Agenda and minutes

Members of the Executive and Corporate Management Team introduced themselves, followed by other Councillors present at the meeting.

Resolved –

That the public Minutes of the meeting held on 23 May and 31 ay 2022, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chairman as a correct record.

County Councillor Michael Harrison declared a pecuniary interest in the Treasury Management section of the Qtr4 Performance Monitoring Report at Agenda item 5G, and agreed to leave the meeting room during discussion and decision taking for that sectiom of the report.

Gary Fielding Corporate Director for Strategic Resources declared an interest in Agenda item 7 as a Chair of the Interim Executive Committee for the school.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Melanie Carr of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Thursday 16 June 2022, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-

·            at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·            when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chairman who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no public questions or statements.

Recommendations - That the Executive:

a) Notes the outturn position for the County Council’s 2021/22 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.1.2 of the report

b) Notes the position on the GWB (paragraphs 2.4.1 to 2.4.3 of the report)

c) Notes the position on the ‘Strategic Capacity – Unallocated’ reserve (paragraphs 2.4.4 to 2.4.7 of the report)

d) Approves the top up of the LGR reserve to £38m as per business case (paragraph 2.5.1) and notes the position at paragraph 2.5.2 of the report.

e) Approves the request for £1.5m of one-off funding from the LGR Transitional Fund for a single Microsoft 365 platform for the new council as set out in paragraphs 2.5.4 to 2.5.5 of the report.

f) Delegates authority to the Corporate Director in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance, to approve subsequent “approved” bids from the LGR Transitional Fund as set put in paragraph 2.5.6 of the report.

g) Notes the performance of the Treasury Management operation during 2021/22 and the outturn position on Prudential Indicators

h) Notes the position on capital outturn as detailed in Appendices A to E of the report

i) Recommends to the County Council, the proposed carry forward to 2022/23 of the net capital underspend totalling £2.5m as set out in paragraph 4.14 of the report

j) Approves the financing of capital expenditure as detailed in paragraph 4.16 and Appendix F of the report.

k) Approves additional funding, in principle, to meet the conditions set by the DfE in relation to the delivery of a special needs Free School in Selby as detailed in paragraph 4.28 of the report.

Considered – A  joint  report  of  the  Chief  Executive  and  Corporate  Director  -  Strategic  Resources, bringing together key aspects of the County Council’s performance on a quarterly basis.

County Councillor Carl Les introduced the Quarter 4 performance monitoring and budget report, confirming the performance section provided an introductory focus on all of the ambitions of the County Council, for the benefit of the new County Councillors.

County Councillor David Chance presented the Executive performance report summary, confirming the performance report provided evidence of the Council’s continued strong performance despite COVID-19, and continued progress in delivering its wide-range of ambitions.

County Councillor Carl Les introduced each ambition and individual Executive Members highlighted a number of specific issues associated with the ambitions linked to their portfolio.

In regard to ambitions of ‘Leading for North Yorkshire’ and ‘Innovative and Forward Thinking’ County Councillor David Chance confirmed:

·          The rollout of free public wi-fi to 20 towns across the county, against an original target of 16; 

·          The growing percentage of the County’s business and residential properties with Superfast broadband (93.4%);

·          The continued support for communities as they continued to respond to and recover from the pandemic;

·          The continued support for the delivery of the Household Support Fund, to address the rising food, energy and essential living costs;

·          Over 300 Ukrainian guests were being supported by their sponsors and NYCC to access immediate funds, support and essential services;

·          £1.7m in savings delivered through the new ways of working;

·          Staff working from home had led to significant reductions in staff travel and printing costs;

·          Social media and website usage continued to return towards pre-pandemic levels;

·          An increase in staff illness including Covid related illnesses,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Recommendations – That:

(a)  The issues listed above in section 9 have been satisfied and there can be a determination of the proposals.

(b) The following proposals be determined:

i) To cease to maintain Weaverthorpe CE VC Primary School with effect from 31 August 2022.

ii) To expand the catchment area of Luttons Community Primary School from 1 September 2022, to include the current Weaverthorpe School catchment area; with the exception of the current joint catchment area of Weaverthorpe and Hertford Vale CE Primary Schools (serving Butterwick), which will remain part of Hertford Vale’s catchment area

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director for Children & Young People’s Services seeking approval to cease to maintain Weaverthorpe Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School with effect from 31 August 2022, together with the future arrangements for the School’s current catchment area.

County Councillor Annabel Wilkinson introduced the report, providing an overview to the background of the school that had led to the proposal.  She also confirmed the consultation that had taken place and the one response received from the local Parish Council.  Having thanked all those who had tried to save the school, she confirmed that the only option now available was to close the school.

County Councillor Carl Les confirmed the Executive never took a decision of that nature lately, but agreed that in this instance it was regrettably the appropriate way forward.

All Executive members voted in favour of the recommendation and it was

Resolved – That:

(a)   The issues listed in section 9 of the report had been satisfied and therefore the proposals could be determined.

(b)   The following proposals be determined:

i)   Weaverthorpe CE VC Primary School cease to be maintained with effect from 31 August 2022.

ii) The catchment area of Luttons Community Primary School be expanded from 1 September 2022, to include the current Weaverthorpe School catchment area; with the exception of the current joint catchment area of Weaverthorpe and Hertford Vale CE Primary Schools (serving Butterwick), which would remain part of Hertford Vale’s catchment area

Recommendation:

That the Executive notes the report and gives approval to move forward with further consultation as set out in the table at paragraph 6.1 of the report.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director for Children & Young People’s Services providing an update from the feedback of the first consultation in relation to proposals to cease residential provision at Brompton Hall School and extend the designation of the school to co-educational.

County Councillor Annabel Wilkinson introduced the report which detailed the finding from the 34 responses to the first consultation, noting that 30% of them had been from parents and carers, 65% had agreed the designation of Brompton Hall School should be changed to co-educational, and 64% had disagreed with the proposal that residential should be phased out.

Member noted:

·         There was still significant interest in maintaining some residential care but accepted there was a lack of demand for it.

·         The proposed second consultation would run from 22 June to 8 September 2022, after which time a further report would be brought to the Executive.

Having noted the report, Executive Members

Resolved – To move forward with further consultation as set out in the table at paragraph 6.1 of the report.

Recommendations – That it be recommended to County Council that :

a)     A new overview and scrutiny committee is constituted for the period July 2022 to March 2023, whose role and remit is to be scrutiny of significant decisions made by the Executive regarding the creation of the new unitary authority.

b)    The proposed amendments to the Constitution regarding the Looked After Children’s Members’ Group and the Contract Procedure Rules be adopted

Considered  - A report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) proposing changes to the overview and scrutiny arrangements during the period July 2022 to March 2023 and other (minor) changes to the Constitution.

County Councillor David Chance introduced the report, which detailed the three available options for overview and scrutiny of the large number of significant decisions that would be made by the Executive in the lead up to the creation and implementation of the new unitary authority. 

He also drew attention to two proposed minor changes to the Constitution i.e. a change of name for the Members’ group currently identified in the Constitution as the ‘Looked After Children’s Members’ Group’, and a minor amendment to the Contract Procedure Rules to allow the Assistance Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) to delegate gateway approvals to other officers to ensure speedy responses to requests.

Members noted the feedback for the Constitutional Working Group on the proposals and having considered the recommendations in the report, it was

Resolved – That it be recommended to County Council that:

a)     A new overview and scrutiny committee be constituted for the period July 2022 to March 2023, whose role and remit was to scrutinize the significant decisions made by the Executive regarding the creation of the new unitary authority.

b)    The proposed amendments to the Constitution regarding the Looked After Children’s Members’ Group and the Contract Procedure Rules be adopted

Recommendations – That:

i.      The Executive approve the creation of the 7 Cross Party Working Groups identified in paragraph 3.2 of the report;

ii.     All Political Groups in the Council appoint relevant members onto the Groups;

iii.    The Groups report back their findings and recommendations to the Executive (and/or relevant Scrutiny Committee) as appropriate;

Considered - A report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) presenting proposals for engaging with members on the necessary decision making processes that were needed prior to vesting date.

County Councillor David Chance introduced the report which detailed a proposal to enable greater member engagement in the work to deliver the aims identified in the North Yorkshire (Structural Changes) Order 2022 Case for Change.

Attention was drawn to remits of the seven proposed working groups listed in paragraph 3.2 of the report, and the planned informal working arrangements for those groups;

Members queried how the District Council functions not covered by those remits would fit and it was confirmed that a number of District Council services e.g. Street Scene would simply be lifted and shifted to the new Council following vesting day.  It was also noted the Member Working Groups would sit alongside the officer led working groups leading on the LGR work streams.

Cllr Bryn Griffiths suggested that each Member Working Group should be made up of 9 Councillors and not 10.  He also questioned whether a Working Group focussed on achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2030 might be helpful.

In response, it was confirmed that the work of the Member Working Groups would be focussed only on immediate transitional issues that needed addressing in preparation for vesting day, and not on Council’s medium to long-term ambitions.

All Executive members voted in favour of the report recommendations, and it was

Resolved - That:

i.      The creation of the 7 Cross Party Working Groups identified in paragraph 3.2 of the report be approved;

ii.     All Political Groups in the Council appoint relevant members onto the Groups;

iii.    The Groups report back their findings and recommendations to the Executive (and/or relevant Scrutiny Committee) as appropriate;

Karl Battersby, Corporate Director for Business, Environmental and Economy Services introduced the agenda item confirming that work was still ongoing to prepare a bid to submit to the Levelling Up fund, and that a full report containing up to date information would be ready for the Executive’s consideration at its next meeting on 5 July 2022.

Resolved – that the agenda item be deferred to the next meeting of the Executive on 5 July 2022

Considered –

The Forward Plan for the period 13 June 2022 to 30 June 2023 was presented.

Resolved -   That the Forward Plan be noted.