Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

Apologies were received and noted from Cllrs Coles, Watson and Taylor.  Cllr Waller substituted for Cllr Watson and Cllr Whitcroft substituted for Cllr Taylor.

At this point in the meeting, Members and co-opted members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. 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.

[Please see the attached sheet for further guidance for Members.]

Members were asked to declare at this point in the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registrable interests that they might have in the business on the agenda, if they had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.

None were declared

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2025.

Resolved: That the minutes be approved as a correct record for the meeting held on 10 November 2025.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Thursday 15 January 2026.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

It was reported that there were no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Members will consider the draft report and recommendations of the Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy Task and Finish Group.

Cllr Baxter, Chair of the Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) Task and Finish Group (TFG), thanked the TFG members, and the finance and democratic services officers involved, for their contributions to the task and then introduced the report.  She highlighted the importance of both understanding how council money was spent and effectively communicating messages relating to council finances to residents

During the discussion of the report, the Chair of Corporate Scrutiny asked members to consider each of the seven recommendations in turn.  Members praised the new approach taken in the format and presentation of the report, and commented on monitoring savings delivery, the proposed joint task and finish group with People scrutiny committee, the financial settlement figures, member training and the communications and engagement strategy.  An amendment to recommendation two was made (outlined below), and the recommendations were approved unanimously.

In drawing this item to a close, the Corporate Scrutiny Chair put on record his thanks to those involved with the task and finish group.

Resolved:

i.                That recommendation two be amended to read as follows:

That the re-established Task and Finish Group reviews the format of budget and budget monitoring (including how savings are being delivered) reports with a view to ensuring greater accessibility and a sufficient level of detail to understand the impact of decisions taken on the budget.

ii.               That the report and recommendations, subject to the amendment above, be approved.

iii.             That the report be presented to the Executive at their meeting, 3 March 2026.

iv.             The Chair of People Scrutiny be notified of the recommendation for a joint task and finish group, and that this be added to the People work plan.

v.              That the task and finish group be re-established. Cllrs Baxter and Ayre agreed to remain as members of the group and Labour and Liberal Democrats to each nominate one other Member.  The Chair of Corporate Scrutiny to contact the Conservative Group Leader for a nomination.

Reason:  To contribute to the development of a structured and consistent approach to budget scrutiny into the new municipal year and beyond.

To consider the Committee’s work plan and the Scrutiny Overview plan.

Members considered the draft work plan for the committee and the overview scrutiny work plan for the scrutiny committees.

The Chair noted that he was in discussions with officers with a view to receiving an update on the York Central project.

The Scrutiny Officer suggested that a proposal be brought to the next meeting in relation to tracking Scrutiny recommendations, which would address recommendation seven of the previous item.

The following briefing / possible TFG items, relating to Customer Services, were suggested:

·       Digital information provision

·       AI

·       User Journey via the CYC website

Resolved:            

i.                That the work plan be noted.

ii.               That a proposal report on tracking scrutiny recommendations be brought to the next committee meeting in March.

iii.             The procurement TFG be removed from the plan.

Reason:                To ensure an overview of the scrutiny work plan.