Agenda and minutes

Members of the Executive and Corporate Management Team introduced themselves, and County Councillor Carl Les welcomed other Councillors and officers present at the meeting. 

Resolved –

That the public Minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2021, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chairman as a correct record.

County Councillors Carl Les and Janet Sanderson both declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda item 10, as Chair and Member of the Trustee Board of North Yorkshire Youth respectively.

Resolved –

That the Committee would not need to go into private session for Agenda item 11, as there were no substantive questions or debate required in relation to the content of the report.

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 11 February 2021, 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.

County Councillor Carl Les confirmed that a number of written statements had been submitted by members of the public and other County Councillors concerning Agenda Item 10 – Review of Traded Services in Education & Skills due to Covid-19.  He confirmed that those statements would be heard when the Executive reached that item on the Agenda.

The Executive are asked to note the report and consider any matters arising from the work of the Area Constituency Committees, that merits further scrutiny, review or investigation at a county-level.

Considered –

A report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) providing an overview of the key issues considered at recent meetings of the Area Constituency Committees. 

Resolved - That the report be noted.

A report seeking approval to apply a Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) of 0% in the calculation of special school budgets for the 2021/22 financial year, and to use the revised methodology for calculating the contextual funding component of the formula allocation for special school budgets.

Considered –

A report of the Corporate Director for Children & Young People’s Services seeking Executive approval for a number of recommendations relating to school funding for 2021-22.

County Councillor Patrick Mulligan presented the report highlighting the recommendations had been broadly supported by the special schools community during a county wide consultation exercise that took place in late 2020. He also noted that the report’s recommendations had also been discussed positively by the North Yorkshire Schools Forum, and drew attention to those recommendations at paragraph 7 of the report.

Members had no questions and voted in favour of the recommendations, and therefore it was  

Resolved – That:

i.       A Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) of 0% be applied in the calculation of special school budgets for the 2021/22 financial year.

ii.      The revised methodology for calculating the contextual funding component of the formula allocation for special school budgets be used.

The report seeks Executive approval to lower the age range of Stillington County Primary School from 23 February 2021.  If no objections to the statutory notices are received by the end of the consultation period, the report will be removed from this agenda, and the decision will be taken by the Corporate Director for Children & Young People’s Service.

This item was withdrawn from the agenda on the basis that no objections to the proposals for Stillington Community Primary School had been received.  It was confirmed the decision had therefore been delegated to the Executive Member for Education and Skills.

The report seeks approval to wind up SJB Recycling Ltd, a company that ceased trading in March 2020, and approval to distribute liquidated net assets of SJB Recycling Ltd in the form of a final dividend to its shareholders.

Considered –

A report of the Corporate Director for Business and Environmental Services providing an overview of SJB Recycling Ltd, its creation, changes to its business model and subsequent cessation of its operations in March 2020.

County Councillor Andrew Lee introduced the report detailing the history of the company and changes in the Environment Agency’s guidelines which had led to a move from ‘co-composting’ to the processing of green waste.  It was noted that this had resulted in a substantial increase in costs, which customers were not willing to meet once their contracts had ended.

Members noted the actions that would be put in place before beginning the process of dissolution, and that the expected remaining balance was to be distributed to the Company’s shareholders in the form of a final dividend, as detailed in the report.

There were no questions, and all member voted in favour of the recommendations.  It was therefore

Resolved – That:

  i.    SJB Recycling Ltd  be wound up;

 ii.   The Chief Executive (as Shareholder Representative) be authorised to approve the final dividend and sign the relevant shareholder resolutions in relation to the final dividend; and

iii.   The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) be authorised to prepare the necessary shareholder resolutions and any action necessary to wind-up the company.

The report seeks approval to implement immediate short-term solutions to address the financial shortfall facing the Outdoor Learning Service, due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Chairman informed members that County Councillor Stanley Lumley has submitted a statement in response to item 10 on the agenda and in his absence invited the clerk to read it out on his behalf as follows: 

“I do appreciate the difficult circumstances and none-budgeted cost that the pandemic has impacted on outdoor education at the two sites we have in North Yorkshire, but I do fear for the future of BPC if we were to mothball the facility and its services.

BPC is a much loved and valued facility in my Division, our County and beyond, tens of thousands of children have passed through the centre over many years and they have all gained invaluable education and life experience from their visits. Very often, the two-week residential visit is the first time a young person has spent time away from parents and guardians, something that is character building and in my opinion is an invaluable part of a child’s education.  There are hundreds of anecdotal stories of people returning to Nidderdale for holidays and in some cases to live because of their past experience. All the social media sights with a local interest are constantly broadcasting stories from people of all ages with fond memories of their time here; these are all evidence of the great benefit our facility provides.

I have lived next to the park all my life and I have seen the great benefit to children, many from disadvantaged families over the past sixty years. I can include myself in that category, as an infant I walked every week from Glasshouses, West Riding County Primary School to BPC, summer and winter for swimming lessons in the outdoor pool, in fact my little school won a prestigious award (The Dolphin Trophy) back in the 1960’s for the high attainment of swimming medals and certification.

As well as the educational impact, and the loss of social life skills experience any closure will have a significant financial and economic impact to the local economy especially for the small market town of Pateley Bridge and to a lesser extent to wider Nidderdale. A regular site in town is the long line of children in high viz vests queuing at the fish shop, butchers, shops etc.  There is also the employment impact, most of the staff live and work here, many of whom have long service at Bewerley and any closure will affect the many families who rely on the employment from a very limited employment market in Nidderdale. Mothballing will inevitably involve redundancy of staff, reduction in maintenance and investment that would in my belief, be very difficult to recover from and may ultimately lead to permanent closure.

I ask that the Executive do not to rush into a decision that would threaten the future of BPC. It is my understanding that Government are currently supporting with staff costs and it may extend its continued support, this must be the biggest financial burden to the council so  ...  view the full minutes text for item 557.

To update the Executive in relation to the proposed acquisition of land within the County

Considered:

The report of the Corporate Director, Strategic Resources regarding the potential acquisition of a property in the county.

County Councillor Don Mackenzie introduced the report confirming it was unnecessary to go into private session as all Executive members were happy to note the report and there were no questions arising.

Executive Members all voted in favour of the recommendations in the report and it was therefore

Resolved – That:

i)     It be noted that negotiations for the acquisition had ceased, for the reasons set out in Section 4 of the report;

ii)    It was no longer considered appropriate to purchase the property;

Members considered an Executive extract from the Forward Plan for the period from 29 January 2021 to 31 January 2022.

Resolved – That the Forward Plan be noted.