Agenda item

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

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

Members were then invited to question the Leader on her report.  Questions were received from the floor from the following Members in relation to the subjects listed, and replied to as indicated:

Council Finances

From Cllr Pearson: Can the Leader please confirm whether or not every primary school child in York will be receiving a free school meal by the end of this council term?

Response: We are absolutely committed to doing that and we will do it over a period of time within our financial responsibilities. We are bringing together the city institutions, large employers, faith groups, media partners, who are all very keen to run a city wide campaign that will actually deliver on this. I would ideally hope that we’ll be able to give every primary school child in York, by the end of the term, a free school meal but I will not commit to spending money that we haven’t got, it’s a long term project.  

Supplementary from Cllr Pearson: Shall I just take that as a no then?

Response: We are working towards it.

From Cllr Hollyer: At a Full Council meeting before the election, Cllr Kilbane stated that all the funding for preschool meals was in place with a specific source of funding identified, what happened to that money?

Response: Cllr Kilbane did not say it was fully funded. What he said was that we have some partners who’ve committed to giving us some funding for it, and we still have those. Those people are part of our steering group.

Supplementary from Cllr Mason: Is there any concern about relying on fundraising as a long-term source to make this sustainable?

Response: We are going to have an ongoing fundraising campaign that doesn’t just commit to fundraising free school meals, it’s going to be a York fund that will allow us to deliver other projects as well. We don’t actually have the money within the local authority to do this on our own anymore, and we are relying on the good will of our city to support us to reach our ambitions.

From Cllr Warters: The Leaders report discusses the council finances. Why are we paying to hire this room tonight, how much is this costing? How was the renovation of the Guildhall allowed to balloon from £1m to £25.5m under the last administration?

Response: It’s costing us £1200. We are looking for a fully accessible venue and the Guildhall simply isn’t one at this point of time because blue badge holders can’t get close to the Guildhall at the right time or stay parked close to the Guildhall for more than 3 hours. When we review city centre access we will be able to go back to the Guildhall, and it won’t cost us anything. We will be reviewing all the capital projects to make sure they are on target and they are delivering on the priorities of the city.

Supplementary from Cllr Rowley: Regarding hiring of venues, has a feasibility study being done on the council chamber as to the cost to make that space fit for purpose, and if so, whether the costings would mean that over the four years we would save?

Response: I don’t believe that we fully understand the cost of renovating the chamber. It is a very precious resource but it does need to be made accessible for everybody before we can move back in there. We would dearly love to be able to do that but this gets harder as our budgets are stretched further. We will let you know once we have had the opportunity.

From Cllr Rose: Can you explain the difference between spending out of one-off reserves versus not spending out of one-off reserves within a balanced budget.

Response: If we don’t set sensible budgets then every year we have an overspend that has to be filled within year or it’s paid for from one-off payments. Those one off payments, to balance the budget, have been doubling every year for the past three years, so now of course we are getting worried. We took £5m from reserves last year to put into balancing the budget, if it doubles again that’s £10m, we’re in trouble. We need to take this seriously and this is why I’ve asked to sit down and speak to Councillor Ayre.

B – Executive Recommendations

Cllr Douglas moved, and Cllr Kilbane seconded, the following recommendations contained in Minute 24 and Minute 28 of the Executive meeting held on 14 September 2023:

Minute 30: Approval of the Council Plan 2023- 2027

Recommended:

(i)           That Council consider the Council Plan for final approval on 21 September 2023.¹

Reason:   The Council Plan guide the council’s priorities, providing a framework for financial and performance management, including dealing with competing demands and defining a programme to ensure best-value for residents.

Minute 31: Capital Programme Monitor 1 2023/24

Recommended:

(i)           That Council make the appropriate adjustments to the Capital Programme resulting in a decrease in the 2023/24 budget of £135.903m, as detailed in the report and contained in the Abbreviated Monitor 1 Annex.²

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

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

Resolved:  That the above recommendations be approved. ^1,2