Agenda item

The Leader of the Council, and other members of the Executive, will report on their work since the last meeting of the Council and will respond to questions from Councillors on that work.

Councillor Mark Crane, Leader of the Council – presented by Councillor Richard Musgrave, Deputy Leader, in Councillor Crane’s absence

The Deputy Leader presented the Leader’s update on the work he had undertaken recently, as outlined in the report.

The Leader of the Opposition asked for further clarification on the section about Devolution. The Deputy Leader explained that the proposals had been agreed by the Executive in August 2020 and the other Councils in the area around the same time. An update from the LEP would be provided soon and a further meeting held after the elections.

Members asked for more information so that were also aware of what was being proposed. The Deputy Leader stated that the Executive report in question was a public document and could be viewed on the Council’s website.

The Member for Tadcaster thanked the Leader for approval of the emergency grant to assist with the recent flooding in the town; the Deputy Leader would pass on his thanks.

Members asked for an update on the Afghan refugee scheme so that the refugees could be made welcome. The Deputy Leader confirmed that this information would be shared with Members.

Councillor Richard Musgrave, Deputy Leader and Lead Executive Member or Place Shaping

The Deputy Leader gave an overview of his report and informed Members that the figures for the Development Management supplied in the update were only up to February 2022; updated figures would be sent out in due course.

Planning applications were up 30% more than usual and as such, fee income had increased, which reflected the number of applications that had been submitted. He thanked the Development Management Team for their work and gave details of the new interim Head of Development Management.

Councillor Cliff Lunn, Lead Executive Member for Finance and Resources

Councillor Lunn gave an overview of his report and asked if Members had any further questions.

The Leader of the Opposition stated that a question raised at a previous meeting, about the spending of the P4G funding, had not yet been answered; £1m had been spent but there was an estimated £5.4m left to spend. Members wanted to know when the rest would be spent.

A further question was also asked about the energy rebate and how those customers without bank accounts or access to the internet would receive the payment.

The Executive Member explained that the accounts for the P4G were still being finalised. There were several ongoing projects but there had been some delays, and the scheme could continue into the 2022-23 year. If the schemes were not finished by the end of 2022-23, the money would transfer to the new North Yorkshire unitary authority. The total spend would be £5.5m, £2m of which would be community investment, as well as staff costs.

Regarding the payment of the energy rebate, the team who were administering the payments were waiting for the software to enable them to make direct debit payments. Letters would be sent to all those who would receive the payment, including the 26% of residents who could not use direct debit. There was no facility to pay customers by cash due to the risk of fraud, but there weren’t many residents who did not have bank accounts. The Council’s Customer Service Team were able to assist residents when filling in their direct debit forms; the authority would make every effort help, including the elderly and most vulnerable, who were at risk of scams.

The Executive Member assured Members that the matter was being taken seriously and again informed the Council that the delays had been due to the requirement for new software to make the payments. The issues experienced were common to another local authority in the county. The problems had been tested and were now resolved, with payments starting that week. Residents who could not be paid by direct debit would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

A further query was raised about the Test and Trace support payments to the clinically vulnerable, those on furlough and people self-isolating. The Executive Member stated that he would ask Officers and provide a written reply.

Councillor David Buckle, Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development

Councillor Buckle summarised his report to the Council. There were no questions from Members.

Councillor Tim Grogan, Lead Executive Member for Health and Culture

Councillor Grogan submitted his report to the Council and gave further updates on the trial usage of hydrogenated vegetable oil as fuel for the Council’s vehicles. The trial in November 2021 went well and saved an average of 60 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

An illegal traveller site had been removed recently by the Police using Section 61 powers, without Council involvement.

Councillor Grogan also informed Members that he would be looking into the state of letter boxes in the district, as many were in a poor state of repair.

Members asked about fly tipping and the use of CCTV cameras, both real and false. Councillor Grogan responded that the Council was working closely with the Environment Agency and the Police on the matter, with one or two leads being followed up. He was an advocate of the use of CCTV with two currently in use. If Members wanted them to be used in their areas, they needed to apply to do so. The use of false cameras would need to be investigated, and if a real camera was being used it needed to be in place for at least a few weeks.

A report had been approved by the Executive in March 2022 for the Environmental Services contract succession strategy and re-procurement exercise in April 2022. A cross-party task and finish group would be actively involved over the next twelve months.

Members were concerned that the previous contract had excluded ginnels in Sherburn and elsewhere in the district and asked that they were included in the new contract. Councillor Grogan asked Members to contact him separately outside the meeting about the matter.

Concerns around an abandoned skip in Tadcaster on the river gateway were raised and it was requested that it be removed as soon as possible. Councillor Grogan confirmed that he was aware of the issue and had updated Tadcaster Members about this. The skip was owned by a company that had gone out of business and specialist equipment was required to move it as it was unclear what the contents were.

It was proposed, seconded and a vote taken that the Executive reports be noted.

RESOLVED:

                        To note the Executive reports.