Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mark Crane, Richard Flinton and Richard Webb.

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 St John Harris of Democratic Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Thursday, 13 June, 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.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director of Health and Adult Services presenting the draft Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2030 for endorsement by the Executive.

Councillor Michael Harrison, Executive Member for Health and Adult Services, presented the report noting the multi-agency nature of the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the Board which had produced it.  The Strategy focused on the three priorities of Prevention, Place and People with the overall ambition of ‘to add years to life, and life to years.’  The Director of Public Health, Louise Wallace thanked all those partner organisations which had contributed to the development of the Strategy.

Resolved (unanimously) – that the Executive endorse the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy in advance of being submitted to Full Council for approval in July 2024.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director Children and Young People’s Service seeking the approval of the draft Adult Learning and Skills Service Accountability Statement 2024-25 for submission to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, presented the report noting how post 16 technical education reforms introduced in 2021 detailed how education providers in receipt of over £1m must annually detail within an accountability statement how they would align their curriculum offer with the local aims and aspirations laid out in the Learning Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP).  These local aims and aspirations also aligned with council priorities and the wider regional ambitions of the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA).  This document formed part of the funding agreement provided by the Education Skills Funding Agency.

Resolved (unanimously) – that the enclosed Accountability Statement be approved for submission to the ESFA.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director of Community Development seeking the approval of the business case for the development of Temporary Accommodation and Housing Options for the Homeless and the associated budget of £11.6m.

Councillor Simon Myers, Executive Member for Culture, Arts and Housing presented the report noting the significant increase both nationally and locally in demand for temporary accommodation for homeless people.  The overall number of homeless households placed in temporary accommodation exceeded the availability of the council’s current core offer of 169 units of temporary accommodation which meant that the council was reliant on the use of hotels and B&Bs to meet its legal duties. This increased reliance had significant cost implications for the council and a disproportionate impact on overall spending. Gross spend on temporary accommodation had risen by 400% from 2019/20 to 2022/23 exceeding £2m per year.  Within North Yorkshire levels of demand were likely to remain high going forward, which required proactive intervention measures.  Due to the scale of need and urgency of the problem, the business case was based on a mixture of provision of council-owned accommodation and that of registered providers to replace more expensive emergency accommodation.  The largest use of B&B and hotel accommodation was within Harrogate and Scarborough and efforts in these areas would be prioritised.  In Scarborough, the aim was to include the development of a supported housing scheme – ‘a place of change’ – based on the best practice model of Fern House in Harrogate.

Members welcomed the report:

·       Noting the moral and business case for action

·       Noting the acuteness of the problem in Scarborough

·       Noting that local government reorganisation placed the council in a stronger position to tackle this challenge

·       Hoping that the 90 units proposed could be procured more quickly than the four years stated in the report

·       Suggesting that regular updates on progress be provided to the Executive, Housing & Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Scarborough and Whitby Area Constituency Committee as appropriate    

The Corporate Director for Community Development, Nic Harne commented that as part of the proposals in the report there would be improved gathering and monitoring of homelessness data to help assess progress.  He also undertook to provide local division member, Councillor John Ritchie with further details of homelessness levels and use of temporary accommodation in Scarborough.

Resolved (unanimously) – that:

(i) the business case and a £11.6m budget for the delivery of accommodation for a minimum of 90 homeless households is approved;

(ii) the approval of individual business cases is delegated to the Corporate Director of Community Development in consultation with the Corporate Director Resources, the Executive Member for Culture, Arts and Housing and the Executive Member for Finance and Resources;

(iii) determining the detail of the grant offer to registered providers is delegated to the Corporate Director of Community Development in consultation with the Corporate Director Resources; and

(iv) there is regular reporting on progress to the Executive, Housing & Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Scarborough and Whitby  ...  view the full minutes text for item 481.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director of Environment seeking approval of a variation to the Council’s Hackney Carriage Table of Maximum Fares.

Councillor Greg White, Executive Member for Managing Our Environment, presented the report noting that the recommendations pertained to Hackney Carriage not private hire vehicles, that drivers were at liberty to charge lower fares, and the wide variety of responses in the consultation, which was in part a reflection of local differences across the county.

Resolved (unanimously) – that the Executive approve the variation to the Council’s Hackney Carriage Table of Maximum Fares (with or without modifications) as set out in Appendix C of the report with effect from 1 July 2024.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director of Environment seeking approval to submit the Bus Service Improvement Plan 2024 to the Department for Transport (DfT).

Councillor Keane Duncan, Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, presented the report noting that last December the council received notification of an indicative allocation of £3.5m for 2024/25 of Network North: Phase 3 Bus Service Improvement Plan funding. The council’s proposals to use this revenue funding were approved by DfT in April and would comprise the delivery programme for 2024/25 as set out in the Bus Service Improvement Plan 2024. Payment of the grant was contingent on submission of a revised BSIP document to DfT.  The 2024 BSIP refresh provided an opportunity to provide a light touch update, revising the data baseline, setting out the delivery plan for 2024/2025 and the council’s vison for the following five years.

In the ensuing discussion, it was noted that whilst the actions in the BSIP set out service enhancements, bus fare reductions and customer improvements to encourage greater usage of local bus services, if there was not a growth in passenger numbers, there was still a risk that bus services could be lost.

Resolved (unanimously) – that the Executive approves submission of the Bus Service Improvement Plan 2024 document to the Department for Transport.

Considered –

The Forward Plan for the period 10 June 2024 to 30 June 2025 was presented.

Resolved -   that the Forward Plan be noted.