Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Burr, Ives and Sanderson.

There were no public questions.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 21 February 2017.

The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 21 February 2017 were presented.

Resolved

1.    That the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 21 February 2017 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record subject to the addition of paragraph 2 below:

2.    Members requested that clarification on the Chief Executive's secondment to Selby District Council be added to the minutes and brought to the next meeting of Full Council.

It was resolved at the Full Council meeting on 7 July 2016 "that the request from the Leader of Selby District Council that the Chief Executive of Ryedale District Council works, on a part time basis, as the interim Chief Executive of Selby District Council from 1 August 2016 until further notice be approved".

Voting record

For 22

Abstentions 5

There were no items of urgent business which the Chairman considered should be dealt with as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The following interests were declared:

Councillors V Arnold, Clark and Shields declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest as a members of North Yorkshire Council.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·        That at the recent Iese awards the Council had won the Gold Award in the category Transforming Through People and the Bronze Award in the category Council of the Year.

·        That the Council had been shortlisted in the Municipal Journal Awards for most improved Council.

·        That there were two events coming soon in aid of the Chairman's Charities, the Civic Service on 30 April 2017 at Kirkdale Minster followed by a reception at Wombleton Village Hall and "A Night at the Movies" concert by Kirkbymoorside Brass Band on 6 May 2017.

·        That he had attended a performance of Bugsy Malone by the 1812 Youth Theatre at Helmsley Arts Centre

·        That he attended a Lord Lieutenant's presentation at Worsley Barracks for people volunteer to help young cadets etc

There were no questions on notice.

Councillor Cowling, the Leader of the Council, presented the following statement:

I am pleased to be able to tell you tonight that our officers have again been successful in attracting funding into yet another project in Ryedale. Almost half a million pounds has been awarded through the National Productivity Investment Fund.  The money is to upgrade Ings Lane at Kirkbymoorside in order to support the growth of Marshalls and Forum Technologies - two high tech businesses which help us to grow our economy and provide good quality jobs for our residents.  Both Marshalls and Forum are very supportive of our work with young people, being regular attendees at Opportunity Knocks.

Tonight on our agenda we shall be discussing the improvement plan that flows from the recent Peer Review of Ryedale District Council.  It is an important document for us as it maps the improvements we wish to make to this council in the future.  There may be things in the plan that you would rather not hear - but there is much that is positive and will help us to be a better council.

The proposed waste transfer station at Kirby Misperton has been brought forward on our agenda tonight - again a very important decision for this council, with significant financial implications.

We shall also be looking at the allocation of £431,000.00 of Community Housing Funds which have been allocated to help provide housing in areas where there is a large number of second homes.  Our success in using this award may well affect the money we are awarded in future rounds of funding.

The following questions were received on the Leader’s Statement:

1. From Councillor Jowitt

Cllr Andrews requested at the last Council meeting if the Council could obtain monies from the Local Enterprise Council to improve drainage and sewerage systems in Malton and Norton. I think the from the Council Leader - Paul's got the letter - but I wonder if the Council Leader would like to inform the rest of Council of the answer to his question?

The Leader replied:

Yes I'm quite happy to do that. It's not actually part of my Leaders Statement but we'll go with it. So, a bid for £5million was made in Round 3 last July for money towards flood schemes in our patch. There had been 5 schemes put forward by local authorities and these were prioritised by the LEP according to the amount - by various factors including the amount of growth they unlocked. Malton came 4th which was disappointing but the scheme doesn't deliver new housing or jobs to any great degree. We only got £0.5 million of the £5 million of the money that we bid for and this money is going into Pocklington, which was the highest scored project as it releases 200 new homes. The LEP will continue to press when more funding for flood defences opportunities arise but it is their role to support growth and not the Environment Agency. This means  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Policy & Resources Committee - 23 March 2017

Minute 57 - Changes to Disabled Facilities Grant Policy (page 23)

Minute 58 - Community Housing Fund (page 37)

Minute 59 - Corporate Peer Challenge Improvement Plan (page 59)

Minute 60 - The Council's Priorities 2017 - 2022 (page 67)

Minute 61 - Proposed Waste Transfer Station for Ryedale (page 75)

Policy and Resources Committee – 23 March 2017

Minute 57 – Changes to Disabled Facilities Grant Policy

It was moved by Councillor Cowling and seconded by Councillor Steve Arnold that the following recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee

be approved and adopted.

       That Council agrees the following changes to the DFG Policy:

a)    The removal of means test contributions from clients for all applications where the value of works is less that £5000;

b)    The use of private occupational health therapists where NYCC in their role as social service authority are unable to respond to requests for assistance and undertake assessments within a reasonable period.

That Council also agrees to an increase of fees levied for capital works undertaken by the White Rose Home Improvement Agency (WRHIA) from 12.5% to 15%.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

       That Council agrees the following changes to the DFG Policy:

a)    The removal of means test contributions from clients for all applications where the value of works is less that £5000;

b)    The use of private occupational health therapists where NYCC in their role as social service authority are unable to respond to requests for assistance and undertake assessments within a reasonable period;

That Council also agrees to an increase of fees levied for capital works undertaken by the White Rose Home Improvement Agency (WRHIA) from 12.5% to 15%.

Voting Record

Unanimous

Minute 58 – Community Housing Fund

It was moved by Councillor Cowling and seconded by Councillor Steve Arnold that the following recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee

be approved and adopted.

       That Council agrees:

(i) the principle of using £86,200 (20%) of the total allocation for revenue purposes to support the delivery of new homes;

(ii) that £43,100 (10%) of the allocation be used for additional Community Development capacity working with a specialised provider, in partnership with Hambleton District Council for a 2 year period;

(iii) to passport £12,930 (3%) of the allocation into a pooled North Yorkshire enabling fund; 

(iv) that the remaining £288,770 (67%) be used for capital works provided through grants, land acquisition or purchase of property in support of Community Led Housing.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

       That Council agrees:

(i) the principle of using £86,200 (20%) of the total allocation for revenue purposes to support the delivery of new homes;

(ii) that £43,100 (10%) of the allocation be used for additional Community Development capacity working with a specialised provider, in partnership with Hambleton District Council for a 2 year period;

(iii) to passport £12,930 (3%) of the allocation into a pooled North Yorkshire enabling fund; 

(iv) that the remaining £288,770 (67%) be used for capital works provided through grants, land acquisition or purchase of property in support of Community Led Housing.

Voting Record

Unanimous

Minute 59 – Corporate Peer Challenge Improvement Plan

It was moved by Councillor Cowling and seconded by Councillor Steve Arnold that the following recommendations of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 8.10 pm.