Agenda and minutes

Members of the Executive and Corporate Management Team introduced themselves, followed by other Councillors present at the meeting.

In regard to Agenda item 4, County Councillor Michael Harrison declared two disclosable interests, as an employee of one of the organisations listed in Treasury Management Appendix B, and with close family members employed at the Council.  He confirmed he had two separate dispensations from the Standards Committee enabling him to remain in the meeting and vote on Agenda item 4.

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 17 February 2022, 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 were no public questions or statements.

Recommendations:

a)     Note the latest position for the County Council’s 2021/22 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.1.2.

b)     Note the position on the GWB (paragraphs 2.4.1 to 2.4.3)

c)      Note the position on the ‘Strategic Capacity – Unallocated’ reserve (paragraphs 2.4.4 to 2.4.7)

d)     Note the position on the County Council’s Treasury Management activities during the third quarter of 2021/22

e)     Note the updated Q3 2022/23 Capital Plan

f)     Recommend to the Chief Executive Officer that using his emergency delegated powers, he:

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

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 the in-depth focus for the performance section of the report as being Best start to life, an area that continued to have a significant number of challenges in the delivery of education and children’s social care during the pandemic.

County Councillor David Chance presented the Executive performance report summary, confirming the performance report provided strong evidence of the Council’s strong performance and leadership despite COVID-19, and continued progress in delivering it’s wide-range of ambitions. 

He went on to provided a brief summary of the strengths and challenges in performance across those ambitions and the priorities set out in the Council Plan which included:

·            The awarding of 32 grants totalling £26K to 30 community groups;

·            The household support fund continued to make best use of the £3.5m allocated by the DWP;

·            Key areas of support to households in need of assistance included direct awards of £275K in shopping vouchers, an increase food supply via the Food bank winter support fund, and an energy top up voucher scheme;

·            The delivery of free public wi-fi in five towns across North Yorkshire, with a further four towns set to receive it in early 2022;

·            Further reductions in the County Council’s carbon footprint, through carbon abatement programmes across the Council’s property portfolio;

·            A reduction in the amount of waste and an increase in recycling, resulting in an ongoing reduction in landfill;

·            Local Government Reorganisation continued to build impetus, with the development of detailed plans;

·            Adult Social Care assessment activity continued to be a significant pressure point, driven largely by the national pathway arrangements for hospital discharges;

·            Ongoing challenges across the care provider market, with a worrying trend of providers handing back care packages;

·            An 8% increase in the cost of residential home care compared to same period last year;

·            A rise in sickness absence across all services with the main cause being COVID – a range of mitigations had been put in place;

County Councillor Carl Les acknowledged the strong performance the County Council continued to deliver, and specifically in regard to the ambition of ‘Leading for North Yorkshire’, County Councillor Don Mackenzie welcomed the update on the delivery of Broadband and free public wi-fi with 18 town centres now being targeted, with a further three to be added.

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 confirmed it was a uncertain picture going forward due to the pandemic recovery and national funding.  She drew particular attention to:

·            A reduced number of contacts at the front door translating to an increase in referrals;

·            An increase in demand for statutory child protection, with more families moving into crisis;

·            A dip in the number of up to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 712.

Recommendations: That:

i.     Statutory proposals and a statutory notice be published on 3 March 2022 proposing to amalgamate Grove Road and Woodfield Community Primary Schools, through the technical closure of Woodfield Community Primary School as a separate entity from 31 August 2022, and the enlargement of premises and expansion onto the Woodfield site of Grove Road Community Primary School from 1 September 2022.

ii.     A final decision on the proposals be scheduled for the Executive on 19 April 2022

Considered:

A report of the Corporate Director – Children and Young People’s Service presenting the outcome of the public consultation carried out by North Yorkshire County Council on the proposals to amalgamate Grove Road and Woodfield Community Primary Schools in Harrogate from 1 September 2022, and seeking authorisation to publish the statutory proposals, and to schedule taking a final decision on the proposals on 19 April 2022.

County Councillor Patrick Mulligan introduced the report and provided an overview of the background to the proposed amalgamation of Grove Road and Woodfield Community Primary Schools in Harrogate as detailed in the report.  He also provided an overview of the consultation process undertaken on the proposal to achieve the amalgamation through the technical closure of Woodfield Community Primary School as a separate entity from 31 August 2022, and the enlargement of Grove Road Community Primary School by expansion onto the Woodfield site from 1 September 2022.

County Councillor Paul Haslam as a local Councillor and governor of Woodfield Community Primary School read out a statement he had submitted prior to the meeting in which he expressed his support for the proposed amalgamation.

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

Resolved – That it be recommended to the Chief Executive Officer that using his emergency delegated powers he approve:

i.     The publication of the statutory proposals and a statutory notice on 3 March 2022 proposing to amalgamate Grove Road and Woodfield Community Primary Schools, through the technical closure of Woodfield Community Primary School as a separate entity from 31 August 2022, and the enlargement of premises and expansion onto the Woodfield site of Grove Road Community Primary School from 1 September 2022.

ii.     The scheduling of a final decision on the proposals for the Executive on 19 April 2022.

Considered –

The Forward Plan for the period 14 February 2022 to 28 February 2023 was presented.

Resolved -   That the Forward Plan be noted.