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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Shareholder Committee |
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Date |
2 February 2026 |
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Present |
Councillors Lomas (Chair) and Kilbane |
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In Attendence
Officers Present
External Visitors |
Councillor Ayre (Leader of the Lib Dem Group)
Helen Whiting – Chief Human Resources and Support Services Officer Patrick Looker – Assistant Director of Finance Dan Moynihan – Senior Lawyer (Contracts and Commercial) and Deputy Monitoring Officer Andrew Laslett – Head of Strategic Community Services
Sarah Loftus – Managing Director (Make It York Ltd) Blessing James – Head of Finance (Make It York Ltd) Sandy Boyle – Managing Director (Yorwaste Ltd) Karen Bull – Managing Director (City of York Trading Ltd and Work with York Limited) Simon Hill – Managing Director (YPO Ltd) Max Thomas – Chief Executive (Veritau Ltd)
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21. Apologies for Absence (4:36pm)
No apologies for absence were received.
22. Declarations of Interest (4:36pm)
Members were asked to declare at this point in the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registerable interests they might have in respect of business on the agenda, if they had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. None were declared.
23. Minutes (4:36pm)
Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting held on Monday, 13 October 2025 were approved and then signed by the Chair as a correct record.
24. Exclusion of Press and Public (4:37pm)
Resolved: That the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 7, Annex D; Agenda Item 9, Appendix 1 and Agenda Item 11, Appendices 1 and 2, on the grounds that they contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
This information is classed as exempt under Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.
25. Public Participation (4:38pm)
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
26. Yorwaste Limited Update (4:38pm)
The Managing Director of Yorwaste Ltd provided the committee with information on the company’s latest financial and non-financial performance for the 2025/26 financial year. The report also considered ongoing issues facing the company as part of setting a budget for 2026/27.
It was noted that:
· 559 days for no Lost Time Reports (LTR) and 1000 days Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) and the incidents which ended this were minor. Disappointing that this had ended but encouraging to see they were being properly recorded.
· Yorwaste’s financials were due to come out on budget at £700k or maybe slightly higher due to accounting adjustments.
· Members asked if there were active Trade Union safety representatives on-site. The Managing Director said they did not exclude TU reps and they had been used in the past. Across the sites there were supervisors that were health and safety trained, there was a health and safety manager and a health and safety advisor. Members suggested that having a fully trained TU representative made a big difference. The managing director assured members that both of their reps were fully trained, although members noted that TU ones were independent.
· The business had lost drivers, partly due to time of year. Now they were making up for lost time.
· Fires in Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCVs) and compactors had occurred due to Lithium-Ion batteries. Wires and cables needed to be isolated, and the fire service had needed to out. The risk was minimised in compactors as the fire service could just spray water in. There had also been several instances of compost fires.
· Members asked why compost fires may have happened in December. The Managing Director suggested that compost kills pathogens and the external temperature was not particularly relevant.
· RCV cabs were insulated to keep waste teams safe; these incidents had happened in North Yorkshire rather than York. but picking up commercial waste and the batteries in there can increase chances of these incidents.
· The business had swallowed so many costs, and the living wage had gone up. There were expenses linked to Household Waste Recycling Centres such as more concrete needed to store compost, fridges needing protection as rainwater coming down them is technically contaminated.
Resolved: To note the report from Yorwaste Ltd attached at annex 1 to this report.
Reason: To ensure the Council is updated on the financial performance of Yorwaste Ltd
27. City of York Trading Limited Update (4:51pm)
The Managing Director of City of York Trading Ltd (CYT) provided the committee with an update on the performance of the company.
It was noted that:
· The statutory accounts for last year indicated an overall small loss of £1.3 million. However, the month after this, CYT Ltd shareholder funds were reduced due to a loan to WorkWithYork Ltd which reduced funds.
· CYT Ltd trading as WorkWithSchools had undergone budgetary pressures as a result of schools budgetary pressures.
· There had been changes in front line teams across the business’ various brands, but they were now doubling down on unique selling points within the various teams, capitalising on long-standing relationships with local schools, running internal payroll etc.
· Reference was made to a National Education Union report with eyewatering turnover for competing national agencies which are sometimes used in academised schools in York where the decisions are made outside of York.
· CYT Ltd trading as WorkWithYorkshire continued and was providing staff to a large historic site.
· With regard to shareholder value, the company remained committed to employing local people at the living wage foundation rate, and to providing training and workforce opportunities. It rented a council-owned building and used council-owned supply of IT and business services. Castlegate office acted as a donation point for York Food Bank.
· Regarding audit, the business was set to undergo an annual audit from APSCO in March and had recently submitted a tender for the new Crown Commercial Framework, due to be announced in May.
[Between 4:58 pm and 5:16 pm the press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of Annex D to the report].
Resolved:
i. To note the statutory accounts for City of York Trading Ltd for the financial year 2024/25 attached at Annex A to this report.
Reason: To ensure the Council is updated on the financial status of City of York Trading Ltd.
ii. Note the Brand Information Update for City of York Trading Ltd February 2026 attached at Annex B to this report, the Shareholder Value Update for City of York Trading Ltd February 2026 attached at Annex C to this report, and the the confidential Performance Update and Finance Update for City of York Trading Ltd February 2026 attached at Annex D to this report.
Reason: To ensure the Council is updated on the performance of City of York Trading Ltd.
28. Work With York Update (5:17pm)
The Managing Director of Work with York Limited provided the committee with an update on the performance of the company. It was noted that:
· Work With York Ltd was defined as the company providing mostly temporary and interim staff to City of York Council, established in April 2025, as a result of Teckal requirements.
· The business was set up under agreement that 80% of staff provided should be to the council. In order to establish Teckal exemption compliance, CYT Ltd made a loan to Work with York Ltd to enable initial setup and continuing payroll costs.
· The business had been much busier in the past year, with staff covering manual work, social care, seasonal work for green bin customer support and there was a small, efficient team providing staffing.
· They had conversations regarding permanent recruitment for the council where it had struggled to recruit directly. In some cases WorkWithYork had successfully filled these posts.
· They had been in touch with accreditation body APSCO for legal and advice sessions. WorkWithYork ahead of budget mainly due to council demand being ahead of expectation.
· Members noted that the loan from CYT was accruing interest, asking when this loan would be repaid. The Managing Director answered that it was possible some repayment would be made at end of the current financial year.
· She further added that the business paid salaries out weekly and WorkWithYork Ltd invoiced the council monthly before waiting for payment; consequently they were currently bridging this cashflow, paying staff before the business got paid. If the council were able to reduce this demand, WorkWithYork Ltd would be able to make greater progress with its loan repayment.
· Members suggested the Finance Team could look at this, and the Assistant Director of Finance, CYC agreed to look at the cashflow here and explore a solution, if it was in the interest of both the business and the council.
Resolved: To note the Performance Update from Work with York Ltd attached at Annex A to this report.
Reason: To ensure the Council is updated on the performance of and plans for Work with York Ltd.
29. Make It York Update (5:25pm)
The Managing Director and the Head of Finance, Make It York (MIY) Ltd provided the committee with an update on the company’s financial and non-financial performance since the last report.
It was noted that:
· It had been another solid year at MIY, with investment into the Shambles Market and international marketing.
· The business was delivering against all key performance indicators; reporting to council was more transparent and robust, with documentation to evidence performance outputs and outcomes against strategic linkages in the SLA. There was a strong risk register in place against targets set by the council.
· The Christmas Market in 2025 had gone well and the new layout had been been positively received. There had been fewer complaints about this. Lots of conversations had been undertaken with buskers to make sure crowds were not too bad in potential bottenecks.
· The Star in York campaign had been held up as good DMO practice by Visit Britain.
· The Residents Festival had been a massive success, with 98,000 visits to the website against a population of 210,000.
· They had worked with the council on the marketing strategy for the Shambles Market, which was performing really well, and were about to produce the action plan for the board to increase investment to the Shambles Market.
· They were planning new trail for 2026, working closely with the Minster and Mystery Plays, which was not reliant on sponsorship. They understood that residents appreciated the trails and were therefore investing in these.
· The business was financially sound, with the right procedures in place and they were looking forward to planning for next year’s events.
· Members noted that they were now able to fulfil previous council requests to do more for residents, acknowledging that what was good for residents was also good for tourists.
· Members asked about 3% of the Christmas market spend being on transport and the Managing Director clarified that this figure represented overall visitors to York. This Christmas Market survey was undertaken online, and she would prefer face to face in future – since online tends to have a bias toward visitors.
· The Managing Director acknowledged Aesthetica and their UNESCO. Expo, short film festival which attracted people from all over the globe.
[Between 5.36pm and 5.47pm the press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of Appendix 1 to the report].
Resolved:
i. To note the MIY Shareholder Report at Annex A and the supporting documents including Appendix 1 to 5 supplied by MIY.
ii. To approve the payment of the £50,000 to the Council referred to under Annex A.
Reason: To ensure the Council is updated on the financial and non-financial performance of Make It York, its business plan and the SLA performance.
30. YPO Update Report (5:48pm)
The Managing Director, YPO Ltd provided the committee with an update on the performance of the company.
It was noted:
· That YPO Ltd has three main elements; the education resources trading business; the public sector contracting framework business and the limited company that sells to private organisations and individuals.
· That the business operated on a calendar financial year, so for the purposes of this meeting it was good timing to be looking at an overview of the year just completed.
· Education spending was down; the business had never needed to discount prices so much in past 15 years, but they had managed to retain their market share.
· Public sector contracting had involved expanding portfolio of framework contracts and acknowledging the tough market conditions to get as close as possible to expectation.
· The business was holding its own while Education spending is down despite sales being slightly down against budget and against the previous year.
· Budget own brand versions of a lot of products were performing very strongly, and this was a win caused by adversity. Money here recycled back into public purse.
· Public Sector Contracting performing very well - £8.5m rebate figure forecast this year, the highest the business had ever achieved.
· Had deployed a team of Business Engagement Managers. To sell framework contracting more than previously with a focus on the 13 founder members.
· Cost Control – savings of £2m against forecast budget. Peak period is 6 weeks prior to summer holidays so the business is able to defer planned expenditure to second half of the year.
· The report stated YPO Ltd would achieve a profit figure of £12m, in fact this had gone up a little with year end audit. Subject to financial audit, the figures would be presented to YPO audit committee in June.
· Market had closed during covid but overheads still existed, the business had fought back since then.
· Lots of work on IT, rewriting legacy systems in a secure way. ISO2031 accredited.
· Stated plans for 2026: an upgrade to financial, warehouse and CRM systems; lease due to expire on a warehouse, meaning YPO will either purchase the site or spread.
· Looking at local spends they recruited new team and carried out bespoke procurement packages with certain authorities. Training and New Procurement Act 2023 to increase familiarity for partners. All this relates to the public body.
· £84k+ plus loyalty vouchers to schools in York, creating £1.23m of social impact in York.
· Members asked about YPO’s work alongside the Mayoral Combined Authorities in member areas. The Managing Director advised that he had spoken with York and North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authorities.
Resolved: To note the content of the report from YPO Ltd.
Reason: To ensure the Council is updated on the performance of YPO Ltd, of which York is one of thirteen founder members of the governing Joint Committee.
31. Veritau Limited Business Update (6:02pm)
Members considered an update from the Chief Executive of Veritau on performance and trading activities of Veritau Limited and Veritau Public Sector Limited (VPS) since the last meeting of the committee.
It was noted that:
· Middlesborough council had now joined Veritau Public Sector. Existing member councils were all now under Veritau Public Sector.
· Veritau Public Sector (jointly controlled by member councils) and Veritau Ltd (commercial company) were now both owned by York and North Yorkshire.
· There were two dormant subsidiary companies: Veritau North Yorkshire Ltd was in the final processes of being wound up will a final dividend being paid, and Veritau Tees Valley would continue to run for a few more months, before it too was wound up.
· Veritau Ltd had made steady growth since October; mainly through schools, but it had also received contracts from councils and charities had signed up for DPO services.
· The financial position forecast small profits for both businesses. A business plan had been prepared for both companies which anticipated a profit for the next year. This also summarised key business objectives and priorities.
· In response to member query, he clarified that forecast profits were enough to keep the business in good health, although Veritau Public Sector was being run as a not for profit, so it would be brought in as close as possible to cost.
· There was nothing to discuss from the confidential annexes.
Resolved: To note the performance of both Veritau Limited and Veritau Public Sector Limited since the last business update report.
Reason: To enable members to assess the performance of Veritau against the 2025/26 business plan.
32. Work Plan (6:08pm)
Members considered the committee’s work plan for the upcoming municipal year.
Resolved: That the committee’s draft work plan for 2026/27 be noted.
Reason: To ensure the committee received regular reports in accordance with the functions of an effective Shareholder Committee.
Cllr K Lomas, Chair
[The meeting started at 4.36 pm and finished at 6.09 pm].