Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Liz Casling.

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.

Whilst it was not strictly a disclosure of interest, Councillor David Buckle declared that he was the Council’s representative on the Selby and District Rail Users Group.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 27 September 2018.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 27 September 2018 for signing by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed the following attendees to the meeting who were present to talk with the Committee about transport matters in the district and the wider region, under agenda item 5 – Transport Matters:

Paul Flanagan, General Manager and Mick Gatenby, Arriva

Pete Myers, Stakeholder Manager, Northern Rail

Dave Pearson, Director of Transport Services at West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Graham Meiklejohn, Regional Development Manager, Transpennine/First Group

David Bowe, Corporate Director, Business and Environmental Services, North Yorkshire County Council

To discuss and agree items for inclusion on the Committee’s work programme for 2018-19.

The Chair spoke about the recent Scrutiny training that had taken place on 23 October 2018. The training had been better tailored to the arrangements in Selby and as such had been well received by Members.

Members noted that as part of the discussions about work programming that had taken place at the training, a topic identified for consideration by the committee, perhaps as a deep dive or scrutiny in a day, was the provision of a suitable temporary traveller site in the district.

Members agreed that recent issues with travellers in the district, including the subsequent mess and damage left behind by some of the groups, required further scrutiny; a practical way forward needed to be found in order to satisfy the local community.

The Chair suggested that the work of other Councils on the matter be explored and a line of communication established with the traveller community.

The Committee agreed that an introductory report should be produced for Members to consider the scope of the topic; once this had been done further work could be undertaken and eventually some recommendations presented to the Executive. The Chair also suggested that non-Scrutiny Members be involved in the work in order to broaden the views taken into account on the matter.

RESOLVED:

To ask the Democratic Services Officer to add to the Work Programme, under the ‘deep dives/scrutiny in a day’ section, an item on the provision of temporary traveller sites in the district.  

To consider and discuss transport matters in the District and surrounding Leeds City Region (‘City Region Connectivity’).

In attendance will be representatives from Arriva, Northern Rail, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Transpennine Express/First Group and NYCC.

Appended to the agenda for Members’ information is North Yorkshire County Council’s ‘Strategic Transport Prospectus’

The Economy and Infrastructure Manager introduced the item and explained that the Council was collaborating with transport partners to develop solutions to transport issues in the area, and to plan for both short and long term activities.

The Council recognised the need for employment transport, particularly in Sherburn. Cycle ways and pedestrian walkways required improvement across the district to ensure employment sites were linked to one another, and to help people get to work in an efficient and sustainable way.

Investment projects around Selby station were important in order to deliver a service that was accessible for all who wished to use it; access to stations across Selby district also needed to be improved. Members noted that Selby town was a critical strategic gateway, especially with the potential development of Olympia Park in the future, which was only over the river from the station.

Members were informed that the Council had recently hosted a transport infrastructure workshop, with a number of stakeholders present. Medium and long term priorities had been identified, some of which could be delivered soon, others that could be planned for in 15 to 20 years’ time.

The workshop had identified opportunities for transport, business and residential growth in the district, such as the Sherburn Growth Plan which would consider the impact of residential growth on the area.

It was important that the Council was able to influence the wider rail and transport agenda in the district and the region, including HS2 and Transport for the North.

The Chair then handed over to the invited stakeholders to speak to Members.

David Bowe, Corporate Director of Business and Environmental Services, North Yorkshire County Council

The Corporate Director of Business and Environmental Services explained that the crux of the issues around transport was time periods and appropriate planning. There had been interactions at a number of different levels about transport provision, leading to the development of NYCC’s Transport Prospectus, which had been appended to the agenda for Members’ information.

Members acknowledged the links between transport provision and the development of Selby’s Local Plan. Transport in the district would need to change to reflect the aspirations of the community and how that aspiration played into the wider strategic area.

The Committee agreed that diverse groups had their own issues that they saw as primary concerns. It was essential to sift through the interests of different communities in an attempt to address them, and by addressing these issues and recognising opportunities, transport planning could assist communities in identifying what it was they needed and how those needs could be met.

Paul Flanagan, General Manager and Mick Gatenby, Arriva

The Committee noted that the Arriva depot in Selby was the smallest in Yorkshire, with 31 buses, 61 drivers and 7 engineers. It had been a busy year for Arriva in the district, largely due to the work around bus provision for employment transport in Sherburn. It was recognised that Selby district was an area with a great deal of growth potential.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To receive the report of the Contracts Team Leader on the provision of street cleansing in the District.

Councillor David Buckle left the meeting at this point and did not return.

The Contracts Team Leader introduced the report which asked the Committee to note the street cleansing provision within the district.

The Executive Lead Member for Housing, Health and Culture was in attendance for consideration of the item.

The Committee acknowledged that the Environmental Services contract had been awarded to Enterprise Managed Services Ltd., now known as Amey Plc., and had commenced on 1 October 2009 for a period of 7 and a half years (to align the contract with the financial year), with an option to extend for a further 7 years. The contract extension had been taken up in April 2017 and the agreement would run until March 2025. The contract consisted of the following three service streams:

·           Waste and recycling collections

·           Street cleansing

·           Ground maintenance.

Members noted that each service stream had a service specification that detailed the work requirements, performance standards, quantum and working parameters, such as hours or days of operation, which the service provider was required to deliver.

Officers highlighted a number of current issues to the committee. In relation to the cleanliness of major roads such as the A64, there were sections that were difficult to clean because to do so would require temporary traffic measures or road closures, which were expensive and disruptive. The Council continued to work with partners at NYCC and Highways England in order to ensure the work was done but with as little disruption as possible.

It was explained to Members that the performance indicators and levels used to monitor the service had not been adjusted for a few years, despite an increase in demand for services such as more litter and dog bins to empty. Therefore, the performance in some areas looked worse than it was, as the indicator levels required updating; this would be done in 2019. The Committee agreed the importance of the targets being both meaningful and challenging.

Members expressed concerns about missed bin collections due to collection vehicles being unable to access certain streets due to parked cars, particularly recycling collections. Officers explained that the recycling vehicles were wider than the refuse wagons and as such could not access narrow roads which had been made narrower by parked cars. It was acknowledged that this was an issue in some areas of the district, but that the District Council had no powers in relation to parking enforcement. Whilst parking permits or yellow lines could be explored by the Highways Authority in order to prevent this happening in the future, unfortunately there was no ‘quick fix’. Officers confirmed that they would continue to work with NYCC colleagues on the matter.

The Committee asked what the worst streets for detritus were, and it was explained by Officers that it tended to be those with cars parked on them on a regular basis, as street sweepers couldn’t access whole sections. Officers explained that they did give local people notice that cars should be moved in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To note the work carried out to date, and proposed next steps to enable the delivery of Olympia Park.

At this point Councillors Chris Pearson and Don McKay left the meeting and did not return.

The Housing Strategy and Development Officer introduced the report which asked the Committee to note the work carried out to date, and proposed next steps to enable the delivery of Olympia Park.

The Committee noted that the last update on Olympia Park had been received in March 2018. Since then, following lengthy discussions with Homes England the £8.78 million grant funding was approved by Homes England’s Housing Infrastructure Investment Board in the first week of October. The Council was now awaiting written confirmation of this funding, including any associated conditions.

The Committee noted that the Housing Infrastructure Funding had to be spend by 31 March 2021. In order to achieve this deadline, the Council would be working collaboratively with all of the landowners to prepare the necessary legal agreements from them to commit to the design of a comprehensive, integrated scheme for the whole site.

Members acknowledged it was anticipated that a planning application would be submitted in March 2019, with a view to work on the infrastructure later that year. This date was slightly later than reported to the Committee in March 2018, mainly due to the complex discussions with the Environment Agency on mitigating flood and Homes England delaying the confirmation of the Housing Infrastructure Fund investment.

Officers went on to explain that the Housing Infrastructure Funding could potentially be supplemented by additional investment from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP. Up to £1.2 million of investment had been agreed in principle, subject to a detailed business case which was to be submitted on 26 October 2018. It was anticipated that this would be considered by the LEP’s Infrastructure Board for approval in December 2018.

Members asked Officers if there would be further pre-application public consultation; it was confirmed that there would be once further flood modelling work had been completed.

RESOLVED:

 To note the work carried out to date and proposed next steps to enable the delivery of Olympia Park.