Agenda and minutes

Due to technical issues the Outer North West Community Committee was unable to be webcast. Therefore, the Community Committee meeting was an informal meeting with decisions being made as recommendations to be taken by delegated decisions to be ratified at the next formal meeting.

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 appeals against the refusal 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 late items. However, supplementary information had been circulated to Members in relation to Agenda Item 10 – Finance Report and a revised version of Table 9.

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.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 30^th November 2020, and approve as a correct record.

RECOMMENDED - That the minutes of the meeting held on 30^th November 2020, be approved as a correct record.

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 no submissions had been received from members of the public.

The report of the City Solicitor requests Members to give consideration to agreeing the proposed Community Committee meeting schedule for the 2021/2022 municipal year.

(Report attached)

The report of the City Solicitor requested Members consideration to agreeing the proposed Community Committee meeting schedule for the 2021/2022 municipal year.

The proposed dates were:

·  Monday 28th June 2021 at 1:30pm

·  Monday 20th September 2021 at 1:30pm

·  Monday 15th November 2021 at 1:30pm

·  Monday 7th March 2022 at 1:30pm

RECOMMENDED – To agree the Committee’s meeting schedule for the 2021/22 municipal year as follows:

·  Monday 28th June 2021 at 1:30pm

·  Monday 20th September 2021 at 1:30pm

·  Monday 15th November 2021 at 1:30pm

·  Monday 7th March 2022 at 1:30pm

The report of the Director of City Development brings to members’ attention details of the consultation on the draft Connecting Leeds Transport Strategy.

(Report attached)

The report of the Director of City Development, was to bring to members’ attention the details of the consultation on the draft Connecting Leeds Transport Strategy.

In attendance for this item were:

•  Finn Campbell – Team Leader, (Forward Planning)

•  Paul Foster – Transport Planning Manager

The Community Committee were provided with a presentation of slides to inform the consultation process.

Members were informed of the following points:

·  The Transport Strategy has the vision that Leeds is to be a city where you don’t need a car;

·  The objectives of the strategy are to: tackle climate change; deliver inclusive growth; and improve health;

·  The 6 big moves identified to focus on the Transport Strategy are:

o  De-carbonising transport;

o  Creating healthier streets, spaces and communities;

o  Transform the City Centre

o  Enhance public transport

o  New mobility solutions

o  Deliver a mass transit network

It was noted that during the transport consultation held in 2016, the feedback from the Outer North West area were:

o  For incentives to get more people travelling on public transport;

o  Free bus travel for young people;

o  Better integration between transport modes;

o  Extend the A65 and;

o  To reduce the rat running on unsuitable roads.

Consultation on the Transport Strategy would be open until 26th March 2021. A copy of the Transport Strategy was appended to the report to the Committee and can be found on the Leeds City Council web pages. The Committee also heard that the team are doing a number of webinars, links to these could also be found on the Council’s web pages.

Members requested that the presentation slides be sent to them.

Member’s discussions included:

·  The increased use in buses raised some concerns including:

o  Number of buses on roads;

o  Use of the park and ride facilities;

o  Use of bus lanes and major routes;

o  Location of bus stops in rural communities;

o  Cost of travelling on buses;

o  Reliability of bus services.

·  Lack of active travel in new developments, the need to accelerate the use of cycle lanes;

·  Requirement for investment in new infrastructure including new railway stations and also to look at Electric Vehicle Charging within communities;

·  Members raised concerns that this strategy would affect the city centre especially after the impact of the pandemic, there was a need for fair and equitable system for charges, strategy need to address outer areas of the city;

·  It was recognised that for the strategy to work there was a need for buy in from other organisations.

The Chair suggested that this be an item for the forthcoming Transport Sub Group on 25^th March, where a response could be formulated and fed back to the consultation process.

RECOMMENDED – To note the report and formulate a response at the Transport Sub Group for the consultation process.

The report of the Head of Stronger Communities 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 2020/21.

(Report attached)

It was noted that Cllr Taylor had been viewing the Community Committee Facebook page and requested that the page was updated to reflect the current Committee membership.

The report of the Head of Stronger Communities 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 2020/21.

Members were informed of the following points:

·  Wellbeing Fund had a remaining balance of  £41,860.38 A full breakdown of the projects was listed in Table 1

·  Members were asked to consider the following applications which were set out at Paragraphs 20, 21, and 22 of the submitted report:

o  Site Based Gardener - Parks and Countryside had requested £13,941.50. It was proposed that this amount would be split between Horsforth £6,120 and Guiseley & Rawdon £7,825

o  Wilderness on Your Doorstep - Parks and Countryside had requested £7,350

o  Sensory Garden -  AVSED had requested £3,960

·  1 application had been considered and approved by Delegated Decision in relation to Boules in Horsforth Hall Park £2,128.50 from the Youth Activities budget;

·  No applications had been declined;

·  There is a remaining balance of £12,870.28 in the Youth Activity Fund and Table 2 provided a breakdown of Youth Activity Fund projects;

·  In the Small Grants and skips budget there is currently a remaining balance of £6,831.22.  Details of the skips and small grants projects were provided in Table 3; 

·  A Capital Budget of £48,773 is available to spend, as a result of new capital injections. Members are asked to note the capital allocation broken down by ward and summarised in Table 4;

·  Table 6 provided a breakdown by ward of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding;

·  Table 8 provided an up-to-date balance statement on the Outer North West Covid-19 Discretionary Funds.

·  Table 9 provided the Community Committee with an up-to-date balance statement on the New Central Government Ward Based Covid Funds this had been revised and was available as supplementary information. It was noted that any money left in this fund would be returned to Central Government at the end of the financial year.

Members’ discussions included:

·  Consideration of the three applications. Members requested more information from Parks and Countryside in relation to costs relating to maintenance costs of the Boule Pitch and also in relation to the Wilderness Doorstep;

·  Spend in relation to the Covid 19 Discretionary Fund and the Covid 19 Fund provided by Central Government. Members requested further advice on the use of both these funds.

RECOMMEDED – To note:

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

b. Wellbeing proposals for consideration and approval (paragraphs 20-22)

c. Details of the projects approved via Delegated Decision (paragraph 24)

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 6)

i  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The report of the Head of Stronger Communities 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.

This report also provides regular updates on some of the key activities between Community Committee meetings and functions delegated to Community Committees, Community Champions roles, community engagement, partnership and locality working.

(Report attached)

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

This report also provided updates on some of the key activities between Community Committee meetings and functions delegated to Community Committees, Community Champions roles, community engagement, partnership and locality working.

Cllr. Pat Latty, the Children and Families Champion expressed her disappoint that the Youth Summit would again not be going ahead due to the pandemic. It was noted that young people from across the outer North West area are still being contacted through schools to find out how they would wish to have the Youth Activity Fund budget spent within their area.

Cllr Barry Anderson, the Environment and Community Safety Champion informed the Committee that discussions had been taking place in relation to Ellergill.  Local ward members were seeking to resolve the issues.

It was noted that Members were disappointed with the refuse collection at present and that there had been issues with leaf clearance and street cleansing.  The Committee was informed that the Chief Officer for Environmental Services was trying to address ongoing issues and was in negotiation for a Service Level Agreement with the Community Committee which it was hoped would be in place later in the year.

Members expressed their disappointment with the current Community Safety Meetings as they were of the opinion that they were not working and that they had been unable to access them. It was noted that there was a proposed merger of the Stronger Communities Team and Community Safety Team.

Members were advised that a meeting of the Transport Sub Group was scheduled for 25^th March, at 3pm. All Members were invited to attend the meeting where a response for the Transport Strategy would be formulated and discussion on plans for recovery after the pandemic.

It was noted that at this current time there had been no meeting of the Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care Sub Group as the focus had been on the current issues of the pandemic. However, there are plans for meetings to start up again.

There was a detailed update in the report in relation to Employment and Skills.

Public Health had also submitted an update which included a number of links in relation to Covid 10 and the vaccine.

In relation to the update from Housing it was noted that the Officer from Housing had attended the meeting but had left due to other commitments prior to reaching this item. Members requested that the Housing Officer be invited to the next meeting. It was noted that the Housing Advisory Panels are currently not working, asked to address this with the Housing Officer.

Members also requested a working group in relation to renting, to include council renting, private renting and housing association renting.

Appended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

There was no other business.

However, it was noted that this would be the last Community Committee meeting that Cllr Pat Latty would be attending as she will be stepping down at the next elections.

The Chair thanked Cllr. Latty for her work in the outer North West area over the past 11 years. Cllr Latty has been the Children and Families Community Committee Champion and had done lots of good work in relation to the young people of the area. It was noted that it was Cllr Latty that developed the Youth Summits which was now used by all the Community Committees with great success.

In response Cllr. Latty said that she would everyone, but was of the view that it was time to step aside for a younger person.

The Community Committee wished Cllr Latty a long and happy retirement, and gave her a round of applause.

The meeting concluded at 15:45