Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Grant and Westley.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Bajaj declared that he had received representations in respect of item 6: Petition to retain a safe parking zone / drop off for users of the Jain Centre, York Road. Councillor Bajaj had been invited to attend the Centre and had been given a meal of rice, curry and juice.

Councillor Porter declared that he had received representations in respect of item 6: Petition to retain a safe parking zone / drop off for users of the Jain Centre, York Road. Councillor Porter declared that he had been invited to attend the Centre where he been given a hot meal and he had also signed the petition.

The City Mayor said that in respect of item 6: Petition to retain a safe parking zone / drop off for users of the Jain Centre, York Road, he had been invited to the Centre and had been given a hot meal.

Further to these declarations, it was confirmed that all the remaining Members of the Committee had been lobbied in respect of item 6: Petition to retain a safe parking zone / drop off for users of the Jain Centre, York Road.

It was noted that Councillors Govind, Khote and Cutkelvin were members of the Planning and Development Control Committee and the Chair reminded Members that the decision on the Traffic Regulation Order would be delegated to the Director. The Traffic Regulation Order would be brought to the Planning and Development Control Committee to allow Members to make comments for the Director to take into consideration when he made his decision.

The Chair did not make any announcements.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview Select Committee held on 13 December 2018 are attached and the Committee is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Overview Select Committee held 13 December 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Chair reported that there were no outstanding actions.

The Director of Planning, Development and Transportation submits a report which explains that a petition has been received which asks the council to retain a safe parking / drop off for users of the Jain Centre, York Road LE1 5TT.

The Committee is recommended to consider the petition and note the provision in place to accommodate the parking requirements of the Jain Centre congregation.

The Director of Planning, Development and Transportation submitted a report which explained that a petition had been received which asked the Council to retain a safe parking / drop off for users of the Jain Centre, York Road.

The Committee were recommended to consider the petition and note the provision in place to accommodate the parking requirements of the Jain Centre congregation. 

The Chair introduced the petition and explained that it was also being referred to the meeting of the Planning and Development Control Committee on 19 February, where consideration would be given to the comments made by the Overview Select Committee.  The decision on the Traffic Regulation Order would be taken by the Director of Planning, Development and Transportation after considering all the comments from Members.

Mr Madhani, the lead petitioner, at the invitation of the Chair addressed the Committee. Points made included the following:

·      Sunday access to York Road was welcomed, but access was also requested for all vehicles after 6 pm on weekdays and at weekends. These were the most popular times for people to visit the Jain Centre.

·      It was recognised that people alighting and embarking on the loading bays on York Road was not allowed and therefore a safe space near the junction to Oxford Street was requested as a drop off / pick up point.

·      A request was made for blue badge holders to be given three spaces for parking in York Road. It was understood that these could not be reserved for the users of the Jain Centre.

·      Mr Madhani said that he had not been aware until recently that there had been an informal arrangement for Jain Centre users to park at the Oxford Street Industrial Units. He asked for a formal arrangement to be put in place for off peak use.

Councillor Kitterick, at the invitation of the Chair addressed the Committee. Points made during the Councillor’s submission included the following points:

·      Councillor Kitterick said that confirmation had been received that the Oxford Street Industrial Unit were happy for the Jain Centre congregation to continue to use its car park at evenings and weekends. Councillor Kitterick asked the Committee to note and welcome this.

·      In the effort to help pedestrians and cyclists, people with disabilities and mobility issues should not be disadvantaged.

·      Currently, Blue badge holders might take advantage of parking on yellow lines on Grange Lane, but if the scheme was implemented, Grange Lane and York Road would no longer be available for any blue badge Parking.

·      The only on-street parking would be pay and display parking which was heavily used. There was a multi-storey car park on Newarke Street, but some people were reluctant to park there because they found it to be intimidating, particularly during the hours of darkness.

·      Councillor Kitterick requested that York Road be opened up after 6pm for Jain Centre users as there would be little impact on pedestrians and cyclists after this time.

·      Councillor Kitterick requested that further consideration be given to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations or statements of case received.   

The Monitoring Officer reported that there were no questionss, representations or statements of case.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received, other than the Petition to retain a safe parking zone / drop off, for users of the Jain Centre, York Road which had been discussed under item 6 of the agenda.

The Monitoring Officer submits a report that updates Members on the monitoring of outstanding petitions. The Committee is asked to note the current outstanding petitions and agree to remove those petitions marked ‘Petitions Process Complete’ from the report.

The Chair referred to an update of the Petitions Monitoring Report, which was circulated prior to the meeting and is attached to the back of these minutes. He noted that there were no petitions flagged as ‘Red’ which he said was a good position to be in.

AGREED:

that the Tracking of the Petitions Monitoring Report be noted and the petitions marked ‘petition process complete’, namely 15/10/2018, 16/10/2018, 23/10/2018, 10/09/2018 and 27/09/2018 be removed from the Monitoring Report.

The City Mayor will answer questions raised by members of the Overview Select Committee on issues not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Leicester City Council Tree Strategy

Councillor Cleaver commended the City Mayor on the Leicester City Council Tree Strategy and in particular said she was pleased with the planting of London Plane trees on King Street, because they absorbed pollutants. Councillor Cleaver asked for more trees to be planted and questioned whether initiatives such as the ‘growing roof’ could be considered where appropriate in new developments.

The City Mayor responded that tree planting brought multiple benefits and had been more extensive in Leicester than elsewhere in the UK. The amount of woodland in Leicester had increased significantly.

Housing Tenancy Agreement Consultation

The Chair and Councillor Cleaver asked that a report with the findings of the Housing Tenancy Agreement Consultation be brought back to the Overview Select Committee.

The City Mayor responded that the consultation was being carried out because a review of the tenancy agreement had been overdue. He knew that the Assistant City Mayor would want to bring the consultation’s findings to the Housing Scrutiny Commission and he felt sure that the Assistant City Mayor would be pleased to bring them to the Overview Select Committee as well.

Councillor Porter expressed a concern that as part of the consultation, there was a large document that was only available in two areas of the city and he said that this document should be in every library around Leicester. Councillor Porter also expressed concerns that the agreement warned tenants that if they were a terrorist, they would be breaching their tenancy agreement. He said that there were better ways of expressing this.

Crowd Funding

Councillor Porter referred to a presentation on Crowd Funding that was given at the Aylestone Community Meeting where an officer had said that there were five members of staff working on the project. He questioned why that number of staff were working on Crowd Funding and expressed concerns about the process generally including the use of public money to employ people to do so. He also expressed concerns that the company behind crowd funding took 8% of the money raised.

The City Mayor responded that there were several members of staff who worked collaboratively to deliver crowd funding, but no one worked exclusively on this. The use of Crowd Funding provided a unique opportunity to raise funds and had been extremely successful. There was a cost however and this particular platform had worked very well elsewhere in the country and he was pleased to use it in Leicester. The City Mayor added that there were a number of ways the Council used money to fund projects in the community including through the ward community budget.

Councillor Cutkelvin praised Crowd Funding stating that it was a way of getting grass roots funding to help community initiatives and had been very successful in the Saffron Ward.

Proposals for a hotel in Churchgate

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

Members will be asked to comment on the draft General Fund Revenue Budget 2019/20 to 2021/22, which will be considered at the meeting of Council on 20 February 2019

The draft budget has been considered by the different Scrutiny Commissions and draft minute extracts from the following meetings are attached:

Draft General Fund Revenue Budget 2018/19 to 2020/21 (Appendix D)

Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission: 22 January 2019 (D1)

Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Commission:  17 January 2019 (D2)

Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission: 15 January 2019 (D3)

Heritage, Culture, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission:  8 January 2019 (D4)

Housing Scrutiny Commission: 7 January 2019 (D5)

Neighbourhood Services and Community Involvement Scrutiny Commission: 23 January 2019 (D6)

Because of the timetable of Scrutiny Commission meetings, a further minute extract from the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission will be circulated after the agenda has been published.

The Director of Finance submitted the Draft General Fund Revenue Budget 2019/20 to 2021/22. Members were asked to comment on the Draft Budget, prior to its consideration at the meeting of Council on 20 February 2019.

The Chair introduced the budget and explained that people were living in times of austerity and cities like Leicester had suffered the most. The Council’s budget (on a like for like basis) had fallen from £358m in 2010/11 to £291m in  2019/20. The managed reserves strategy had helped the Council to continue to provide services.

The Director of Finance stated that the budget was a one-year budget with a three- year outlook, however there was a significant level of uncertainty as it was not yet known beyond 2019/20 how the Local Governing Financing system would work. In addition, it was not known how the Government would deal with the significant pressures around Adult and Children’s Social Care. The budget had been discussed at all the Scrutiny Commissions and minute extracts of those discussions had been circulated and would be appended to the report for Council.

The City Mayor said that he was very grateful for all the comments received from Scrutiny Commissions so far. Members heard that the Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Committee had requested a breakdown of bus lane enforcement income and Members should either have received that information or would do very shortly.

During the ensuring discussion, comments and queries were raised and the responses included the following:

·      Councillor Cutkelvin, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission stated that concerns had been raised at their meeting on 15 January 2019 which had not been included in the minutes, relating to additional pressures arising from the rising costs of licensed drugs treatment. This had been raised in connection to the contract with Turning Point.  Councillor Cutkelvin said that in the context of Brexit, there had been news that the NHS could be impacted by the increased cost of drugs and she questioned whether there were any other risks of that nature that would affect the Health and Wellbeing budget envelope.

The Director responded that she was aware of such issues in relation to the Drug and Alcohol Service and which might also apply to the Sexual Health Service. A number of different suppliers were being used, as cost pressures could arise from being in a single supplier environment.  This had been included in the risk register relating to Brexit and it was an issue that would continue to be monitored. There may be some issues arising from Brexit that would fall on Public Health and partner relations. The Director of Delivery, Communications and Political Governance was the lead in preparing for Brexit and would have more information on this.

·      Councillor Cleaver, Chair of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission said that Adult Social Care was a demand led service and the Commission understood the challenge of the budget and the difficulties arising because of the delay to the Green Paper.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

The Director of Finance submits a report that proposes a framework for the governance of the Council’s borrowing and investments. The report updates the framework approved by Council in 2012 to reflect revised professional and statutory guidance.

The Committee is recommended to note the report and make any comments to the Director of Finance as they wish, prior to Council consideration.

The Director of Finance submitted a report that proposed a framework for the governance of Council’s borrowing and investments. Members of the Overview Select Committee were recommended to note the report and make any comments to the Director, prior to Council consideration.

The Director gave a power point presentation which related to the Treasury Policy and also the Treasury Management Strategy 2019/20 (Agenda item 13), and the Investment Strategy (Agenda item 14).  The power point is attached to the back of the minutes.

Members considered the report and presentation.

The Chair asked the Committee to note the report.

AGREED:

                   that the report be noted.

The Director of Finance submits a report that proposes a strategy for managing the Council’s borrowing and cash balances during 2019/20 and for the remainder of 2018/19.

Members of the Overview Select Committee are recommended to note the report and make any comments to the Director of Finance as they wish, prior to Council consideration.

The Director of Finance submitted a report that proposed a strategy for managing the Council’s borrowing and cash balances during 2019 /20 and for the remainder of 2018/19. Members of the Overview Select Committee were asked to note the report and make any comments to the Director prior to Council consideration.

The Director of Finance gave a power point presentation as part of the introduction to the previous item of business, Agenda Item 12 the Treasury Policy.  This presentation also related to the Treasury Management Strategy and the Investment Strategy (Agenda item 14).

Members considered the report and presentation.

The Chair asked the Committee to note the report.

AGREED:

                   that the report be noted.

The Director of Finance submits a report that seeks Council’s approval of the

attached Investment Strategy.  The Overview Select Committee is asked to comment on the Strategy prior to its consideration at Council on 20 February 2019.

The Director of Finance submitted a report that sought Council’s approval of the Investment Strategy. Members of the Committee were asked to comment on the Strategy prior to its consideration at Council on 20 February. 

The Director of Finance gave a power point presentation as part of the introduction to an earlier item of business, Agenda Item 12 the Treasury Policy.  The presentation also related to the Investment Strategy and the Treasury Management Strategy ( Agenda Item 13 on the agenda).

At the conclusion of the presentation, the City Mayor thanked the Director for the presentation, commenting that it reflected on the work of highly skilled officers in Leicester City Council. The Council needed to be transparent about their investments and open to scrutiny. The City Mayor added that by acting entrepreneurially, the Council was adding to its assets.

Members commended the Director of Finance and finance officers for their careful management of Council monies.

A Member questioned the Council’s stance on ethical investments and the Director responded that this was a difficult issue, but the Council invested as carefully as they were able and took into consideration the chain of investments. The Director added that the Council did not invest in arms or tobacco.

The Chair asked the Committee to note the report.

AGREED:

                   that the report be noted.

To formally receive and note the following Scoping Document:

To explore the reasons for educational underachievement of ‘African Heritage’ pupils and ‘white working class’ pupils in Leicester (Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission)

The scoping document was not ready in time to be brought to the previous meeting held 13 December 2018 but was endorsed by the Chair in order that work could commence. Members are now asked to formally receive and note the scoping document.

The Committee was asked to formally receive and note the Scoping Document for a review to explore the reasons for educational underachievement of ‘African Heritage’ pupils and ‘white working class pupils’ in Leicester. Councillor Dawood, Chair of the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission explained that some of the issues had been ongoing for 40 or 50 years and the Scrutiny Commission would not be able to resolve the problem, but the review was a start in the process.

The Chair explained that the Scoping Document was for noting.  The document had not been ready in time to be brought to the previous meeting of the Overview Select Committee, but Members had endorsed the scope in order that work on the review could proceed.

AGREED:

that the Scoping Document for a review to explore the reasons for educational underachievement of ‘African Heritage’ pupils and ‘white working class pupils’ in Leicester be noted.                       

A work programme for the Overview Select Committee is attached.  The Committee is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

AGREED:

                   that the Overview Select Committee work programme be noted.

Members are asked to consider the Plan of Key Decisions and in particular, note any items pertaining to their own scrutiny commissions.

The Chair asked Members to be mindful of items on the Plan of Key Decisions that related to their own Scrutiny Commissions.

With the permission of the Chair, a Member asked the Committee to note that Downs Syndrome Day took place on 21 March 2019 and it was requested that Council staff be allowed to wear odd socks to raise money for the charity.

The meeting closed at 8.04pm.