Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor John Cattanach, Caroline Goodrick, Phil Trumper, Robert Windass, Subash Sharma and Philip Barrett.

Councillors Caroline Dickinson, George Jabbour and Tom Jones attended as substitute members.

Resolved -

That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2023, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chair as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

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 include the text of the question/statement) to Will Baines, Principal Democratic Services and Scrutiny Officer (contact details below) no later than midday on Monday 15 January 2024. 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 Chair who will instruct those taking a recording to cease while you speak.

One public statement had been submitted prior to the committee from Mr Ian Conlan:

Concerning Agenda item 5, on including the DfT guidance in your 20mph policy: ‘’Traffic authorities can introduce 20mph speed limits on major streets where there are - or could be - significant numbers of journeys on foot/cycle, and this outweighs the disadvantage of longer journey times on the motorist.

In Malton and Norton, just one major NW to SE route, B1257 Broughton Rd to B1248 Beverly Road through Butcher Corner, is responsible for half, or 30 out the 60 casualties in Malton and Norton urban area over the last 5 years, including 1 fatality 6 serious injuries and 23 minor injuries, many of them pedestrians, child cyclists, elderly residents. Most casualties are on this or other main roads, many of them at junctions. 

The decisions based on the current policy demonstrate that there is such extreme reluctance to bring in 20mph on main roads as to make it impossible. This policy in practice treats pedestrians and cyclists as second class citizens in their own communities, and takes a Victorian approach to danger, ie profit before safety. But doing nothing effective about road safety costs society more in the long run.

Removing onerous conditions such as has occurred in Cornwall and elsewhere is essential in order to make any significant and lasting improvements in road safety. Hiding behind a restrictive interpretation of DfT guidance should fool no one.

Will councillors select to instead agree to the Action Vision Zero Target of zero killed and seriously injured on our roads by 2030 in this committee, with an intermediate target of 50% reduction in killed and seriously injured by 2027.

With the new Mayor for York and North Yorkshire holding significant power and funds on Transport policy and direction, it is essential that North Yorkshire speak up on road safety, and actually listen to the most vulnerable residents: 77 out 99 residents who returned surveys in Malton backed the Town Council's position on making 20mph the normal speed limit for the town.

Allan McVeigh, Head of Network Strategy responded as follows:

The North Yorkshire Council 20mph speed limit and zone policy that Mr Conlan refers to, is progressive and a significant step forward from its earlier iteration.  The Council's Executive approved changes to a revised policy in 2022, which have resulted in 37 20mph scheme applications having since been received, with nine schemes approved from 12 that have been through the full review process; one of which being unprecedented in scale covering the Pannal Ash and Oatlands areas of Harrogate.  This scheme does include Category 3A and 3B roads, which can be described as major streets.  The policy revision and indeed a more recent report, approved by the Council's Executive in July last year, will also result in the introduction of a planned programme of speed limit reviews across the urban and rural road network, including major streets and is actually prioritising the vulnerable road users referred to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Considered – Report of the public statement and response text referred from the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee (H&K ACC) on 23 November 2023.

Hazel Peacock attended to read out her original public statement to the committee, following which Allan McVeigh, Head of Network Strategy, then read out the response provided at the H&K ACC meeting.

A discussion then followed, in which questions and comments raised by elected members included:

·         Councillor Arnold Warneken asked whether major streets in Harrogate were not able to be classified as 20mph speed limit zones because of the large volume of traffic on them? For example, on Hookstone Road or Wetherby Road in Harrogate, is the volume of traffic so high that it cannot be considered for speed reclassification. In response, it was noted that traffic volume is one of the considerations for implementing 20mph speed limits, but it is not the only one or the overriding one. Other factors include the collision history of the road, the composition of the road users, the function of the road, the proximity to schools and high footfall areas – a whole host of different criteria set out in the DfT circular 01/2013 – ‘Setting local speed limits’.

·         Reference was made to plans for the Harrogate Gateway scheme and comments made concerning potential speed restrictions on Station Parade.

·         There was a concern of transparency for the public on how to find out what a main road is defined as to assist when making an application for a 20mph speed limit. It was also asked whether road category information could be made available in a user friendly way on the Council’s website. In response, it was noted that road category information is set out in the Code of Practice for Highways Maintenance. The road network is set out and categorised according to its functions, such as whether it is a strategic road designed to move high volumes of traffic over long distances, or is it more residential in nature for pedestrians and cyclists to use. Effectively, you have a road hierarchy that sets this out in North Yorkshire, from category 2 roads, which are strategic roads, going down to 3a, 3b, 4a and 4b. Typically in North Yorkshire, carriageways are category 2 or category 3 roads.

·         In terms of transparency, the network hierarchy for North Yorkshire is online, but it is accepted by officers that it is difficult to find currently. It is proposed to make this more visible by sitting a table alongside the 20mph Speed Limit and Zone Policy on the website, so that the reader can refer to both documents at the same time. A series of planned speed limit reviews across the whole of the network in North Yorkshire, both urban and rural, are to be undertaken in the coming months and years, so officers will be proactively engaging with communities.

·         Councillor Hannah Gostlow asked what the impact would be if the speed limit reductions had taken place on the roads under  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Considered – Report of the public statement and response text on active travel referred from the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee (H&K ACC) on 23 November 2023.

Councillor Arnold Warneken began the discussion by asking officers what would be done differently to make the Council more successful in future bids for active travel funding and learning from previous submissions?

In response, Allan McVeigh, Head of Network Strategy, noted that although recent bids to the Active Travel Fund (ATF) had not been successful, in overall terms it was felt that the Council has been successful in capital and revenue terms to secure funding for active travel schemes, such as through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) packages, National Productivity Investment Fund and Emergency Active Travel funding.

Following the recent ATF funding rejections, it was confirmed that the Council always seeks to receive feedback from the Department of Transport as to why a particular bid at that time wasn’t successful.

It was noted that since 2010 and the significant reduction in integrated transport block funding, there has been a focus on the priority of managing and maintaining the highway network. That is now starting to change, and it’s likely that we will be receiving more money for developing active travel in the future, potentially through the Mayoral Combined Authority for improvement-type active travel schemes.

Councillor Haslam felt that there are a number of easy wins that could be achieved, particularly in Harrogate, and they should be looked into. For example, there are lots of bits of footpaths and cycleways that are “unmade” and could be improved for a low cost into suitable paths/routes. These could be quick wins for active travel and safe cycling provision in the borough.

He felt that instead of focussing on big schemes and waiting for money to be handed down from government, that carrying out smaller pieces of work in the meantime would have a beneficial impact.

e.g. Path behind Hornbeam Park that crosses various roads in various places, to make it safer.

e.g. A61 into Harrogate, there’s a left turn onto the Greenway and you would be on a safe route right into the middle of Harrogate, but due to insufficient signage it isn’t widely used by cyclists and pedestrians.

These are labour intensive but low cost projects. As long as these smaller projects build into a wider active travel policy, then it was felt that they would be beneficial and improve public satisfaction. We would be seen as a Council to be a) taking action and b) when money becomes available from central government for bigger projects in the future, we’d be ready to go.

In response, the officer felt that it is exactly the approach the council has taken, but there is always more to do, as shown in the examples given.

It was noted that the council has been proactively engaging with the Harrogate and District Cycle Action Group (H&D CAG) to formulate a network of cycle plans together for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Considered – A report providing an overview of the current work of North Yorkshire Council in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The committee were joined by Michael Leah, Assistant Director – Environmental Services and Simon Moss, Strategy and Performance Team Leader to answer technical questions on the UN SDGs.

As the proposer of the Notice of Motion, Councillor Steve Mason set out the rationale and context behind it, the key points of which were:

·         The motion was submitted to try and bring the UN SDGs into the strategies of the Council.

·         It is about changing our collaboration with partners, finding potential black spots in the Council Plan in relation to the UN SDGs and identify where we can do better.

·         Achieving better social value, for example through the allocation of Member Locality Grants and the potential multiplier effect of funding allocations.

·         The LGA recommends that undertaking a mapping exercise will lead the council into making choices about which SDGs and targets align most to its own locality and communities, rather than having to adopt them all.

·         He felt the Council could publish a report together with the Council Plan to show the external wider public the progress made against the SDGs as a local authority and by doing this it would help to encourage other organisations such as NGOs, businesses and community groups to get involved and engage with us.

·         He noted the recommendations of the Audit Committee and felt they could be echoed as part of any recommendations from the Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise O&S Committee.

Simon Moss from the Strategy and Performance team detailed the work undertaken to map the North Yorkshire Council Plan Objectives against the UN SDGs (Appendix B) and subsequent work to look at other strategies and services provided by the Council that contribute to the UN SDGs (Appendix C). This showed that all of the 17 goals are covered by at least two of the NYC Council Plan objectives.

Of the underlying 167 targets, although some are applicable to the function of the council e.g. reducing waste generation and integrating climate change measures into policies and plans; many are not, for example reducing the illicit arms trade or combatting desertification. It should also be noted that a lot of the underlying targets are aimed at encouraging developing countries that are furthest behind to improve in particular areas, such as infant mortality, so a selective approach is required into which of the targets that we as North Yorkshire Council want to focus on and collaborate with others.

On the reporting, given the close relationship between the Council Plan and the SDGs, it was felt the right approach was to use and reference the SDGs into the next Council Plan, rather than creating a separate piece of work. It was noted that the SDGs are a useful tool to aid our current framework and thinking.

Following this and some general comments made by members, it was

Resolved - That the following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report deferred from the 19 October 2023 meeting.

Considered – Report of the Director of Transition setting out the impact of the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (YNY LEP).

The LEP will transfer across to the Combined Authority from 1^st February 2024 and will be the organisation taking this agenda forwards in the future.

James Farrar started by thanking the committee for the positive challenge put forwards in many areas over the years of the YNY LEP since its formation in 2010.

·         During its tenure, the YNY LEP has invested over £270m in the region. Through the Local Growth Fund, £145.9m was secured in infrastructure investments for 56 projects. For every £1 invested, £9 private sector investment has been delivered, totalling over £1.2 billion into the economy of the region.

·         Following Covid-19, an additional £15.7m investment was secured through the ‘Get Building Fund’ in 15 projects, in particular to improve the digital infrastructure on nine rural business parks and 20 town centre WiFi areas.

·         Nine flood resilience projects totalling £7.1m levered over £26m additional investment and will create or protect 1570 jobs and a cost benefit ratio of 9:1 when looking at the wider impact.

·         Facilities for colleges were improved through a £12.3m investment to help young people prepare for careers of the future right across the region.

·         Enterprise Zone status has been secured for the ‘York Central’ scheme, investing an additional £7.5m in infrastructure. Master development partners were appointed just before Christmas to progress the scheme, which will benefit not just York but the wider region as well, and is envisaged to deliver 6500 new jobs, 2500 new homes and £1.1billion Gross Value Added (GVA) benefit.

·         The work of the YNY LEP couldn’t have been achieved without the partnerships with the former district and county councils. The public/private sector partnership approach has delivered a range of capital projects and using a range of expertise to work through any difficulties and uncertainties has proved invaluable.

·         The LEP also led on securing over £90m EU funding, in particular over £7m into the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, which has subsequently delivered a huge rate of return on investment (the highest in the North of England), benefitting many businesses and SMEs in North Yorkshire.

·         The European Social Fund saw £44.5m in skills investment, with £17m in social inclusion and £19m in the workforce that supported over 25,000 individuals to improve their skills or address barriers to employment.

·         North Yorkshire benefitted from over £13m investments from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) to support the creation of 22 food processing businesses, 304 new jobs and bringing 59 new products to market alongside business development and tourism infrastructure to help stimulate activity.

·         The LEADER programme, managed by the YNY LEP supported Community Led Local Development in the most deeply rural areas, such as the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, coast and hills communities.

·         Wider work has seen the ‘Routemap to Carbon Negative’ developed to provide ambitious plans for the region to deliver net zero and beyond, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Purpose of the report:  To ask Members to consider, amend and add to the Committee’s work programme.

Considered -

Resolved -That the work programme be noted.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

There were no other items.