Agenda item

To consider a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development in relation to the way in which preparations were made for the proposed East Leeds Regeneration Board, a sub-board of the Leeds Initiative’s Housing and Regeneration Board.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report on the proposed formation of the East Leeds Regeneration Board, a sub-board of the Leeds Initiative’s Housing and Regeneration Board.

 

Appended to the report was a copy of the following documents for the information/comment of the meeting;-

 

• East Leeds Regeneration Board – Position Statement – Report of the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods
• East Leeds Regeneration Board – Draft Terms of Reference and Working Arrangements (Appendix 1 refers)
• The East Leeds Housing and Regeneration Board Meeting – Monday 3^rd October from 2-4pm at Leeds City Council, Civic Hall – Agenda/Reports (Appendix 2 refers)
• New Developments to Transform East Leeds – Flyer/Press Release/Press Article (Appendix 3 refers)

 

The following representatives were in attendance for the first part of this item which commenced at 10.00am and responded to Board Members’ queries and comments:-

 

-  Tom Morton, Director, Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

-  Gary Williamson, Chief Executive, Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

-  Andrew Lindsey, Director, Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

 

The Chair made reference to the background issues in relation to this item and informed Board Members that the main purpose of this meeting was to explore the context and the way in which preparations were made for the proposed East Leeds Regeneration Board and on the outcome of ongoing discussions between the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and the Council in this regard.

 

At the request of the Chair, Tom Morton, Director, Chamber of Commerce and Industry briefly outlined the Chamber’s current position in relation to the following specific areas:-

 

Ø  East Leeds Regeneration

Ø  New East Leeds

Ø  Matters of Detail

Ø  Summary

 

Gary Williamson and Andrew Lindsay also provided the meeting with

relevant background information.

 

At the end of the presentation, the Board noted the following specific comments made by the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce :-

 

• that the Chamber welcomed the partnership spirit underlying its dealings with the Council and wishes this to continue
• that the Chamber was supportive of the objectives of the three Regeneration Boards and was keen to do what it could to facilitate driving forward the agendas of these Boards with energy and dispatch
• that the Chamber was supportive of the private sector initiative recently launched under the name of New East Leeds; however it was not a direct player in this initiative, nor does it, nor will it, seek to make a profit out of the initiative
• that the Chamber was simply undertaking the role of secretariat for the meeting arranged for the 3^rd October 2011 and a contact between the Council and other interested parties. It had not prepared any of the reports for this meeting which was subsequently cancelled
• that the Chamber conducts its affairs with transparency and integrity, and welcomed the opportunity to clarify their position this morning

 

In summary, Board Members made specific reference to the following issues:-

 

·  clarification of the discussions undertaken to date between the Chamber and Council officers in relation to ‘New East Leeds Ltd’ and the role and financial affairs of this company in relation to supporting developers within the city

·  clarification of the Chamber’s input and views in relation to the draft terms of reference and proposed membership of the East Leeds Regeneration Board

·  clarification of the discussions the Chamber has had with the Council’s Executive Member with portfolio responsibility for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Regeneration.

·  clarification of the Chamber’s role regarding the process in producing/clearing reports for the meeting on 3^rd October 2011

·  clarification of the Chamber’s views on plans to change the use of Thorpe Park from office accommodation to a retail outlet with Sainsbury’s acting as the anchor tenant which would have serious implications for a number of wards and to which elected members had not been made advised of

·  concern that the SHLA partnership was not informed of the plans to change the use of Thorpe Park and the need for the Chamber to feed this view back to the developers

·  the fact that the Council’s Member Management Committee had not to date made any appointments to the new East Leeds Regeneration Board. It was noted that Executive Board on 2^nd November 2011 would correct this omission

 

The Chair thanked representatives from the Chamber  for their attendance and contribution to the meeting. Members of the Chamber left the meeting at 10.55am.

 

The following representatives were in attendance for the second part of this item at 11.00am and responded to Board Members’ queries and comments:-

 

-  Councillor P Gruen, Executive Member, Neighbourhoods, Housing and Regeneration

-  Tom Riordan, Chief Executive, Leeds City Council

-  Neil Evans, Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods

-  Martin Farrington, Director of City Development

-  Christine Addison, Acting Chief Asset Management Officer, Environment and Neighbourhoods

 

He then invited Tom Riordan, Martin Farrington, and Neil Evans to briefly  comment on the Council’s position in this regard with specific reference as to how current discussions were progressing in relation to the East Leeds Regeneration Board and on how they perceived the role of the Chamber within this process.

 

The Chief Executive of the Council reported that he had recently resigned as a Director of the Chamber because of a potential conflict of interest.

 

Specific reference was made to the following areas:-

 

Ø  that the Council welcomed the Chamber’s perspective and role as a partner in delivering more jobs, more housing and encouraging more investment within the city

Ø  that the Council acknowledged that it had a different role as landowner within this process

Ø  that the Council had prepared a report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Customer Access and Performance) which would be submitted to the Executive Board meeting on 2^nd November 2011 seeking to establish a framework for the creation of sub-boards to support the work of the five Leeds Initiative Strategic Partnership Boards

Ø  that the Council had prepared a report by the Director of City Development which would be submitted to the Executive Board meeting on 2^nd November 2011 about a number of development opportunities in East Leeds that would provide major commercial and housing economic growth to the City, and seeking approval to enter into an agreement with the Developer so as to facilitate part of this future development

 

In summary, Board Members made specific reference to the following issues:-

 

·  the need for the Council to follow its own procedures for making appointments to external bodies and to provide appropriate secretarial support for meetings which had been established by the Council

·  clarification of clearance procedures between the Council and its partners

·  economic growth and the progress being made with developers in meeting the Council’s priorities

·  the need for the Board to express its concerns over the lack of consultation to date with Ward Members in relation to any plans which might be brought forward to change the use of Thorpe Park and on other major retail developments within the city

(The Director of City Development advised Members that all Ward Members had been consulted on the November Executive Board  paper relating to Thorpe Park and their views were detailed in the report)

·  the need for officers to focus on other flagship schemes within the Council i.e. EASEL and not just Thorpe Park

·  the need for the Aire Valley Leeds Regeneration Board to meet to discuss the plans to change the use of Thorpe Park

(The Chief Executive, Leeds City Council responded and agreed to look into this matter as to why there had not been a meeting called of the Aire Valley Leeds Regeneration Board for some time)

·  clarification of the Chamber’s role within the draft terms of reference for the new NEL Board

·  clarification on how the Community infrastructure levy would work and the fact that this will not be implemented for sometime

·  (At the request of the Chair, the Chief Planning Officer, City Development was present in the room and responded to the Board. He reported that for the time being the current status quo would remain with section 106 being the mechanism to fund infrastructure work by developers)

·  the need to seek assurances that plans to change the use of Thorpe Park would be dealt with in accordance with Council procedures in view of the massive implications involved

(The Chief Planning Officer responded and confirmed that it would need a full planning application which had yet to be submitted)

 

In addition reference was made to the lack of confidential briefing sessions for Ward members which used to occur when significant issues arose in their area.

 

The Chair thanked officers for their attendance and contribution to the meeting.

 

The Chair invited Councillor P Gruen, Executive Member, Neighbourhoods, Housing and Regeneration to comment on the issues raised at the meeting.

 

Specific reference was made to the following areas:-

 

Ø  Team Leeds and the allocation of agreed portfolios to Leeds MP’s

Ø  the importance of working closely and effectively with the private sector

Ø  the problems associated with EASEL to date

Ø  the proposals to change the use of Thorpe Park Business Park

Ø  the reasons for his decision to cancel the East Leeds Housing and Regeneration Board meeting on 3^rd October 2011

Ø  that the Executive Board Member was not aware that the Chamber of Commerce had established a new East Leeds Ltd company to assist the delivery of development at and around the Thorpe Park Business Park and to work with a range of land owners and developers to maximise employment and training opportunities

 

In summary, Board Members made specific reference to the following issues:-

 

·  the role of the  Executive Member in releasing  the papers for the New East Leeds Regeneration Board meeting on 3^rd October 2011. The Executive Board Member responded that that he had seen some, but not all of the reports

·  the need to know which officer had written the reports and who had been responsible for putting forward the names for membership of the new East Leeds Regeneration Board. The Executive Member  responded that he understood the author of the papers was not an officer of the Council

 

The Chair, on behalf of the Board, raised his concerns about the lack of information available in relation to identifying the report author of the reports circulated from those representatives in attendance. From the information provided it appeared that the Chamber had been acting only as the secretariat in distributing the papers for the meeting on 3^rd October 2011, but this would be pursued.

 

The Chair thanked Councillor P Gruen for his attendance and contribution to the meeting.

 

RESOLVED-

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

b)  That the Principal Scrutiny Adviser be requested to write to the Chief Executive of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce  seeking further clarification as to the identity of the originator of the reports for the East Leeds Housing and Regeneration Board meeting which was cancelled on 3^rd October 2011.

c)  That this Board expresses it’s concerns over the general lack of confidential briefing sessions for Ward Members on issues affecting their wards using by way of example the lack of consultation to date with Ward Members in relation to any plans which might be brought forward to change the use of Thorpe Park Business Park and that this issue be revisited at a future meeting of the Scrutiny Board.

 

(Councillor M Iqbal left the meeting at 12.25pm during discussions of the above item)

 

(Councillor P Ewens left the meeting at 12.30pm at the conclusion of the above item)