Agenda, decisions and minutes

To declare any personal/prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81(3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members Code of Conduct.

In respect of Agenda Item 12 ‘Well Being Budget (Revenue) 2009/10’ (Minute No. 68 refers), Councillor Armitage declared a personal and prejudicial interest as a member of the Swarcliffe Good Neighbours Scheme and left the room during the consideration of this particular issue.

In respect of Agenda Item 13 ‘Outer East Area Committee Capital Budget 2009/10’ (Minute No. 69 refers), the following declarations of interest were made:

·  Councillor Wakefield, personal and prejudicial as a member of the Groundwork Board.

·  Councillor Dobson, personal and prejudicial as a member of Garforth & District Lions.

·  Councillor Murray, personal as a Governor of Garforth Community College.

Councillors Wakefield and Dobson left the room during the consideration of these particular applications.

In respect of Agenda Item 15 ‘Actions, Achievements and Update Report’ (Minute No. 71  refers), the following declarations of interest were made:

·  Councillor Murray, personal as the Area Committee representative on the Jobs, Employment & Training Partnership and the Children Leeds – East Leadership Team.

·  Councillor Armitage, personal as the Area Committee representative on the Health and Well-Being Partnership.

·  Councillor Dobson, personal as the Area Committee representative on the North East Divisional Community Safety Partnership.

·  Councillor Grahame, personal as a resident of the Swarcliffe Estate and as a member of the Swardale Swarcliffe Eastwood Residents Association.

Declarations of interests were also made later in the meeting under Agenda Items 10 and 15 (Minute Nos. 66 and 71 refer).

In accordance with Paragraphs 6.24 and 6.25 of the Area Committee Procedure Rules, at the discretion of the Chair a period of up to 10 minutes may be allocated at each ordinary meeting for members of the public to make representations or to ask questions on matters within the terms of reference of the Area Committee.  This period of time may be extended at the discretion of the Chair.  No member of the public shall speak for more than three minutes in the Open Forum, except by permission of the Chair.

The Chair referred to the provision in the Area Committee Procedure Rules for an ‘Open Forum’ period at each ordinary meeting of an Area Committee, during which members of the public could ask questions or make representations on any matter within the terms of reference of the Area Committee.  There were members of the public present, but no issues were raised.

To confirm as a correct record the attached minutes of the meeting held on 8^th December 2009.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th December 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

Minute No. 49 – Minutes of the Previous Meeting – Neighbourhood Wardens

The Acting South East Area Manager, Keith Lander, advised Members that a report on the restructure of wardens to Local Community Environment Officers and Support Officers had been circulated to Members for information.  Deployment and funding issues would be discussed with Members at a meeting in the near future.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods providing a progress update on the Residual Waste Treatment PFI Project.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Council Function)

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods submitted a report providing the Area Committee with a progress update on the Residual Waste Treatment PFI Project.

The Chair welcomed Susan Upton, Head of Waste Management, and Andrew Lingham, Senior Project Manager (Waste Strategy), Environmental Services, to present the report and respond to Members’ queries and comments.

The Head of Waste Management advised Members that since the report had been circulated, it was now known that the two bidders that were being taken forward to the next stage of the procurement process were Aire Valley Environmental and Veolia ES Aurora.  She also advised that five forum meetings had been attended, with 50 members of the public attending and that two further meetings were going to be arranged.  She also confirmed that ground surveys would soon commence and Members would be provided with full details.

In brief summary, Members raised the following issues with officers:

·  Members voiced their concerns regarding the consultation with local residents over the two selected sites and that they were not being directly consulted where the final location should be – officers advised that all residents in the area had been kept updated, and the department would continue to engage with them.  Officers had been attending local forums.  At Members’ request, officers agreed to provide the Committee with a summary of the site consultation work with local residents.

·  Communication with Richmond Hill residents – officers advised that a household information pack had been distributed to some 12,000 residents in the area, which would cover Richmond Hill.  Residents could then register an interest to receive further information on the project.  Officers would welcome feedback of any residents that had been missed out in this process.

·  Communication with Members – officers advised that every Member had been provided with an information pack which did mention the term incinerator.

·  Members requested the tonnage figures for the waste that the two bidders would be dealing with and questioned the disparity between the two figures – officers advised that Aire Valley Environmental would be dealing with 230,000 tonnes of waste and Veolia ES Aurora would be dealing with 190,000 tonnes of waste; the disparity occurred as Leeds’ waste was 160,000 tonnes and the difference would be made up of the amount of commercial and industrial waste the bidding companies were planning to deal with. Officers also confirmed that the commercial and industrial waste would be similar to household waste and that the facility would be taking Leeds’ waste.

·  The amount of Leeds’ waste and recycling rates – officers advised the future tonnage figure for Leeds’ waste was based on achieving a 50% recycling rate. Recycling rates had improved year on year with a projected further improvement this year.  The aim was to achieve 41% recycling next year.  Increased recycling would be achieved by improving service design around fortnightly collections and introducing food collection.  If for any reason this did not deliver on the required minimum 50% recycling target, then there were still other elements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

To consider the attached report of the Head of Sport and Active Recreation updating Members on the progress of the ‘Vision for Council Leisure Centres’ with regard to East Leeds, Garforth and Kippax Centres.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Council Function)

The Head of Active Recreation submitted a report providing Members with a progress update on the ‘Vision for Council Leisure Centres’ with regard to East Leeds, Garforth and Kippax Leisure Centres.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting to present the report Helen Evans,
Wellbeing Programme Manager and David O’Loan, Acting Business Support Manager.

The Wellbeing Programme Manager presented the report and confirmed that the swimming pool at Kippax Leisure Centre, which had been closed recently for repairs to the air handling unit, would soon reopen.

In brief summary, Members raised the following issues with officers:

·  Swimming pool provision in East Leeds – officers confirmed that in East Leeds it was hoped to provide new leisure facilities, including a swimming pool.  However not all current facilities would necessarily be reprovided. 

·  Various concerns were voiced with regard to plans to transfer the leisure centres to community organisations and the huge responsibility and liability that this would entail:

• With regard to the equipment breaking down – officers advised that condition surveys had been carried out and that community organisations would be expected to take these into account. 
• With regard to the transfer of youth facilities at East Leeds One Stop Shop - officers confirmed that there were no plans to transfer these into the community agreement and that the youth service were aware of this.

Officers also advised that it was very unlikely that a community organisation would take over the running of a swimming pool, with all the attendant risks and costs.  Sport England had advised the merger of the two centres into one, but it was  recognised that communities never liked to lose any facility in their area, so that is why expressions of interest by community organisations were being sought.

·  Alternative funding solution for Kippax and Garforth leisure centres – officers advised that the commitment was to deliver and resource one improved leisure centre for the Outer East by 2017.  The future of PFI funding was at present unclear, but should be known by the end of the year.  In the absence of PFI funding, alternative funding options would be sought.

·  Whether 2017 was an aspiration or a firm commitment and whether it might not be wiser to consult with the NHS in order to provide facilities sooner – Members were advised that funding for anything before 2017 would more likely be achieved for more sustainable smaller projects with links to schools and community organisations.  No assurance could be given that in the meanwhile reinvestment would be made in existing leisure centres, as there was no provision in the capital programme.  Officers also advised that there had been initial discussions with the NHS with regard to East Leeds and Holt Park, but the NHS commitment to these had been withdrawn, probably in the light of the NHS Leeds financial and estates position.

·  Whether there were plans for an Olympic size swimming pool in Garforth – the Acting Business Support Manager confirmed that to his knowledge he had never  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive of Education Leeds attaching the report to the January meeting of the Executive Board providing Members with the opportunity to contribute to the consultation process on the proposals to close Primrose High School, City of Leeds High School and Parklands High School and the future of girls only secondary education in Leeds.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Council Function)

The Chief Executive of Education Leeds submitted a report providing Members with the report submitted to the 6^th January 2010 meeting of the Executive Board seeking approval to formally consult on proposals to i) close Primrose High School, to be replaced by an academy sponsored by the Co-operative Group, with Leeds City College as the education partner, on the same site, ii) close City of Leeds High School, iii) close Parklands Girls High School to be replaced by a co-educational academy sponsored by the Edutrust Academies Charitable Trust, and iv) seeking approval for a city wide consultation on the future of girls only secondary education in Leeds.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Jacqueline Green, Strategic Manager Planning and Brian Tuffin, Head of Secondary School Improvement, both from Education Leeds, to present the report and respond to any queries and comments.  The Strategic Manager Planning advised that it was planned that all the consultations should be completed by March and that the consultation most pertinent to this Area Committee was with regard to girls only provision in the city.

In brief summary, Members raised the following issues and made the following comments:

·  With regard to Parklands Girls High School, Members expressed their concerns at its proposed closure.  There was the view that there ought to be a girls only school in the city as part of parental choice and that if it was in a more suitable location and more appealing, it might attract a higher number of pupils - officers advised that at present the problem was that not enough parents were choosing Parklands High and therefore the school was unsustainable.  The only way to maintain a school in the area would be to make it co-educational.  Numbers attending consultations at present were small, therefore indicating that there was not much support in the city for girls’ own education.

·  With regard to the City of Leeds High School, Members expressed concern that there was no clarity in the report as to what the future use of the site would be, nor a definition of a 14-19 hub and therefore Members should reserve judgement on these proposals until this information was received.

·  Members expressed concern with regard to future projections in pupil numbers at high schools – Members were advised that there would be sufficient secondary school places until 2019.

After further lengthy debate, Members took a vote and it was agreed by a majority that the Area Committee fully supported the principle to provide a girls only secondary school.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the contents of the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That the Area Committee fully supports the principle to provide a girls only secondary school.

(NB: At the start of this item, the following declarations of interest were made:

·  Councillor Dobson – a personal and prejudicial interest as a family member works at Parklands Girls High School and left the room during the discussion and voting on this item.

·  Councillor Gruen - a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Children’s Services providing the Committee with a dashboard of Children Services performance data.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Council Function)

The Director of Children’s Services submitted a report providing Area Committee with a dashboard of Children Services performance data disaggregated at an Area Committee or Ward level.

The Chair welcomed Ken Morton, Locality Enabler, Children Services Unit, to present the report and respond to Members’ queries and comments. 

The Locality Enabler referred to the data; that it was following on from an item at a previous meeting and introduced a better suite of performance indicators in terms of Children’s Services.  He highlighted that the new inspection framework for schools had raised the bar, with the new target for secondary schools to be better than satisfactory.

The Locality Enabler also drew attention to Annex 1 of the report, which contained information at Ward level on young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).  He advised that he had met with the Committee’s Children’s Champion, Councillor Murray, and they recommended that the Area Committee should prioritise improving NEET and Not Known figures.

Members discussed the report and welcomed the start to break down some of the data but questioned whether resources were being targeted where the need was greatest.  The Locality Enable advised that resources were deployed against need by connexions and Youth Services and it was hoped to be able to demonstrate this in future data.

The Acting Area Manager also advised that the data would be useful to integrate into the Area Delivery Plan around the Children and Young People’s theme.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the contents of the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That the performance data continue to be presented in this way with the continuation of the process of breaking down the figures to Ward level.

(Note: Councillor J Lewis left the meeting at 5.30pm during the consideration of this item.)

To consider the attached report of the South East Area Manager providing an update on expenditure and project work in 2009/10 and recommendations regarding the Gardening and Decorating Scheme.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Executive Function)

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That approval be given for the East Outer Area Committee to fund the Swarcliffe Good Neighbours Scheme with the sum of £38,000 to continue to deliver a gardening and decorating scheme for elderly/disabled residents in 2010/11.

(c)  That a decision on the request from Bronze Tanning Studio on Manston Approach for the Area Committee to provide funding for security shutters be deferred pending further information.

The South East Area Manager submitted a report providing Members with an update on expenditure and project work in 2009/10.  The report also included a recommendation to continue to fund a gardening and decorating scheme for elderly/disabled in 2010/11 delivered by the Swarcliffe Good Neighbours Scheme and to not approve a request to fund the cost of security shutters to Bronze Tanning Studio on Manston Approach.

Martin Hackett, Area Management Officer, presented the report and responded to Members’ queries and comments.  He also clarified for Members the part of the wellbeing budget that had been delegated by the Area Committee to be used by Tasking Teams for environmental and community safety projects.

Members discussed the request for funding of security shutters by the Bronze Tanning Studio; on the one hand making the case that there were a number of precedents throughout the city for making the environment safer and on the other hand agreeing with the recommendation in the report that funding the shutters would establish a dangerous precedent.  It was finally agreed to defer a decision on this request in order to be able to speak to the owner of the shop on his return to the UK later in the month.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That approval be given for the East Outer Area Committee to fund the Swarcliffe Good Neighbours Scheme with the sum of £38,000 to continue to deliver a gardening and decorating scheme for elderly/disabled residents in 2010/11.

(c)  That a decision on the request from Bronze Tanning Studio on Manston Approach for the Area Committee to provide funding for security shutters be deferred pending further information.

(Note: Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this item, Councillor Armitage left the meeting during the consideration of the gardening and decorating scheme.)

To consider the attached report of the South East Area Manager requesting support for several new projects in the Outer East Area and updating Members on breakdown of spend by Ward.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Executive Function)

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That the following requests for funding be approved:

·  To Leeds Access to Nature (A2N) for the Halton Moor Nature Zone project - £10,000

·  To Garforth & District Lions for repairs to their garage which is used as  storage facility - £750

·  To the School Partnership Trust towards computer hardware costs at the Oak Road ICT Community Training Centre - £7,500

·  To the Naburn Close Play area in order to build the park to a higher specification - £20,000

(c)  That the return of £4960 to the budget after the cancellation of the order for bicycles for PCSOs be noted.

The South East Leeds Area Manager submitted a report which requested support for several new projects in the area from the capital budget allocation and updated members on breakdown of spend by Ward.

Martin Hackett, Area Management Officer, presented the report.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That the following requests for funding be approved:

·  To Leeds Access to Nature (A2N) for the Halton Moor Nature Zone project - £10,000

·  To Garforth & District Lions for repairs to their garage which is used as  storage facility - £750

·  To the School Partnership Trust towards computer hardware costs at the Oak Road ICT Community Training Centre - £7,500

·  To the Naburn Close Play area in order to build the park to a higher specification - £20,000

(c)  That the return of £4960 to the budget after the cancellation of the order for bicycles for PCSOs be noted.

(Note: Having previously declared a personal and prejudicial interest, Councillors Wakefield and Dobson left the meeting during the consideration of in this item.)

(Note: Councillor Schofield left the meeting at 6.00pm at the conclusion of this item.)

To consider the attached report of the South East Area Manager presenting the Area committee with an update on outcomes and outputs delivered this year from its Area Delivery Plan 2008-11.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Executive Function)

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That work be started on the development of priorities and actions for 2010/11.

The South East Leeds Area Manager submitted a report which presented the Area Committee with an update on outcomes and outputs delivered this year from its Area Delivery Plan 2008-11.

Martin Hackett, Area Management Officer, presented the report.  He confirmed that he had raised Councillor Armitage’s (Health & Well Being Champion) concerns with appropriate officers regarding the timing and venue of Health and Well-being Partnership meetings.  He also advised that only four partnership meetings had been established thus far.

With regard to Neighbourhood Wardens, the Acting Area Manager advised that a report on the restructure of wardens had been circulated to Members for information.  Deployment and funding issues would be discussed with Members at an informal meeting in the near future.

The Acting Area Manager also confirmed that, with regard to the maternity leave of a key member of the Area Management Team, every effort was made to ensure that resources were allocated equally across the wards.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That work be started on the development of priorities and actions for 2010/11.

To consider the attached report of the Acting South East Area Manager providing an update on actions and achievements around the Area Delivery Plan priorities since the previous meeting and providing information on current projects that the Area Management Team are working on.

Time – 10 minutes  -  (Executive Function)

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That the Area Committee commit the remaining £200,000 of the Swarcliffe PFI credits towards a project to provide additional parking bays on the estate, subject to the scheme specification and delivery being acceptable to Cross Gates & Whinmoor Ward Members.

The South East Area Manager submitted a report which provided Members with details of actions and achievements of the Area Management Team relating to priorities and work of the Area Committee since the last meeting in December 2009.  The report also provided an update on issues relating to the work of the Area Management Team.

Keith Lander, Acting Area Manager, presented the report.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report and appendices be noted.

(b)  That the Area Committee commit the remaining £200,000 of the Swarcliffe PFI credits towards a project to provide additional parking bays on the estate, subject to the scheme specification and delivery being acceptable to Cross Gates & Whinmoor Ward Members.

(NB: Councillor Murray declared a personal and prejudicial interest at the beginning of this item in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer for Learning Partnerships, and left the room during the consideration of this item.)

To note the date and time of the next meeting as 23^rd March 2010 at 4.00pm in the Civic Hall, Leeds.

To note the date and time of the next meeting as 23^rd March 2010 at 4.00pm at the Civic Hall, Leeds.

The meeting concluded at 6.10pm.