Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Nicholls and Taylor.

The Vice-Chair, on behalf of the Committee Chair, thanked members and officers for their roles on the committee over the past year.

At this point in the meeting, 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]

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

Councillor Knight declared an interest in relation to item 5, Clear, Hold, Build Report, in that she was a member of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 01 April 2025.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 1 April 2025 be approved and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

·       That Minute No.56, paragraph two, be amended to read:

“Councillor Cuthbertson declared an interest in relation to item 5 of the agenda, York Museums Trust Report, in that he was a former trustee of York Museums Trust (YMT).

Councillor Crawshaw declared that in relation to item 5, York Museums Trust Report, he was a current trustee of YMT, and that having taken advice from the monitoring officer he would not participate within consideration of this item. In relation to item 6 of the agenda, REACH Report, Councillor Crawshaw declared, for transparency, that his mother was a member of the steering group of an organisation that had done some work within the REACH Partnership.

Councillors Crawshaw and Knight each declared an interest in relation to item 7 of the agenda, York Theatre Royal Report, in that they were observers to the board of York Theatre Royal and agreement had been sought with the monitoring officer that this would not preclude them from taking part in discussions of this item.

Councillor Cuthbertson declared an interest in relation to item 7 of the agenda, York Theatre Royal Report, in that he was a supporter of York Theatre Royal.”

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 Tuesday, 29 April 2025..

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.

During coronavirus, we made some changes to how we ran council meetings, including facilitating remote participation by public speakers. See our updates (www.york.gov.uk/COVIDDemocracy) for more information on meetings and decisions.

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

This report provides an update on the delivery of the Clear Hold Build initiative in the Clifton area of York, following its launch in March 2024,

The Assistant Director, Customer and Communities, the Head of Communities, and the North Yorkshire Police Sergeant for York North presented the report, and they noted that the concept of Clear, Hold, Build was to connect the police, local authorities, and the community to create community resilience to, and prevent against, crime in the area, and through this concept there were desires for it to be incorporated within the Neighbourhood Model.

The North Yorkshire Police Sergeant for York North reported that the Clear, Hold, Build scheme in York was currently ongoing in Clifton, and that all achievements under this scheme had been made without additional funding or resources.

The North Yorkshire Police Sergeant for York North discussed the three aspects of the scheme: Clear, Hold, and Build, and reported that following positive action from work in Clifton a big increase in trust in the police had been seen, as it was especially low in Clifton previously. As a result of this, police intelligence and communication in Clifton had improved, and the amount of cuckooing (a tactic used by criminals to take over the homes of vulnerable individuals) in the area had been reduced.

In response to questions from members, the Assistant Director, Customer and Communities, the Head of Communities, and the North Yorkshire Police Sergeant for York North confirmed that:

·       Improved work and relations between the police, local authorities, and the community was essential to deal with serious organised crime, and to minimise the issue of displacement.

·       Instead of receiving increased funding, there has been an increased focus on improving ways of working and communication between teams and organisations. Learnings from this improved collaboration can be taken to a wider scale following the pilot in Clifton. Police community support officers (PCSOs) currently working in Clifton were already working in Clifton before the introduction of the pilot scheme, and services elsewhere had not been diminished in any way because of this; PCSOs working on Clear, Hold, Build still investigate crimes outside of the Clear, Hold, Build remit.

·       There was an evidenced link between anti-social behaviour and organised crime and North Yorkshire Police always encouraged people to report abnormal or suspicious behaviour. There was a Clear, Hold, Build Strand addressing anti-social behaviour and organised crime together, and there was a Young Person’s Strand addressing the connection between young people and anti-social behaviour.

The Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Communities confirmed that he would share with members information regarding additional police officers to be based in urban areas of York, following the meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel on 1 May 2025.

Resolved:

That members noted the information related to the delivery of the Clear Hold Build project in Clifton.

Reason:

So that members are updated on the progress of Clear Hold Build.

Members are asked to consider the Committee’s work plan for the upcoming municipal year.

Members discussed the work plan for the Committee, and it was proposed by Councillor Crawshaw, and seconded by Councillor Nelson, and resolved that:

·       The Committee would recommend to the Corporate Services, Climate Change and Scrutiny Management Committee (CSCCSMC) that it should encourage the Corporate Parenting Board Annual Report to be received by Full Council, as also stipulated within the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Corporate Parenting Board.

Reason: To ensure that the Corporate Parenting Board Annual Report is received by the relevant committees.

It was also resolved that:

·       The Committee would ensure that themes surrounding Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), School Attendance and Attainment, children’s wellbeing, the Neighbourhood Model, and reporting of an impact assessment into library cuts be noted on the workplan and referred to the CSCCSMC to consider.

Reason: To keep the committee’s work plan for the upcoming municipal year updated.