Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Thornton Room - Ground Floor, West Offices (G039). View directions

Contact: Angela Bielby  Democracy Officer

Webcast: video recording

Items
No. Item

57.

Declarations of Interest

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.

 

Minutes:

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, that they might have in the business on the agenda. In respect of agenda item 4 [Update report on Planning Enforcement] Cllr x declared that one of the cases included in the report was close to their home addresses and they had not been involved with the case. No further interests were declared.

 

58.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 136 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the Economy and Place Policy and Scrutiny Committee meetings held on 10 December 2019, 15 January 2020 and 12 February 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved: 

             i.        That the minutes of the meetings held on 10 December 2019 and 15 January 2020 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

            ii.        That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2020 be amended to include be updated to include an amendment to minute 38 and be brought back for approval at the next meeting.

 

 

59.

Public Participation

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 Tuesday 10 March 2020. 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.

 

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

Please note this meeting may be filmed and webcast, or recorded,  and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission. The broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts or, if recorded, this will be uploaded onto the Council’s website following the meeting. Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting. Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting. The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present. It can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11406/protocol_f

or_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings_201

60809.pdf

 

Minutes:

It was reported that there had been five registrations to speak under the council’s public participation scheme.

 

Johnny Hayes spoke on agenda item 4 [Update report on Planning Enforcement]. He noted that the planning enforcement team was overstretched and under resourced and was therefore not functioning satisfactorily. He referred to the Roomzzz aparthotel in York which he believed was taller than it should be and he was not happy with the way in which his FoI request concerning the matter had been handled.

 

Kevin Tuohy, Martin Spencer, Ian Weston and June Tranmer spoke on agenda item 5 [Make It York's Economic Development].

 

Kevin Tuohy explained that he would like MiY to invest in market traders and he urged them to seek help from traders to help them. He expressed disappointment in MiY engagement with traders and noted that there were opportunities to drive locals into the market.

 

Martin Spencer expressed a number of concerns regarding the management of the market, namely inadequate cleaning and shambles market website being 18 months out of date. He noted that the shambles market had a number of diverse and unique range of businesses and he invited Members to visit.

 

June Tranmer read out the comments made by Ian Weston, who was unable to attend the meeting.        He expressed a number of concerns regarding the MiY Service Level Agreement (SLA) and MiY’s relationship with the Shambles Market traders.

 

June Tranmer commented on the MiY SLA and referred to the 2009 plans for the city. She urged the advertising of the market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60.

Update report on Planning Enforcement pdf icon PDF 218 KB

This report provides Members with an update on the planning enforcement section in terms of cases being dealt with and a vision for the planning enforcement section into the future. Members of the Area Planning Sub-committee requested that Planning Enforcement be reviewed by Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee, which referred the matter to the Economy and Place Policy and Scrutiny Committee.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were presented with a report that This report provides Members with an update on the planning enforcement section in terms of cases being dealt with and a vision for the planning enforcement section into the future. Annex A detailed the  Enforcement Register as at 7 January 2020. Members of the Area Planning Sub-committee requested that Planning Enforcement be reviewed by Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee, which referred the matter to the Economy and Place Policy and Scrutiny Committee.

 

Assistant Director for Planning and Public Protection and Principal Development Management Officer were in attendance to present the report. The Assistant Director responded to comments made by Johnny Hayes noting that Principal Development Management Officer would be meeting with him that week to discuss the matter. The Principal Development Management Officer outlined the report.

 

In response to Members, Officers explained:

·        Each case was considered on its own merits

·        The process and time involved in dealing with complaints

·        Expediency was a policy matter not a staffing resource matter

 

Resolved: That the information in the report be noted.

 

Reason:     To ensure members are aware of the work currently being undertaken in Planning Enforcement.

61.

Make It York's Economic Development Priorities for 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 374 KB

This paper invites Members to comment on the broad priority areas to be included in the Council’s service level agreement (SLA) with Make it York (MIY) for 2020-21. Following consideration by the committee, a report will be taken to a decision session of the Executive Member for Economy and Planning in April.

 

Minutes:

Members considered a report that invited the committee to comment on the broad priority areas to be included in the Council’s service level agreement (SLA) with Make it York (MIY) for 2020-21 (as detailed in paragraph 6 of the report). Following consideration by the committee, a report would be taken to a Decision Session of the Executive Member for Economy and Planning in April.

The Assistant Director Communities and Equalities and Head of Economic Growth were in attendance to present the report. Head of Economic Growth outlined the report and detailed the seven priorities for the MiY SLA. Members asked a number of questions to which they responded that:

The current SLA included a reference to the tourism strategy

More detail on the relationship between MiY and market traders would be included in the report going to the Decision Session of the Executive Member for Economy and Planning.

The detail of the MiY contribution to the economic development priorities would be included in the business plan presented to the Shareholder Committee. The Corporate Director Economy and Place then clarified the decision making process for the MiY SLA.

Skills and apprenticeship training was covered by the MiY sector development plan.

There needed to be more engagement on an ongoing basis with different sectors.

Clarification was given on the nature of MiY as a teckal company

It was proposed that the Chair of the Committee contact the Chairs of the Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee and Chair of Audit and Governance Committee stating the the committee had neem unable to effectively scrutinise the economic development function of MiY under the scrutiny. A vote was take with three members for and three members against. The Chair’s casting vote was in favour of the motion and it was:

Resolved:

 

Reason: In order to provide feedback to inform the report to be aken to a Decision Session of the Executive Member for Economy and Planning in April.

62.

Update report on Guildhall Project pdf icon PDF 343 KB

This report has come to the Committee following a request from the Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) to review the project status reporting for the Guildhall project, expressing CSMC’s concern that the October 2019 Green rating did not accurately reflect the project status at that time. The purpose the report is to review the project governance and risk management arrangements for the delivery of the project which inform the project reporting.    

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Following the request from Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) to review the project status reporting for the Guildhall project, the committee considered a report that reviewed the project governance and risk management arrangements for the delivery of the project which inform the project reporting.   Risk registers were included in the annexes to the report.

The Corporate Director Economy and Place and Head of Regeneration Programmes were in attendance to present the report. They explained risk ratings as detailed in the report annexes. In answer to Member questions they explained:

·        How the project management system operated.

·        That the risk register was live and how it was updated.

·        The reporting mechanism to the Audit and Governance Committee

Resolved:

                     i.        That the content of the report be noted

                    ii.        That the role of the Audit and Governance Committee in monitoring the risks associated with major projects be noted.

Reason:     To help Members understand how the Guildhall project is being delivered. 

 

63.

Update report on Apprenticeships and Skills Scrutiny review pdf icon PDF 228 KB

This report updates Members on the progress of the scrutiny review into Apprenticeships and Skills and asks the Committee to consider the remit proposed by the Task Group appointed to carry out this review on the Committee’s behalf.

 

Minutes:

Members considered a report that detailed the proposed remit and objectives of the Task Group to undertake a review of apprenticeships and skills. These were:

Aim:
The Task Group will engage with apprenticeship providers and employers in the city with a view to bringing recommendations to the Committee. The aim of the Task Group will be to explore means by which CYC can work with partners in the city to maximise the proportion of the apprentice levy that is retained and spent on training to improve skills in York’s economy.

This is likely to be achieved through partnership, including opportunities for levy payers to work with SMEs and identify opportunities for levy transfer where appropriate.

Objectives

i.       To evaluate the current number of levy payers in York based on best available knowledge so as to assess the value of funds available;

ii.     To understand the current apprenticeship training provision, the potential in York and the current spend;

iii.    To identify the demand from companies who might want to offer apprenticeships;

iv.   To examine best practices with regard to the transfer of the apprenticeship levy;

v.     To understand the use of the apprenticeship levy within City of York Council and how CYC can help facilitate best practice in the rest of the city with a view to meeting Council Plan priorities in terms of improving skills and sustainable development.

It was

Resolved: That the remit proposed by the Task Group be approved.

Reason:     In order to progress the Apprenticeships and Skills Scrutiny review

 

64.

Work Plan 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 458 KB

To consider the work plan for the remainder of the municipal year.

Minutes:

Members considered the committee’s work plan for the remainder of the 2019-20 municipal year. Following a suggestion for an update report on the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Corporate Director Economy and Place advised that this was an emergency planning function and it would not be appropriate for the committee to examine this during the crisis but could do so at a later point. He suggested that further advice could be sought from the Monitoring Officer.

 

Resolved:  That the work plan as set out on page 81 of the agenda pack be agreed.

 

Reason:     In order to keep the work plan updated.

 

Members expressed gratitude to all council employees for their work during the flooding.

 

 

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