Agenda item

Questions to the Executive Leader and Executive Members received under Standing Order 10(c)

Meeting of Council, Thursday, 28 June 2007 6.35 pm (Item 22.)

To deal with the following questions to the Executive Leader and / or other Executive Members, in accordance with Standing Order 10(a):

(i) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Vassie:

“Can the Executive Member report on the success of the relaunched Yozone card?”

[Deferred from the meeting on 12 April 2007 as the guillotine had fallen.]

(ii) To the Executive Member for Adult Social Services, from Cllr Fraser:

“In the light of continuing failures to maintain services to customers reliant on Home Care, and the recent decision to re-tender part of the contract in the West locality, will the Executive Member for Adult Social Services take responsibility for the inadequate implementation of her decision to reorganise the service?”

[Deferred from the meeting on 12 April 2007 as the guillotine had fallen.]

(iii) To the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion, from Cllr Gunnell:

““Will the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion explain why the young people of Strensall and Haxby feel excluded?”

[Reworded question submitted in place of one deferred from the meeting on 12 April 2007 as the guillotine had fallen.]

(iv) To the Executive Leader, from Cllr Potter:

“What action is being taken to ensure that the LPSA2 targets relating to violent crime, vehicle interference, reducing the reporting of noise nuisance and people feeling free from crime and violence will be met so that grant income can be maximised and reinvested into community safety?”

(v) To the Executive Leader, from Cllr Holvey:

“Would the Leader confirm the current levels of unemployment in the City and compare them with rates over the last few years? Would he provide information on how wage levels are changing in the City and particularly with regard to the traditionally low paid sectors?”

(vi) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Simpson-Laing:

“Will the Executive Member for City Strategy promise to undertake a review of the Council’s Conservation Team in light of the known and expected development that is to come forward in the City over the next decade?”

(vii) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Simpson-Laing:

“Can the Executive Member for City Strategy explain why the City’s Variable Message Signs are not being used to promote modal shift, report on Air Quality and advertise Council Transport Campaigns?”

(viii) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Simpson-Laing:

“Would the Executive Member for City Strategy join with me in welcoming the Government's latest initiatives on Climate Change, which called for Local Authorities to adopt their own local strategies and inform members when she expects the first papers to go to City Strategy?”

(ix) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr D’Agorne:

"In the light of the 'Future York' recommendations on dualling of the outer ring road, will the Executive Member provide its members and new council members with the Executive summary of the Halcrow Outer Ring Road study, reported to EMAP on July 6th 2005? Could she advise us what has changed since the conclusion of this report (commissioned by the council) that 'The full dual option results in similar time user benefits to that of upgrading roundabouts... but has a much lower benefit to cost ratio'?”

(x) To the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, from Cllr Potter:

“Can the Executive Member inform Council what plans are being put in place to ensure the roll out of recycling to terraced and flatted areas, and hard to reach properties in the City, in order that residents who live in these types of properties receive a recycling service that is equitable with the rest of the City?”

(xi) To the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, from Cllr Potter:

“Will the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services ensure that there are staff available to deal with any raised alarms in public disabled toilets, as currently if any alarm is triggered when ‘mitie’ are not on site there is no-one available to deal with the issues as there is no set procedure in relation to one of the alarms being activated?”

(xii) To the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, from Cllr Taylor:

"Would the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services agree with me that the Government's Gambling Act of 2005 is both a hurried and hazardous piece of legislation. In light of the recent tragedy related to gambling and the Executive Member's comments in the media in relation to this man's death, would he support a ‘no casino clause’ if brought forward to Full Council?"

(xiii) To the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion, from Cllr Orrell:

“Would the Executive Member tell me about the number of applications received for YorKash, and whether he hopes it will be a successful year for the scheme?”

(xiv) To the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion, from Cllr Fraser:

“Would the Executive Member outline one ambition for his coming year in office?”

(xv) To the Executive Member for Housing, from Cllr Hyman:

“Would the Executive Member confirm what progress has been made over the last few years in bringing Council housing in the City up to “decent homes” standard and would she compare this performance with that of other Councils in the region?”

(xvi) To the Executive Member for Adult Social Services, from Cllr Hogg:

“Could the Executive Member comment on any success that the Council may have had recently in encouraging vulnerable residents to claim the benefits to which they are entitled?”

Minutes:

In accordance with Standing Order 10(c)(i), the following questions had been put and the following written responses had been given, as set out on the list circulated around the Council Chamber:

(i) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Vassie:

“Can the Executive Member report on the success of the relaunched Yozone card?”

[Deferred from the meeting on 12 April 2007 as the guillotine had fallen.]

“The 'YOzone roadshow' has visited 9 state secondary schools in York, plus Bootham School & Tadcaster Grammar. I am pleased to be able to report that there are now 5,300 valid YOzone cards in circulation with just over 3,500 of these are the new-style cards launched in March 2007. This equates to a take up of around 50%.

Yozone cards are available from St Leonard’s Place during normal office hours and full details are available on the Council’s website.”

(ii) The question to the Executive Member for Adult Social Services, from Cllr Fraser had been withdrawn.

(iii) To the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion, from Cllr Scott:

“Will the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion explain why the young people of Strensall and Haxby feel excluded?”

[Reworded question submitted in place of one deferred from the meeting on 12 April 2007 as the guillotine had fallen.]

“I am very sure that the majority of young people in Strensall and Haxby are far from excluded as implied by the question but are actively engaged and involved with a range of community and leisure activities. The Youth Service, supported by both local Ward Committees, is active in the areas and has a developing range of provision.

It is unclear what issue or group of young people Cllr Scott is referring too, however if he would like to inform me of a particular concern I would be more than happy to work alongside him, the ward councillors and the Youth Service to investigate.”

(iv) To the Executive Leader, from Cllr Potter:

“Safer York Partnership are leading on delivering the LPSA targets for Violent Crime and Vehicle Crime.

There has been a national increase in wounding incidents which contribute to the violent crime stretched target. The definition of violent crime has also changed during the recording period. This change makes it unlikely that any authority will achieve this element of the LPSA target. The numbers of incidents in the City is has been stable and, very recently, has started to show a downward trend.

The vehicle interference stretched target is also unlikely to be achieved despite there being reductions in incidents from the baseline set in 2003/04. However this element accounts for only 5% of the vehicle crime total target so there is little effect on the £327,919 reward grant available from this section of the LPSA agreement. The expectation is that Neighbourhood Policing will impact on the 492 instances of vehicle interference reported last year.

It is anticipated that the targets for reducing burglaries, the theft or unauthorised taking of a vehicle, theft from a vehicle and the percentage of illegal sales detected through our test purchase programme will all be achieved whilst overall crime has decreased by 8% in the last year.

The profile of noise nuisance (specifically noisy neighbours) was raised considerably throughout 2006/07. There was a great deal of publicity following the launch of the night time noise enforcement service which has been warmly welcomed by residents. One consequence of this media activity is that the perception that noise is a significant problem was placed in the minds of residents. To some degree therefore we are victims of our own success here. The expectation is that the noise nuisance team will gradually weed out the persistent noise producers reducing the number of repeat reports. Unfortunately this is unlikely to happen sufficiently quickly to impact on the current year’s public perception outturn.

The number of people who feel that York is a safe place in which to live has increased to 53% in 2006/07 compared with 50.6% in 2005/06. This is another perception measure which are notoriously slow to change dramatically.

A decision has already been taken to financially reward partners for their work in contributing to the successful achievement of targets where this is appropriate.”

(v) To the Executive Leader, from Cllr Holvey:

“I am pleased to advise members that our unemployment numbers have remained remarkably stable over the last 4 years. Despite the much publicised and worrying reductions in employment numbers in the manufacturing sector, unemployment levels in the City have fallen from a February 06 high.

I am also pleased to report that using central governments preferred statistical base the earnings of the lowest paid 25% of our population has increased significantly faster than inflation over the last recorded 12 month period. While some caution should be exercised, as these figures refer to those in employment and are not therefore a reliable indicator on their own of relative poverty levels in the City, the trends taken together, suggest that the modernisation of the York economy is beginning to bring benefits for all sections of our community.

(vi) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Simpson-Laing:

“As the member will be aware the need to properly resource key activities within the Strategy Directorate, to allow for prompt attention to be given to any development proposals, which may emerge from the new availability of brownfield sites for commercial, leisure and housing purposes in the City, has already been highlighted by the Council Leader. The York Future report also makes the same point. I would expect that the Director would bring forward such proposals as he considers necessary to address this issue in a timely way. However, members will be aware that the total expenditure of the Council continues to be limited by central government policy and, therefore, that any increase in costs in one activity area will have to be compensated by a corresponding reduction in costs elsewhere.

Recruitment is currently taking place for the 2 vacancies in the Conservation team.”

(vii) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Simpson-Laing:

“The answer is simple. - we are not allowed to use them for any other purpose than informing drivers of traffic conditions or preventing danger.

Other messages do not fall within the Department for Transport rules that authorise us to use VMS in York. We are also required to have a system that records the messages that we use so that these message can be audited if necessary.

Indeed, when these signs were used for a short period to warn drivers to safeguard their Satellite Navigation equipment from theft, the Council received a sharp rebuke from DfT in Leeds!”

(viii) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr Simpson-Laing:

“As the member will be aware, the 4 Group Leaders have already addressed this issue as part of the Policy Prospectus which emerged from discussions about the Council’s future political management arrangements. The agreement was ratified by the Executive on 12^th June. I understand that the approved timetable shows that a policy review document, or documents, covering Climate Change strategy, will be tabled before September.”

(ix) To the Executive Member for City Strategy, from Cllr D’Agorne:

“The executive summary to the Halcrow report is available on the Council’s website as Annex 1 to the Outer Ring Road Study Report to the 6 July Planning and Transport EMAP meeting (note: date of meeting on the website is identified as 28 June).

The study identified that in terms of journey time savings the benefit to cost ratio of the roundabout enhancement proposal was higher than the full dualling and grade separation option. This was mainly due to similar predicted time savings but substantially higher costs for the dualling option. It should be noted that the dualling option assumed that all sections were dualled and all roundabout junctions grade separated – further work may refine the requirement to enhancing capacity at limited sections only.

The study concentrated on the congestion benefits of the upgrade and not the economic regeneration benefits which may arise e.g from the redevelopment of the York Central and British Sugar sites.

The dualling option would lead to the largest reduction in citywide travel time relative to do-nothing projections but could lead to additional trips being generated.

There have been a number of transport related issues since the study was completed which may have an affect on the conclusions of the report.

· The final LTP submitted in March 2006 including a proposal to enhance access to the city by providing additional Park and Ride capacity and bus priorities and upgrading sections of the Outer Ring Road. This proposal is the subject of current investigation.

· The LTP funding which was confirmed in December 2005 is substantially lower than was anticipated at the time the report was written.

· The Highways Agency Hopgrove Roundabout improvement scheme has not progressed as rapidly as expected due to rising costs and funding constraints.

· The transport model has been refined to take better account of the effect of public transport provision.

· The emergence of additional large developments at British Sugar and Nestle which were not considered in the original modeling.

· The landowners of the York Central site are reviewing their development strategy to take account of the British Sugar site.

· The approved layout of other large developments at Derwenthorpe, Germany Beck, the University and Terry’s need to be incorporated into the model

· The emergence of the Regional Transport Board as the mechanism for determining regional priorities and advising the DfT on the distribution of funding.

· The emergence of the Leeds City Region and its transport vision of improving connectivity between main population centres.

· The emergence of the Leeds City Region and its transport vision of improving connectivity between main population centres.”

(x) To the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, from Cllr Potter:

“The objective of this administration has been to expand recycling collections as rapidly as funding allows for additional services to be rolled out, notwithstanding the ever increasing burden of Landfill Tax which draws four times more money from the city than is returned in grants for recycling.

Already 11,000 properties on terrace collection rounds receive recycling collections, and I was grateful for the support of all parties at the June 7th Neighbourhood Services EMAP for the continued support for the Friends of St Nicholas Field collection service. I hope that the other parties will support my objective in getting the growth bid mentioned in the report for the 2008/09 budget. Officers will be presenting a report by the end of September as stated in the Group Leaders’ Policy Prospectus on the LATS position of the council which will include options for members to consider regarding additional recycling services together with a financial assessment of the costs of taking these next steps. It would be helpful to know if the Labour Party's view is in favour of Alternate Weekly Collection equality with the rest of the city?”

(xi) To the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, from Cllr Potter:

“I have referred this issue to the Social Inclusion Working Group as there needs to be careful consideration of resources, and details of instances where this has been a problem and the appropriate way of ensuring assistance is available. City of York Council does not operate this part of the service any differently to the local authorities that we have benchmarked against, and is in line with the guidance from the British Toilet Association.”

(xii) To the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, fromCllr Taylor:

“The Government’s insistence on expanding the number of casinos in the Gambling Act has been rushed, and produced one of only three defeats of secondary legislation in the House of Lords since 1945 as testimony to the divisive natures of the moves. I believe that the ‘no casino clause’ should be examined when the council reviews its’ Gambling Policy as it has to within three years of Full Council’sapproval of the existing policy.”

(xiii) To the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion, from Cllr Orrell:

“Would the Executive Member tell me about the number of applications received for YorKash, and whether he hopes it will be a successful year for the scheme?”

“The YorKash Panel was recruited through a postcard campaign that went through all secondary schools and youth service and voluntary projects. Following publicity for the scheme 75 applications were received last year – an increase from the previous three years.

I know that that the YorKash Panel are currently visiting some of the successful projects and making a DVD. This will help to continue to increase the success of the scheme.”

(xiv) To the Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion, from Cllr Fraser:

“Would the Executive Member outline one ambition for his coming year in office?”

“I am looking forward to working with a wide range of people and community groups as Executive Member for Youth and Social Inclusion. It is vital that the Council continues to promote good community relations, whereby no one is disadvantaged or suffers because of discrimination.

Many developments, such as the revised Social Inclusion Working Group, the new Children and Young People’s Champion and the recent equalities conferences, build on the Council’s progress in this area. Moving towards the next level of the Equality Standard for Local Government will further help – and one ambition will be to oversee the annual review of the Equalities Strategy to ensure this.”

(xv) To the Executive Member for Housing, from Cllr Hyman:

“York has made excellent progress in bringing Council housing up to decent homes standard. York is in the top quartile of all the councils in England. The service remains on target to meeting the decent homes target by 2010. As at 1^st April 2006, only 12.78% of our council housing stock was “non decent” – using central government terminology. By 1^st April 2007 this had reduced to 9.80%. The target for 2006/07 was to reduce the number of non-decent homes to 810, but performance exceeded expectations and the actual number was reduced to 793.

(xvi) To the Executive Member for Adult Social Services, from Cllr Hogg:

“Could the Executive Member comment on any success that the Council may have had recently in encouraging vulnerable residents to claim the benefits to which they are entitled?”

“Following the merger of the financial assessment team and the charging unit within HASS along with the transfer of the social care benefits advice team from Resources, a benefits check was undertaken on 800 customers receiving non residential care services via the Council. As a result 310 customers have received an increase in the amount of benefits claimed and a total of £800k is involved. To give you an example, one couple are now £161.40p a week better off.”