Agenda item

To receive and consider a written report from the Leader on the work of the Cabinet, and the Cabinet recommendations for approval, as set out below:

 

Meeting	Date	Recommendations
Cabinet                       Cabinet	5 November 2013                     3 December 2013	Minute 68: Capital Programme – Monitor Two 2013/14   Minute 69: Travellers Site Provision – Extension of Osbaldwick Site         http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=7642&Ver=4   Minute 81: Consultation Response regarding Combined Authority   Minute 82: Improving Public Convenience Facilities across the City   http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=7643&Ver=4

 

A written report was received from the Cabinet Leader, Cllr James Alexander, on the work of the Cabinet.

 

A       Questions

 

Notice had been received of thirteen questions on the written report, submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders. The first two questions were put and answered as follows and Cllr Alexander undertook to provide Members with written answers to the remaining questions:

 

(i)        From Cllr Ayre

 

“Can the Cabinet Leader please provide evidence of the following: how many residents have been brought out of poverty as a result of City of York Council “investing in infrastructure and bringing developments forward” and how many residents have been brought off benefits and into well-paid work as a result of City of York Council “investing in infrastructure and bringing developments forward”? Could he break these down by the number of residents attributed to each scheme since 2011.”

 

The Leader replied:

“The Economic Infrastructure Fund (EIF) is a set of interrelated projects geared towards improving York’s economy by stimulating the creation of jobs.

 

Since the fund was created, investment has gone into Park and Ride to enable people to be able to get to work. Major businesses such as Hiscox and John Lewis have moved to the city, we’ve seen successful job fairs opening up opportunities for large number of unemployed people. We have seen one of the biggest apprenticeship schemes for years led by the council. Over 1000 people have moved into work and this is because of the priority that this Labour administration gives to jobs and growth.

 

It will be impossible to break down the figures you request by each scheme since 2011, as the Economic Infrastructure Fund was not agreed by full council until February 2012. Its use began in April 2012 following the start of the new financial year.

 

However I have some figures that may help. Here is the profile of the improvement in employment in York.

 

Date	No of York receiving out of work benefits	%age of York receiving out of work benefits	Comment
May 2003	9720	8.0	Lib Dems win York from Labour
May 2007	8990	7.1	Lib Dems remain in control with Conservative support
May 2010	10380	7.9	Conservative and Liberal Democrats form Coalition
May 2011	9860	7.5	Labour win York from Lib Dems
Feb 2012	10130	7.6	Labour establish EIF
May 2013	8810	6.6	Latest figures

 

Through this table you can see; Liberal Democrats left office in York with a higher number of York people receiving out of work benefits than when they started, the reduction under the Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition was less than the reduction since Labour won control of the council and the reduction has been stronger since the establishment of the EIF.

 

However please reflect on my comments about in work poverty. Despite dramatic reductions in people receiving key out of work benefits in York, the cost of living is rising faster than wages. Therefore in work poverty is a key issue.

 

This is why the Living Wage is so important. This has helped over 500 staff have their income levels improved.”

 

(ii)      From Cllr Cuthbertson

 

“Will the Cabinet Leader join me in condemning the last Labour Government for an economic failure that led to 10,840 people (8.3%) claiming out of work benefits in York in early 2010, and would he welcome the work of the Coalition Government to reduce this figure so significantly in such a short time?”

 

The Leader replied:

“Most people realise the global economic crisis that has affected the US, the UK, France, Italy, Germany and most nations was not the result of any one Government. It was caused by bad debts and a collapse of the banking system. The UK was particularly hit because we have recently relied on a quarter or so of our GDP from the financial services sector largely based in London.

 

There were 9,720 (8%) claiming out of work benefits when Labour last left office in York. This rose to the high point of 10,840 (8.3%) in May 2010 under the Liberal Democrats. This then dropped to 9,860 (7.5%) when Labour won control of the council in May 2011. Today this stands at 8,180 (6.6%) which is the lowest it has ever been since records began in November 2000.

 

I know you want to say this reduction is all down to the Conservative Liberal Democrat Government, but the facts speak for themselves. In York this reduction since Labour winning control of the council has been 1,050 people (0.9%). During the same period in Great Britain this drop has been 0.7% which brings the total national figure to 11.2%, which is almost double that in York.

 

York's speed in reducing the number of people receiving out of benefits to the lowest levels recorded is because we have a Labour administration in the council prioritising jobs and growth.

 

I do however welcome any help from any Government towards this city's economic journey.”

 

(iii)     From Cllr Hyman

 

“Does the Cabinet Leader agree with me that universities should do more than just “provide the courses for the current job market” and should offer a range of courses some of which will be directly related to the market, some of which will offer transferable skills, and some of which will be valuable in themselves?”

 

Reply:

“Yes.”

 

(iv)    From Cllr Runciman

 

“Can the Cabinet Leader please define his understanding of immorality in relation to unemployment and job vacancies?”

 

Reply:

“My apologies, I thought I had in my report. I believe that a person should have the right to a job, to receive income from their talents and their hard work to be able to look after themselves and their families without state intervention in a collective society. I believe very strongly it is wrong in this city and in any place that we have job vacancies that cannot be filled whilst people are unemployed. This is because employers cant find people with the skill set required and some potential employees are not trained in thee skills. It is up to us to ensure this gap is closed through both skills training and job fairs.”

 

(v)     From Cllr Reid

 

“The Council Leader in his report claims that the previous “Liberal Democrat council went to market with a master plan”. Will the Leader publish details of any attempt made by any previous York council to market this – or any other – site that they did not own and for which there was no planning permission and does he recall that the author of the “City Beautiful” report - which he supported - advocated seeking funding from sources such as Gaddafi’s Libya, to move the site forward during the period of economic recession?”

 

Reply:

“Below are some extracts from The Press over the years.

 

The Press, 31st December 2004: The civic leader pointed to several key projects for 2005 and said the new First York space-age "superbus" should be running in late summer and public consultation on the York Central masterplan should begin, in a development which would "guarantee the longer term prosperity" of the city and said it would boost affordable home provision.

 

The Press, 20th December 2005: In the only event of its type in the UK, North Yorkshire will host one of the biggest gatherings of the country's regeneration and property professionals. Projects like York Central, the biggest brownfield site in the city centre, and town centre redevelopments in Skipton and Catterick, will be on display. Representatives from more than 30 of the region's renaissance towns and cities will be on hand to share future development opportunities, business plans and visions for the future with investors and developers.

 

The Press, 11th January 2006: STEVE Galloway is right. The development of York Central could make the greatest impact on our city since the railways. As well as transforming a stagnating market town into a dynamic city, the railways imprisoned the area now known as York Central. With happy synchronicity, its release and redevelopment should provide a modern springboard to future prosperity. The scale, as set out in today's report to the city council, is unnerving. York Central is as big as the city centre. Save for a number of important railway buildings which should be preserved, it is a blank canvas. That is not only a wonderful opportunity, but a terrible responsibility. The masterplan drawn up over the next few years will determine whether prospective generations applaud our vision or curse our myopia.

 

The Press, 11th January 2006: A NEW bridge, major road closures and an improved public transport system are at the heart of a massive blueprint which could transform the landscape of York. Unveiled by city council chiefs, the York Central transport study advocates shutting Leeman Road to through traffic, building a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Ouse and putting more than 5,000 parking spaces in the 70-acre "Teardrop Site". Council leader Steve Galloway said the development was the biggest that York had seen since the introduction of the railways. The study, prepared by consultants Faber Maunsell, even gives City of York Council bosses the option of removing the bridge at Queen Street, building a new bus interchange in the heart of the city centre and making Holgate Park and Queen Street the only entrances to the York Central site.

 

The Press, 27th July 2006: Coun Ann Reid, the council's city strategy boss, said: "There are a number of sites, York Central and Terry's to name but two, on which we are consulting. Both of these are important sites in different ways and we want people's views."

 

The Press, 19th August 2008: SCORES of potential developers have flagged up their interest in investing more than £1 billion in York’s biggest ever development scheme. A spokeswoman for Network Rail, one of the organisations behind the York Central scheme, said the number of inquiries vindicated the decision to press ahead at this time with seeking a high-class development partner. She said the York Central team had always insisted that developers would still be interested in their project, despite the current economic problems, because it would provide a long-term regional development opportunity. She said the economy would have been through the cycle and revived by the time the project was under way. She said a shortlist of bidders for York Central should be prepared by the end of this year, with a preferred bidder identified by next spring and a planning application submitted by 2010, with the project likely to go ahead in several phases.

 

I do recall Professor Alan Simpson, a very nice man with some great ideas. But I did not agree with all elements of his report.

 

I am pleased real progress is finally being made on this site.”

 

(vi)    From Cllr Firth

 

“Could the Cabinet Leader outline in detail how the £10million from the Economic Infrastructure Fund will be spent on the York Central development?”

 

Reply:

“The Cabinet Paper agreed on 3rd December set out our initial assessment of impact on Jobs and Growth:

 

The total overall impact of the site on completion will be over 8,000 FTE (direct and indirect impacts through supply chains), and circa £599m increase per annum GVA (direct and indirect impacts).

 

Development of the site is likely to require over 6,700 construction jobs. The development will proceed in phases.

 

As the Cabinet Paper made clear, the recommendation was to “earmark” £10m from the Economic Infrastructure Fund for York Central, with £0.5m allocated immediately to advance the scheme in respect of support/technical work, and the remaining £9.5m subject to a more detailed report back to Cabinet in early 2014. That further detailed report to be presented to Cabinet, early in 2014 will set out the full financial implications, risks, technical details, aspects of phased development (and the mechanisms/legal relationship between the council and network rail for a profit-sharing approach. I have made the cabinet paper available for you here: http://tinyurl.com/labourgetsyorkcentral.”

(vii)    From Cllr Aspden

 

“Will the Cabinet Leader agree to publish in full the yearly unemployment numbers for York and the UK over the last 15 years and, in doing so, will he ensure that the changes made to the way in which the figures were derived are highlighted?”

 

Reply:

“I do not understand your question. Can you please clarify if your question is regarding the difference between unemployment and the numbers of people claiming job seeker's allowance? Perhaps you can email me and after you have clarified I can then try to get you the information you require.”

 

(viii)   From Cllr Orrell

 

“Can the Leader explain where the additional £4 million a year that York council taxpayers will be expected to contribute to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will come from?”

 

Reply:

“The council's budget comprising of Government funding through the formulae grant, taxation and commercial income.”

 

(ix)    From Cllr Ayre

 

“How many workers at City of York Council are employed by agencies?”

 

Reply:

“There were 56 external agency staff around the time the Liberal Democrats left office in York. Today there are 13 and by April 2014 all such work should be managed through the council’s own trading company.

 

Instead of paying extortionate amounts for external agency staff - that saw those individuals receive less than their co-workers, we set up our own employment agency which now sees staff receive a pension and the Living Wage. This also saves money to the taxpayer.”

 

(x)     From Cllr Aspden

 

“Does the Cabinet Leader support the proposals announced in the Autumn Statement to abolish employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for under 21-years-olds?”

 

 

Reply:

“Yes.”

 

(xi)    From Cllr Reid

 

“Why did the Labour administration, when they took office in 2011, stop the well advanced legal proceedings which were aimed at forcing the sale of 9 Bradley Drive, why has it take nearly 3 years for those proceedings to be restarted and what guarantee can the Leader offer that the compulsory purchase order will be granted within the next 6 months?”

 

Reply:

“Following advice, the council decided that the forced sale course of action was unviable as it was not possible to locate the debtor and declare him bankrupt. This is despite continual efforts to trace him through several tracing agents, which is the first step of this process.

 

The creation of the empty property strategy with the newly created role of Empty Property Officer provided the necessary resources for officers to consider and propose other forms of formal action.  Following a report by officers in July 2013, Cabinet made a decision that there was a good case to pursue a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).

 

Subsequently, officers have taken the necessary legal steps which resulted in the council submitting the order to the secretary of state for confirmation on the 28th November 2013. The length of time for the order to be confirmed will be dependent upon whether any objections are made. There are no guarantees to the process, however the council feel confident that the CPO is likely to be successful.”

 

(xii)    From Cllr Ayre

 

“Does the Cabinet Leader believe his comments on retail jobs are insulting to the sector and those employed in it?”

 

Reply:

“Not at all. I have worked in retail on Coney Street, Parliament Street, Piccadilly, Monks Cross and Clifton Moor. I apologise if you perceived any offence.”

 

(xiii)   From Cllr Ayre

 

“Can the Cabinet Leader provide evidence of the following: how many residents have been brought off benefits from each particular Economic Infrastructure scheme implemented - broken down by quarter from February 2012 to May 2013?”

 

 Reply:

“It is difficult to disaggregate economic stimulus measures the council, private sector and government are contributing to York's economic recovery. However I can provide the difference in figures for York over the period specified.

 

Date	York %
Feb 2012	7.6
May 2012	7.3
Aug 2012	7.2
Nov 2012	7.0
Feb 2013	7.0
May 2013	6.6

 

I can also provide figures for York before the Economic Infrastructure Fund was agreed by full council, but following the formation of the Conservative Liberal Democrat Government.

 

Date	York %
May 2010	7.9
Aug 2010	7.9
Nov 2010	7.7
Feb 2011	7.8
May 2011	7.5
Aug 2011	7.6
Nov 2011	7.4
Feb 2012	7.6

 

You will be able to tell by these figures that before the Economic Infrastructure Fund was agreed by full council, the reduction in number of York people receiving key out of work benefits reduced by 0.3%. Since then it has decreased by over 3 times as much. Our figures are now the lowest since records began and are almost half the Great Britain average (11.2%).

 

I believe that the Economic Infrastructure Fund is helping to pump prime private sector growth, and has also been a big shot in the arm for confidence in York's economy.”

 

B       Cabinet Recommendations

 

Capital Programme – Monitor One 2013/14

 

Cllr Alexander moved, and Cllr Simpson-Laing seconded the following recommendation contained in Minute 68 of the Cabinet meeting held on 5 November 2013:

 

Recommended:           That Council agree the adjustments in the Capital programme of a decrease of £4.611m in 2013/14 as detailed in the report and contained in Annex A.

 

Reason:                        To enable the effective management and monitoring of the Council’s capital programme.

On being put to the vote, the recommendation was declared CARRIED and it was

 

Resolved:                     That the above recommendation in respect of the Capital Programme – Monitor One be approved.^1.

 

Travellers Site Provision – Extension of Osbaldwick Site

 

Cllr Alexander moved, and Cllr Simpson-Laing seconded the following recommendations contained in Minute 69 of the Cabinet meeting held on 5 November 2013:

         

Recommended:    That Council give approval to:

 

  i)      Option 1 to provide financial support for the extension of the Osbaldwick Travellers Site.

 

ii)     A capital budget of £763.5k to be funded from external grant of £423.5k and prudential borrowing of £340k. ^2.

 

iii)    Note the prudential borrowing will be repayable from additional rental income and that the terms of the borrowing and repayments will be agreed by the Director of Customer & Business Support Services. 

 

Reason:              To ensure that the council plays an active role in meeting the long term accommodation needs of the travelling community.

 

On being put to the vote, the recommendations were declared CARRIED and it was

 

Resolved:                     That the above recommendations in respect of the extension of the Osbaldwick Travellers Site be approved. ^2.

 

 

Consultation Response regarding Combined Authority

 

Cllr Alexander moved, and Cllr Simpson-Laing seconded the following recommendations contained in Minute 81 of the Cabinet meeting held on 3 December 2013:

 

Recommended:That Council be recommended to:

i)             Welcome the publication of the Government consultation paper which invites the submission of views by Thursday 2 January 2014;

ii)            Endorse the proposed constitutional arrangements and functions of the Combined Authority as set out in the consultation paper;

iii)          Approve the proposed approach to responding to the consultation;

iv)      Authorise the Chief Executive (in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Leader) to make a formal response to DCLG confirming the Council’s support for the establishment of the Combined Authority and take such other steps as are considered appropriate to facilitate the preparation of the Order; and

iv)          Note the next steps and timetable and in particular that providing Government is satisfied that the proposals for a Combined Authority for West Yorkshire command wide local support and also meet the required statutory conditions, the Secretary of State will invite Parliament to approve the Order establishing the Combined Authority.

 

v)           Authorise further work and discussions with the Combined Authority regarding any legislative developments that would allow York to become a full member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority given the strong economic and transport case.

 

vi)          Authorise further work and discussions with the Combined Authority regarding the functional arrangements of the Combined Authority to ensure any changes in the medium to longer term are in York’s best interests.

 

Reason:     To allow the further development of the Combined Authority to ensure the future economic prosperity of York by accessing additional key transport funding opportunities.

 

On being put to the vote, the recommendations were declared CARRIED and it was

 

Resolved:  That the above recommendations in respect of proposals for a Combined Authority for West Yorkshire be approved. ^3.

 

Improving Public Convenience Facilities across the City

 

Cllr Alexander moved, and Cllr Simpson-Laing seconded the following recommendations contained in Minute 82 of the Cabinet meeting held on 3 December  2013:

 

Recommended:   i)      That Council be asked to allocate £663k capital funding to undertake the refurbishment of the toilets, this capital to be funded by annual payments from the existing revenue budget for public toilets.

ii)            That, subject to the agreement of Council, a contract be awarded to the contractor who won the procurement exercise for £62k per year for fifteen years reflecting the aspects set out in paragraph 7 of the report.

Reason:                        To create excellent public toilets for York.

On being put to the vote, the recommendations were declared CARRIED and it was

 

Resolved:  That the above recommendations in respect of the refurbishment of public convenience facilities across the city be approved.^4.