Agenda item

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

A. Executive Leader’s Report

A written report was received from the Executive Leader, Cllr Carr on the work of the Executive.

Members were then invited to question Cllr Carr on his report and questions were received from the floor from the following Members in relation to the subjects listed:

·        Cllr Derbyshire – reference to devolution but no mention of mention local plan in the report.

·        Cllr Taylor – how York was planning to commemorate 60^th anniversary of twinning of city with Munster

·        Cllr Looker – regional working and LEPs – discussions re dualling of outer ring road. Supplementary question from Cllr D’Agorne regarding available LEP funding towards public transport projects.¹

·        Williams – vision for devolution and need for cross party working

Cllr Carr responded directly to all the questions put to him, including supplementary questions, but agreed to respond in writing to the supplementary question from Cllr D’Agorne.¹

B Executive Recommendations

Shared Ownership Affordable Housing Programme

Cllr Carr moved and Cllr Aspden seconded the following recommendation contained in Minute 161 of the Executive Meeting held on 18 May 2017

Recommended:           That Council agrees a budget of £5.52m for the scheme funded from the HCA grant (£2.76m) and the HRA investment reserve (£2.76m).

Reason:              So that the Council can formally accept the HCA investment and deliver this affordable home ownership programme as part of the Council’s ambition to deliver a wider range of tenure products to meet the housing needs of the city.

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

Resolved: That the above recommendation in respect of the funding of the Shared Ownership Affordable Housing Programme, be approved. ²

Capital Programme Outturn

Cllr Carr moved and Cllr Aspden seconded the following recommendations contained in Minute 13 of the Executive meeting held on 29 June 2017

Resolved: That the Executive recommend to Full Council the restated 2017/18 to 2021/22 programme of £252.615m as summarised in Table 3 and detailed 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 funding of the Capital Programme Outturn, be approved.

York Central Update and Partnership Agreement

Cllr Carr moved and Cllr Aspden seconded the following recommendation contained in Minute 25 or the Executive meeting held on 13 July 2017.

Resolved: That the Executive recommends to Council that a budget of £37.4m be approved for the York Central Transport improvements funded from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund grant.

Reason:     To ensure the delivery of York Central and to ensure that a range of access options have been considered.

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

Resolved: That the above recommendation in respect of the funding of the York Central Update and Partnership Agreement, be approved. ³

Proposed York Outer Ring Road Improvement – Approach to Delivery

Cllr Carr moved and Cllr Aspden seconded the following recommendation contained in Minute 26 of the Executive meeting held on 13 July 2017.

Resolved: That the Executive proposes to full Council that a budget of £34.2m be approved for the York Outer Ring Road improvements funded from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund grant.

Reason:     To confirm the detailed allocation within the budget for the delivery of the Outer Ring Road Upgrade scheme in accordance with the previous Council Decision taken in December 2016.

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

Resolved: That the above recommendation in respect of the Proposed Outer Ring Road Improvement – Approach to Delivery, be approved.⁴

Establishing an Investment Budget for a Strategic Commercial Property Acquisition

Cllr Carr moved and Cllr Aspden seconded the following recommendation contained in Minute 27 of the Executive meeting held on 13 July 2017.

Resolved: That the Executive recommends to full Council:-

(i) the establishment of a capital budget of £15m, to be financed initially from borrowing, to fund the acquisition of freehold interest in a portfolio of city centre commercial property assets; and

(ii) to agree that any future capital receipts not currently assumed in the Capital strategy, be allocated to fund the purchase, thereby reducing in time the associated borrowing related to the investment. This will be updated in capital monitor reports in the future.

Reason:     To ensure the ongoing economic vibrancy of the city centre and increase the income from the council’s commercial property portfolio in order to achieve budget targets.

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

Resolved: That the above recommendation in respect of Establishing an Investment Budget for a Strategic Commercial Property Acquisition be approved.⁵