Agenda and minutes

Councillor Rafique welcomed all present to the meeting and expressed the Boards’ congratulations to Councillor Morgan who celebrated her 55^th Wedding Anniversary today.

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

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

No formal late items of business were added to the agenda, however the Board had received a supplementary document providing budgetary information on the events provided by the Out of School Activities Team (minute 60 refers)

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.

The following Members declared personal 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:

Councillor Cohen – powers to promote local employment, training and skills - declared a personal interest as a representative of Tesco Stores Plc had been invited to give evidence to the Scrutiny Inquiry and he stated Tesco Stores Plc were a retail client of his business, unrelated to this Inquiry. (Minute 59 refers)

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor D Atkinson. Members also noted the changes made to the membership of the Board by Council on 22^nd February 2012 and welcomed Councillors Fox and Wadsworth as new Members of the Board.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 26^th January 2012

(Copy attached)

Minute 48 - Councillor Cohen requested that the minutes reflect his disappointment that the relevant Director and Executive Members had not attended the meeting to present the Quarter 2 Performance report in respect of the Department of Environment and Neighbourhoods

Minute 51 - Members noted a correction required to the title of Mr M Sellens to read “Head of Planning Services”.

RESOLVED – That, subject to the amendments outlined above, the minutes of the meeting held on 26^th January 2012 be agreed as a correct record

To consider the report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development and appended reports which present information for session three of the scrutiny inquiry on key mechanisms through which developers and contractors are engaged and identifies how these could be embedded within a more consistent approach to increase the opportunities for local people and local businesses.

(Report attached)

Further to minute 51 of the meeting held 26^th January 2012, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods submitted a report to Session 3 of the Inquiry on the proposed approach for the monitoring and review of the delivery of employment and skills obligations

Sue Wynne - Chief Officer; Employment & Skills, Philippa Toner – Senior Executive Manager, Public Private Partnership Unit and Martin Sellens, Head of Planning Services attended the meeting. In brief, officers highlighted :

-  the need for implementation of the obligations to be transparently monitored and reviewed and the benefits this approach would bring

-  feedback from the consultation with suppliers which showed general support for the proposed approach - if appropriate performance targets and associated remedies for non-compliance were determined prior to signing the contract and detailed in the contract documents, the process was not too bureaucratic/expensive and obligations were dealt with on a contract by contract basis

-  the difference between S106 financial obligations and jobs & skills obligations and the engagement process  with developers

-  the Director of Resources had considered the financial implications and risk to the authority of jobs and skills obligations being formalised within the thresholds previously discussed and was supportive of the initiative. 

The Board made the following comments

-  S106 jobs & skills obligations should be more robustly pursued as there was concern that there appeared to be no redress if a developer did not fulfil those obligations. Members noted the response that every employment plan attached to a planning permission now contained clear targets however City Development acknowledged that measures to deal with failure to meet obligations were required

-  reports to Plans Panels should include reference to the “track record” of an applicant/developer in meeting S106 obligations attached to previously approved schemes/phases of the same scheme

The Board welcomed representatives of external organisations to the Session:

Debra Hyams Tesco Stores PLC – gave evidence on the working relationship established between Tesco and the Leeds Employment Team and highlighted the following:

-  LET was a useful tool for employers who needed to know local skills base

-  Some new developments were developer led with the end user not being involved in the initial plans and negotiations; therefore the jobs & skills requirements may not be those the end user could fulfil

-  Would welcome flexible employment and skills obligations as a target for the company to aim towards.

Janet Spencer Leeds Housing Concern – gave evidence as a representative of a charity providing housing and assistance to the most vulnerable groups. LHC had participated in the consultation undertaken by LCC and highlighted the following:

-  The suggested approach would lend weight to the informal arrangements currently in place by which LHC and similar organisations provided assistance to their client group to gain education and employment through an in-house training programme and work experience for social work and health care students

Having thanked all attendees for their contributions to the Inquiry and being satisfied with the information presented; the Board made the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

To consider the report of the Director of City Development,  which provides information on the involvement of young people in developing, designing and improving services and the vision for the future, including funding arrangements, sponsorship opportunities and proposed structural arrangements.

(Report attached)

Further to minute 39 of the meeting held 1^st December 2012 the Director of City Development submitted a report to the third Inquiry Session focussing on the involvement of young people in the development; delivery and improvement of services.

The Board withdrew to an informal meeting space to participate in a workshop attended by representatives of children and young people seeking to participate into the Inquiry

-  Two pupils from Colton Primary School and Sean Flesher, Head of Parks & Countryside – outlined the schools involvement in the design and choice of equipment now installed in the new Temple Newsam play area “Physcap” and the subsequent usage of the facility

-  Becky, Leeds Disability Sports Panel and Ross Bibby, Disability Sports Officer – discussed the work done to raise awareness of sports activities available to young people with disabilities

-  Alison, Jessica, Helen, Becca; and Nicki Ball of  LS Live – outlined the work they had done to report on events in Leeds for “radiowave” a safe social media network for young people and the media skills had acquired during a work experience placement

-  Ingi, Breeze participant – described her involvement in various Breeze projects in recent years and the experiences available to young people through the Breeze Programme

-  Erin and Matthew of Breeze Sports Academy – highlighted the courses available to Year 10 & 11 pupils which provided young people with experience, skills, qualifications and confidence necessary to embark on further training or careers

-  Dennis Robbins from the Hunslet Club provided a history of the club and its place as one of the largest voluntary organisations in the UK to provide courses, support and activities for young people

During discussions, the attendees raised the following issues

Breeze programme:

• Breeze provided young people opportunities to participate in events they may not naturally have had access to
• Public transport to some events was an issue with expense and location of events being key factors
• Lack of awareness of “mini breeze events”

Communication

• Some events may not be marketed appropriately to the target audiences
• Use of social networks to advertise supported
• Better communication needed to explain to young people why service/event provision may be changing
• Flagship events (such as Party in the Park/Ice Cube) could be better used to advertise other events for young people
• Noted the comment that local ward councillors should attend events for young people and assist in media campaigns
• The LS radio wave group had the skills to work with the media, why not engage them to make promotional videos

Engagement -

• work experience/training in organisations suggested to encourage young peoples interest and involvement
• Involvement in the design of scheme/event can lead to greater use as the scheme designed from young persons perspective
• young people want to volunteer but that the organisers/providers needed to team up so that young people could access the events
• some provision seen as static – such as the museum – these could attract more attendees  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

To consider the report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development setting out the work schedule for the Board for the forthcoming year.

(Report and schedule attached)

The Head of Scrutiny & Member Development submitted a copy of the Work Schedule for the 2011/12 Municipal Year which had been populated with the priority areas for scrutiny as identified at previous meetings. A copy of the minutes of the Executive Board meeting held 10^th February 2012 was attached for consideration along with a copy of the Forward Plan covering the period of 1 February to 31 May 2012.

The Board noted the earlier request for scrutiny of S106 financial obligations at a later date

RESOLVED –

a)  To note the contents of the Work Programme and

b)  To note any matters raised at this meeting above will be included appropriately

c)  To note the contents of the Forward Plan and the Executive Board minutes

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Thursday 22^nd March 2012 at 10:00 am

RESOLVED – To note the date and time of the next meeting as Thursday 22^nd March 2012 at 10:00 am