Agenda and minutes

There were no appeals against refusals of inspection documents.

There were no items excluded from the public domain.

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 interest.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies were received from: Cllr M Foster (Cllr S Firth attended as a substitute), Cllr M Millar (Cllr A Rontree attended as a substitute), Cllr A Hussain (Cllr E Thomson attended as a substitute).

Cllr D Coupar also requested that her apologies be noted.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2023.

The minutes of the 1 November 2023 were approved as a correct record.

To receive an update from the Director of City Development on the current review of the Council’s estate.

The Chair introduced the item noting that the report in front of members provided an update on the locality building review, set in the context of the recommendations of the 2023 LGA Peer Review and the Council’s current financial challenge.

Those in attendance for this item were:

-  Cllr J Pryor (Executive Member substituting for Cllr D Coupar)

-  Angela Barnicle (Chief Officer, Asset Management & Regeneration)

-  Lee Hemsworth (Chief Officer, Community Hubs, Welfare & Business Support)

-  Mark Mills (Head of Asset Management)

-  Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer, Culture and Economy)

Angela Barnicle outlined the progress of the Council’s estate rationalisation over the last 11 years, highlighting the focus to date on buildings which have provided office accommodation for staff.

Over that period, the programme has reduced the Council’s estate by over 125 buildings, delivered over £8m of revenue savings and generated over £25m of capital receipts through asset disposals.

Members were informed that the Council’s estate remains substantial with over 900 individually listed assets, which vary significantly in size, nature and use. The associated cost pressures linked to the maintenance of these buildings is unaffordable.

A review of the Council’s current estate is therefore underway and aims to make sure the Council’s estate better reflects the size of its services and the required use of buildings.

Members were provided with a summary of the distribution of assets across the city, categories of buildings and patterns of use. It was noted that locality buildings are often utilised for 30-50% of their capacity during opening hours whereas the target for office space utilisation is 80%. There is an ambition to improve ‘out of hours’ usage for many locality-based assets.

In response to member concern, officers confirmed that further due diligence will be required to determine whether individual buildings have any title restrictions preventing disposals or have received grant funded investment, which would include clawback provisions.

The review of locality buildings is being carried out in parallel to a separate review of how the Council delivers services in its localities, which is being led by the Director for Communities, Housing and Environment.

The Scrutiny Board was informed that the locality buildings review is being carried out in two phases. Phase 1 is focusing on data gathering to assess the number of buildings, their condition and approximate usage. This phase will also include the identification of any potential ‘quick wins’ where services can be relocated into alternative, appropriate buildings to release a community building for disposal.

Members were advised that phase 2 will see further building releases but these will be identified through the locality service transformation programme. Members were informed that this parallel review will include consideration of how to better embed multi-disciplinary teams in localities, improve the use of public facing Council owned buildings and make better use of other non-Council owned assets in communities. 

Officers provided an overview of the principles guiding their work, including aiming for a utilisation rate of at least 80% in retained building and providing a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

To receive an update from the Director of City Development in relation to the Council’s support to businesses in Leeds.

The Chair began by thanking Eve Roodhouse and her team for her recent member briefing on employment data, which was well received by members.

Cllr Marshall-Katung went on to introduce the item on business support in Leeds, noting the importance of encouraging productivity in the context of the ambitions of the Inclusive Growth Strategy.

Those in attendance for this item were:

Cllr Jonathan Pryor (Executive Member for Culture, Economy & Education)

Eve Roodhouse (Chief Officer, Culture & Economy)

Phil Cole (Head of Funding Programme and Business Support)

Members were provided with an overview of private sector businesses in Leeds, including the challenges and opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises.

Eve Roodhouse reiterated the ambitions of the relaunched Inclusive Growth Strategy and stressed the importance of helping to create local conditions that enable businesses to thrive, which in turn creates and retains good jobs in the city.

Phil Cole outlined the work of the Business Growth Service with SMEs and the role of the Key Account Management service for larger businesses. He went on to summarise activity linked to key growth and grant programmes including Ad:venture, Digital Enterprise, and Inclusive Growth Rates Relief.

Members considered the role of the employment and skills service, particularly in relation to recruitment and retention, and the ‘no wrong door’ approach to supporting businesses in Leeds.

Phil Cole highlighted the impact of the Council’s various business support programmes in terms of new jobs created, addition to Gross Value Added for the city and region, and return on investment.

Members considered the funding arrangements for this service, noting the high proportion of external funds secured by the team. Concern was raised about a planned reduction of 11% in the LCC budget for 2024/25. Members were reassured that the role that is being deleted from the Council budget is now being funded through an external source.

Members were advised that it is difficult to provide direct comparisons with performance across other cities due to differences in boundaries and populations. However, the latest data for Leeds relating to indicators such as business start ups will be provided to the Scrutiny Board as part of regular performance reporting in January.

Phil acknowledged it has been a challenging few years for many businesses. He reassured members that business stock in Leeds has, however, remained healthy and there has been 9% growth in the digital sector during a period in which other areas have seen a reduction in growth within the sector.

The Scrutiny Board welcomed the “engaged, thoughtful approach” of the Business Support Team.

Matters considered by members included:

-  Ways in which the awareness of the availability of the business support service could be evaluated.

-  The proportion of grant funding available for ‘business to business’ organisations as compared to ‘business to consumer’ organisations.

-  Incentives to encourage landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. Officers shared the example of the refurbishment of the Leeds media centre while considering the challenge and investment required to meet energy efficiency  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Members considered the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2023/24 municipal year and noted that a remote working group would be taking place at 9.30am on Thursday 14 December to discuss the initial budget proposals so far as they relate to the remit of the Scrutiny Board.

The next public meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Infrastructure, Investment and Inclusive Growth) will take place on 10 January 2024 at 10.30am. There will be a pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10.15am.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Board will take place on 10 January 2024 at 10.30am. There will be a pre-meeting for all Scrutiny Board members at 10.15am.

The meeting ended at 12.48pm.