Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Michael Harrison declared a pecuniary interest in relation to Minute 460 on the basis that his employer was listed in Treasury Management Appendix B.  He confirmed that he had a dispensation from the Standards and Governance Committee enabling him to remain in the meeting and vote on the item.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Elizabeth Jackson, Principal Democratic Services Officer elizabeth.jackson@northyorks.gov.uk and supplied the text by midday on Wednesday 22 May, 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:

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There were no public questions or statements.

Recommendations

That the Executive

a.     notes the outturn position against the 2023/24 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.2.

b.     notes the outturn position for the Housing Revenue Account as set out in paragraph 2.3.1.

c.      approves the creation of a £10m reserve to provide for capital cost over-runs as described in paragraph 2.1.6.

d.     endorses the draft Productivity Plan set out in Appendix I and delegates authority to the Corporate Director Resources, in consultation with the Executive member for Finance, to make any relevant changes prior tofore final submission to DLUHC.

e.     Note the performance of the Treasury Management operation during 2023/24 and the outturn position on Prudential Indicators.

f.       to note the position on capital outturn as detailed in Appendices A to D

g.     to approve the allocation of £2m from the Strategic Capacity Reserve to complete the Ripon Leisure Centre project (paragraph 4.3.5).

h.     to recommend to the Council, the proposed carry forward to 2023/24 of the   net capital underspend totalling £12.4m as set out in paragraph 4.4.2

i.       to approve the financing of capital expenditure as detailed in paragraph 4.5.1

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

Councillor Heather Phillips, Executive Member for Corporate Services, introduced the report which covered the period 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024 and concluded the first year of performance reporting for North Yorkshire Council.  The first year of operation had been characterised by the convergence of systems from the former borough and district councils and work was continuing to bring systems together.  This was the last time the report would be in its current format as future reports would be amended to meet the requirements of OFLOG and the emerging needs of the new authority

The Executive Member drew Members’ attention to a number of highlights from the Executive Performance Report including:

·        HAS was able to meet the demands of an increase in hospital discharges to 16.1 per day compared with 15.8 per day in Q3, whilst localised surges in demand quickly used up local capacity

·        CYPS had experienced the highest number of contacts recorded by the Multi Agency Screening Team which had recorded an increase of 12% since 31 March 2023

·        The Environment directorate reported that for Q3 no waste went into landfill, and this was assisted by the fact that Allerton Park operated at 100% capacity

·        For Community Services rent recovery continued to do well and the Council was in the top quarter for this

·        For Corporate Services there were 329 active apprenticeships active for this quarter, a 54% increase from the same period last year

In response to questions from Scrutiny Chairs and Member Champions to Executive Members the following was confirmed:

·        There were now fewer than 10 unresolved homecare packages on a regular basis, and the council was working jointly with the NHS to prevent care home closures and the prevention of exploitation due to international recruitment

·        There had been changes in public attitudes to smoking and vaping was now as much of an issue, although smoking was still the number one public health cause of death and cancer.  The focus of smoking cessation services was now on more difficult to reach groups and those with other issues or addictive behaviours

·        Different ways of providing health checks were being explored such as at libraries or in workplaces, travel time had not been found to have an impact on take up and further work was required to understand the reasons for the low take up

·        The number of children being home educated had increased to over 1000 pupils; where the Council was notified that a child was to be educated a home a meeting was offered to look at how any issues that had led to home education might be addressed.  Annual checks were undertaken to ensure that provision was right for each child in line with national legislation

·        Demand for children’s social care was rising with an increase of 46% in initial contacts.  Re-referrals were audited regularly to understand if  ...  view the full minutes text for item 460.

Recommendations

i)             Executive accept the capital grant contribution of £1,510,855 from the Environment Agency

ii)            Subject to following the relevant procurement procedures, delegate to the Corporate Director of Environment, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources, the Assistant Chief Executive Legal & Democratic Services and  Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Road Safety and Cycling, the authority to enter into contract with a specialist consultant to design, and project manage the works, and a contractor to construct works, subject to the cost of the works being contained within the current grant awarded

iii)          Executive agree to receive a further report once the full costs are known if further grant funding is required prior to the approval of a construction contract and the works starting.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director – Environment proving an update on a former Scarborough Borough Council legacy costal protection scheme and requesting approval to accept a grant from the Environment agency of £1,510,855.  The grant would allow the council to progress the project to completion including the procurement of a specialist consultant to design and project manage the works, and a contractor to undertake the works.

Councillor Keane Duncan, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, introduced the report and advised that the works would be 100% funded by the Environment Agency and the grant included £400k of contingency.  Further funding could be drawn down if required to complete the works.

In response to a question on the timeframe for the works Councillor Duncan advised that the design and project management phase would need to be completed by November 2024 and the works completed by October 2026.

Resolved (unanimously) – that:

i)                 the capital grant contribution of £1,510,855 from the Environment Agency be accepted;

ii)                subject to following the relevant procurement procedures, delegate to the Corporate Director of Environment, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources, the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services and  Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Road Safety and Cycling, the authority to enter into contract with a specialist consultant to design and project manage the works, and a contractor to construct works, subject to the cost of the works being contained within the current grant awarded; and

iii)              a further report be provided to Executive once the full costs are known if further grant funding is required prior to the approval of a construction contract and the works starting.

Recommendation

That the Executive authorises the acceptance of the revenue grant for £947,053 and the capital grant is £311,099 (totalling £1,258,152) for the delivery of the new Music Hub for North Yorkshire and York.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director – Children and Young People’s Service recommending the acceptance of the Music Hub grant totalling £1,258,152 made up of £947,053 revenue grant plus a related capital grant of £311,099 for musical instrument purchase.

Councillor Anabel Wilkinson, Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, presented the report and advised that the Department for Education and the Arts Council had redrawn the map of Music Hubs and following a successful bid the Music Service was now the lead organisation for the North Yorkshire and York Music Hub.  Councillor Wilkinson detailed some of the opportunities and activities which would be provided through the Hub.

Executive agreed to the inclusion of an additional recommendation that should any subsequent grants come forward in future years the Corporate Director in consultation with the Executive Member be given delegated authority to accept Music Hub grants without the need for a further report to Executive.

Resolved (unanimously) – that:

i)                 the revenue grant for £947,053 and the capital grant of £311,099 (totalling £1,258,152) for the delivery of the new Music Hub for North Yorkshire and York be accepted; and

ii)                the Corporate Director – Children and Yong People’s Service, in consultation with the Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, be authorised to accept any subsequent grants for the Music Hub.

Considered –

The Forward Plan for the period 20 May 2024 to 31 May 2025 was presented.

Resolved -  That the Forward Plan be noted.