Agenda and draft minutes

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

No declarations of interest or dispensations were reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2024 and the minutes of the Extraordinary meetings held on 29 January 2024 and 5 February 2024 respectively.

Resolved that the minutes of the meetings held on 22 January 2024, 29 January 2024 and the 5 February 2024 be approved and signed by the Chair.

To receive a verbal report on the latest activities of the Young

Mayor and Young Cabinet.

The Young Mayor reported on the following activities in which he and Young Cabinet Members and/or Youth Councillors had been involved:

·        The Young Mayor attended the Holocaust Memorial Event, he found the event very moving and contributions of so many young people was outstanding

·        A Memorial Tree has been planted to commemorate the life of youth councillor Daniel Taylor, the rowan tree, planted at the front of Quadrant East, close to a newly installed colleague memorial area which will recognise council colleagues who have passed away.  The Young Mayor thanked all of the staff teams who have been involved

·        The Young Mayor advised that he had continued to be impressed by the amount of work being carried out by the council in relation to the goal of North Tyneside Council becoming Carbon Net Zero by 2030.  Attendance at the board meetings has shown the level of contributions made by all council departments

·        The Young Mayor advised that this was his last meeting in his current role as Young Mayor, he also advised that he had been asked by his MYP Sharon to thank all for the support and kindness shown to her this year.  She is very proud to have served this council and its young people both locally and nationally in the Commons and at various conferences around the country.  She is exceptionally proud of her financial education lesson plans and through the ready for life game, teaching young people about how to live as a financially independent person

·        To end the update, the Young Mayor thanked the Cabinet, the Youth Councillors, the officers sat in the gallery and everyone at NTC and partner organisations for the support all of given him, he thanked everyone for supporting his pledges, words cannot describe how grateful I am for all of your help, support and kind words over the course of this year. It is always difficult to let go, especially when you are doing a job that you love, but I know that I can leave with my head held high because together we have delivered on: 

o   Hundreds of free, nutritious and low-cost meals for young people and their families as well as free cookery sessions in some of our schools and community centres to support people during the cost-of-living crisis and provide young people with skills for life

o   Creating the North East Youth Transport Forum to give young people a real say in transport matters across the LA7, not just in North Tyneside

o   Providing a support grant and resources to create small gardens & allotments in some schools across our borough

o   £3000 for better primary school playgrounds through the Children’s Council Playground Project

o   Over £4000 for activities in communities and funding new equipment for some high school students   

o   Supported the design and promotion of over 20 vape disposal bins and are currently researching how we can support young people to quit vaping

o   Creating the Budget Bites: Canny Meals for Under a Fiver with  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB102/23

This is an annual report submitted to Cabinet to meet a statutory requirement to determine school admission arrangements before publication. This report is to approve the proposed admission arrangements for all Community Schools in North Tyneside for the 2025/2026 academic year including the co-ordinated admissions schemes.

Cabinet approval was sought to determine the proposed admission arrangements for the 2025/2026 academic year in relation to Community Schools.   This is an annual report submitted to Cabinet.  

Cabinet were advised that it is a statutory requirement to consult on and determine school admission arrangements before publishing.   The Local Authority is required to consult on the admission arrangements for those schools for which it is the Admissions Authority by 4 January 2024 if there are any changes to the previously agreed arrangements.  

Cabinet were advised that there were no changes proposed to the Admission Arrangements which includes the oversubscription criteria for allocating places at oversubscribed schools.  It is acknowledged that admissions to schools are always an important and potentially stressful time for families.  All Admission Authorities are required to determine their arrangements for the new Academic Year by 28 February 2024. 

Cabinet are therefore requested to approve the recommendations as set out in the report.

Cabinet considered the following decision options:

Option 1: To approve the recommendations set out in section 1.2 of the report.

Option 2: Not to approve the recommendations set out in section 1.2 of the report and request Officers undertake further work to change proposed admissions arrangements.

RESOLVED that Cabinet 1) approve the 2025/26 proposed admission arrangements and limits for Community Schools, as outlined in Appendices 1 to 5 of the report, subject to the appropriate publication of statutory notices, 2) authorise the Director of Children’s Services, to proceed in administering the admission arrangements for the 2025/26 academic year, subject to the publication of Statutory Notices and compliance with obligations required by the Secretary of State in accordance with the timescales set, and 3) authorise the Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Inclusion, Employment and Skills and the Cabinet Member for Supporting and Protecting Children to formally seek approval, as necessary, from the Schols Adjudicator in accordance with the School Admissions Code 2021, for any necessary variations to the determined arrangements for the 2025/26 academic year should these arise.

(Reason for decision: There are no changes to the admission arrangements.  The recommendations contained in this report are made to secure compliance with statutory requirements as outlined in the report.  It the recommended option is not approved, the Authority may not be in compliance with statutory requirements as outlined in the report).

Our ‘Ambition for Education’ makes clear, North Tyneside continues to have an education system to be proud of; one that remains a strong performer regionally and nationally. This reflects the hard work of education leaders and their teams, governing bodies, Elected Members, Authority staff and the fantastic children and young people.

The purpose of this report is to outline the work that has been done to consider post-16 education provision in the North Shields area of the Borough and develop the Mayor and Cabinet’s policy position.

The Mayor and Cabinet received a report to request endorsement of a policy position on the development of sixth form provision for young people from North Shields.

As the Mayor and Cabinet know the longstanding arrangements for sixth form provision in North Shields were centralised at, what was Tynemouth Sixth Form College and latterly Queen Alexandra College as part of TyneCoast Group.

In the summer of 2020 TyneCoast took the decision to move out of the Queen Alexandra site and subsequently have decided to stop providing sixth form education once the current year 13 compete their studies in July.

This brought to a point an issue that has been discussed for some time; what is the right way to provide sixth form education for young people from North Shields.  Following a discussion with Cabinet colleagues I asked the officer team to work with me and some of my colleagues to develop a policy position for the Mayor and Cabinet.

With the help of Cabinet colleagues, Cllr Hannah Jonson and Cllr Carl Johnson and North Shields elected members Cllr Rebecca O’Keefe, Cllr Bruce Pickard and Cllr Matt Wilson we spent 6 months last year looking at the matter.  We carefully considered population and demand.  We looked at the national guidance.  And we looked at a range of possible options.

We considered three in some detail; looking at what we wanted to achieve for our young people and what could be done to deliver a practical outcome.  This report summarises those discussions and explains our settled view was to work with John Spence Community High School and Pele Trust to work up a proposal to add sixth form provision to the school.

I am pleased to say the Head Teacher and the Chief Executive of both the trust and the school are very enthusiastic about working with us.  In addition,  in the short term, we also agreed to look at the current barriers to attending sixth form provision given that young people from North Shields must travel further than other young people in the Borough.

Can I thank Cllrs Johnson, Johnson, O’Keefe, Pickard and Wilson as well as the officer team who supported our work.

And can I ask Cabinet to agree the recommendations at paragraph 1.2.

Cabinet considered the following decision options:

Option 1: Accept the recommendations outlined in section 1.2 of the report.

Option 2: Not to accept the recommendations outlined in section 1.2 of the report.

RESOLVED that 1) the work to support the policy consideration by the Cabinet Member for Education, Inclusion, Employment and Skills to look at options for post-16 education provision in North Shields be noted; 2) further work be authorised to be undertaken to progress the preferred option for the development of a school-led sixth form (post-16 provision) based at John Spence Community High School; 3) that the Director of Children Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Inclusion, Employment and Skills, be authorised to take all necessary steps to progress the work,  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB104/23

The Our North Tyneside Plan was approved at full Council on 23 September 2021 and included a target of delivering 5,000 affordable homes and a commitment to reduce the number of derelict properties in the borough.

To meet this ambitious target, Cabinet approved a two-phased delivery approach to the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) on 21 February 2022.

This report provides Cabinet with a progress update on the delivery of Phase One of the AHP and work planned for the year 2024-25.  It also provides information on the good progress that has been made towards delivering Phase Two of the AHP and presents a revised programme that includes several new initiatives that will contribute to the delivery of 5,000 affordable homes.

Cabinet received a report to provide an update on the delivery of Phase One of the Affordable Homes Programme and the work planned for the year 2024-2025.  Councillor Harrison thanked Cabinet for allowing him the opportunity to present the report.

Cabinet were advised that delivering affordable homes and reducing derelict properties are key priorities within the Our North Tyneside Plan. The Affordable Homes Programme was originally approved by Cabinet on the 14 May 2013 to increase the pace and scale of affordable homes delivery in the borough.  Councillor Harrison was pleased to report, that by the end of 2023-24, our programme will have delivered nearly 2,300 much needed affordable homes. This includes delivering over 600 council homes and bringing back 50, long-term empty and derelict properties back into use as affordable homes.

Councillor Harrison expressed how proud he was of our performance to date, and I am pleased to inform Cabinet that since our commitment back in 2013, the delivery of affordable homes in the last ten years has increased by 182% when compared to the ten-years, preceding the launch of our Programme.  This report provides Cabinet with a progress update on the delivery of Phase One of the Affordable Homes Programme and highlights the work planned for the next 12 months.

Furthermore, the report provides details of our progress to identify a further 1,000 homes in Phase Two the programme and seeks Cabinet approval for the revised 10-year Housing Revenue Account Affordable Homes Delivery Programme that will see the Council invest circa £44m to deliver 300 new Council homes by 2033 including delivering homes on several brownfield regeneration sites that the Council has recently acquired.   We have already made good progress in delivering Phase 2 and through our new initiatives, are forecasting to increase our delivery of homes by 227, bringing the total projected target up to 4,327 by 2032.

Our new initiatives include:

·              An innovative housing-led regeneration project in Wallsend that targets empty and derelict properties and supports the delivery of the Ambition for Wallsend

·              A new, private rented partnership approach to increase the provision of temporary accommodation

·              Identifying opportunities to work with Adult and Children’s services to deliver specialist housing and tackle rising care costs.

Cabinet considered the following decision options:

Option 1:  (a) to receive and note the update on the delivery of Phase One of the Affordable Homes Programme detailed in 1.2(1) of the report and; (b) Agree the recommendations detailed in paragraph 1.2(2) and (3) of the report.

Option 2: (c) to received and note the update on the delivery of Phase one of the Affordable Homes Programme detailed in 1.2(1) of the report; and (d) Reject the recommendations detailed in paragraph 1.2(2) of the report.

Resolved: 1) to note the progress to date to deliver 5,000 affordable homes through the affordable homes programme and programmed work for 2024/25; 2) that the revised 10-year Affordable Homes Delivery Plan including bringing forward next sites as outlined in section 1.5.5 of the report be approved;  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB105/23

Following the Motion agreed by full Council on 19 January 2023 relating to electric vehicle (EV) charging, which is appended to this report, a cross-party working group was established to consider matters raised in the Motion.

Full Council on 23 November 2023 noted the findings of the working group and agreed for these to be submitted to Cabinet for its consideration.

This report invites Cabinet to consider the findings of the working group and to approve a number of recommended actions which relate to the recommendations made by the working group.

Cabinet were reminded that in January last year, full Council approved a Motion on electric vehicle charging, which is attached as an appendix to the report. A cross-party working group was established to consider matters raised in the Motion.

In November, full Council noted the findings of the working group and agreed for these to be submitted to Cabinet for its consideration. These are set out in section 1.5 of the report.

In the course of its work, the working group looked holistically at a range of available options in relation to charging for electric vehicles, or “EVs”. It noted the policy context at regional level as set out in the North East Transport Plan, and the proposed major regional bid which has now been submitted to the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or “LEVI” fund, for the provision of further publicly available EV chargepoints.

The group considered the policy context at local level. This includes the North Tyneside Transport Strategy and the North Tyneside Zero Emission Vehicles Strategy (the “ZEV Strategy”), which acknowledges that the Authority is not a mainstream fuel provider to the public or businesses. While the Authority is of course part of the solution, it is expected that the commercial market will provide the substantial majority of payable EV charging.

The group found it positive to hear that a variety of EV charging technologies are on the market, with different solutions better suited to different situations. It noted that other local authorities have introduced such solutions using licence or permit arrangements, and was interested to review a type of gully system currently being tested by Durham County Council on a pilot basis.

The Authority has worked constructively with partners on opportunities to improve EV charging provision in the borough. For example,  publicly available EV charging is being introduced  at Tynemouth Pool car park supported by external funding.

To respond appropriately to the working group’s recommendations, and taking account of the wider policy context, a number of recommended actions are now set out for Cabinet’s consideration at Appendix 2.

These relate to a range of relevant aspects of electric vehicle charging, including policy and strategy; the provision of information; and the development of options for further consideration. They include arrangements for appropriate delivery targets to be developed and monitored through the Carbon Net Zero Board.

One of the recommended actions is to develop an updated version of the ZEV Strategy – for example, to provide further guidance around on-street EV charging provision - and Cabinet is invited to authorise the appropriate Directors to update the strategy accordingly.

Cabinet is also invited to authorise the appropriate Directors, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency and myself, to arrange for the ZEV Strategy to be updated on an ongoing basis. As the market for zero-emission vehicles continues to develop rapidly, this will help to ensure that our strategy continues to be relevant to the aspirations of our residents and businesses.

I would therefore like to invite  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB106/23

This is to give further notice in accordance with paragraphs 5(4) and 5(5) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 of the intention to consider item 10 below in private.

Cabinet is requested to consider passing the following resolution:

Resolved that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act

1972 (as amended) and having applied a public interest test as

defined in Part 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, the press and public be

excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the

grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Resolved that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and having applied a public interest test as defined in Part 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Reasons for taking the item in private: The report in item (10) below contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding the information).

This report seeks approval from Cabinet for the proposed extension of the terms of a ground lease covering Cobalt Business Park North.

This report asks Cabinet to consider agreeing to the proposed extension of the term of ground lease.  This covers the site of Cobalt Business Park North.

RESOLVED: 1) that the extension of an underlease at Cobalt Business Park be authorised; 2) that the transfer of land back to the authority be agreed; 3) that the Director of Resources be authorised, in consultation with the Head of Law, to agreed the legal terms and any reasonable revisions to the terms of the transactions outlined in recommendations (1) and (2) including any changes or dealings needed to the Headlease or freehold title to allow the Underlease extension referred to in recommendation (1) above; 4) that the Head of Law be authorised to negotiate and complete all legal formalities necessary to give effect to the terms of the transactions outlined in recommendations (1) to (3) in accordance with the relevant legal advice and requirements and the Authority’s Constitution and Financial Regulations; and 5) that the Director of Resources be authorised in consultation with the Head of Law to deal with all ancillary matters that may arise that enable the preceding recommendations to be implemented.

(Reason for Decision:  the recommendation option was considered to be the best way to secure continued Investment at the Park and to assist in bringing forward further development opportunities.)

Monday 18 March 2024 at 6.00pm.

The next meeting will take place on Monday18 March 2024 at 6.00pm.