting.

Members raised the following issues:

·        Clarification as to the procedures that would be in place in respect of parish councils who wished to have salt bins refilled.

·        Concerns had been raised regarding the misallocation of bins to the Micklegate Ward, had this issue been addressed?

·        The residents of Brockfield Park Drive and Brockfield Road, Huntington had expressed concern that, although their roads were not gritted, the gritting vehicles used this route causing disturbance to them.

·        Were arrangements in place for the ad hoc supply of grit and salt to strategic sites in the event of very severe weather conditions?

·        Were the temporary bags that had been used previously still available if required?

Officers agreed to take back the questions and provide responses to Members following the meeting¹.

Resolved:  That the attendance of the Cabinet Member for

Environmental Services be rescheduled to the meeting on 14 January 2014.

Reason:     To enable the Committee to be updated on the priorities and challenges for the parts of his portfolio which fall within the remit of the Committee.

York and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will give a presentation on their work in support of the Safer York Partnership.

Members considered a report from the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.   The Group Manager gave a presentation on their work in support of the Safer York Partnership [a copy of the presentation is attached to the online agenda papers for this meeting].

Members were given details of the three main strands of activity:

·        Intervention (attending and dealing with emergencies)

·        Prevention (proactive community safety work)

·        Protection (technical fire safety activity)

Details were given of the resources that were in place and of the “York Project” which was intended to deliver a more effective intervention service.

Resolved:  That the report from the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service be noted.

Reason:     To ensure that Members are informed of the contribution made by the service to the Safer York Partnership.

This report provides Members with an update on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the previously completed scrutiny reviews which fall within the remit of this overview and scrutiny committee.

Members considered a report which provided an update on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the following previously completed scrutiny reviews which fell within the remit of the Committee:

(i)           Community Resilience Scrutiny Review

Consideration was given to Annex A of the report, which detailed progress in implementing recommendations from the Community Resilience Scrutiny Review.   It was noted that, having been made aware of the update information provided, the Chair had requested some additional information.  The questions she had raised had been included in Annex A.  Members were concerned to note that responses to the questions had not yet been received.

Members stated that they did not consider that sufficient progress had been made to sign off the recommendations and requested that officers attend the next meeting to provide further information.

(ii)          Winter Maintenance Review

Referring to the agreed remit of the Winter Maintenance Review, Members expressed concern that the wording “control” had been used in respect of residents’ and visitor expectations.  They suggested that the words “to address” would have been more appropriate.  The Scrutiny Officer advised that as the review was completed and the recommendations approved by Cabinet, it would not now be possible to amend the wording of the remit.  None the less Members requested that the Scrutiny Officer seek advice on this matter as they did not believe it appropriate for the wording to be used.¹

(iii)        Taxi Licensing Scrutiny Review

Members noted the progress that had been made in implementing the recommendations of the Taxi Licensing Scrutiny Review.  The Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy had been  revised as a result of the scrutiny review and Members agreed that it would be helpful to receive a report at a future meeting to ascertain how successfully the revised policy had been embedded into working practices.  They requested that members of the Taxi Associations also be invited to attend the meeting to ascertain their views on its implementation.  Members were informed that there were proposed changes to national regulations in respect of taxi licensing.

Resolved:           (i)      That the report be noted.

(ii)      That, in respect of the recommendations arising from the Community Resilience Review, officers be requested to attend the next meeting to clarify progress on the  implementation of the recommendations.

                   (iii)     That, in respect of the recommendations

arising from the Winter Maintenance Review, a report on the embedding of this council policy be brought to the meeting on 11 March 2014.

(iv)        That, in respect of the recommendations arising from the Taxi Licensing Review, a report on the embedding of this council policy be brought to the meeting on 22 April 2014 to which representatives of the Taxi Associations also be invited to attend. 

Reason:     To raise awareness of those recommendations which are still to be fully implemented.     

(i)           Members are asked to consider the Committee’s work plan.

(ii)          A verbal update will be given on ongoing scrutiny reviews.

(i)           Members gave consideration to the Committee’s work plan.  Members sought clarification as to why the attendance of the Police Commissioner had been deferred on three occasions.  Officers stated that the Police Commissioner had initially been unavailable to attend although subsequently it had been suggested that she may decide to send someone to represent her at meetings of this nature.  Members requested that a further invitation be sent to the Police Commissioner requesting that she meet with the Committee in person and that the letter be copied to the Police and Crime Panel¹.

(ii)          A verbal update was given on ongoing scrutiny reviews. 

·        Domestic Waste Recycling Review

This review was ongoing although no further progress had been made since the start of the year.  Concerns had been expressed regarding officer support for this review.

·             A-Boards Task Group

The Chair stated that she had carried out research into the arrangements that other local authorities had in place in respect of A-Boards.  The Task Group had met at the end of September and had been concerned at the quality of the information that had been provided by officers supporting the review. However, progress was now being made and it was intended to hold a meeting with interested parties at the end of January.    Members queried whether officers had expressed concerns regarding the implications in enforcing a policy on A-Boards.  They were informed that assurances had been given that there would be an opportunity for officers to contribute to the report in terms of detailing any implications and risks associated with the implementation of the recommendations.

Resolved:  (i)      That the work plan be approved subject to the

                             inclusion of the following agenda items:

·        Attendance of Cabinet Member for Environmental Services (meeting of 14 January 2014)

·        Policy on Tethered Horses (meeting of 14 January 2014)

·        Update on progress in respect of the recommendations arising from the Community Resilience Review (meeting of 14 January 2014)

·        Report on embedding of Winter Maintenance Policy (11 March 2014)

·        Report on the embedding of the Taxi Licensing Policy (22 April 2014) 

(ii)          That the update on the work of the ongoing scrutiny reviews be noted.

Reasons:   (i)      To ensure that the Committee has a planned

                             programme of work in place.

(ii)      To ensure that the Committee is kept updated on the ongoing work of the scrutiny reviews and can monitor progress.