Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Policy Review Committee held on 12 March 2019.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2019.

Councillors queried why the street cleansing and recycling item suggested under minute number 34 had not appeared on this meeting’s agenda. The Democratic Services Officer explained that the item could be better suited to consideration by the Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee were advised that a Task and Finish Group had been established to consider the future of the Council’s recycling service, and as such it was suggested that the matter be returned to at a later date once the group had met and made recommendations.

In terms of street cleansing, Members agreed that this could be considered separately from the recycling element.

RESOLVED:

i.              To approve the minutes of the Policy Review Committee meeting held on 15 January 2019 for signing by the Chair.

ii.            To amend the Committee’s work programme to reflect the Committee’s suggestions regarding future work in relation to the Council’s recycling service and street cleansing.

The Chair welcomed Members to the first meeting of the Policy Review Committee for the 2019-20 municipal year.

To consider and comment on the proposed taxi licensing policy (Appendix A), which incorporates the required changes following the reviewing of the consultation responses.

The Committee received the report of the Council’s Licensing Manager, which asked Members to consider and comment on the proposed Taxi Licensing Policy set out at Appendix A of the agenda, which incorporated required changes following the reviewing of the consultation responses.

The Committee noted that a consultation had been held between 1 December 2018 and 4 February 2019 with proposals to Selby’s Taxi Licensing Policy 2019. Officers had reviewed the consultation responses received and had updated the proposed policy; updates were shown by way of tracked changes. On 8 April 2019 the Licensing Committee resolved to adopt the recommendations and endorsed the proposed policy. The policy would then be considered by the Executive for agreement and adoption.

Members acknowledged the detailed work had gone into the production of the new policy, but expressed concerns around the proposal that all new Hackney Carriage vehicles to the fleet must be wheelchair accessible. The Committee felt that more evidence was required to support the proposal, and that a 70/30 or 50/50 mixed fleet of wheelchair accessible vehicles would be more acceptable. Members also agreed that further work around how a mixed fleet would be monitored and implemented should be undertaken.

Officers explained that the current policy stated that all new vehicles had to be wheelchair accessible, and that it was the local authority’s duty to ensure that all taxis were safe and secure. Increasing the number of vehicles deemed as wheelchair accessible was an important part of ensuring that the fleet of vehicles licenced in Selby District were fit for purpose. Members noted that if vehicles were wheelchair accessible, this could be of benefit to drivers as they would be able to access contracts for organisations such as North Yorkshire County Council and the NHS, who required accessible vehicles for a number of reasons.

The Committee felt that more work was required with regards to a fully accessible fleet, including figures relating to the current number of accessible vehicles, what arrangements at other local authorities were and how numbers of accessible vehicles could be monitored.

The Committee also commented on a number of other aspects to the policy; that drivers should report any health issues to the Council within three working days and clarification that any applicants convicted of a crime involving or related to, or has had any connection with abuse, exploitation, use or treatment of another individual, whether adults or children, will never be granted a licence. In relation to comments made about the dress code for drivers, Officers explained that this was included in the code of conduct in order to encourage a professional image of drivers in the district.

The Committee agreed that the Executive should take their comments into account when considering the policy and that if additional work was required, it could be referred back to the Policy Review Committee for further comment, should they so wish. 

RESOLVED:

i.              To note the proposed Taxi Licensing Policy 2019.

ii.            To ask Officers to forward to the Executive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Committee are asked to consider the contents of the report and provide any comments on the changes to the North Yorkshire Home Choice - Choice Based Lettings.

The Committee received the report from the Housing and Environmental Health Manager which asked the Committee to consider the content and provide comments.

The Committee noted that in 2011 Selby District Council joined a shared common allocations policy with partner authorities and housing providers in the sub-region. Government policy encouraged and financially supported Local Authorities to develop a Choice Based Lettings System. The North Yorkshire Choice Based Lettings Partnership operated in Craven, Richmond, Ryedale, Hambleton, Scarborough, Selby and York and the partner organisations were the Local Authorities, Broadacres Housing Association, Yorkshire Housing and Beyond Housing. Harrogate Borough Council had never joined the partnership and operated a separate scheme.

In July 2018 City of York made the decision to leave North Yorkshire HomeChoice and adopt a City of York Allocation Policy. City of York Council made the decision to leave the North Yorkshire HomeChoice Partnership because they felt that the policy was no longer able to meet their specific local needs. At the time the decision was made City of York confirmed that they would not leave the partnership until their new Housing IT system had been procured and implemented, and this was likely to take 2 years. On 24 April, 2019, the City of York Council board member advised at a meeting of the North Yorkshire HomeChoice Board that it would be between 18-24 months before City of York left the partnership.City of York Council were required to give a formal 6 month notice period of their intention to leave the partnership.

Members asked a number of questions of the Officer, including banding of applicants, the ages of people moving between local authority areas and the effect of the scheme on Selby residents applying for housing.

It was agreed by the Committee that a broader overview report on housing at Selby District Council would be useful, covering aspects such as allocation, housing stock, housing association, processes and policies. Members explained that a number of queries they received from residents were about housing matters, and it would stand Members in good stead to receive a complete synopsis of housing and related issues in the district, and particularly in light of the fact that City of York were leaving the HomeChoice scheme.

RESOLVED:

                                    That Officers report back to the Committee at a future meeting with an overview of housing matters in the Selby District including aspects such as housing allocations, housing stock, banding, housing associations, policies and processes.

The Committee considered the 2019-20 work programme as set out at pages 65 to 67 of the agenda.

Members suggested that the affordable housing and housing need item listed for October be brought forward for consideration in September 2019, in order for the information to be included in the housing overview report that had been requested by the Committee under the previous agenda item.

The Committee were reminded that they could suggest items for the work programme throughout the year.

RESOLVED:

                                    To ask the Democratic Services Officer to amend the 2019-20 work programme to bring forward the affordable housing and housing need item to September 2019, in order for the information to be included within the housing overview report that had been requested by the Committee.