Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

The Executive is asked to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2018.

The Executive considered the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2018.

It was queried whether the fire safety responsibility of the sites outlined in minute item 49 – ‘Leisure Services Planned Maintenance Programme Year 10’ had been clarified. It was agreed it would be checked whether a response had been sent on this.

It was noted that there was an error in the first resolution under minute item 55 – ‘Selby District Economic Development Framework 2017-2022 – Year One Review and Delivery Plan 2019 and 2020’ where the word ‘delivery’ should be replaced with the word ‘delivering’.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2018 with the above amendment for signature by the Chair.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is

available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary

interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already

entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the

consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a

disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the

declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary

interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that

item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring

Officer.

Councillor Mackman declared a personal non pecuniary interest in item 8 -‘Housing Development Programme: Ph2 Sites Detailed Business Cases’ as he was Chairman of the Selby and District Housing Trust. He stated that he would be leaving the meeting during the consideration of this item.

Report E/18/31 provides a progress update on delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan 2015-20 as measured by a combination of: progress against priority projects/high level actions; and performance against key performance indicators (KPIs). 

Councillor Mark Crane, Leader of the Council presented the report which provided a quarterly progress report of the Council’s Corporate Plan 2015-20.

The Leader of the Council highlighted an area of concern in relation to the average time to re-let council homes. It was explained that this was due to the poor condition of some of the homes once a tenant had left the property and the additional time required to make the property habitable for the next tenant.

Additionally, the Leader of the Council noted concerns around missed bin collections and the number of active Lifestyle members.

Concern was raised at the overall performance of the Council, notably a slightly lower proportion of all indicators showing improvement than in previous quarters. It was noted that the sickness absence figure had been significantly impacted by the number of long term absences.

RESOLVED:

To note and approve the report.

REASON FOR DECISION:

The reporting of performance data enables the Council to demonstrate progress delivering the Corporate Plan priorities to make Selby District a great place.

Report E/18/32 outlines the draft Gambling Policy as amended following consultation.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture presented the report which outlined the draft Gambling Policy as amended following consultation.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture explained that the previous policy had been adopted in 2017 and the Council had a duty to review the policy every three years.

RESOLVED:

To note the draft Gambling Policy as amended following consultation and to recommend to the Council that it be adopted.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To ensure the Council has an up to date policy.

Report E/18/33 provides the Executive with a brief outline of the UCI Road World Championships and para-cycle event 2019. It considers the proposed role of the Selby district in this, and the necessary resource required from Selby District Council (SDC) to manage race requirements.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture presented the report which provided the Executive with a brief outline of the UCI Road World Championships and para-cycle event 2019. The report also considered the proposed role of the Selby District in this, and the necessary resource required from Selby District Council to manage race requirements.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture explained that the championships consisted of three events which would be held between 21 and 29 September 2019 with a start for the para-cycle event in Tadcaster. The Executive were informed that £65k was required to resource staging the event with this being a mix of £25k for staging the event and £40k for infrastructure and security.

The Executive were supportive of the proposals and highlighted the benefit of staging the event for the district and in particular the benefit of having a start in Tadcaster after the flooding and bridge collapse that had occurred there.

RESOLVED:

To approve fund of £65,000 to host the para-cycling qualifiers event in line with the UCI Road World Championships Local Authority Agreement and to manage race routes through the district.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To meet the following requirements:

·         The Local Authority agreement with Y2019 to host the para-cycling start event at Tadcaster; and

·         The P4G funding authority arrangement that all future P4G budget expenditures over the agreed £10,000 threshold will be presented to Executive individually for approval and tracked in future quarterly reports.

E/18/34 outlines an update on the Better Together arrangements for Legal Services between Selby District Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

The Leader of the Council presented the report which outlined an update on the Better Together arrangements for Legal Services between Selby District Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

The Leader of the Council explained that the arrangements had provided more resilience for the District Council in the legal services area due to being able to access services from North Yorkshire County Council. Additionally, the Executive stated that they agreed with the proposal outlined in the report to fund an additional post to undertake planning work due to the levels of legal work required in the planning and planning enforcement areas.

RESOLVED:

To note that the legal services project is working well overall despite challenges which are being resolved within the spirit of collaboration which underpins the Better Together arrangements as a whole.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To provide the Executive with the requested update and reassurance that the arrangements are delivering the service required.

Report E/18/35 presents detailed business cases for the small sites element of Phase 2 of the Housing Development Programme.

Appendix C to the report is exempt from publication by virtue of paragraph 3 in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). If councillors wish to discuss information contained within the appendix it will be necessary to pass the following resolution to exclude the press and public:

In accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, the meeting be not open to the Press and public during discussion of the following item as there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) of the Act as described in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act.

Following his earlier declaration, Councillor Mackman left the room for the consideration of this item.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture presented the report which detailed business cases for the small element of phase 2 of the Housing Development Programme. It was noted that the cost estimates were in an exempt appendix therefore if the Executive wished to discuss this, they would have to move into private session.

The Executive were informed that the programme was a £22 million programme to deliver 207 homes. It was noted that the Council and the Selby and District Housing Trust (SDHT) had brought 50 additional affordable housing units to the district in phase one of the programme and had acquired 12 section 106 units. Additionally, it was noted that the phase two sites outlined in the report would be for additional units to be built as Council houses or by SDHT as affordable rented homes.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture explained that the costs estimates were based on the procurement framework and were above the estimates used in setting the programme budget. The Executive were informed that officers had looked at the reasons for the increase in the estimates and whether these still represented value for money with the findings set out in the report.

The Executive raised concern at the increase in the section 106 subsidy from £20k per unit to £50k per unit and felt that the cost estimates in the report should be lowered through negotiations. The Solicitor to the Council explained that the decision in the report was linked to the procurement process and approval would enable the Council to work with the contractors to value engineer the costs down. Additionally, it was explained that if the final costs were lower than the approved estimated, delegation was provided to proceed however if the costs were higher than the ones outlined in the report then the decision would be brought back to Executive. It was agreed to insert the words ‘subject to contract’ in resolution two to reflect this.

The Executive also felt that resolution two should include consultation with an Executive member to ensure there was member involvement in the decision. It was agreed that the member would be the Leader of the Council and it was agreed to amend the resolution to reflect this.

With regard to the section 106 subsidy, the Chief Finance Officer explained that the new figure of £50k per unit should be considered against the transfer value per unit included in the section 106 agreement and therefore even if the Council was using the maximum figure, it would still be maximising the delivery of homes.

RESOLVED:

i)             To approve the detailed business cases for the seven sites subject to Council’s agreement to drawdown additional funding for the programme from the s106 reserve in the 2019/20 budget proposals;

ii)            To authorise the Director of Economic Regeneration and Place in consultation with the Leader of the Council to offer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

That, in accordance with Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, the meeting be not open to the Press and public during discussion of the following items as there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act.

It was proposed, and seconded, that the Executive sit in private session for the next item due to the nature of the business to be transacted.

RESOLVED:

That, in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, in view of the nature of business to be transacted the meeting be not open to the press and public during discussion of the following items as there will be disclosure of exempt information as described in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act.

Report E/18/35 outlines details of the use of Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) by the Council to bring an empty home back into occupation.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture presented the report which outlined details of the use of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) by the Council to bring an empty home back into occupation.

The Lead Executive Member for Housing, Health and Culture explained that the property in question had been empty for over 20 years and as a result was in a bad state of repair. The Executive supported the proposals and that action needed to be taken in respect of properties left vacant for considerable lengths of time.

RESOLVED:

i)             To note that delegated authority was given by the Executive on 4 January 2017 to purchase properties in relation to the Empty Homes Strategy and Action Plan.

ii)            To authorise the Director of Corporate Services and Commissioning to make a compulsory purchase order to be known as the Selby District Council (Property X, Selby) Compulsory Purchase Order under Section 17 of the Housing Act 1985, in respect of the land and property indicated on a map marked with the name of the Compulsory Purchase Order, where the words “Property X” will be replaced with the full address of the Property.

iii)           To authorise the Director of Corporate Services and Commissioning to take all necessary steps, including sign all necessary documentation and orders to effect the decision made by the Executive.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To ensure empty homes which have been left lengthy for long periods of time are brought back into use in accordance with the Council’s Empty Homes Strategy.