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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Decision Session - Combined Executive Member Decision Session |
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Date |
2 June 2026 |
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Present |
Councillors Kent (Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency) and Steels-Walshaw (Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care) |
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Apologies
Officers in attendance |
None
Matthew Boxall – Head of Public Protection Mike Southcombe - Environmental Protection Manager Andrew Gillah - Principal Air Quality Officer Ian Hoult - Head of Environmental Services Sara Storey - Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration Anne Howgate - Assistant Director of Access, Prevention and Improvement |
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1. Appointing a Chair (10:00am)
Resolved: That the arrangements for chairing the meeting be confirmed as follows:
Councillor Kent, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency – Agenda items 1-5, and agenda item 6, Air Quality Annual Status Report 2026.
Councillor Steels-Walshaw, Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Social Care – Agenda item 7, Occupational Therapy and Social Work contract – waiting lists ASC, and item 8, Urgent Business.
2. Apologies for Absence (10:01am)
No apologies for absence were received.
3. Declarations of Interest (10:01am)
The Executive Members were invited to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests, or any disclosable pecuniary interests that they might have in respect of business on the agenda. None were declared.
4. Public Participation (10:01am)
It was reported that there were no registrations to speak under the Council’s public participation protocol.
5. Minutes (10:01am)
Resolved: That the minutes of the Combined Executive Member Decision Sessions held on 14 April and 5 May 2026 be approved and signed as a correct record.
6. Air Quality Annual Status Report 2026 (10:02am)
The Environmental Protection Manager presented the report and noted that the lower annual mean concentrations of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) monitored in York in 2024 had been sustained into 2025. Further improvements had been seen in some areas in 2025, particularly with regards to the maximum concentrations of NO2 recorded in key locations around the inner ring road.
Following the adoption of an Air Quality Action Plan in 2024 many improvements had been seen through 2025, such as improved air quality on Gillygate following electrification of buses and the gating trial; 2025 being the second year since the pandemic that all City of York Council (CYC) monitored sites had achieved the health-based air quality objectives; the phased EV (Electric Vehicle) fleet replacement programme for council vehicles under 3.5 tonnes; and funding had been awarded through York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Carbon Negative Challenge Fund for indoor air quality monitoring.
In response to questions from the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency, the Environmental Protection Manager confirmed that it was important to wait for national results on air quality from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) because some particulates could travel long distances and therefore effect York’s levels; most came from local sources but many particulates came from further afield.
The Executive Member commended the efforts made already throughout the Air Quality Action Plan and it was:
Resolved: That the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Emergency:
· Noted the contents of the report (including the trends in air pollution in recent years and progress made with delivery of measures in CYC’s Fourth Air Quality Action Plan).
· Approved the Annual Status Report and its submission to DEFRA in line with statutory requirements.
Reason: To ensure that the Executive Member is aware of current air quality position in the city and progress made with air quality improvement measures.
7. Occupational Therapy and Social Work contract – waiting lists ASC (10:12am)
The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration presented the report.
The report proposed options available to address the waiting list ensuring that individuals were assessed in a timely manner and that every opportunity was taken to prevent, reduce, and delay the need for adult social care; it was highlighted how people’s needs may also increase as they waited for these assessments which emphasised the need to reduce waiting lists.
The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration reported how by commissioning an external agency to provide Care Act assessments, Reviews, Carers assessments, and Occupational Therapy assessments through a strength-based method the level of support and need will be reduced.
In response to questions from the Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration confirmed:
· Key clear expectations for progress would be considered when reviewing the contract additional scrutiny was provided for the first 30 cases for reassurance.
· It would be a priority to ensure individuals were being helped to be as independent as possible within their care.
· Clear clauses would be built into the contract to allow for the contract to be suspended if quality of work was not where it was needed to be.
· Heads of Service would detail where they were with their teams to see where progress is required on reducing waiting lists.
· There was an Improvement Advisor appointed by Department of Social Care and was monitoring CYC with reports being taken to the Improvement Board
· Contact points were being redesigned to include qualified social workers and Occupational Therapists within teams to enable qualified help at first point of call.
· Early interventions had made improvements and it was likely that in the longer term, the transformation work planned for the service would reduce referral rates in some key areas; in the longer term plans were in place to have more Occupational Therapists and assisted technology technicians, and there was a desire to fill existing vacancies with full time staff to reduce reliance on agency staff who would be beneficial in the short term
· There was a priority to bring about systemic change rather than focussing on bringing down the waiting list once to then be brought back up again without real changes being made.
Resolved: That the Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care:
· Approved the procurement of a new contract for assessments, reviews and carers assessments up to a maximum value of £400,000 funded from Adult Social Care budget growth as allocated at Budget Council on 12 February 2026.
· Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration (and their delegated officers) in consultation with Chief Finance Officer (and their delegated officers in Commercial Procurement) to award a contract via a process and evaluation criteria in compliance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.
· Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration (and their delegated officers), in consultation with the Director of Governance (and their delegated officers in Legal Services), to determine the provisions of the new contract, and the provisions of any subsequent modifications.
· Delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Integration (and their delegated officers), in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer (and their delegated officers in Commercial Procurement) and the Director of Governance (and their delegated officers in Legal Services), to award and conclude the new contract for the Sensory Support Service following an open, fair, and transparent competitive process and evaluation criteria in compliance with the Council’s CPRs and (where applicable) the Procurement Regs.
Reason: To ensure compliance with CYC’s Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) and because the provision of the contract ensures the Council can meet statutory duties under the Care Act 2014 to carry out assessments and reviews.
Councillors Kent and Steels-Walshaw, Chair
[The meeting started at 10.00 am and finished at 10.30 am].