Agenda item

To receive a summary of performance against the strategic priorities and an update on other performance areas relevant to the Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth Scrutiny Board.

The report of the Directors of City Development and Children and Families provided a summary of performance against the strategic priorities for the council and city and other performance areas relevant to the Board and in line with the Best City Ambition.

The report covered quarter 2 2022/23 performance information (or latest available where quarter 2 information was not available.

The following were in attendance for this item:

·  Councillor Helen Hayden, Executive Member

·  Martin Farrington, Director, City Development

·  Phil Evans, Chief Officer, Operations and Active Leeds

·  Eve Roodhouse, Chief Officer, Culture and Economy

·  Gary Bartlett, Chief Officer, Transportation and Highways

·  Tim Rollett, Intelligence & Policy Manager

·  Emma Kamillo-Price, Senior Intelligence & Policy Manager

The following was highlighted:

·  Planning applications – there had been a large number of outstanding applications following the pandemic and performance in determining applications had improved over the last 12 months to meet pre-pandemic levels.

·  Unemployment – there had been a drop from 5.0% to 4.2%.  The average rate across core cities was 4.8%.

·  Business start-ups – there had been 774 new starts ups in July and August 2022 which was an increase on the same period in the previous year.

·  Business Scale Ups – There had been an increase.

·  Business Survival Rate – There had been a drop of 3.2%.

·  The target for the growth in new homes had been achieved.

·  Affordable housing – There had been in an increase and it was planned to increase this further.  Figures included the provision of the council build programme.

·  Accessible and Adaptable standard homes – there was a positive increase.

·  KSI – there had been an increase following the pandemic and the return to increased road traffic levels.

·  City Centre Footfall – this was down 10.4% compared to 2019.  Weekdays had seen a higher reduction.

In response to Members comments and questions, discussion included the following:

·  Future reports would only show information that was relevant to this Board.  Any queries outside the remit of the Board would be referred to the respective Board

·  Employment data – ongoing work was being undertaken by specialists to look at employment and the economy.  There was concern about people being employed on zero hour contracts and fake self-employment schemes.  Data could be provided on a ward basis.

·  New business start-ups – Trends showed that here was a thriving digital sector and financial and professional service sectors were doing well.  Some areas had been impacted by the pandemic including hospitality, retail and leisure.  Schemes and sources of support for businesses were highlighted.  There was also a focus on green jobs and businesses which had a program of support available.

·  Housing growth – how to address sustainability and meeting climate change expectations.  There was expected to be changes in the National Planning Policy Framework which could change the weight to be given to planning on greenbelt land and the updated local plan would have opportunity to consult on sustainability and climate issues,

·  Delivery of affordable housing – there was a backlog on the provision of affordable housing and the Board would receive an update on this.

·  Number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions – One of the outcomes of the inquiry was that this should be also treated as a public health issue.  Further to concerns raised about some speed limits being too high, it was reported that Department for Transport guidance had to be complied with along with police advice.  There was a good record of reducing speed limits across the city especially with 20 MPH zones.  There were challenges with the Vision Zero target and there was more of a need to influence driver behaviour.  There would major work promoting road safety over the next few months.  There was also concern that there had been an increase as enforcement had reduced.  There would be an application to the Department of Transport for the use of enforcement cameras.

·  City centre footfall – this had been affected due to issues such as flexible working.  Leeds was faring above the national average.  People needed services and facilities that couldn’t be accessed in their localities to attract them to the city centre and reference was made to the wider range of cultural and retail opportunities available.  The Council had strong partnerships with the retail and hospitality sectors.

RESOLVED –

(1)  That the performance information contained in the Appendices to the report be noted and the issues which have been highlighted and Members consider if they wish to undertake further scrutiny work to support improvement over the coming year in any of these areas.

(2)  That Members are asked to note that this is the first report presenting performance linked to the Three Pillars contained in the Best City Ambition. A new dashboard is being developed which will form the basis of future reports and the first iteration can be seen at Appendix 2. It is intended to present a version more tailored to this Board in due course. However, we would advise the Board that resources are currently directed towards the Energy Savings Taskforce and progression of the performance dashboards may be impacted by this. The Board will be updated as appropriate.