Agenda and minutes

Rhea Bentley, Jonathan Butler, Lorraine Cooper, Stephen Garvani, Steve Harris, Catherine Hyde, Tamsin MacDonald, Mark Rollinson.

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 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 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Chief Democratic Services Officer at least 24 hours before the meeting.)

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

1 To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information within the meaning of Section 100I of the Local Government Act 1972, 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 the recommendation is accepted, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That, in accordance with Regulation 4 of The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 or Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as appropriate, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of those 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:-‘

There were no exempt items.

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 of interests.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologises for absence were received from Stephen McBarron, co-opted member of Bramley and Stanningley Ward.

It was noted that Cllr Bithell would need to leave the meeting at 7pm and that Cllr Venner would be late to the meeting.

In accordance with Paragraphs 4.16 and 4.17 of the Community 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 Community 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.

On this occasion there were no members of the public in attendance who wished to speak.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th September 2023, for approval as a correct record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th September 2023, be approved as a correct record.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships brings to members’ attention an update of the work which the Communities Team is engaged in, based on priorities identified by the Community Committee. It also provides opportunities for further questioning, or to request a more detailed report on a particular issue.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships provided an update to the Community Committee on the work undertaken by the Locality Team on the priorities set out by the Community Committee.

Updates were provided by the Community Committee Champions on the work of the sub-groups:

Children and Families

Cllrs Gruen and Bithell explained to the Committee that they would like to change the way the sub-group work to create more outcomes by requesting work items from the Committee. It was the view that in previous years the sub-group had worked well in networking meetings and although, discussions were taking place they were not having the desired impact on the lives of the young people that were expected in terms of actions. The sub-group wished to see more positive actions from the meetings. The Community Committee review makes use of the sub-groups for best practice. The following proposals for work to be undertaken by the sub-group were provided by the Members:

·  Look at housing and how it impacts on the lives of children’s education.

·  Changes to the priority award system, with special weight and a speeding up of the process. It was noted that there was already an issue with Band A as you could not be deemed homeless if living in an overcrowded property. It is known that some children are currently ‘sofa surfing’ and this would have a detrimental effect on their education and health.

·  Bus services for young people, and the local provision, as this is the primary mode of transport for young people.

·  It was noted that Bramley and Stanningley Ward has the most visits to Accident and Emergency for children with respiratory conditions and this needed to be addressed. It was the view that this should be looked at in conjunction with work taking place in the Environment sub-group looking at air pollution in the Inner West area.

Environment

Cllr Rontree informed the Committee that the sub-group had a good briefing from the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Team. They were advised that in the New Year bin routes would be changing to suit the current needs of the city. It was noted that green and black bins would be collected alternate weeks in future.

Health and Wellbeing

Cllr Ritchie said that he would be willing to link into the work with Children and Young People sub-group on respiratory issues.

He said that the vaccine program was ongoing.

He informed the Committee about the Community Mental Health Programme which was becoming a single point access. This would ease access to the different services so that people could be directed to the most appropriate service for their care.

The Bramley, Wortley and Middleton Care Partnership and the West Leeds Care Partnership had been looking at childhood obesity and providing cooking classes. They had also been looking at the cost of living crisis and the effects on people’s health. They were providing signposts to services and schemes to support them. He said that he would send Members the newsletter.

Cllr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

The report of the Head of Policy provides the Inner West Community Committee with an update on the Best City Ambition refresh, to gather input from Elected Members and residents.

The report of the Head of Policy provided the Community Committee with an update on the Best City Ambition refresh, and to gather input from Elected Members and residents.

At the Community Committee a presentation was given.

The Community Committee were provided with the following information:

·  The Best City Ambition is the overall vision for Leeds and how the Council plans to tackle poverty and inequality.

·  The Best City Ambition brings together the different strategies and priorities for the city, to assist the Council to achieve its ambition and provide clarity about what it is doing and how it is proposing to do it.

·  The Best City Ambition is set around 3 pillars:

o  Health and Wellbeing

o  Inclusivity and growth

o  Zero Carbon

·  The Best City Ambition was introduced in 2022. It was decided to refresh the Best City Ambition in line with new strategies for Inclusive Growth and Health and Wellbeing. It also takes account of comments provided by the LGA Peer Review, which said that the approach of the Council was good. It was their view that the Team Leeds approach which sees everyone coming together to play their part, alongside other partners and agencies was working well.

·  The refresh of the Best City Ambition is due to be put before Executive Board in December and to full Council in February 2024.

The Committee were provided with data for the Inner West area. It was noted that some of the data may be out of date as it was mostly taken from the 2021 Census and at a time when the country was just coming out of lockdown after the pandemic. The data showed that the Inner West area had a high density of population compared with the rest of the city. It was also noticeable that there had been a change in how people work, with an increase of people working from home.

The Best City Ambition uses a number of tools including the Social Progress Index (SPI), a tool which will deliver ward-based insights on a wide range of data points. The SPI has been developed by the global non-profit Social Progress Initiative. Members were offered a general briefing in relation to the SPI, and if they wanted to take up this offer, they should contact the presenting officer.

The Members were very interested in the data provided at the meeting, were advised that the data was publicly available to access on the LCC website. It was noted that the data feeds into policy, so the Council knows where there is most need in the city.

Members recalled that it had been former councillor Paul Truswell who had been Chair of the Infrastructure, Investment and Inclusive Growth Scrutiny Board, who had requested a tool to capture inclusive growth.

The Committee Members requested further data at a ward level.

RESOLVED – To note the content of the report and the presentation.

Cllr Bithell left the meeting at 7pm at the conclusion of this item.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships provides the Community Committee with an update on the budget position for the Wellbeing Fund, Youth Activity Fund, Capital Budget, as well as the Community Infrastructure Levy Budget for 2023/24.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships updated the Inner West Community Committee on the budget position for the Wellbeing Fund, Youth Activity Fund, Capital Budget and the Community Infrastructure Levy Budget (CIL) for 2023/24.

The Locality Officer presented the report and provided the following information:

·  The Wellbeing Fund currently has a remaining balance of £19,621.07. Table 1 of the submitted report showed a full breakdown of projects.

·  Members were asked to consider a project for a Speed Indication Device on Raynville Road, Bramley, submitted by LCC Highways for £3,500.00 from the Capital Budget.

·  Since the last meeting on 5^th September 2023 the following projects had been considered and approved:

o  Wellington Gardens Burglary – WYP - £1,100.00

o  Armley Basketball Project – WNW Youth Service - £875.00

o  Ministry of Boxing at Armley Leisure Centre – Armley Leisure Centre - £1,310.00

o  Kepstorn Close Parking Bays – LCC Highways - £25,984.80

o  Bramley Festive Light Switch on – LCC Breeze - £3,700.00

o  Armley Festive Lights Switch on – LCC Breeze - £6,468.12

·  It was noted that no projects had been declined.

·  Monitoring information was provided at Paragraph 24 of the submitted report.

·  The remaining balance of the Youth Activity Fund is currently £18,019.87. Table 2 of the submitted report provided a breakdown of projects supported.

·  Table 3 presented a breakdown of Small Grants and Table 4 showed the skips provided to date.

·  The Capital Budget currently has £9,858.84 available to spend. Table 5 summarised the capital allocation.

·  The Community Infrastructure Levy budget has £69,498.13 available to spend. Table 6 showed the projects funded to date.

Members discussions included:

·  Cllr Ritchie explained that the old tennis courts at Stanningley Park needed resurfacing. He said that the courts had not been used for tennis for a few years, and the area was currently used as a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), but the surface was now degrading. Cllr Ritchie informed the Members that £5,000 had been secured through S106 money, the area had recently received a Capital boost of £13,000. However, he was requesting that Members support an application from Bramley and Stanningley to use £36,000 of the CIL Budget towards this project.

·  Cllr McKenna also requested Members support for an application to use £1,000 of the CIL Budget to replace a wall at New Wortley Cemetery which had been demolished by a lorry.

·  Members requested information on an outdoor summer cinema which the Committee had helped fund. The Locality Officer is to make enquiries about this and report back.

·  Cllr Parnham at this point in the meeting declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Armley Common Rights Trust. He informed the Committee that the Trust required a new ride on mower as the one they were using was no longer working properly and had already had a number of repairs. He advised the Committee that the cost for a new ride on mower would be £4,500. The Armley Ward Councillors requested an email setting out the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

To note that the next meeting of Inner West Community Committee will on Tuesday 12^th March 2024 at 6pm.

RESOLVED – To note the next meeting would on 12^th March 2024 at 6pm. The meeting will take place in the Bramley/ Stanningley Ward, and the venue will be confirmed nearer to the date.

The meeting concluded at 19:10