Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Hall, 1st Floor West,LS1 1UR

Contact: Sandra Pentalow - 0113 3788655 

Items
No. Item

11.

Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31  of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

 

 

12.

Apologies for Absence and Notification of Substitutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

 

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors R Grahame and P Wadsworth.

 

Councillors K Renshaw and J Shemilt were in attendance as substitutes.

 

 

13.

Minutes - 19 June 2019 pdf icon PDF 265 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2019.

  .

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2019 be confirmed as a correct record.

 

 

14.

Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy - One Year On pdf icon PDF 291 KB

To receive the report of the Head of Democratic Services and the report of the Director of City Development which provides the Scrutiny Board with an Inclusive Growth Strategy annual update.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Head of Democratic Services provided the Board with an update on the Inclusive Growth Strategy.  The report of the Director of City Development which was submitted to Executive Board on 24 July 2019 was included with the Agenda.

 

Eve Roodhouse, Chief Officer, Economic Development gave the Board a presentation.  The following was highlighted:

 

·  Progress on the 12 big ideas

·  Focus on projects and data

·  Updates on pledges and future work

·  Overview of the Leeds Economy

·  Climate Emergency

·  Methods of measuring Inclusive Growth

 

In response to Members comments and questions, the following was discussed:

 

·  Methodology used for measuring the numbers of people living in poverty.

·  Reducing transport costs in the City – information for this was provided by the Climate Change Commission.

·  Measuring progress against the Big Ideas would include disparities between deprived and well off areas.

·  Poverty levels for the older population.

·  Growth in employment for digital skills and also in lower paid jobs.

·  Development of a climate innovation area.

·  How initiatives and employers could contribute to Inclusive Growth.

·  Attracting investment and people to live in the City and impact on inclusive growth and sustainability.  Investors in the city had to take account of these issues under terms of grants awarded by WYCA and LEP and monitoring was undertaken.

·  How to reach people in the more deprived areas of the city.

·  Consideration of data relating to attainment in schools and how this can be olinked to economic performance.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

 

 

15.

Scrutiny Inquiry into Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy - Directors Response and Centre for Local Economic Strategies Report pdf icon PDF 241 KB

To receive the report from the Director of City Development and the Director of Resources and Housing which sets out the response to the recommendations stated in the Scrutiny Inquiry Report into the Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy. The report also provides the Centre for Local Economic Strategies report, June 2019, for the Boards consideration.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Director of City Development and the Director of Resources and Housing provided responses to the recommendations of the Scrutiny Inquiry into the Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy 2018-23.

 

A copy of the Centre for Local Economic Studies (CLES) report – Progressing Procurement Processes and Practices in Leeds was appended.

 

The following were in attendance for this item:

 

-  Eve Roodhouse, Chief Officer, Economic Development

-  Sue Wynne, Chief Officer, Employment & Skills

-  Dean Backhouse, Procurement Manager

 

Key issues highlighted related to procurement and social value.  With regard to the Centre for Local Economic Studies (CLES) report, the following was highlighted:

 

·  There were 9 main anchor organisations in the city who were looking at ways to contribute to Inclusive Growth.  Each of the anchor organisations had carried out a self-assessment and identified the following three priorities:

o  Procurement

o  Employment

o  Healthy Workplaces

·  CLES had developed a system for measuring the impact of procurement.

·  Information analysed for the report covered geography, industrial classification, types and size of employers, influenceable spend, employee contracts and those on a living wage.

·  Details of the spending the anchor organisations make on procurement of goods and services, suppliers from the super output areas and small and medium enterprises.

·  Details of staff employed by suppliers including those on permanent contracts and paid the living wage.

·  There had been meetings with procurement teams from the anchor organisations to look at collective action.  How to support local businesses and those in the most deprived areas.

·  There were areas of focus and these would be reported back to the Board in September.

·  The new procurement strategy was approved by Executive Board in June and this had a focus on social value.

 

In response to Members comments and questions, the following was discussed:

 

·  The range of issues covered by social value and how to get these into the procurement process.

·  Evaluation and weighting of social value in the procurement process.

·  The living wage could be encouraged as part of the procurement process but not be made a statutory requirement.

·  Support for smaller organisations with the procurement process – there was ongoing work with the third sector and small and medium enterprises.

·  A social value guidance document had been produced for commissioners to use.

·  Inclusion of social value in terms and conditions and how this could be monitored under contract management.

·  There was a focus on more deprived wards in relation to employment and skills.

·  There was a commitment to an event with regards to promoting the real living wage.

 

RESOLVED – That the responses to the inquiry recommendations as detailed in the report be noted.

 

 

16.

Financial Health, Out-Turn Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 222 KB

To receive the report of the Head of Democratic Services which provides specific financial information relating to the budget out-turn for 2018/19.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Head of Democratic Services provided information relating to the out-turn position with regard to the financial health for areas aligned with the Board’s terms of reference.  A copy of the Financial Performance report submitted to Executive Board in June 2019 was appended.

 

The following were in attendance for this item:

 

-  Jill Stuart – Principal Finance Manager

-  Ed Mylan – Chief Officer for Resources and Strategy

 

Members’ attention was brought to the City Development Budget.  There was £143 million of expenditure and £111 million of income needed to be generated making a net budget of £32 million.  In 2018/19 there had been an overspend of £1.8 million.  There had been a higher than expected increase in electricity tariffs and this had been partly offset by reduced costs in winter maintenance due to the mild winter.  There was a reduction in projected fee income due to expected building sales not happening.  Overall there was a £3million underspend for the Council.

 

Further discussion included costs relating to planning fees and appeals and increased security costs on festivals and events.

 

RESOLVED – That the out-turn summary for the 2018/19 financial year be noted.

 

 

17.

Work Schedule pdf icon PDF 152 KB

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2019/20 municipal year.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of Head of Democratic Services presented the Board’s Work Schedule for the remainder of the current municipal year.  A copy of the work schedule was appended to the report along with minutes of the Executive Board meetings held on 16 May and 26 June 2019.

 

With regard to the request for Scrutiny regarding the proposal for a car park at Kirkgate Market it was agreed to add this to the Work Schedule.

 

A request was made for the West Yorkshire Camera Safety Partnership to be invited to the meeting in October for the item on Casualty Reduction and KSI.

 

RESOLVED – That the work schedule be noted and updated accordingly.

 

 

18.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

Wednesday 4 September 2019 at 10:30am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10:00am)

 

Minutes:

Wednesday, 4 September 2019 at 10.30 a.m. (Pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10.00 a.m.)