Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Carl Les welcomed everyone to the meeting, in particular the members of the Scrutiny Board, attending in relation to Agenda item 6 – Quarter 3 Performance Monitoring and Budget Report and other non-executive Councillors.

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the Executive meeting held on 14 February 2023, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chairman as a correct record.

In regard to Agenda item 6, County Councillor Michael Harrison declared a disclosable interest, as an employee of one of the organisations listed in Treasury Management Appendix B, He confirmed he had a dispensation from the Standards Committee enabling him to remain in the meeting and vote.

Resolved –

Given that no discussion was required in relation to the exempt information contained within Appendix A to agenda item 8 – Creation of new Property and Estates Company – Align Property Partners 2, it was agreed the Executive would not enter in to private session for that agenda item.

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 March 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.

There was one public statement received from Mr Ian Crozier, in relation to Agenda item 7.  The Chair agreed to hear Mr Crozier’s statement as part of that agenda item.

Recommendations:

That the Executive:

a. notes the latest position for the County Council’s 2022/23 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.1.2.

b. notes the position on the GWB (paragraphs 2.4.1 to 2.4.3)

c. notes the position on the ‘Strategic Capacity – Unallocated’ reserve (paragraphs 2.4.4)

d. notes the latest position regarding the Local Government Review transition fund (paragraphs 2.5.1)

e. notes the position on the County Council’s Treasury Management activities during the second quarter of 2022/23

f. refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

g. Approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3

h. Approve the proposal to expand capacity at Springwater School including the associated rationalisation of neighbouring office accommodation (paragraph 4.4.7.4)

i. Agree that no action be taken at this stage to allocate any additional capital resources (paragraph 4.5.7)

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 3 performance monitoring and budget report, confirming it provided an overview on all of the ambitions of the County Council but with a key focus on the council plan ambition for ‘Every child and young person has the best possible start in life’.

County Councillor David Chance provided a summary of the Executive performance report and confirmed the Authority continued to make progress in delivering its wide-range of ambitions.  He drew specific attention to the ongoing challenges which included:

·         The cost of living crisis affecting all parts of the county creating an increased demand on Council services;

·         The combined effects of Covid-19 and an increase in flu cases;

In regard to his own portfolio area, he confirmed the Council’s ongoing commitment to supporting communities, and provided an update on a range of initiatives delivered via the North Yorkshire Local Assistance Fund, and the second allocation of the Government’s Household Support Fund.  He also provided a brief update on:

·          the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and Afghan refugee programme

·          The work of the Customer Services team

·          Support for the local economy through the Authority’s spend with local suppliers (55%)

County Councillor Janet Sanderson introduced the in-depth focus of the performance report on ‘Every child & young person has the best possible start in life’.  She drew attention to the rising demand for EHCPs and the associated financial pressures.  She also highlighted:

·          The increasing demand at the front door, which had led to an increase in referrals to Children’s Social Care;

·          The ongoing issues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 196.

Recommendations:

Executive is recommended to:

i.     to pass a resolution that the provisions of Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (other than section 45) shall be adopted within the administrative area of North Yorkshire Council, with effect on the 1 April 2023, with the caveat of the decision only taking effect if the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy has been adopted for the 1 April 2023;

ii.     Adopt the proposed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as shown in Appendix 1 of the report dated 7 February 2023, with the amendment identified in paragraph 2.4;

iii.    if adopted, to authorise the approval of minor and inconsequential amendments to the policy from time-to-time by a senior officer to reflect legislative changes or correct any inaccuracies;

iv.   if adopted to give approval for an Inclusive Service Plan to be implemented within 12 months of adoption

Considered – a report of the Corporate Director - Business and Environmental Services seeking:

a)    adoption of the proposed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy with or without further amendments, taking into consideration the responses to the consultation and the recommendations from the Licensing Members Working Group at its meeting of 24 January and 13 February 2023;

b)    approval to remove the existing licensing hackney carriage zones to create a new single zone for the North Yorkshire Council;

c)    approval for a senior officer to make minor and inconsequential amendments to the policy (if adopted) to reflect legislative changes or correct any inaccuracies;

d)    Approval to develop and maintain an Inclusive Service Plan (ISP) within 12 months of policy adoption

County Councillor Carl Les welcomed Mr Ian Crozier to the meeting and invited him to read out his public statement as follows:

“I attended your previous meeting on this subject where I presented a statement written by Richard Fieldman. Having considered the contributions made then and done some research I would like to offer some further reasons why the proposed policy should be reconsidered and not implemented as planned.

Having taken the time to reread your proposal, sadly, as exposed at the last meeting, I can’t see anything which improves access for disabled users. Of note is the statement made by the council officer that the policy of only issuing new H/C plates to WAV by Harrogate had had little effect in increasing WAV numbers. This was offered as a reason to justify the complete abolishment of the cap on H/C numbers. This conclusion is flawed.

This initiative was always going to fail because of HBC policy at the time limiting H/C to 4.9m excluded a large amount of common WAV due to their length, specifically those able to carry more than 4 passengers. So, it’s failure should not surprise anyone. I’ve included a list of currently available WAV conversions and their lengths. All could not be licenced as a Hackney carriage under the 4.9m rule.

1.      Ford Tourneo FX8 SWB – 4.972m (£46,750)

2.      Renault Traffic RX8 SWB – 4.999m (£46,600)

3.      Renault Traffic RX8 LWB – 5.399m (£47,900)

This illustrates that the regulations created a barrier to any driver considering the WAV market as a Hackney carriage, together with the capital cost it was foreseeable that the initiative would not work as hoped. Now, there are smaller cheaper WAV available, but their use is more limited. If you really want to incentivise this service, the starting point is justifying the capital outlay.

You offer to licence a vehicle with multiple uses, one that can seat up to 8 passengers, ply for hire on taxi ranks, be available at transport hubs like stations and of course, service-disabled people. This policy would not allow that.

You could go further. Para 41 of the new regs suggests grants be available for low emission vehicles. Why not WAV, why not reduce or abolish council and test fees for WAV. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 197.

Recommendations:

The Executive are requested to:

a)         approve the implementation of a new wholly owned company (APP2), in accordance with the details set out in the Business Case at Appendix A;

b)         approve the setting up of a company limited by shares;

c)         approve the investment of 100 £1 shares in APP2;

d)         delegate the approval of the articles, the company name and any other governance documents associated with new company to Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services;

e)         delegate the Council entering into all other agreements and documents necessary for the establishment of the new company to the Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Democratic Services;

f)          delegate to the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services in consultation with the Assistant Director, Strategic Resources (BES and Central Services) to conclude all steps to agree a working capital loan for the company, up to a maximum of £200k to be funded from North Yorkshire Council reserves for which a market rate of interest will be charged;

g)         delegate to Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services to progress and conclude the working arrangements of APP2 including the method of the provision of support services, staffing and secondment arrangements;

h)         delegate all other necessary steps to secure the implementation of the proposed Option to the Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services;

i)          agree to the appointment of the Corporate Director - Strategic Resources, the Corporate Director - Business and Environmental Services and the Operations Director for Align Property Partners to the Board of Directors of the new company;

j)          agree that the appointed officers to the board of directors of the company will be entitled to indemnity in accordance with the Council’s Indemnity Policy for Members and Employees.

Considered - A report of the Corporate Director for Strategic Resources presenting the Business Case for the establishment of a new council owned company for the provision of property projects and estates services which would adhere to the Teckal exemption in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.  The report sought the Executive’s approval to establish the new company (transferring to North Yorkshire Council from 1 April 2023) and to limit the shares on the basis of the Business Case.

County Councillor Carl Les confirmed the Executive would not be entering into private session as there was to be no discussion on the content of the exempt Appendix A.

County Councillor David Chance introduced the report, providing an overview of the setup of the original company, its successes to date and the requirements of a Teckal agreement.  He noted that Align Property Partners Limited would operate on a commercial basis in the future without the benefit of the Teckal exemption.

County Councillor Gareth Dadd reflected on the scepticism around the creation of the original company and was pleased to acknowledge the Authority’s success in running a commercial enterprise and commended the work of the personnel involved

Resolved – That:

a)     The implementation of a new wholly owned company (APP2) be approved, in accordance with the details set out in the Business Case at Appendix A;

b)     The setting up of a company limited by shares be approved;

c)      The investment of 100 £1 shares in APP2 be approved;

d)     The approval of the articles, the company name and any other governance documents associated with new company be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services;

e)     The Council entering into all other agreements and documents necessary for the establishment of the new company be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Democratic Services;

f)       The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services in consultation with the Assistant Director, Strategic Resources (BES and Central Services) be delegated to conclude all steps to agree a working capital loan for the company, up to a maximum of £200k to be funded from North Yorkshire Council reserves for which a market rate of interest will be charged;

g)     The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services be delegated to progress and conclude the working arrangements of APP2 including the method of the provision of support services, staffing and secondment arrangements;

h)     All other necessary steps to secure the implementation of the proposed Option be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services;

i)       The Corporate Director - Strategic Resources, the Corporate Director - Business and Environmental Services and the Operations Director for Align Property Partners be appointed to the Board of Directors of the new company;

j)       The appointed officers to the board of directors of the company be entitled to indemnity in accordance with the Council’s Indemnity Policy for Members and Employees.

Recommendations:

The Executive are requested to:

i.           Approve the winding up of the Company;

ii.         Authorise the Company’s directors to apply to Companies House to for the voluntarily Strike Off of the Company;

iii.        Delegate any decisions relating to the financial implications of winding up the Company to the Corporate Director (Strategic Resources); and

iv.        Authorise the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) to take all other necessary steps to facilitate the strike off of the Company.

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) seeking seek approval for the board of directors to apply to Companies House to voluntarily strike off Scarborough and Ryedale Community Health and Social Care Partnership CIC, a company that had not traded for over 5 years.

County Councillor Michael Harrison introduced the report and provided a brief overview of the original objective behind the creation of the company which had subsequently not materialised due to the Company being unsuccessful in the Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group procurement process for health and integrated social care services in 2017.

Given that its original purpose was no longer relevant due to the changes to the NHS structures over the last few years, it was

Resolved – That:

i.           The winding up of the Company be approved;

ii.         The Company’s directors be authorised to apply to Companies House for the voluntarily Strike Off of the Company;

iii.        Any decisions relating to the financial implications of winding up the Company be delegated to the Corporate Director (Strategic Resources); and

iv.        The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services) be authorised to take all other necessary steps to facilitate the strike off of the Company.

Recommendations:

That the Executive

i.       Accept the report.

ii.      Agree the Terms of Reference for Community Networks as detailed in section 6 of the report.

iii.     Agree the proposals in relation to initial governance models as detailed in section 7 of the report.

iv.     Approve Option 2 – Phased Implementation - as detailed in section 9.

Due to issues with the publication of the papers relating to this agenda item, it was

Resolved – That this item be deferred to the next meeting of the Executive

Recommendations:

That the Executive

i)      Note the change to the membership of the North Yorkshire Health and Wellbeing Board, as stated in paragraph 2.1 of the report.

ii)     Recommend to the Council that the Executive Member for North Yorkshire Council with responsibility for Housing and Leisure and the Corporate Director for Community Development, North Yorkshire Council (or their nominated representative for Housing and Leisure) become Members of the Board.

Resolved – That:

i)      The change to the membership of the North Yorkshire Health and Wellbeing Board, as stated in paragraph 2.1 of the report be noted.

ii)     It be recommended to Full Council that the Executive Member for North Yorkshire Council with responsibility for Housing and Leisure and the Corporate Director for Community Development, North Yorkshire Council (or their nominated representative for Housing and Leisure) become Members of the North Yorkshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

Considered – The Forward Plan for the period 13 February 2023 to 29 February 2024 was presented.

Resolved -   That the Forward Plan be noted.