(Members Code of Conduct – Part 4A of the Constitution)

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

Notes:

(1)       Members must consider their interests, and act according to the following:

(2)       Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

(3)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

There were no disclosures of interest made for any matters under consideration.

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2023 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Su Booth / Kav Amrez – 07814 073884 / 07929 070288)

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2023 be held as a correct record.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Su Booth/Kanwal Amrez – 07814 073884 / 07929070288)

No requests to view documents were received.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

To hear questions from electors within the District on any matter this is the responsibility of the Committee. 

Questions must be received in writing by the Director of Legal and Governance in Room 112, City Hall, Bradford, BD1 1HY, by midday on Monday 6 November 2023.

(Su Booth / Kanwal Amrez – 07814 073884 / 07929 070288)

No questions were submitted.

Up to a maximum of 15 minutes will be allowed for SCAPAG members to raise new items of information, questions, requests or suggestions that may have arisen within their organisation/neighbourhood and which are relevant to raise at the meeting.

Issues raised in accordance with the above must be received in writing by the Shipley Area Co-ordinator’s Office in Shipley Town Hall, Shipley, BD18 3EJ, by midday on Monday 6 November 2023.

(Damian Fisher – 01274 437146)

No issues were reported.

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “J”) will be submitted to the Committee and sets out the background and purpose of the Shipley and Bingley Development Frameworks.  It also outlines the approach being taken to public engagement on the draft frameworks and considers the opportunities for member involvement.

Recommended –

That Members consider the proposed options in the report and their views be noted.

(Sarah Carling/Will Ridley-Ellis – 07816 351362/07582 101342)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “J”) was presented to the Committee and set out the background and purpose of the Shipley and Bingley Development Frameworks.  It outlined the approach being taken to public engagement on the draft frameworks and considered the opportunities for member involvement.

The purpose of the Development Frameworks was to guide the future regeneration and development of the city and towns as well as attracting new investment into the area.  Building on the success of the Towns Fund, the Draft Development Frameworks looked beyond the Council’s existing projects and City of Culture 2025. They set out an overarching vision, objectives and potential interventions for regeneration looking at the next 15-20 years.  As the frameworks were not funded programmes, it was not to be expected that all would be achieved, it was intended to put the District in a good position to take advantage of future funding opportunities.

The report included a breakdown of the stages of development and details of engagement activities with targeted stakeholders and the wider public in relation to recommended interventions and specific proposals.

Following the Officer’s presentation, members were then given the opportunity to comment and ask questions.  The details of these and the responses given are as below.

·            A member commented that the maps in the draft documents were not clear/detailed enough to identify specific locations without names

·            A member asked about the cost of the project and was advised that £100K had been allocated for the Shipley and Bingley projects and was approximately £700K for the whole district

·            A member commented that the results of the survey from the Telegraph and Argus were not included in the draft document.  There was a brief overview of the contents of the feedback received that Officers would circulate if members wished

·            A member asked if the outcomes of the ‘Let’s Talk’ exercise could be included on the Council’s website as a consultation and was advised that this could be looked into but it’s pre-existing location could be more clearly signposted with improved links as it was an engagement and promotional exercise rather than a formal consultation.  It was also noted that those people who did not access online media should not be excluded

·            A member commented regarding connectivity and asked that it be addressed and reinforced in relation to the canal corridor

·            The low carbon impact in the draft programmes was noted but Members asked that it be given a higher profile in the next draft and appear more frequently

·            A Member relayed some information to officers regarding parking charges in Bingley and the plans for parking facilities which officers stated they would pass onto the relevant team and it would be considered in more detail

·            The Chair noted that the development frameworks were aspirational and encouraged safe access for pedestrians to town centres with further discussion on ideas for access/parking outside Bingley Railway Station suggested

·            A member of the SCAPAG group was in attendance and asked if the focus would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “K”) will be presented to the Committee and led by the Stronger Communities Team, provides a detailed multi-agency response to the recommendations and findings to the Hate Crime Scrutiny Review.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Neena Punnu – 07582 109834)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “K”) was presented to the Committee and provided a detailed information on the multi-agency response to the recommendations and findings of the Hate Crime Scrutiny review.

The report contained a definition of what was considered a hate crime and a hate incident and how the work on Hate Crime was delivered and funded following the withdrawal of Home Office funding in April 2022.  Funding was then allocated from the Community Safety Partnership.  The responsibility for Hate Crime work remained with the Stronger Communities Team, Bradford Council working alongside West Yorkshire Police Hate Crimes staff.  Hate Crime statistics and the efforts made to address the recommendations in turn in the report from the Scrutiny review were included but not limited to projects such as hosting publicity events, Hate Crime Training, podcasts and the launch of a new Bradford Hate Crime Alliance (BHCA) website.

The presenting Officer (Director of Bradford Hate Crime Allicance – BHCA) advised Members that the sole purpose of Bradford Hate Crime alliance work aimed at encouraging the reporting of hate crime, to educate our communities about what hate crimes were and to support victims of hate crime.  The main obstacle seemed to be that Hate Crimes were underreported so the aims of the recommendations sought to raise awareness of hate crimes and how to either log them or report them.  Members were offered a Hate Crime workshop to help them identify what a Hate Crime was.  They were also informed that a reporting tool via a phone app had been launched in collaboration with the University of Bradford who had developed it.  The app had received 10,000 hits but the number of reports/logs were still low.  The Hate Crime reporting centres were not being well used and usage was less than before Covid.

A Hate Crime report was provided on a monthly basis by the Police to the Hate Crime Strategic Management Team showing incidents reported in both the Bradford District and West Yorkshire region.  Latest figures showed that inter faith incidents were at the same level with the exception of Islam which had showed a marked increase alongside Trans and LGTBQ+.  It was also reported that requests from schools had increased as teachers were requesting help to address hate crime incidents by providing education to both staff and students to deal with specific incidents.

Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions and comment.  The details of these and the responses given are as below.

·            A member referred to the Hate Crime Reporting Centres (HCRC) and asked how many reports were made there and whether they were viable and was advised that the number of reports was low and viability was a consideration.  There were no specific figures available, however.  All hate crime reporting centres were provided with signage to hi-light the importance of hate crime reporting and useful links to establish contact via their own phones

·            A brief discussion took place around boys being allowed to go  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “L”) will be submitted to inform Members in relation to the continuing and worsening climate and biodiversity crises that demand action and response across the authority to protect and find opportunities for the residents of the District.

Recommended –

1.       That Members welcome and support the content of this report.

2.       That Members support and promote Habitat Bank sites in Shipley, such as Northcliffe Park and others to offset biodiversity losses.

(David Campbell – 01274 435514)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “L”) was presented to the Committee to provide Members with details of its duties under The Environment Act 2021

The Act was given royal assent at the end of the year and brought in several changes that affected the Council that were additions to previous statutory requirements.  The new act required public authorities to ‘conserve and enhance’ biodiversity.

·       Updated Biodiversity Duty within the NERC Act 2006. Public bodies were now required to Protect and Enhance biodiversity during their normal operations.

·       Biodiversity Net Gain was made a condition of planning permissions for most Town and Country Planning Act Applications.

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy – which was being developed with WYCA

The presenting Officer provided a verbal overview of the changes and the contents of the report and explained how new biodiversity gains could be achieved in Planning, whether within development sites or elsewhere as offsets, biodiversity credits and habitat banks.  It was expected that secondary legislation would be introduced at the end of November 2023. 

The new legislation presented some obstacles in terms of Council’s use of S106 agreements and responsibilities to deliver agreed improvements.

Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions and comment.  The details of which and the responses given are as below.

·            A Member asked if the money to fund offset measures for the 30-year period were payable upfront and was advised that they were.

·            A question of whether the Council had powers to limit the parameters of ‘offsetting’ was asked and Members were advised that it was under investigation to ascertain whether it could be built in so benefits offset residents’ losses.  There was also a ‘built-in’ disincentive as distance was a factor in the value of offsetting outside the site of development.

There was a brief discussion relating to flood management and a pragmatic approach to tree planting to ensure the right species were planted and in a beneficial manner.

It appeared there could be a discrepancy with ecology studies and the accuracy of developer’s reports and how could the accuracy of these be assured.  The subject of habitat banks was also discussed which were not statutory so there was no market but were being developed for when legislation would come into effect.  Offsetting credits would be more expensive.

·            A Member asked if funding had been received in relation to the South Pennines Nature Recovery Project for habitat mitigation work and was advised that the money had been received but not spent.  Work was underway in collaboration with Yorkshire Water to allocate and spend the money.

·            A Member asked about habitat bank sites as Norcliffe Park was already identified and was advised that there were others including Low Moor Banks, Brackenhill Meadows, Pitibeck and Baildon Moor.

·            A Member asked if it was possible to restrict artificial grass to stop it from being used and was advised that vegetated gardens were included in metric scoring, but efforts were being made to ensure that this type of covering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

The report of the Shipley Area Co-ordinator (Document “M”) will be submitted to the Committee and summarises the applications received from eligible local organisations, across the Shipley Constituency, from the amalgamation of funding from the UK Share Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), West Yorkshire Mayor’s Cost of Living fund (CoLF) and Household Support Fund (HSF).

Recommended –

1.       That the Area Committee agree the proposals for the funding allocations as outlined at Appendix 1.

2.       That the Grants Advisory Group be thanked for their work with this funding.

(Damian Fisher – 01274 437146)

The report of the Shipley Area Co-ordinator (Document “M”) was presented to provide Members with details of the applications received from eligible local organisations across the Shipley constituency from the amalgamated funding that came from the United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Cost of Living Fund (CoLF) and the Household Support Fund (HSF).

The Area Co-ordinator gave a brief overview of the contents of the report that summarised the recommendations from the Grants Advisory Group (GAG) and thanked the Members of GAG and Officers for the work undertaken.  Members were advised that allocations were made from £2K to up a maximum of £10K with a total fund of £81K.  Of the total fund, £41,793 was still available to be allocated, subject to approval with previous applicants still eligible to apply for up to £10K.  This was an urgent process due to time limits and Members were advised that the funds were not for Council operations.

Members asked about monitoring of grants awarded and were advised that if information received was not satisfactory then no further funds were awarded.

As the closing date to apply was imminent, it was imperative that applications were received as soon as possible.

Resolved –

1.          That the proposals for the funding allocations outlined in Document “M”, Appendix 1 be agreed.

2.          That the Grants Advisory Group be thanked for their work with this funding.

To be actioned by: Shipley Area Co-ordinator

The report of the Area Co-ordinator (Document “N”) will be submitted to the Committee and presents a summary of the grant applications for climate friendly projects received from eligible local organisations, across the Shipley Constituency as part of the partnership between Bradford Council and the Mayor of West Yorkshire and makes recommendations from the Grants Advisory Group on allocation.

Recommended –

1.    That the Area Committee agree the proposals for the funding allocations as outlined at Appendix 1.

2.    That the Grants Advisory Group be thanked for their work with this funding.

(Damian Fisher – 01274 437146)

The report of the Shipley Area Co-ordinator (Document “N”) was presented to the Committee to provide Members with a breakdown of applications received from community groups in the Shipley area to support them to carry out climate-friendly projects as part of the drive to being a net zero carbon region.  The report included recommendations from GAG relating to allocation of funding.

The process to gain funding was in two stages and consisted of grants of between £5K and £50K to enable groups to achieve net zero who, otherwise struggled to do so.

The Shipley area had been allocated £73K and the report summarised the nature of suitable projects to support proposals to achieve improvements under 4 headings.

·       Energy – local clean and flexible energy solutions

·       Building – healthy, affordable and efficient community buildings

·       Transport – walking, cycling and public transport

·       Nature – green and climate ready nature and biodiversity solutions

Members did not have any additional questions or comments on the reports’ contents.

Resolved –

1.    That the proposals for the funding allocations outlined in Document “N”, Appendix 1 be agreed.

2.     That the Grants Advisory Group be thanked for their work with this funding.

To be actioned by: Shipley Area Co-ordinator