Agenda and minutes

There were no appeals against refusal of inspection of documents.

There were no exempt items.

There were no formal late items.

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

No declarations of interests were made at the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Hussain, P Wadsworth, J Bentley, J Taylor

Present at the meeting as their substitutes were Councillor Ritchie for Councillor Hussain, Councillor Alderson for Councillor Wadsworth and Councillor Foster for Councillor Taylor.

It was also noted that apologies had been received from Cllr Hayden – Executive Member for Infrastructure and Climate Change and Fiona Bolam presenting officer.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2021.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th November 2021, be recorded as a correct record.

To consider and comment upon the initial proposals for the Best City Ambition, which has been designed to replace the Best Council Plan.

The Head of Democratic Services presented a report on proposals for the Best City Ambition which will replace the Best City Council Plan.

Unfortunately, the officer due to attend for this item had to submit his apologies at short notice. However, due to timescales the item could not be deferred, officers present offered to provide information where they could.

At its meeting on 10^th November 2021, Members of Council resolved to approve the necessary constitutional amendments to enable adoption of the Best City Ambition. Council requested a report be brought to the February 2022 meeting detailing the final proposals for adoption of the Best City Ambition.

The Executive Board at its meeting in December 2021, agreed a period of public consultation on the proposals.

As required by the budget and Policy Framework it was also agreed that the proposals would be referred to Scrutiny for consideration and comments, to inform Executive Board in its final proposals.

Members’ discussions included the following:

·  A requested that officers consider the language that is used when writing reports, especially if the subject matter is for public consultation. Officers should use plain English and provide explanations for the use of certain language and acronyms.

·  The plan did not include housing in the inner-city areas and Members were of the view that this should be included.  It was the view that better housing with green space would improve the health and well-being of inner-city communities. It was noted that a report in relation to Housing Mix Inquiry was due to be presented at the next meeting of this Scrutiny Board.

·  The aspirational and ambitious goals set out in the plan could in some cases be considered to be contradictory. However, it was recognised that measuring, monitoring and consulting on issues and work with partners was crucial for the success of the plan.

·  Members were of the view that the plan did not make mention of disabled people. It was the view that the plan needed to be more inclusive on issues of accessibility.

·  The Board were of the view that inclusive growth should be looked at as a priority across the whole city not just focusing on certain areas.

·  Measurable outcomes were required to enable the Council to look back and identify what had been achieved and what needed to be reviewed. Members were advised that the Social Progress Index to be discussed later in the meeting would be able to address this.

·  Members wanted to know how the plan would be supported. It was noted that the Best City Plan already used numerous Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to measure progress and achievements. It was proposed that these KPIs would be reviewed and where applicable those indicators would continue to be used for the Best City Ambition plan. The plan would also include new indicators where required to ensure that the right issues were being measured. Performance reports would still be presented to Corporate Leadership Team, Directorate Management Teams, Scrutiny Boards and via an annual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To receive an update on performance in relation to strategic Council priorities for service areas that fall within the remit of the Scrutiny Board (Infrastructure, Investment and Inclusive Growth).

The report of Directors of City Development, Children and Families and Chief

Executive provided a summary of performance against the strategic priorities for the council and city and other performance areas relevant to the Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth Scrutiny Board and in line with the Best Council Plan.

The report covered quarter 2 2021/22 performance information. Members were requested to consider the performance information contained in the Appendix to this report and the issues which have been highlighted and consider if they wish to undertake further scrutiny work to support improvement over the coming year in any of these areas.

In attendance for this item were:

·  Cllr Jonathan Pryor – Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Martin Farrington – Director – City Development

·  Phil Evans – Chief Officer, Operations

·  Emma Kamillo-Price - Senior Intelligence & Policy Officer

·  Eve Roodhouse – Chief Offiecer, Culture & Economy

·  Gary Bartlett – Chief Officer, Highways & Transportation

Responding to questions and comments from Members the Board were provided with the following information:

·  It was recognised that visitor numbers had dropped. However, this had flat-lined even before the impact of the pandemic. It was also acknowledged there had been no reduction in business rates to reflect this. Members were advised that a number of appeals were being processed. It was noted that information on input and outputs of the appeals this would be sent to the Board.

·  Leeds is still the 3^rd highest deliverer of new homes nationally and is making progress on delivering targets for affordable homes. It was noted that the city centre was currently a more viable market.

·  It was recognised that the figures of ‘not known’ in relation to young people not in employment, education or training was important. However, due to the pandemic these figures had been unobtainable. With the pandemic easing it was now a priority to get the numbers of ‘not known’ and provide support in this area.

·  Road safety issues had been significantly impacted by the pandemic including traffic flows. As previously discussed during the Board's current Inquiry into road safety, Members were reminded that the Police now have a new system for recording road safety figures called CRASH which automatically assigns a severity classification to each casualty according to injuries recorded by the reporting officer. There is a new approach to road safety which looks at road safety being the responsibility of all. It was noted that a report on this new approach is due to be presented to the Executive Board. Members were of the view that it was right to focus on deaths of young people on roads and that a zero vision should be set.

·  Passenger numbers on public transport had fallen by half due to the pandemic. It was noted that peoples fear of travelling on public transport had increased. It was also recognised that changes were required if the passenger numbers were to be increased, including punctuality, shelters and timetables. The West Yorkshire Mayor is currently working to address these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To receive an update on financial health monitoring in the context of wider discussions about performance monitoring and the initial budget proposals.

The report of the Head of Democratic Services requested Members’ consideration on the Financial Health Monitoring report in the context of wider discussions about the initial budget proposals and performance against strategic priorities that fall within the remit of the Board.

In attendance at the meeting for these items were:

·  Cllr Pryor – Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Martin Farrington – Director of City Development

·  Phil Evans – Chief Officer, Operations

·  Emma Kamillo-Price - Senior Intelligence & Policy Officer

·  Michael Everitt - Head of Finance

·  Eve Roodhouse – Chief Officer, Culture & Economy

·  Gary Bartlett – Chief Officer, Highways & Transportation

The Board were advised of the following points:

·  The directorate was forecasting an overspend of £6.3m for the year, this was mainly due to the impact of the pandemic on income streams, currently estimated at £6.8m for the year, partially offset by all other savings across the directorate of £0.5m. This represented an improvement of £0.1m from the position reported in the previous month. This included the impact of the Local Government pay award, estimated at an additional cost of £0.9m across the directorate.

·  It was acknowledged that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the service in terms of increased volumes of applications particularly in small scale applications. This has now diminished slightly and is stabilising.

RESOLVED – That the comments and recommendations of the Board be included in a composite statement bringing together the views of all five scrutiny boards. In line with the requirements of the Budget and Policy Framework to be provided to Executive Board in February for its consideration before the final budget proposals are referred to Council.

To consider and comment upon the initial budget proposals so far as they pertain to the remit of the Scrutiny Board (Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth). The comments and recommendations of the Board will be reported to the Executive Board in February 2022 in line with the requirements of the Budget and Policy Framework.  

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report on initial budget proposals for 2022-23.

Attending for this item were:

·  Cllr Pryor – Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Martin Farrington – Director of City Development

·  Phil Evens – Chief Officer, Operations

·  Michael Everitt – Head of Finance

·  Eve Roodhouse – Chief Officer Culture and Economy

·  Gary Bartlett – Chief Officer, Highways and Transportation

The Director of City Development spoke to the report advising Members that the details of the proposals were set out at Appendix C of the report.

The directorate intends a £3.7m saving in this budget round. It was noted that this was a double-digit reduction of total net spend. The Board were informed that the proposals were for business as usual.

It was acknowledged that the Board has had a working group to look at the proposals in more detail and points raised for referral were appended to the report.

RESOLVED – To:

a)  Consider the aspects of the initial budget proposals for 2022 -23 that fall within the remit of the Scrutiny Board; and

b)  Identify any specific comments and /or recommendations that Members wish to be referred to the Executive Board for consideration in its final proposals for submission to full Council on 23 February 2022.

To receive an update about the purpose of the Social Progress Index in Leeds and the way in which it can be used to measure the impact of delivering Inclusive Growth in the city.  

The report of the Director of City Development was to inform the Board about the purpose of the Social Progress Index for Leeds and how it would be used to measure the impact of delivering Inclusive Growth in the city.

Present at the meeting for this item were:

·  Cllr Pryor – Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Eve Roodhouse – Chief Officer, Culture and Economy

·  Graham Ponton – Senior Economic Development Officer

The Board were shown a presentation which highlighted the following points:

·  How and why this model had been selected as a tool to inform policy making to deliver economic growth in Leeds.

·  The Social Progress Index (SPI) design principles allows an exclusive analysis of social progress using only social and environmental indicators, measuring outputs, not inputs, it is holistic and relevant to all communities and is a practical tool to implement policies and programs to drive faster progress.

·  Barking and Dagenham Council have been using this model for three years to change policy

·  The SPI has 3 elements which are based around human needs, foundation of wellbeing and opportunity. Indicators must link to social and environment factors, be output based and actionable and be available at ward level over a period of three years. Initially there had been 310 indicators but this has been whittled down to 48 usable indicators. It was noted that these indicators can be changed or supplemented over time.

·  Maps will be produced to show the progress of the indicators and a dashboard will be available to the demographics across the city.

·  There are challenges in how data is collected and used in specific services and there is a need to look at how data can be used more widely across the council ensuring people know how we will use the data.

·  The next steps are to propose that a small group of members who work with Cllr Pryor on Inclusive Growth and a number of cross-party members test this product over the next 6-8 weeks. This proposal would also test the suitability of the ward level data.

·  Analysis on the information will continue and the team plan to look at how they can pull out a relevant exception report type changes for further work.

·  Determine how best to maintain and make use of the SPI model for it to be represented alongside updated demographic data and some relevant economic data.

·  The final product to be included on the new Inclusive Growth website later in the year.

Member’s discussions included:

·  Looking at a role in which the Community Committees could be involved

·  To look at people’s perception as well as hard data

·  The flexibility of the indicators so that they remain fit for purpose and provide a full picture

·  Members were of the view that the information would be useful for ward members and Community Committees

·  The need for the gathering of data to be consistent, robust and of good quality

·  Members were of the view that this type of information would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

To receive an interim update from the Chief Officer Highways & Transportation about Connecting Leeds – Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme (LPTIP). A further comprehensive report will be presented to the Board following the closure of the programme in Summer 2022.

The Chief Officer for Highways and Transportation presented a report and appendix which provided the Scrutiny Board with an update on the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme.

Present at the meeting were:

·  Gary Bartlett – Chief Officer, Highways and Transportation

·  Sabby Khaira - Programme Executive (LPTIP)

Members were advised that this was an interim report to provide an update on the progress before the final report later in the year.

The Appendix to the report set out the highlights which included:

·  Completion of works to the City Centre bus gateway on the Headrow, Park Row and Infirmary Street

·  Cookridge Street pedestrianisation, cycling and public realm works

·  Elland Road Park and Ride extension

·  Implementation of the ‘tube style’ Leeds Core Network colour coded map and infrastructure and extensive real time information screens across the city

·  Opening of Stourton Park and Ride, including 5 electric double decker buses and completion of bus priority works along the A61

·  Operation of demand responsive FlexiBus East Leeds service which includes 7 electric minibuses

The Board noted that work was currently underway outside the Corn Exchange and good progress was being made.

It was acknowledged that the team had worked hard, facing challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Responding to questions and comments from Members the Board were informed of the following:

·  All contractors had been informed of the need to ensure that routes remained accessible to all users and training had been provided. However, it was down to individual responsibility, but the team would keep checking and ensure that accessibility for all was adhered to as set out in the contracts.

·  It was advised that that there would be no underspend and that all money would be invested in Leeds.

·  The success of the new infrastructure would be measured and monitored. It was noted that due to the pandemic changes in the way people worked and used the travel systems would need to be looked at to ensure that the improvements were fit for purpose.

·  There was recognition that the team had worked well under difficult circumstances and that the programme would be brought in on budget.

·  It was acknowledged that some of the bigger projects had been led by the Combined Authority and that positive feedback could be fed back to the Project Board.

 RESOLVED – To:

a) Note the update appended to the report; and

b) Recommend that the successor board schedules a comprehensive update on LPTIP in Autumn 2022/23.

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2021/22 municipal year.

The Head of Democratic Services requested Members’ consideration on the initial draft work schedule.

RESOLVED – To note and agree the work schedule.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Board will take place on 17 February 2022 at 10.30am. There will be a pre-meeting for members of the Board at 10.15am.

RESOLVED – That the next meeting of Scrutiny Board will take place on 17 February 2022 at 10.30am. There will be a pre-meeting for members of the Board at 9:45am. 

The Chair thanked all for their attendance and contributions.

The meeting concluded at 13:00