Agenda and minutes

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 Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no refusals of inspection of documents.

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:-

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 formal late items. However, there was supplementary information in relation to Agenda Item 8 – Outer North West Community Committee Finance Update Report, which had been circulated to all Members prior to the meeting.  

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.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bromley, Flynn and Shemilt.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th June 2022, to approve as a correct record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th June 2022 be approved as a correct record.

Minute 9 – Finance Update Report

The Committee had discussed an option to fund a dedicated parking officer for the Outer North West area. Cllr Anderson provided an update to the Committee. The Committee noted that other areas of the city had dedicated parking officers and the cost per annum would be £28,000. However, the service was still recovering after the pandemic and there were ongoing issues with recruitment to positions. Members agreed to discuss this issue further and identify areas that would need cover and bring the matter back to the Committee. Cllr Anderson requested Members to contact him with their suggestions.

Minute 11 – Community Committee Appointments

It was noted that Members appointed to Clusters were still not getting information in relation to meetings and requested that this be followed up. It was also noted that Cllr Thomson had not been contacted in relation to her appointment to the Local Care Partnership for Aireborough and Aire Valley. This was also to be followed up.

Informal meeting held in relation to the closure of Queensway Primary school.

It was noted that an informal meeting in relation to the closure of Queensway Primary School had taken place on 19^th October 2022. The Community Committee requested that the notes of this meeting be noted. It was the view that the some of the notes made at the meeting appeared to be incorrect.

Members were of the view that the Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education may have been aware of the meeting organised by Alex Sobel MP. Members aired their disappointment that the Community Committee Chair had not shared the meeting details with other Community Committee Members.

The Chair apologised for the lack of information at the informal meeting and in relation to the meeting held on 31^st October, the Chair said she had a lot to learn.

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.

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 time may be extended at the discretion of the Chair.

The Chair of Governors from Queensway Primary School, along with other governors and parents of pupils from the school attended the meeting, to make representation against the proposed closure of Queensway Primary School.

The Community Committee were provided with the following information:

The Chair of Governors had held his position for 2 years. He acknowledged that the school has had some difficulties. However, since September the school had grown in numbers and in attitude.

He said that OFSTED had visited earlier than expected but the school had continued with the visit.

He informed the Committee that at no point prior to the summer holidays had the school, the governors, parents or staff been included in discussions in relation to the numbers attending the school. He said had this been the case there would have been a wider debate and motivation to increase the number of pupils.

The closure of Queensway Primary would have an impact on parents some of whom were vulnerable single parents coping with vulnerable children who have special needs. The Chair quoted the Public Sector Equality Duty saying that it was clear to see that the most vulnerable families would be impacted if the school closed.

Not only would the school be closing and causing stress to children and parents, but staff were facing potential redundancy. The teachers were continuing to work under this cloud.

It was their view that the process had been poorly managed with information being slow to filter to the school, the school felt let down by the Council.

Another Governor said that the school supported lots of children who have special educational needs some having additional difficulties. Parents whose children attend the school say that their child would not attend other schools in the area, but they had been able to get their child to attend Queensway.  It was the view of this governor that proper consultation had not been undertaken and that the Council had not fulfilled the public sector equality duty. It was her view that consultation for closure should have taken place with all the schools across the area not just Queensway. She was of the view that there should be a plan to inform parents what is going to happen.

The committee was informed that many of the children who attend Queensway require one to one provision and this is offered at Queensway.

One parent thanked Councillors Wadsworth, Alderson, Downes, Lay and Campbell for their support.

Another parent whose child attends Queensway spoke of how her child would not go to other schools in the area but had settled at Queensway.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The report of the Director of Public Health shares the refresh of the draft Age Friendly Strategy & Action Plan 2022-2025, with Community Committee members to gain feedback.

The report of the Director of Public Health presented to the Inner West Community Committee the refresh of the draft Age Friendly Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2025 to gain feedback. The report also requested support and promotion of the work of Age Friendly within the city.

The Community Committee were provided with the following points:

• Around 1 in 3 people are aged 50 and over. The number of Leeds residents aged 80 and over will increase by about 50% in the next 20 years.
• Age Friendly Leeds is one of the eight priorities in the Best Council Plan 2020-2025. The vision for Leeds is that it is a place where people age well, older people are valued, respected, appreciated and seen as assets.
• The draft Age Friendly Leeds Strategy 2022-25 has been reviewed and refreshed which has been informed by The State of Ageing in Leeds report. The process has been overseen by the Age Friendly Board chaired by Cllr Jenkins. The role of the Board is to provide strategic leadership and set the strategic direction for the Age Friendly Leeds work programme and ensure that the objectives are being met.
• Leeds is a member of the World Health Organisation Age Friendly Cities programme and has used and adapted the framework to identify and address barriers to the well-being and participation of older people.
• The strategy sets out six key priority areas: housing; public and civic spaces; travel and road safety; active, included and respected; healthy and independent ageing and employment and learning. Each of the priorities is headed by a domain lead. Domain leads have been identified and are working to implement the actions set out in the plan. The domain leads will feedback on a quarterly basis.
• The Leeds Older Peoples Forum (LOPF) gives practical ways for the local community to become involved to strengthen the age friendly approach and Councillors were invited to support and encourage people and businesses to get involved in:
  • The Age Friendly Ambassador Programme
  • Becoming a Dementia Friend
  • Age and Dementia Friendly Businesses
  • The Come in and Rest Scheme
  • Leeds Older People’s Age Friendly Steering Group
• Public Health are working with partners to support older people in Leeds to be as resilient as possible this winter. It was recognised that the cost-of-living crisis together with the impact that the cold weather can have on older people will require an approach to ensure proactive and preventative support is provided to those most at risk this winter.

Members’ discussions included:

·  Taking on board the promotion of ‘come and rest’ initiative

·  The need to work closely with neighbourhood networks

·  Strategies needed to be inclusive of all citizens not restricted to particular age groups

·  How the strategy needs to influence the priorities for older people

·  Cross representation of parties on boards and to ensure that other boards are looking to promote and influence priorities set out in the strategy

It was suggested that the team from Age Friendly Strategy should attend the Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

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 2022/23.

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships provided 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 2022/23.

The Community Committee received the following information:

·  The remaining balance of the Wellbeing Fund is currently £24,197.45. Table 1 of the Submitted report listed a breakdown of the projects funded.

·  Members were requested to consider 2 projects:

·  Listed at Paragraph 22 were the projects considered and approved by Delegated Decision Notice

·  Monitoring information was provided at Paragraph 25 on the Summer Bands in the Park.

·  Table 2 showed the projects funded through the Youth Activity Fund and it was noted that the Committee had a current balance of £31,041.84 available to spend.

·  The Committee noted that in the Small Grants and Skips budget there was a remaining balance of £3,054.73 with Table 3 of the submitted report providing a summary of projects funded.

·  The Committee were informed that they have a budget of £46,109 available to spend as a result of new capital injections. Capital allocation was broken down by ward and summarised in Table 4 of the report.

·  The Community Committee was asked to note there is £252,022.97 in the Community Infrastructure Levey Budget. Table 5 provided a breakdown for each ward and the projects funded.

Member’s discussions included:

·  Questioning the funding pots used for some of the projects approved by delegated decisions; these will be checked and corrected.

·  Clarity on what was being paid for as part of the funding for Summer Bands in the Park. Members also requested signs or banners in future to show that the Community Committee had supported the Summer Bands in the Parks and help advertise the events.

·  Members were informed that at the recent meeting of Children’s and Young Peoples’ Sub-Group there was a drive to spend the money allocated to the Youth Activities Fund. The Children’s Services Champion requested ideas from Members given the upcoming Christmas Holidays and February half term. The Chair also requested ideas from Members on cross boundary working to support projects for children and young people.

RESOLVED – To note:

a)  Details of the Wellbeing Budget position (Table 1)

b)  Wellbeing proposals for consideration and approval outcomes as detailed in the table above.

c)  Details of the projects approved via Delegated Decision

d)  Monitoring information of its funded projects

e)  Details of the Youth Activities Fund (YAF) position (Table 2)

f)  Details of the Small Grants and Skips Budget (Table 3)

g)  Details of the Capital Budget (Table 4)

h)  Details of the Community Infrastructure Levy Budget (Table 5)

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 Head of Locality Partnerships updated the Community Committee on the work the Communities Team are engaged in, based on priorities identified by the Community Committee.

The Community Committee were informed of the following updates:

Children and Families Sub-Group

·  Although Cllr Flynn the Children and Families Champion was not at the meeting, the Committee were informed that the sub-group had met on 9^th November 2022. Members were asked to note that the Children and Young Peoples Summit would take place on Friday 3^rd March 2023. The event would take place in the Civic Hall with lunch provided at the Rosebowl.

Environment and Community Safety Sub-Group

·  Members were advised to contact the Chief Officer Environmental Services Communities, Housing & Environment to check the route review for their area so it can be included in the new bin collection review plan for the city.

·  The trial for glass recycling was due to start, but the areas had not yet been confirmed. There was also a proposal for food waste, but this was still not definite.

·  Members were advised that disposal of inert waste was now allowed, but had not yet been publicised.

·  The Serious Environmental Crime Team has started to address issues on repeated fly-tipping.

·  It was noted that leaf fall was an issue for the Outer North West area, however, not all the trees had shed their leaves yet.

·  Members were informed that they would be receiving an email inviting them to visit Leeds Watch. Members were advised to take up this opportunity to visit as the services that the team could offer were interesting.

Transport Sub-Group

·  It was noted that the Highways Asset Manager had attended the sub-group.

·  Cllr Wadsworth the Transport Champion requested the Localities Officer to chase up on a meeting with three people who had attended a Local Forum in relation to a number of road/traffic issues in the area.

·  The Sub-group had been informed of progress at the Dyneley Arms junction. It was acknowledged that there had been improvements to this junction.

·  Consultation was taking place in relation to the widening of Scotland Lane and an event was due to take place at Yeadon Library in relation to this and the parking issues for the new Parkway Station.

·  The next sub-group would be discussing public transport. It was noted that Labour Councillors had organised a meeting in Horsforth to discuss public transport. The Chair acknowledged that she had attended this meeting and was exploring other similar meetings to be held in other areas of the Outer North West area.

Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care

·  Cllr C Anderson informed the Committee that the sub-group had met on 18^th October and had invited the officer dedicated to dementia support. Cllr Anderson provided the Community Committee with statistics for those suffering with dementia in the city. It was noted that there are a number of support groups for dementia suffers and carers and that you do not need to be a dementia suffer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To note the next meeting of the Outer North West Community Committee is scheduled for 6^th March 2023 at 1.30pm.

To note the next meeting of the Outer North West Community Committee will be on Monday 30^th January 2023 at 1.30pm.

The meeting concluded at 16:25