Agenda and draft minutes

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25* of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(* In accordance with Procedure Rule 25, notice of an appeal must be received in writing by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting).

There were no appeals.

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.

There was no exempt information.

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

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

There were no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

There were no declarations.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors S Ali and M Iqbal.  Councillors R Jones and A Rontree were in attendance as substitutes.

Apologies were also submitted on behalf of Councillor N Harrington who was in attendance as lead signatory to the Call In.  Councillor S Firth was in attendance as substitute.

To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services advising the Scrutiny Board on the procedural aspects of Calling In the decision.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report advising the Scrutiny Board on the procedural aspects of Calling In the decision.

Members were advised that the Call In is specific to the key decision in question, and issues outside of the decision, including other related decisions, were not to be considered as part of the Board’s decision regarding the outcome of the Call In.

Members were also advised that the options available to the Scrutiny Board in respect of this particular called in decision were as follows:

Option 1- Release the decision for implementation

Having reviewed this decision, the Scrutiny Board may decide to release it for implementation. If the Scrutiny Board chooses this option, the decision will be immediately released for implementation and the decision may not be called in again.

Option 2 - Recommend that the decision be reconsidered

The Scrutiny Board may decide to recommend to the decision maker that the decision be reconsidered. If the Scrutiny Board chooses this option a report will be submitted to the decision maker.

In the case of this officer decision, the report of the Scrutiny Board will be prepared within three working days of the Scrutiny Board meeting and submitted to the relevant Director.

In reconsidering the decision and associated Scrutiny Board report, the Director may vary the decision or confirm the original decision. In either case, this will form the basis of the final decision and will not be subject to any further Call In.

Failure to agree one of the above options

If the Scrutiny Board, for any reason, does not agree one of the above courses of action at this meeting, then Option 1 will be adopted by default, i.e. the decision will be released for implementation with no further recourse to Call In.

RESOLVED – That the report outlining the Call In procedures be noted.

To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services, which presents background information relating to a key decision that has been ‘called in’ in accordance with procedures set out within the Council’s Constitution.

The original delegated decision was taken by the Director of Communities, Housing and Environment on 19^th July 2024 and relates to Car Park Charges – Golden Acre Park, Middleton Park, Roundhay Park, Otley Chevin and Temple Newsam.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented background papers to a key decision made by the Director of Communities, Housing and Environment, which had been Called-In in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

The decision had been called in for review by Councillors N Harrington, L Buckley, W Dixon, M Dobson, C Anderson, W Kidger, S Lay, O Newton and M Robinson

The Scrutiny Board considered the following written information:

·  Copy of the completed Call In request form.

·  Copy of the Delegated Decision Notice of the Director of Communities, Environment and Housing -  ‘Car Park Charges – Golden Acre Park, Middleton Park, Roundhay Park, Otley Chevin and Temple Newsam’ – dated 11^th July 2024

·  Copy of the report of Head of Commercial and Estates to Chief Officer Climate, Energy and Green Spaces; Chief Officer (Highways and Transportation) and Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory – Car Park Charges – Golden Acre Park, Middleton Park, Roundhay Park, Otley Chevin and Temple Newsam dated 14^th May 2024 associated with the key decision.

The following were in attendance:

-  Councillor N Harrington – Lead signatory to the call in

-  Councillor C Anderson – witness accompanying Councillor Harrington

-  Mr Dean Hardy – witness accompanying Councillor Harrington

-  Councillor M Rafique – Executive Member for Climate, Energy, Environment & Green Space

-  James Rogers – Director of Communities, Housing and Environment

-  Polly Cook – Chief Officer, Climate, Energy and Green Spaces

-  Gary Bartlett – Chief Officer, Highways and Transportation

-  Chris Way – Principal Traffic Engineer

-  Jason Singh – Head of Regulatory and City Centre Services

-  Mark Jefford, Senior Manager, Environmental Services

-  Nikki Deol – Head of Service, Legal Services

Councillor Harrington addressed the Board as lead signatory to the call in to set out the reasons for calling in the decision.  Concerns highlighted by Councillor Harrington included the following:

·  The public consultation undertaken in autumn/winter 2023/24 revealed overwhelming opposition to the proposals. , Given the scale of public opposition to the plans, it was questioned whether due regard had been given to the consultation as part of the decision-making process.

·  It was also questioned whether the responses to the consultation had been consistently applied given that proposals relating to  Middleton Park had been modified as a result of feedback received and yet others remained the same.

·  It was considered unclear which groups connected with the parks had been consulted and whether there had there been any face to face meetings held too.

·  There needs to be more consideration of the potential impacts on those  businesses that operate in the parks.

·  There is a lack of a good public transport alternative for reaching many of the parks.

·  Older visitors in particular would be discouraged due to the lack of a cash option to pay on site at the parks.

·  There would be problems with parking on surrounding streets, which has happened elsewhere when parking fees have been introduced. There is insufficient detail as to how this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To determine whether to release the decision for implementation or recommend to the decision-maker that the decision should be reconsidered.

The Scrutiny Board considered whether or not to release the decision for implementation. A vote was subsequently held and the Scrutiny Board agreed (by majority decision) that the decision be released.

RESOLVED – That the decision be released for implementation.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Environment, Housing and Communities) will take place on 19^th September 2024 at 10.30 am.  There will be a pre-meeting for Scrutiny Board members at 10.00 am.

Thursday, 19 September at 10.30 a.m.  There will be a pre-meeting for Board Members at 10.00 a.m.