North Yorkshire County Council
Thirsk and Malton Area Constituency Committee
Minutes of the remote meeting held on Wednesday, 12th January 2022 commencing at 10.00 am.
County Councillor Caroline Goodrick in the Chair, plus County Councillors Val Arnold, Robert Baker, Lindsay Burr, Gareth Dadd, Janet Sanderson, Roberta Swiers and Greg White.
In attendance: County Councillor Carl Les.
Officers present: Gary Fielding, Louise Heaps and Melanie Carr.
Apologies: County Councillors Caroline Patmore, Peter Sowray and Helen Swiers.
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Copies of all documents considered are in the Minute Book
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Welcome by the Chair - Introductions & Updates
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting including the Leader of the Council and confirmed there were no updates to provide. Individual members present at the meeting introduced themselves.
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Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 December 2021
Resolved –
That subject to the addition of noting County Councillor Lindsay Burr’s apologies for the meeting, the Minutes of the previous meeting of the Thirsk and Malton Area Constituency Committee held on 3 December 2022, having been printed and circulated, be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.
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Apologies & Declarations of Interest
Apologies were received from County Councillor Caroline Patmore, and there were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.
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Public Questions or Statements
One public statement was received from Mr Ian Conlon, representing the 20s Plenty Campaign. In his absence, his statement was read out at the meeting as follows: ‘Councillors, may I suggest you discuss how you will communicate with the public and parishes your support for default 20mph requests. Your voters want default 20mph. · 58 Parish Councils in our County have voted for it, 9 in Ryedale, 10 in Hambleton. · NYCC have not consulted with either. · Parishes are your eyes and ears on the ground, and are reporting on going problems to you, with the expectation you act upon them. · 70% of voters support default 20mph in surveys, before AND after implementation. · The old NYCC policy, and if the Executive didn’t accept our recommendations for default 20mph yesterday, the new one too, frustrates active travel, excluding the most dangerous, fastest roads in settlements where default 20mph has the biggest impacts on road safety. · NYCC focus on casualty records for 3 years in each location, ignores the fact that 30mph speeds suppress active travel and community cohesion right across settlements. · Perception of danger, which the report ignores, is key, not just accident statistics. · Children at primary age can’t judge speed accurately. · Voters of all ages want to walk and cycle safely, throughout settlements. · Many counties have found that the current DfT guidance does allow them to set 20mph for most urban and village roads, without physical calming. · There is no specific requirement for physical calming if average road speeds beforehand are above 24mph. In the rural Scottish Borders trial, the fastest roads had speed reduced by 6mph, bringing most drivers within the enforcement threshold for 20mph. Schemes consistently show 20-30% accident reductions, 30% when main roads are included. Karl Battersby recently claimed accident reductions on NYCC roads in 2020 a lockdown year with far fewer vehicle miles: both rose again in 2021. · Speed is always a factor in accidents. · Being hit at 30mph is like falling 8.8m, likely to kill or seriously injure, where 20mph hardly ever does. · You need default 20mph as part of your new Road Safety Strategy of Action Zero for the zero fatalities and serious injuries ambition. · Default 20mph is quick win for net zero emissions target by 2030. Recent research models 25% reduced CO2 and NOx emissions. · With each fatality “costing” £2million, and serious injury £250,000, DfT stats, you can’t afford NOT to do this, · Default 30mph policy pays for itself in 8 months, then ongoing benefits at no extra cost.
Make 30mph the exception and 20mph normal in North Yorkshire towns and villages. Your voters want it.’
The Chair recorded her thanks to Mr Conlon for his submission. In response, she confirmed that if Councillors were asked to give their support to a formal request for a 20 mph zone, they would need to take account of their local knowledge to understand the key issues and problems, and any evidence gathered, before deciding whether it would appropriate to do so. What they could not do was give blanket support to all requests without taking account of the individual circumstances.
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County Council Budget Proposals 2022/23
Gary Fielding, Corporate Director for Strategic Resources gave a presentation on NYCC’s latest Budget & Mid Term Financial Strategy Forecasts, and Council Tax considerations, together with the associated risks and issues, which highlighted: · The provisional Local Government finance settlement · The extra funding made available since the last budget alongside new/additional pressures · The options for increasing the Council Tax base and Adult Social Care Precept Options – it was confirmed that the Council had the option of setting an overall increase of up to 4.49% · The year on year position based on the Council Tax options and associated cash shortfalls · The impact of Covid, the demand for services and price pressures · Market distress/collapse especially in adult social care · Inflation and pay pressures · The impact of LGR on workload · The lack of visibility post March 2023 and possible future austerity · The impact of future ASC funding reform · The need to provide a good start for the new Unitary Council · The next steps in the Budget process.
Gary Fielding also highlighted some specific financial issues affecting the Thirsk & Malton constituency area, which included: · School projections based on May 2021/22 Start budgets, including the number of schools in deficit and the value of those deficits · The increase in the number of schools in financial difficulty across the constituency area – it was noted primary schools were particularly affected due to a drop in pupil numbers. · A 12% rise in HAS contacts and a 13% rise in HAS referrals · A year on year decrease of 6% in reablement · A 42% increase in Living Well referrals overall between April and November 2021 · The nature of the care market and the cost of care across the constituency area – it was noted that 66% of all placements were above the Authority’s rate, and that there was insufficient choice and capacity · The ongoing/planned highways and transport schemes across the constituency area – maps were provided showing the coverage of the free wifi available in Malton and Thirsk
In response to Members’ questions, Gary Fielding confirmed: · The Authority negotiated a county-wide contract for the provision of energy to schools – Members noted the impact of the rising costs of energy for schools; · The savings to the cost of ASC as a result of the number of informal carers across the UK – it was agreed there was a need for a more long-term fundamental report of the care sector; · Work was ongoing to understand the assets and liabilities that would arise out of the formation of the new Unitary Council; · Each District Council currently had its own Council Tax support scheme and work was ongoing to bring them all together as part of the Council Tax harmonisation work stream;
County Councillor Gareth Dadd noted that previous concerns about the potential for a drop in payments of Council Tax, due to the pandemic, had not proved correct. He also suggested the most important budget consideration this year was how much to the increase Council Tax by in order to reduce the financial challenges ahead, balanced against residents’ propensity to pay.
County Councillor Carl Les confirmed a care sector recruitment campaign had been launched to help address some of the ongoing concerns around adult social care.
The Chair thanked Gary Fielding for his informative presentation and it was
Resolved – That the presentation and update be noted.
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Work Programme
Members considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) which contained the Committee’s current work programme for the remainder of the municipal year (2020/21).
On behalf of the Executive Member for Stronger Communities David Chance, County Councillor Greg White drew attention to a written update on the work of the Community Support Organisations across the constituency area, which he agreed to circulate to committee members after the meeting.
Resolved – That the work programme for the remainder of 2020/21 be noted.
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The meeting concluded at 11.50 am.