Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To confirm arrangements for chairing the meeting 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.

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.

To receive and note apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.sa

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 attached sheet for further guidance for Members]

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.

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 Friday, 29 May 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 under the Council’s public participation protocol.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Combined Executive Member Decision Sessions held on 14 April and 5 May 2026.

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.

The report details the latest air quality monitoring results for York and progress on achieving measures in City of York Council’s current Air Quality Action Plan to deliver further improvements in air quality.

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.

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.

This report proposes options available to address the waiting list for Care Act assessments ensuring the service is assessing individuals in a timely manner and taking every opportunity to prevent, reduce and delay the need for adult social care.

Resolved: That the Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care:

·       Agreed agree to procure an external agency to provide Care Act assessments, Reviews, Carers assessments and Occupational Therapy assessments.

Reason: To enable Adult Social Care to meet its statutory duties under the Care Act 2014.

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.