Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gareth Dadd and Michael Harrison, who attended virtually.

Richard Webb gave his apologies, Anton Hodge attended virtually as substitute.

From the O&S Chairs, Councillor Andrew Lee gave his apologies.

Resolved –

Thatthe public Minutesof themeeting heldon 22 August 2023,having been printedand circulated,betakenas readand confirmedby theChairas acorrect record.

Councillor Michael Harrison declared an interest at agenda item 5, as an employee of one of the organisations listed in Treasury Management Appendix A. He confirmed he had a dispensation from the Standards Committee enabling him to remain in the meeting and vote.

Councillor Michael Harrison also declared an interest in agenda item 5, as a family member is employed in Health and Adult services. He confirmed he had a dispensation from the Standards Committee enabling him to remain in the meeting and vote.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Will Baines of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Wednesday 23 August, 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 Leader 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 information in the Q1 Performance Report

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

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

d.       approves a preliminary allocation of £400k from the LGR Reserve to progress work on the North Yorkshire Local Plan in the first year (2023/24) and that the funding is delegated to the Corporate Director Community Development in consultation with the Executive Member for Open to Business as set out in paragraphs 2.6.2 to 2.6.3.

e.       authorises the Corporate Director, Resources in consultation with the Chief Executive, Leader and Deputy Leader / Executive Member for Finance to implement a scheme for requests for funding from the LGR Reserve that total less than £1m with any proposals in excess of that requiring prior approval of the Executive as set out in paragraph 2.6.4.

f.        approves the acceptance of the grants as set out in Appendix I as described in paragraphs 2.7.1 to 2.7.2

g.       notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the first quarter of 2023/24

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

i.        approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3;

j.        approve the provision of £1.0m of corporate capital pot funding to meet the cost of completing the fleet replacement programme commenced last financial year (paragraph 4.2.21); and

k.       agree that no action be taken at this stage to allocate any additional capital resources (paragraph 4.5.10).

Considered – A joint report of the Chief Executive and Corporate Director – Strategic Resources.

Councillor Carl Les introduced the Quarter 1 Performance and Budget Monitoring report.

Councillor David Chance provided a summary of the new style performance report for the quarter one reporting period of North Yorkshire Council. The report covers the work of the former County Council services, plus the services and responsibilities transferred across from the former district and borough Councils to the new authority. The format of the report has moved to a directorate-based style, but with the KPI data maintaining its link to the five Council Plan ambitions. Consolidating data from the seven former district and borough councils into one is a demanding task, given that the methods of collection, definitions and systems differed slightly across the organisations. There are one or two data gaps, but these will be filled as the report evolves over time to be able to allow further comments on trends and hotspots.

Overall, performance remains strong, though there were teething problems in Customer Services as a result of the merger of eight telephone services and teams into one, as well as launching one new website for North Yorkshire on vesting day. Progress with a Devolution Deal for York and North Yorkshire is ongoing, and cost of living pressures are continuing to bite.

Central Services

Councillor David Chance introduced the section on the Central Services directorate, highlighting the almost 250,000 customer interactions during the first three months of the new North Yorkshire Council, of which 71% were via telephone, with the remainder split across other channels. In the top reasons for calling were: Council Tax, Waste Collection, Housing, Parking and Roads. Customer contact by telephone is important but is labour intensive and may lead to increased call waiting times and call abandonments at peak times.Since vesting day, Customer Services have improved call handling times considerably.

Service and transformation plans are currently being developed by all appointed Assistant Directors and teams to identify any opportunities for further change. This will aim to make services more effective and efficient. This will also allow any actions that require additional corporate resource to be prioritised and supported.

On Homes for Ukraine, during this first quarter we have seen a rise in the number of single guest arrivals joining existing family members in North Yorkshire. The number of guests still living with a sponsor is approximately 616, reducing from 733 in Q4 2022/23. Since the start of the scheme, 720 guests who initially arrived in North Yorkshire have moved on from their sponsors’ accommodation.

In quarter one of the reporting year, North Yorkshire Local Assistance Fund dealt with 2,892 applications for assistance, with a 92% approval rate. The quarter one total spend this year was £344,135, with 40% on food and energy vouchers and 60% on standard awards. Also a total of 45,236 households in North Yorkshire received support under the third phase of the Household Support Fund.

In response to Scrutiny Board members questions,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 306.

Considered –

The Forward Plan for the period 21 August 2023 to 31 August 2024 was presented.

The report to the Executive on the Harrogate Transforming Cities Fund on Tuesday 19 September 2023 is to be added.

Resolved -   That the Forward Plan be noted.

There was one item of urgent business, with the Leader appointing Councillors David Chance and Derek Bastiman as delegates from North Yorkshire Council on the Dead Crustacean Collaborative Working Group set up by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.