Agenda and minutes

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

No exempt items have been identified.

No exempt items were identified at the meeting. The Chair advised members of the public that item 7 of the meeting was being recorded by a member of the public and also alerted members of the public to the ‘Recordings by Third Parties Code of Practice.’

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests declared to the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

An apology for absence was submitted by Councillor S Lay.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2016.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2016 be approved as a correct record.

To receive the report of the Head of Scrutiny which provides guidance to the Scrutiny Board regarding outline terms of reference for the inquiry. In addition to receive the report of the Director of City Development and WYCA which provides initial background information on the development of the Supertram and NGT projects including decisions made by the Council and the approvals and guidance from the DfT.

The Head of Scrutiny, The Director of City Development and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority submitted reports which facilitated the formulation of outline terms of reference for the Scrutiny Inquiry. In addition the reports provided initial background information on the development of the Supertram and NGT projects; including decisions made by the Council and the approvals and guidance from the Department of Transport.

The following information was appended to the report:

-  Appendix A: Letter from Council Leaders to Secretary of State for Transport 16th September 2005

-  Appendix B: Leeds Supertram decision letter

-  Appendix C: Local Partnerships, Gateway Report February 2013

-  Appendix D: DfT Rejection letter May 2016

-  Appendix E: Timeline of events

-  Appendix F: Table of expenditure year by year

-  Appendix G: Summary of Inspector’s Comments

-  Appendix H: List of Project Board Members

The following representatives were in attendance to respond to Members

queries and comments:

-  Martin Farrington – Director, City Development

-  Gary Bartlett – Chief Highways Officer

-  Dave Haskins – WYCA

-  Andrew Wheeler – NGT Project Manager

-  Councillor Richard Lewis – Executive Board Member, Regeneration Transport and Planning

The key areas for discussion were:

·  The requirement to submit an outline business case for transport to secure £173.5m of funding from Government in October 2016, and the intention to seek further funding required to deliver integrated transport for Leeds over the short, medium and long term.

·  The transport summit held on the 10^th June 2016.

·  The intention to conduct initial City wide consultation in order to engage with communities and interested parties and organisations, with further more detailed consultation to follow.

·  The need for national and international experts independent of NGT to inform the debate.

·  The need for a clear transport strategy that everyone is working towards and which delivers economic growth and prosperity.

·  The requirement to balance aspiration and the ability to finance and deliver schemes.

·  Department for Transport conditions for funding with regard to assurance processes.

·  The frustration of independent government processes; programme planning with the Department of Transport followed by transport and work act order with Planning Inspector which lacks coherence and has raised contradictory views.

·  The amount of public money invested to go through lengthy government processes which had ultimately resulted in a negative outcome.

·  The need to consider comparator schemes.

·  The impact of the project lead leaving in 2013.

·  Clarity about the function of the Local Partnership Gateway.

RESOLVED – The Scrutiny Board;

(a)  noted the comments in the report of the Director of City Development and WYCA; and

(b)  requested that the Scrutiny Chair and the Scrutiny Officer consult with the relevant Director and Executive Board Member regarding terms of reference and report back to the September 2016 meeting with draft terms of reference for agreement.

To receive the Directors response to the Scrutiny Inquiry, Powering Up the Leeds Economy through Digital Inclusion.

The Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive (Strategy and Resources), Assistant Chief Executive (Citizens and Communities), Chief Digital Officer and Director of City Development submitted their response to the Scrutiny Inquiry, Powering up the Leeds Economy Through Digital Inclusion.

The following information was appended to the report:

-  Appendix 1: Home loan library iPads help people with disabilities get online

-  Appendix 2: List of organisations who attend the 100% Digital Leeds event

-  Appendix 3: Scrutiny Inquiry Report – Powering up the Leeds Economy Through Digital Inclusion.

The following representatives were in attendance to respond to Members

queries’ and comments:

-  Alan Gay – Deputy Chief Executive (Strategy and Resources)

-  Dylan Roberts – Chief Digital Officer

-  Lee Hemsworth – Chief Officer (Customer Access)

-  Richard Hart – Deputy Head of Service (Leeds Library and Information  Services)

-  Jason Tutin – Digital and Learning Development Manager.

The key areas for discussion were:

·  Confirmation that all recommendations made by the Scrutiny Board are accepted.

·  The risk of digital by default and the anxieties that this may cause for service users. Clarification of 100% digital and reassurance that face to face and telephone contact options will be available to those who are not digitally engaged. The inclusion of consideration of digital inclusion or exclusion when considering schemes which introduce digital by default.

·  The up skilling of LCC staff to facilitate the conversations and training with customers about the benefits of using digital.

·  The inclusion of a skills audit within the appraisal process and tailored training for Council employees.

·  Tablet lending scheme through the at home service which has helped people with multiple barriers to engagement. Concern about the limited time scale about the lend and the potential option for purchasing equipment. It was clarified that funding for the expansion of the project has not yet been secured.

·  The social benefits of digital engagement.

·  Feedback from the 100% Digital Leeds event and partnership engagement. It was acknowledged that there is work to be done to identify supporting organisations in Leeds and make that information available to the public.

·  The creation of a brand for ‘100% Digital’ and gaining support for that.

·   Assessment of skills gaps across the City in order to localise targeting and maximise the resource that already exists in communities.

·  The need to improve in engagement with partners as private sector and to gain investment and commitment from those organisations.

·  The need to measure impact of the investment made and report this back in future updates to the Scrutiny Board. 

RESOLVED – The Scrutiny Board;

(a)  noted the response to the recommendations;

(b)  endorsed the approach outlined in the report; and

(c)  identified that progress, impact and outcomes be reported to the Scrutiny Board as part of the recommendation tracking process.

To receive the Directors response to the Scrutiny Inquiry, Housing Mix

The Director of City Development submitted his response to the Scrutiny Inquiry, Housing Mix.

The following information was appended to the report:

-  Appendix 1: Scrutiny Inquiry Report – Housing Mix.

The following representatives were in attendance to respond to Members

queries’ and comments:

-  Martin Elliot – Group Manager, Strategic Planning.

The key areas for discussion were:

·  The local need and how well it is understood. It was perceived that need is not being met in local areas in the schemes coming forward.

·  The housing requirement for the City and the impending 16 month review of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment.

·  The provision of family housing in the housing mix and the need to improve the understanding of the demographics in Leeds in addition to having a planning view and a Children’s Services view.

·  Planning approvals defined in table 3 and the probability of these being progressed to build stage in the current market.

·  Clarity regarding the Objectively Assessed Housing Need methodology to be employed.

·  Resourcing for neighbourhood planning and how this is funded and the need for neighbourhood plans to conform with the Core Strategy. 

RESOLVED – The Scrutiny Board;

(a)  noted the response to the recommendations;

(b)  endorsed the approach outlined in the report; and

(c)  identified that progress, impact and outcomes be reported to the Scrutiny Board as part of the recommendation tracking process.

Wednesday 7^th September 2016 at 10:30am

(pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10:00am)

Wednesday, 7 September 2016 at 10:30am (pre-meeting for Board Members at 10:00am).

(The meeting concluded at 12:45pm)