Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Civic Centre, Doncaster Road, Selby, YO8 9FT

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: democraticservices@selby.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

26.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors W Nichols, K Ellis, A Lee and R Sweeting.  Councillor R Packham was in attendance as substitute for Councillor Nichols.

27.

Disclosures of Interest

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.

 

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest.

 

28.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 236 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 29 September 2022.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2022.

 

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 29 September 2022.

 

29.

Chair's Address to the Scrutiny Committee

Minutes:

The Chair requested that should Members need to proffer their apologies for Scrutiny Committee in the future, that they do so as soon as possible prior to the day of the meeting; and further, if unable to attend in person could they arrange for a substitute to attend on their behalf.

 

30.

Parking Enforcement in the Selby District

Remote attendance by the Senior Traffic Management & Parking Engineer from North Yorkshire County Council to discuss the issue of on-street parking within the Selby district.

 

Minutes:

Members had requested that an officer from parking enforcement at North Yorkshire County Council attend the Committee, to discuss the issue of on-street parking within the district.

 

The Senior Traffic Management and Parking Engineer at North Yorkshire County Council attended the meeting remotely via Teams, however due to technical difficulties the officer was able to hear the Councillors, but the officer could not be heard by the Councillors in the Council Chamber; therefore the item was abandoned.

 

 

 

31.

Corporate Performance Report Q1, 2022-23 (S/22/10) pdf icon PDF 487 KB

The Committee are asked to consider the content of the Quarter 1 report and make any comments on the Council’s corporate performance

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Head of Business Development and Improvement which asked Members to consider and comment on the performance information presented to them for Quarter 1, 2022-23.

 

Members noted that the report provided a progress update on delivery of the Council Plan 2020-2030, as measured by a combination of: progress against priority projects/high level actions; and performance against KPIs.

 

Officers summarised progress in Quarter 1, with 70% of KPIs reported showing improvement over the longer term or having maintained 100% performance, and 78% of KPIs reported were on target, with 9% of KPIs within acceptable tolerances.

 

The Chair queried what the projected performance figures were expected to look like for the Council up to Vesting Day in March 2023. The officer confirmed that there was significant pressure in terms of resources, with a number of vacant posts and significant time taken out of the normal working day for officers to contribute to the numerous local government review (LGR) workstreams.  However, services continued to focus on Council priorities such as those presented in the report.  The officer stated that it was hoped that current staffing levels would at least be maintained for the remaining period left for Selby District Council.

 

Queries were raised in relation to the performance of Stage 2 corporate complaints response times and the average days staff sickness figures.  The officer explained that the number of Stage 2 complaints was so small, that it took just one complaint not to meet the target response date to distort the final figures.  In terms of the rise in the sickness figures, it was explained that as all staff had worked from home during the Covid lockdowns, the sickness figures had to some extent been masked, and during this period staff lost immunity so were consequently susceptible to more infections at present.  Furthermore, absence due to Covid infections were no longer excluded from reporting. However, Members were assured that sickness absence was being actively managed.

 

Members requested an update on the Selby Local Plan consultation which had ended in October 2022, the Planning Policy Manager explained that the team were currently reviewing comments and were on track to present a report to Executive in February 2023 on the next steps for the Local Plan.

 

In relation to Empty Homes and the part funded programme by Homes England to acquire 10 empty homes, the Committee queried if work to identify further opportunities to increase the Council’s affordable housing portfolio had enabled SDC to secure any properties.  It was further queried if there was a timeframe for how long the Council spent in negotiations for a particular property.  The officer was unable to provide an answer to the queries but stated that he would speak with the officers concerned and circulate the information to the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:

The Committee considered and noted the content of the report.

 

32.

Section 106 Agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Monies (S/22/11) pdf icon PDF 271 KB

To examine the use and breakdown of Section 106 Agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies in the district for 2020-21.

 

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Manager provided an update on the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) 2020-21.  The officer explained that the IFS was an annual report which provided a summary of all developer contributions relating to Section 106 agreements (S106) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for a given financial year.  It was further explained that the IFS was used to provide clarity and transparency to local communities and developers on the infrastructure and expenditure, and in aligning this to planned development, as envisaged in the Local Plan.

 

Discussion took place around the significant S106 commuted sums that the Council was currently holding for the development or acquisition of off-site affordable housing, and the ‘backstop’ date by which the funds must be expended, or the monies returned to the relevant developer.  In response to a query regarding whether the S106 monies could be spent in the Selby District after Vesting Day in 2023, it was confirmed that the S106 monies could be used within Selby District as this was specified in the relevant legal agreements, however the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) could not and would therefore transfer over to North Yorkshire Council on the 1 April 2023.  Discussions were ongoing in relation to whether monies would be ring fenced to the area in which they were collected.

 

 

RESOLVED:

                      The Committee noted the update. 

33.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 351 KB

To consider the Committee’s work programme.

 

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the 2022-23 work programme as presented in the agenda.

 

Members were reminded that the next date in the Committee Calendar for Scrutiny Committee was Thursday 15 December however this was being held provisionally and it was queried if the date should be taken out of the calendar.

 

The Committee agreed that the provisional meeting on the 15 December 2022 be removed from the Committee calendar. 

 

RESOLVED:

i.                 Members noted the Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2022-23.

 

ii.               Members requested that the Democratic Services Officer cancel the next Scrutiny Committee which was due to take place on 15 December 2022.