Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Chris Elliott  Democracy Officer

Webcast: video recording

Items
No. Item

36.

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:

At this point in the meeting, Members were 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 to business on this agenda.

 

Cllr Mason declared personal interests in that he was the City of York Council representative on the Museum Trust Board and a Director of Make It York.

 

 

37.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 76 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 16 January 2019 .

 

Minutes:

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2019 be approved and signed by the chair as a correct record.

38.

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 Monday 18 March 2019 . 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 no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

39.

CYC Flood Defences pdf icon PDF 191 KB

This report presents an update on the work of the Environment Agency to renew existing and provide new flood defences across the city, following the flooding in December 2015.  Members are asked to provide feedback on progress to date.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received an update on CYC flood defences. The Council’s Flood Risk Manager and the Environment Agency were in attendance to answer Member questions.

 

Members questioned whether public consultation on flood defence measures can make a genuine difference to proposals and also how the Environment Agency and the Council can help manage the expectations of the public with regards to changes in schemes as they progress.

 

Officers stated that consultation is important, not only to help explain the intricacy of schemes but also to learn what is ‘acceptable locally’ with regards to defences.

 

Officers were sympathetic to the views of  Members and residents, particularly around Burdyke and Westfield Beck pump schemes. Officers stated that more work needed to be carried out to better understand  the impact that these schemes could have. It was noted that currently, it was not clear that there would be significant benefit, however the schemes had not been abandoned and work would continue to better understand the impact.

 

Resolved:  Members noted the report and the evidence presented by the  Environment Agency in the session.

 

Reason:     To update the committee on current plans for CYC flood defences.

 

 

40.

3rd Quarter Finance and Performance Monitor pdf icon PDF 103 KB

This report provides details of the 2018/19 forecast outturn position for both finance and performance across services within the Economy and Place Directorate. The paper incorporates data to December 2018 as reported to Executive on 14th February 2019.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered the third quarter finance and performance monitoring report for Economy and Place. The Finance Manager and Corporate Director of Economy and Place were in attendance to answer any questions.

 

Officers stated that with regards to paragraph 5 and 6 that there is a great deal of work taking place to increase the resilience of the service. The service is receiving the investment that it needs to make this improvement both culturally and structurally.

 

Members questioned the levels of income generation expected from Waste Services as the forecast expected this to be missed at year end. Officers agreed and stated that it would be up to Members to decide on the desired income level however a bid had recently been submitted for a commercial waste contract, which should it be successful, would help achieve the target.

 

Members asked what would happen to the higher than expected income generated from Residents Parking and Season Ticket Sales. Officers stated that this income would go into the Council’s general fund.

 

Resolved:  Members noted the content of the report

 

Reason:     To update the scrutiny committee on the latest finance and performance position

41.

Discretionary Business Rates Discounts Policy pdf icon PDF 307 KB

This report provides the committee with information relating to Business rates in the city and how the Council can impact them.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report from the Head of Economic Growth on the discretionary business rates discounts policy and the economic impact of this on York and its city centre.

 

Members were interested to know within the summary data supplied on rate values, what kind of vendor or activity attracted the £100 minimum rate value. It was noted that the Valuation office determine what the rateable value is for each business or activity (hereditament), although it was likely at that cost to be a cash point or a CCTV camera.

 

In response to a question on collection, the Officer stated that City of York’s collection of business rates was very good and in the current year was 98.9%.

 

In response to questions regarding the reduction and removal of the Revenue Support Grant, the officer stated that this support from National Government had decreased significantly in the last decade and whilst some of that has been offset by the increased retention of business rates allowed, the overall net income has reduced.

 

Resolved:  That Members are asked to note and comment on the information provided in this report.

 

Reason:     To inform Members of the economic impact of business rates in York.

42.

Arts and Culture Implementation Update pdf icon PDF 178 KB

This report provides Members with an update on the implementation of the approved recommendations arising from previously completed scrutiny review into the Impact of the Arts and Culture Sectors on the Economy of York.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

An update report on the implementation of recommendations from a scrutiny review into the Impact of the Arts and Culture Sectors on the Economy of York, was presented to the committee.

 

Resolved:  i) Members noted the contents of the report and agreed to sign off the recommendations included in Annex 1 that have now been implemented.

 

ii) The committee agreed that they did not require a further update.

 

 

 

 

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