Agenda item

To receive and consider a written report from the Leader and ask questions on the work of the Executive.

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:

Combined Authority and Regional

From Cllr J Burton: Can the Leader please provide a progress update on York Central since the last Council meeting in March, including possible changes to housing plans for the site?

Response: I was at York Central yesterday with the developers, the Chief Executive of Homes England, and the Combined Authority Mayor. Since November when the developers were selected and we’ve been having discussions with them, we’ve had very positive feedback from them responding to our vision and our hopes for the site, and the fact that it needs to deliver for the people of York. Up until that point many people doubted whether the development would go forward and give us the affordable, sustainable homes, good quality jobs, green space and biodiversity that we need. Many people didn’t have confidence in that at all. The developers are already engaging with local communities. The conversations I’ve had with them, and those with Executive Members and other partners in the city have all been consistent in wanting to push up, above policy, truly affordable housing on the site and Homes England very supportive of this. I’m really hopeful for the future of what the site looks like and think it will exceed our Labour Group expectations that we had when it got outline planning approval – I’m really optimistic.

Children, Young People and Education

From Cllr Healey: Your report mentions that the Council is currently developing a local youth strategy and you say that you recognise the value of good local youth provision, but you don’t mention that your administration’s changes to ward funding arrangements directly led to the loss of much-valued youth provision such as the Strensall Youth Club. Would you like to apologise to the young people who have been affected by your decision and explain how you will reinstate what has been needlessly lost?

Response: I cannot begin to think why it is that changes to the ward funding have affected a youth group, other than perhaps the decisions of councillors as to where they decide to award their money. Youth groups totally fit within the principles we are supporting, as many councillors in the chamber are supporting youth activities in their wards through their ward funding so it’s not something that I really recognise; what I do recognise is that the Council is really starting to up its involvement in youth activity across the city; the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire is also very committed to this. Our pipeline of projects includes youth activities, youth hubs, cultural passports, so given the position that youth work in the city has been in for a number of years I’m optimistic about an increase in provision. I’m sorry but I really don’t recognise what you’re talking about.

Supplementary from Cllr Fisher: I’m surprised you don’t recognise the problem we suffer in Strensall as far as youth provision is concerned. The Youth Club costs £12,000 a year to run, our ward funding has been reduced to £9,300, so that’s why we’ve not been able to do it. Could you suggest how we can make that money stretch further please?

Supplementary response: Ward funding is one aspect of funding going into communities, unfortunately it cannot stretch to paying for everything for everybody, and there are decisions that all 47 of us as councillors have to make as to how we best use our ward funding. I know there are examples across the chamber where elements of a service, if not necessarily all of it, can be funded through ward funding, and many services across the city have had to look at bringing in funding from other places, for example grant funds. We are working ceaselessly with our community organisations to help them do that. It would of course be fantastic to be able to fund everything 100% but unfortunately Council finances don’t stretch to that; we all know it, we’ve all said it a hundred times about why that is – we’re trying to balance the demands of every important service across the city; I hear the challenge, but we are all dealing with it.

Supplementary from Cllr Crawshaw: We know from Micklegate Ward that one of the issues with funding youth services from ward budgets is that it’s year-on-year, so people can’t recruit staff long-term, leading to gaps in provision. I believe the youth strategy that you’re bringing forward is designed to give longer-term certainty around funding for some of those youth services, and to think about a more strategic approach across the city rather than just a piecemeal offer for young people – could you elaborate a little bit?

Supplementary response: Absolutely. It was not too long in the past when youth services some of the sustainability you describe and could be relied upon in areas of our city right across the board; we need to move back to something that is more akin to that but in a way that we can afford. That means we need to work in partnership across city, which is what the youth strategy is all about, that strength-based, asset-based approach to youth work. There is some fantastic work going on in the city which we should all recognise celebrate. We are doing what we can in tough times and the youth strategy and partnership work offer a real way to move forward.

Our City, Our Community/Council Budget 2025-26 Consultation

From Cllr Steward: A few months ago the Deputy Leader said we were £40m short a city, can the Leader say to nearest £5m how much money she believes the Council should get from the new government?

Response: The medium-term financial strategy outlines that over the next three years we need to make savings of £30m in order to stand still. We have to do that. It would be lovely if an envelope arrived on my desk with £30m. We may get some of that money, I’ve asked for it, I’ve also asked for the fair funding review, in which there has been cross-party interest, to be reignited. I can’t commit to you at this point what the government will give to us. I’m sure that by autumn we will hear more, and I am keeping my fingers crossed. But we are in the queue with the health service, education, policing, roads and so on. We didn’t get the money from the previous government. I hope things will now be different, but I am not going to hold my breath on it for too long at this point in time.

Supplementary from Cllr Steward: I’m not asking the Leader to comment on behalf of the government, she’s not hit such heights as that yet, but from a Council point of view, how much would she like to see the government give to us in the next financial settlement? The Deputy Leader said that figure was just over £40m. What residents want to know is what does she as Council Leader think we as a city need now, from whoever is in power. How much would she like to see the government give the City of York, to the nearest £10m, in the next financial settlement?

Supplementary response: It would be irresponsible of me to put figure on that and say to people that we’re going to expect that income from the government. National finance is in such a poor state because his party left it like that and crashed the economy. We cannot give those numbers at this point in time, but I hope to be able to come back to you once the Autumn Statement comes out and tell you what we are being given. It is impossible to put a number on it now.

Supplementary from Cllr Rose: We are left to deal with all the problems in the country, but I think the real power in government that we have right now is not how much money we can receive from them. We’ve already talked about youth services; we know that the vast majority of our money is now spent on social care which wasn’t the case some years ago. What are your other hopes beyond the financial settlement, what else do you think the new government can do for us? What else do you hope to see?

Supplementary response: Looking at the Labour manifesto there are a lot of commitments around issues and programmes that the Council has started already that we will benefit from, because we’re in a great position with them, and that will help our budget as well. Breakfast clubs, free school breakfasts, childcare – we are ready to with that and have already spoken to the new Education Secretary about it. With other aspects such as youth work and the family hubs which have been so successful, we can really benefit. The fact that our Local Plan is coming through at the time it is, and the fact that we have got York Central online with the ability to deliver housing on that scale for the people of York, we can really benefit from fact that Labour wants to put so much into housebuilding. Our transport strategy is coming through, Executive Members are interested in bus franchising and are keen to see the renationalisation of railways. I think there is great opportunity.