Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

Apologies were received and noted from Councillors Baxter and Nelson.

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.

Councillor Coles declared an interest in Agenda Item 6 (York and North Yorkshire Climate Change Adaptation Study) in the interests of transparency due to their role as Deputy Mayor at the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

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, 3 September 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 had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 22 June and 6 July 2026.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meetings held on 22 June 2026 and 6 July 2026 be approved as a correct record.

This report provides members with a year end analysis of the overall finance and performance position for the year.

Members considered the year-end finance and performance outturn report.

Members questioned officers on a range of issues including delayed borrowing and treasury management, housing benefit subsidy claims, public health underspends, advertising income from bus shelters, commercial property income, complaint handling performance, sickness absence levels, the Talkabout Panel and customer service performance.

Officers reported that:

• Delayed borrowing reflected the reprofiling of capital expenditure rather than cancelled schemes, with borrowing requirements expected to be needed in future years.
• Additional housing benefit income had resulted from changes to subsidy claims and the identification of historic underclaiming.
• Information on public health vacancies and Local Area Coordinator posts would be provided following consultation with public health.
• Income from new bus shelter advertising remained expected, although delivery had been affected by planning and implementation timescales.
• Commercial property income was anticipated to remain stable in the medium term.
• Recruitment and staffing challenges continued to affect complaint response times, although performance was expected to improve as vacancies were filled.
• The Talkabout Panel consisted of approximately 1,100 residents, with ongoing work to improve how representative it is, particularly among younger age groups.
• Customer services were experiencing significant demand pressures, and work was underway to improve systems, processes and resilience across the council’s customer service functions.

Members requested a future scrutiny item examining customer services in greater detail, including contact channels, performance measures, staffing, recruitment and complaint handling arrangements.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

Reason:     To ensure scrutiny oversight of the council’s financial and performance position.

Members will consider an overview of the regional adaptation study commissioned by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to guide how it supports local authorities and organisations to adapt to climate change.  

Members considered the York and North Yorkshire Climate Change Adaptation Study commissioned by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The Policy and Strategy Manager outlined the purpose of the study, explaining that it would provide an important evidence base for future climate adaptation work and would inform future revisions to the council’s Climate Change Action Plan and Climate Change Strategy.

Members received a presentation from the one of the authors of the study explaining the methodology, climate projections, vulnerability assessment and economic analysis contained within the report.

During discussion, Members highlighted:

• The value of the study as a comprehensive evidence base.
• The need for an accessible executive summary to accompany the report.
• The importance of ensuring the findings informed planning policy, regeneration projects and wider council decision-making.
• The need for adaptation measures to be embedded across all council services and partner organisations.
• The significance of risks associated with extreme heat, drought, water security, flooding and public health.
• The importance of considering the impact on vulnerable communities.
• The need to demonstrate the costs of inaction alongside the costs of adaptation.

Officers advised that findings from the study were already being shared with council services and partners through a programme of dissemination workshops and would be used to shape future policy development.

[6:50-6:52pm, Cllr Taylor left the meeting. 7:14-7:16pm, Cllr Coles left the meeting.]

Resolved: That the Committee endorsed the study and supported its use as part of the council’s climate change evidence base.

Reason:     To inform the Executive Member Decision Session and support evidence-led climate adaptation planning.

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

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

The Chair advised that a future item on customer services would be scheduled following the issues raised during consideration of the Finance and Performance Outturn report.

Resolved:            That the work plan be noted.

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