Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the call-in meeting.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstance shall be specified in the minutes.)

The Chair agreed to accept the following document as supplementary information:-

• LeedsCard and BreezeCard entry into Tropical World and Home Farm – Report of the Director of City Development (Agenda Item 7) (Minute  43 refers)

The document in question was not available at the time of the agenda despatch, but circulated by e mail and made available to the public on the Council’s web site prior to today’s meeting.

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.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To receive and consider a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report regarding the procedural aspects of the call-in process.

Members were advised that the options available to the Board in respect of this particular called-in decision were:-

Option 1 – Release the decision for implementation.  Having reviewed the decision, the Scrutiny Board (City Development) could decide to release it for implementation.  If this option was chosen, the decision would be released for immediate implementation and the decision could not be called-in again.

Option 2 – Recommend that the decision be reconsidered.  Having reviewed the decision, the Scrutiny Board (City Development) could recommend to the Director of City Development that the decision be reconsidered.  If the Scrutiny Board (City Development) chose this option, a report would be submitted to the Director of City Development within 3 working days of this meeting.  The Director of City Development would reconsider the decision and would publish the outcome of their deliberations on the delegated decision system.  Where the Director believes that the original decision should be confirmed, it must be referred to the next Executive Board for a decision.

Where the Director agrees with the views of Scrutiny, a new delegated decision form would be submitted indicating ineligible for Call-In.

In cases where the Director believes that the original decision should be confirmed, and in their view urgency prevents them from submitting the decision to Executive Board, the approval of the relevant Executive Board Member would be required before implementation.  This Executive Member approval together with the reasons for urgency would be included in the new delegated decision form.

The Director and relevant Executive Board Member would also be required to attend and give their reasoning to the relevant Scrutiny Board.

RESOLVED – That the report outlining the call-in procedures be noted.

In accordance with Scrutiny Board Procedure Rules, to review a decision of the Chief Recreation Officer approving the recommendation that free entry for Leeds Card and Breezecard holders be replaced by a 20% discount from 1^st September 2010 at Tropical World and Temple Newsam, Home Farm.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report, together with background papers, relating to a review of a delegated decision of the Chief Recreation Officer of 16^th August 2010 in relation to approving a recommendation that free entry for LeedsCard and BreezeCard holders be replaced by a 20% discount from 1^st September 2010 at Tropical World and Temple Newsam, Home Farm.

Appended to the report were copies of the following documents for the information/comment of the meeting:-

• Copy of completed call-in request form

• The Delegated Decision Notification – Chief Recreation Officer –D37181 – LeedsCard and BreezeCard entry to Tropical World and Home Farm dated  16^th August 2010

In addition to the above appendices, a copy of the following document was circulated as supplementary information to assist the Board in their deliberations:-

• Report of the Director of City Development – LeedsCard and BreezeCard entry into Tropical World and Home Farm

However arising from discussions, the Board decided not to take this supplementary information into account as the information was not included within the original delegation decision documentation.

The decision had been called-in for review by Councillors S Bentley, R Downes, M Hamilton,  J Monaghan and A Taylor on the following grounds:-

‘’ The decision will disproportionally adversely affect the poorer and least advantaged residents, especially younger people of Leeds’’

Councillors R Downes and S Bentley attended the meeting to present evidence to the Board and respond to Members’ questions and comments.

The following officers  were in attendance:-

Richard Mond, Chief Recreation Officer, City Development

Sean Flesher, Principal Area Manager (West), Parks and Countryside, City Development

The Board then questioned Councillors Downes and Bentley, together with officers at length on the evidence submitted.

In summary, the main points raised by Councillors Downes and Bentley were:-

• the need to retain free entry into Tropical World and Home Farm for LeedsCard and BreezeCard users for disadvantaged groups, in the city, especially younger people and the elderly
• the need to take into consideration rising transport costs and the lack of direct bus services to some of these venues which makes a visit expensive even with free entry
• to challenge the assumptions made in the report concerning the likely fall off of visitor numbers and the anticipated increase in income as a consequence of the proposal to stop free entry with visitors who have a LeedsCard or BreezeCard
• clarification of the consequences of reduced attendance figures and charging an entry fee on secondary spend in these venues which would have an impact on the income and running costs and whether a detailed analysis had been carried out
• clarification of how residents and visitors would be informed of the new charging policy if it went ahead

In explaining the reasons for the decision, officers made the following comments:-

• an acknowledgement made that the original delegated decision documentation did not contain the full details
• the need to implement these admission charges in the current financial climate, in order contribute to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

In accordance with Scrutiny Board Procedure Rules, to consider the Board’s formal conclusions and recommendation(s) arising from the consideration of the called-in decision.

Following consideration of evidence presented to them, the Board passed the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the Delegated Decision of the Chief Recreation Officer on the LeedsCard and BreezeCard entry to Tropical World and Home Farm be referred back for reconsideration in view of the additional information provided by the Chief Recreation Officer which was not included in the report when the officer delegated decision was made, inadequate consultation and the introduction of a “City Card”.

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(The meeting concluded at 1.20pm)