Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Carl Les introduced everyone to the meeting.

Resolved –

That the public Minutes of the meeting held on 7 February 2023, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

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 9 February 2023, 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.

One public question was submitted by Mrs Anne Seex in regard to agenda item 7 as follows:

The report on this agenda about devolution says 

‘It would be appropriate to decide not to submit the Scheme and Consultation Summary if it was felt that the consultation process has not been robust….

The quality assurance provided by the Consultation Institute to date suggests that the consultation process has been robust.’

This is a case of a private company ‘marking its own homework’ and the Executive should look further before accepting that there has been ‘consultation’ and that it has been ‘robust’.

The exercise would be better described as ‘marketing’ the information to the public was purely promotional and omitted important contextual information such as:

•   the only elected position on the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) will be the Mayor.

•   York City Council, population 211,000, will appoint 2 Councillors and North Yorkshire Council, population 607,000 will also appoint 2 Councillors.

•   powers that are currently vested in directly-elected Councillors on the two authorities will be ‘sucked up’ to the MCA e.g. strategic highways and public transport

•   the MCA will be able to ‘call in’ and decide on planning applications [ippr].

•   the funding supposedly attached to the ‘deal’ is £210 million (28%) less than the bid from the two Councils [ippr].

•   the supposed funding amounts to about £22 pp per year while Council spending across the north has been reduced by £431 pp per year in the decade 2010 to 2020 by Government action

•   is insignificant compared to locally raised revenue - the domestic Council tax yield in North Yorkshire alone is £662 per person. 

•   most of the powers that the marketing information trumpets for the MCA [DLUHC] are already exercised by the two Councils e.g. transport and highways ‘Key highway and traffic authority functions to be transferred from LAs to MCAs’ [DoT], compulsory purchase, housing investment.

•   the claimed ‘devolution’ of the Adult Education Budget excludes apprenticeships and traineeships. It offers only ‘…input into the new Local Skills Improvement Plan’ [DLUHC].

•   Government funding in the future can never be relied upon and even the supposed devolution funding is subject to 5 yearly ‘gateway’ reviews with HM Treasury [DLUHC].

•  ‘Any long-term future funding for the integration of LEP functions and roles will be subject to future funding decisions and business planning.’ [DLUHC]

•  £13 million 2023 -2025 for new homes on brownfield land ‘…subject to sufficient eligible projects being identified…’. [DLUHC]

•  £2.65 million on projects for affordable, low carbon homes across the area ‘…subject to final business cases’. [DLUHC]

The on-line ‘consultation’ responses are 0.3% of the electorate.  There is no report of how the responses divide between North Yorkshire and York - critical information for NY County Councillors.

The full report from Westco on the focus groups (appended to appendix 1) is inaccessible but it is clear from page 99 Appendix 1 that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 186.

Recommendations:

The Executive is asked to:

(i)   Approve in principle the use of 10 additional SFA properties in Catterick Garrison for eligible Afghan citizens currently residing in Afghanistan or in third countries seeking relocation to the UK under the ARAP.

(ii)  Authorise the Corporate Director – Strategic Resources to accept the MOD’s Sub Underlease Agreement on behalf of North Yorkshire Council after consultation with the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services).

Considered – Report of the Assistant Director - Policy, Partnerships and Communities to consider the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) offer to provide additional temporary homes in North Yorkshire for eligible Afghan citizens currently residing in Afghanistan or in third countries seeking relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

County Councillor David Chance introduced the report, noting that there are still an estimated 4600 Afghans (including spouses and dependants) eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Policy, many of whom worked for the MOD. The background to the offer of using more empty MOD houses in the UK for these families is that the UK government wants the Afghan families to be offered housing in the UK before they travel here. A maximum of 10 additional Afghan households, utilising a mix of three and four bedroomed empty Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in Catterick Garrison, is felt to be manageable. These properties would be offered on short-term leases by the MOD with the intention that the families would then be moved into affordable secure housing in the county by the Council.

The use of these additional properties will bring the number up to 39 Afghan families resettled in North Yorkshire, approximately 180 persons. Experience to date has shown that the Afghan families require significant amounts of specialised support, such as for physical injuries or mental issues. In determining the recommended number of MOD properties to be used on the Garrison, the County Council has had to factor in the availability of school places there, housing pressures across the county and existing refugee resettlement commitments under the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme.

County Councillor Kevin Foster thanked the MOD for making the SFA properties available, citing the moral duty to support Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles. He felt that Catterick Garrison was the right place to house the families, given the specialist recovery centre based nearby and the work of the Army Welfare Service. However, he put forward a case to consider accepting more than ten properties, citing the future housing developments taking place in the vicinity of Catterick Garrison and the potential work opportunities available in the area for any refugees.

In response, Jonathan Spencer, Refugee Resettlement Manager advised that the intensive wraparound care required to support the Afghan families was cited as a reason for the recommendation of ten properties as a starting point to deliver a good level of support, but this will be monitored. The lack of nearby hospital facilities was also cited as a reason to begin with ten properties to avoid services overstretching.

Across the county, 29 families had been relocated since August 2021, with a mix of council/social housing, private rented and temporary housing provided by the Ministry of Defence has been used to date. There is likely to be further requests to receive a small number of additional Afghan families under the government’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 187.

Recommendations

The Executive is recommended to:

i.   Approve the publication of the statutory proposals and a statutory notice on 22 February 2023, proposing to pause residential provision at Welburn Hall School for a period of two academic years from September 2023.

ii.  Schedule a final decision on these proposals on 18 April 2023.

Considered – Report of the Corporate Director - Children and Young People’s Service asking the Executive to consider the responses to the consultation on proposals to pause residential provision at Welburn Hall School for a period of two years, to authorise the publication of statutory proposals and to schedule taking a final decision on 18 April 2023.

County Councillor Annabel Wilkinson introduced the report, noting that the consultation undertaken had generated eighteen responses. Of there, three responses were made in support of the proposal, two disagreed with the proposal and the remainder offered a range of comments and potential concerns about how the proposals were implemented.

There being no further questions, it was

Resolved –

The Executive is recommended to:

i.        Approve the publication of the statutory proposals and a statutory notice on 22 February 2023, proposing to pause residential provision at Welburn Hall School for a period of two academic years from September 2023.

ii.       Schedule a final decision on these proposals on 18 April 2023.

Recommendations

The Executive is asked to:

i.       Approve the submission of a Consultation Summary Report to Government.

ii.     Approve amendments to the Scheme and proposals for the operating model of the Combined Authority, for submission to Government.

iii.    Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to undertake any action necessary to submit the Consultation Summary Report and Scheme to Government, in line with recommendations (i) & (ii).

iv.    Approve amendments to the Terms of Reference for the York and North Yorkshire Joint Devolution Committee outlined in paragraphs 6.1 - 6.5 of the report, and attached at Appendix 2.

v.     Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to undertake any action necessary to provide consent to the Order facilitating the creation of the Combined Authority in line with the scheme submitted to Government, as outlined in paragraphs 8.1 to 8.5 of the report.

vi.    Refer the decisions made by Executive in the recommendations above to Full Council for endorsement to ensure the views of all Members of the Council are taken into account on this matter.

Considered – Report of the Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services detailing the outcome of the consultation carried out on a Scheme relating to the proposed governance arrangements required to implement the Devolution Deal for York and North Yorkshire announced on 1 August 2022.

County Councillor Carl Les introduced the report, noting that a Devolution Deal for York and North Yorkshire was something that has been pursued for a number of years and was the first step on the ladder. He felt it was an exciting moment, giving York and North Yorkshire a chance to replicate Combined Authority areas such as the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and the Tees Valley. Last month, a cross party group of councillors had visited Tees Valley Combined Authority to meet the Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and see the work he has been doing.

Richard Flinton, Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council gave the background to the Devolution Deal for York & North Yorkshire, with headlines including over £500m investment funding spread over 30 years, made up of an annual £18m gainshare funding into the area to drive growth and take forward its priorities over the longer term, along with £1m additional transport capacity funding, £13m for the building of new homes on brownfield sites and over £2.5m to support the delivery of low carbon homes, together with £7m for green economic growth initiatives. There will also be new powers around skills, devolving of adult education budgets, new arrangements for building affordable homes, economic development and transport. Also included in the deal is support for the development of Scarborough Cyber Cluster, a commitment to establish a programme working group around BioYorkshire and a pledge to realise the region’s cultural potential. There was also support to develop a Natural Capital Investment plan for York and North Yorkshire. It was felt by officers that the proposed deal is strong, with the gainshare funding comparing favourably with other Devolution Deals agreed.

On the consultation undertaken, the response rate, although not large, was in line and in some cases greater than similar devolution consultation exercises that have been carried out. The proposed recommendations in the report will amend the scheme in one regard, to harmonise the wording of the multiple references to the need for consent of the National Parks Authorities for a Mayoral Development Area within their boundaries.

James Farrar, Chief Operating Officer of the York and North Yorkshire LEP commented that the proposed deal helps to build a good working relationship with Government that can develop, with progress already being made on some aspects of the deal, for example on the bioeconomy and natural capital investment.

Barry Khan, Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services, advised that the report seeks approval to submit a summary of the consultation responses to the Secretary of State, to demonstrate the consultation required by section 110 of the 2009 Act, has been undertaken.  It will then be a matter for the Secretary of State to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 189.

Considered –

The Forward Plan for the period 6 February 2023 to 29 February 2024 was presented.

Resolved -   That the Forward Plan be noted.