Agenda and minutes

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.

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 discloseable pecuniary interest that they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. There were no further declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meetings held on 10 July 2019 and 11 September 2019.

Resolved:  That;

                     i.        The minutes of the Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 10 July 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

                    ii.        The minutes of the Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11 September 2019 be amended to include the following changes and be brought back for approval at the next meeting on 13 November 2019:

·        Cllr Baker, not Barker to be listed under Apologies

·        Under Agenda Item 4 [Attendance of the Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning] the addition of a point stating that it had been confirmed that there was no ‘plan B’ should the HIF funding not be received

·         Under Agenda Item 5 [Attendance of the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change], the Executive Member felt unable to commit at that stage to carbon budgeting from the Council and undertook to give an update at a future meeting in six months.

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 15 October 2018. 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

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60809.pdf

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

This report informs Members of the developing Local Industrial Strategies (LIS) covering West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire and to outline where each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is with their LIS and the opportunities for City of York Council to engage with the development process.

Members considered a report which informed them of the developing Local Industrial Strategies (LIS) covering West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire. The reports also outlined where each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was with their LIS and the opportunities for the council to engage with the development process.

The Chair advised that the representative from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) had been invited but was unable to attend the meeting. The Chief Operating Officer for York, North Yorkshire and East Riding (YNYER) LEP, City of York Council (CYC) Corporate Director Economy and Place and CYC Head of Economic Growth were in attendance at the meeting to participate in discussions.

The Chief Operating Officer for YNYER LEP explained the background to LIS in the national context, noting the cross cutting themes regionally which included a focus on the natural assets in terms of two national parks, the heritage assets in York and the North Yorkshire coast.

The Head of Economic Growth noted the different foci of the two LEPs and advised that consultation would inform the draft LIS to be submitted to the government at Christmas. The Corporate Director for Economy and Place reported that officers had made sure that York was represented in both LEPs. He was asked whether there had been an assessment of the risk of being forced to choose one LIS and stated that officers were not in a position to respond but in terms of the approach to central government would be led by Member decision making. As part of this, Members would be fully advised as part of their decision making process.

The Chief Operating Officer for YNYER LEP advised that the future success of the York and North Yorkshire geography was dependent on relationships between Leeds and the Humber. Whatever the outcome of Member decisions, the strength of the relationship with Leeds and Humber was the best it could be in terms of collaboration on a number of projects. He added that businesses would operate where there were opportunities for business and that people would go where the jobs were irrelevant of drawn boundaries.

The Head of Economic Growth was asked if there were any local authorities in a similar position to York and he confirmed that there were other local authorities both LEPS or in two LEPs having to make difficult decisions.

In response to a question concerning the merger talks, the Chief Operating Officer for YNYER LEP stated that the merger talks continued positively and as devolution talks continued, the LEP merger talks would continue at a similar pace. It was important that the LIS recognised the distinctive characteristics of places. Regarding the timeline for the merger, both LEPS were to hold board meetings by end of November. The challenge for both LEPs was the need to make sure their governance arrangements were compliant.

The Head of Economic Growth was asked whether there was scope to widen participation in economic development, for example through the establishment of an economic development partnership board.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

This report informs Members of the work being done in York to support the growth of the city’s economy by promoting High Value Employment and Skills, Apprenticeships and Graduate Retention.

Members considered a report that informed them of the work being done in York to support the growth of the city’s economy by promoting High Value Employment and Skills, Apprenticeships and Graduate Retention. The University of York Director of Employability and Skills (also a member of the LEP Skills Board), the Head of Apprenticeships, York St John University, the CYC Assistant Director Education and Skills (also the Chair of Apprenticeship Strategy Council Board) and Vice Principal for Higher, Vocational and Professional Education at York College were all in attendance to take part in discussions. The Head of Economic Growth and Economic Growth Assistant were in attendance to present the report. The Economic Growth Assistant gave a presentation on High Value Employment and Skills.

It was noted that some employers found it difficult to utilise their apprentice levy and the Chair asked what the extent of this challenge was in York, what percentage of the levy was not spent on education and skills training in York and how the levy could be used to address middle skills. The Head of Apprenticeships, York St John University (YSJU) explained that at YSJU, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) had found it difficult to access higher and degree level apprenticeships because the Education and Skills Finding Agency gave non levy contracts to certain training providers which made it difficult for the SME community to engage with higher degree level apprenticeships. This would be changing over the next 12 months where any size employer would be able to access any training provider and any apprenticeship training provision they wish to. There would be a piece of work on this over the next 12 months from an education perspective to support SMEs to help SMEs engage, retain and recruit high level and high skill talent into their business.

The Head of Apprenticeships, York St John University was asked if the system was changing significantly so that if the barriers to access were taken away, whether businesses had opted out. She explained that there were pilot projects going through the system at the moment to test this with SMEs. It was not known whether these were real or perceived barriers for SMEs. The CYC Assistant Director Education and Skills explained that the council had been working through its business engagement officer to look at some of the barriers that SMEs faced in terms of taking on apprentices. She noted that apprentice take up internally at CYC was high. She explained the bureaucratic issues faced by SMEs with the apprenticeship levy transfer.

The Vice Principal for Higher, Vocational and Professional Education at York College reported that from Sept 2020 any employer that has an apprentice on the new standards rather than the previous frameworks was going to be responsible for organising and funding Assessors for the end point assessment, which may create a further barrier for SMEs. The CYC Assistant Director Education and added that it was important to understand the pattern of apprenticeships across the city as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To consider the work plan for the 2019/20 municipal year.

Members considered the Work Plan and after discussion agreed that it be updated to include the following items for consideration at future meetings:

Wednesday 13 November 2019

1.   Round table discussions around in-work poverty, gender pay gap and low-pay industries.

2.   Update of implementation of recommendations from Economic Health of York City Centre Scrutiny Review

3.   Work Plan 2019-20

Tuesday 10 December 2019

1.   Overview report from Highways Team

2.   2^nd Quarter Finance and Performance Monitoring Report.

3.   Apprenticeship and Skills Scoping Report

4.   Update of implementation of recommendations from York Residents’ Priority parking Scheme Scrutiny Review (slipped from November).

5.   Work Plan 2019-20

Resolved: That the above items for the Committee’s work plan for the 2019/20 municipal year be considered at the next meeting.

Reason:     To keep the Committee’s work plan updated.