C I T Y O F Y O R K C O U N C I L

S U M M O N S

All Councillors, relevant Council Officers and other interested parties and residents are formally invited to attend a meeting of the City of York Council at The Guildhall, Coney Street, York, YO1 9QN, to consider the business contained in this agenda on the following date and time

Thursday, 17 July 2025 at 6.30 pm

A G E N D A

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1. Apologies for Absence

To receive and note apologies for absence.

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2. Declarations of Interest

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.

(1) Members must consider their interests, and act according to the

following:

Type of Interest	You must:

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests	Disclose the interest; not participate in the discussion or vote; and leave the meeting unless you have a dispensation.

Other Registrable Interests (Directly Related) OR Non-Registrable Interests (Directly Related)	Disclose the interest; speak on the item only if the public are also allowed to speak but otherwise not participate in the discussion or vote; and leave the meeting unless you have a dispensation.

Other Registrable Interests (Affects) OR Non-Registrable Interests (Affects)	Disclose the interest; remain in the meeting, participate, and vote unless the matter affects the financial interest or well-being: (a) to a greater extent than it affects the financial interests of a majority of inhabitants of the affected ward; and (b) a reasonable member of the public knowing all the facts would believe that it would affect your view of the wider public interest, in which case speak on the item only if the public are also allowed to speak, but otherwise not do not participate in the discussion or vote, and leave the meeting, unless you have a dispensation.

(2) Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

(3) Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them. A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

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3. Minutes (Pages 13 - 46)

To approve and sign the minutes of the meetings of Council held on 27 March 2025 and 22 May 2025.

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4. Civic Announcements

To consider any announcements made by the Lord Mayor in respect of Civic business.

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5. Public Participation

At this point in the meeting, any member of the public who has registered to address the Council, or to ask a Member of the Council a question, on a matter directly relevant to the business of the Council or the City, may do so. The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Tuesday, 15 July 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 public meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The remote public meeting can be viewed live and on demand at

www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

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6. Petitions

To consider any petitions received from Members in accordance with Standing Order B5. Notice has been received of seven petitions to be presented by:

i) Councillor Warters regarding the maintenance of Fulford Cemetery.

ii) Councillor Warters regarding capping the numbers of university students in the city.

iii) Councillor Mason regarding parking charges.

iv) Councillor Hook regarding a 20mph speed limit in Poppleton.

v) Councillor Fenton regarding replacing the zebra crossing on Beckfield Lane in Acomb with a push button crossing.

vi) Councillor Merrett regarding parking charges and Traffic Regulation Orders in relation to parking in the Groves.

vii) Councillor Hollyer regarding dualling York’s Outer Ring Road.

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7. Report of the Leader and Executive (Pages 47 - 70)

To receive and consider a written report from the Leader on the work of the Executive.

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8. Questions to the Leader or Executive Members

To question the Leader and/or Executive Members in respect of any matter within their portfolio responsibility, in accordance with Standing Order B8.

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9. Audit and Governance Committee - Chair's Annual Report 2023/24 and 2024/25 (Pages 71 - 72)

To receive a report from Councillor Hollyer, Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, on the work of the Committee.

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10. Scrutiny - Report of the Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee (Pages 73 - 76)

To receive a report from Councillor Fenton, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee, on the work of the Committee.

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11. Annual Report of the Joint Standards Committee 2024/25 (Pages 77 - 84)

To receive a report from the Joint Standards Committee on the work of the Committee during the 2024/25 municipal year.

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12. Recommendations of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee: Primate Licensing (Pages 85 - 92)

To receive and consider for approval the recommendations of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee, as set out below:

Meeting

Date

Recommendations

Licensing and Regulatory Committee

10 April 2025

Minute 95: Primate Licensing Report

https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=606&MId=15184

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13. Appointments and Changes to Membership (Pages 93 - 94)

To consider the appointments and changes to membership of committees and outside bodies set out on the list attached to this summons.

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14. Motions on Notice

To consider the following Motions on Notice under Standing Order B10:

Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order B10:

i) From Councillor Rose:

Improving equality of access to elections

“Council notes:

· its approved council motions in recent years on voter engagement and participation, including the December 2022 motion opposing new rules imposed on electors, including the new photo ID requirement, in March 2024 backing the ‘My Vote My Voice’ campaign on equal access to voting, and in July 2024 highlighting disenfranchisement problems resulting from a flawed postal vote system;

· Elections Act 2022 nationality requirements resulting in a lottery of who can vote in different elections, with different treatment of different EU and other citizens in different domestic elections;

· that groups that are more likely to be disenfranchised than others include those with physical mobility challenges, mental health challenges, learning disabilities and neurodivergence; younger people; people from poorer backgrounds; people with fewer educational qualifications; ethnic minorities; residents with other nationalities and primary languages; and private tenants in high-turnover-rate areas (such as high rent or high short-term-lets rates areas);

· that according to 2021 census data York has many people in more highly disenfranchised groups, with a population that are approximately 20% private renters, 17% disabled people, 16% with bad or middling health, 14% 18-24 year olds, 14% social renters, 11% born overseas, 6% widowed, 4% single parents, 4% non-white British, 4% non-white non-British, 3% white non-British, and 0.3% Gypsy, Roma or Traveller;

· the January 2025 IPPR report: Modernising Elections: How To Get Voters Back that recommended many changes including automatic voter registration, removal of Photo ID requirements, non-working day elections, voting rights for permanent residents, compulsory voting, £100k limits for political donors, votes for 16-17 year olds, and sortition for poll workers;

· That Scotland and Wales have implemented residence-based voting rights that give equal rights to vote to all residents, with Manchester, Cambridgeshire, several London boroughs, Liverpool, Sheffield and others all supporting the same rights for England.

Council believes all residents should have equal rights and access to voting, and that the creation of new barriers to voting through the Elections Act 2022 was wrong. Complex voting eligibility and voter ID requirements have since disenfranchised voters.

Council further believes that the government and local authorities should fully engage with the IPPR recommendations and maximise support and encouragement for engaging with democratic processes, and that partners including educational institutions and landlords should do more to encourage voter registration and participation.

Council resolves:

· to request the Council Leader writes to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Deputy Prime Minister, making the case that local election franchising be applied equally to all residents in England, in line with Scotland and Wales;

· to request the Council Leader writes to letting agencies and landlords with significant numbers of properties in York, the University of York and York St John University, seeking greater support in registering more residents to vote, including consideration of automatic registration;

· to request the Council, through the appropriate committee, considers those recommendations of the IPPR in which there is local discretion, and any other viable opportunities to increase voter participation, before making recommendations to the Returning Officer for their consideration, prior to the Local Elections in 2027.”

ii) From Councillor Mason:

Supporting York’s small businesses

“Council notes:

· The Labour Government’s increase to employer’s contribution to National Insurance from 13.8% to 15%, and a reduction in the threshold of which they start to pay it from £9,100 to £5,000 per year.

· The Liberal Democrat campaign to urge Britons to buy locally made products to support businesses in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs

· The adoption in November 2024 of the City of York Council Local Transport Strategy Implementation Plan which included commitments to:

o review parking capacity within a 2km radius of the city centre on an off street, within the Council’s ownership and managed by the private sector, the demand for that parking and the charges for that parking; and

o then specify the parking provision which is needed and the charges which should be levied

· Feedback from the 2025/26 council budget-setting consultation which indicated a preference among respondents for a balanced approach which included revenue-raising, efficiency improvements, and making cuts only as a last resort

· The adoption through the 2025/26 council budget of significantly increased parking charges

· The subsequent Executive decision to amend some of these charges at some locations and to increase the discount for the Minster Badge to 30 per cent of the standard parking charge, at an estimated cost of £115,000

· The petition signed by over 8,000 people prompted by the Bishopthorpe Road parking charge increase which calls on the council to engage meaningfully with local residents, traders and community groups to find a fairer, balanced solution that supports sustainable travel without punishing people

· The campaigns that have been established in response to concerns about the impact on local businesses of higher parking charges in areas such as Micklegate, East Parade and The Groves

· The reduction in city centre footfall of 30,000 people from May 2024 to May 2025

Council believes:

· That efforts to reduce car dependency, tackle congestion and improve public transport reliability in and around York are to be welcomed

· That key to the success of these efforts will be the availability of affordable, reliable, accessible and safe alternatives to private car use

· That it was a mistake to have significantly increased parking charges without first having undertaken the promised review of parking provision and demand for that provision

· That businesses were not adequately consulted prior to the detail of the parking charge increases being agreed

· That the triple hit of National Insurance increases, Donald Trump’s tariffs and increased parking charges have put serious strain on local businesses

Council resolves:

· To request the Executive to instruct officers to undertake an urgent piece of work to estimate the cost of restoring a lower cost 30-minute stay option at on-street parking sites where this had been available prior to April 2025

· To request that Executive (or an Executive Member Decision Session) seeks a decision paper within 3 months, setting out options for the reinstatement of a lower cost 30-minute stay at these locations

· To ask that the Executive works with local business groups and representative organisations, such as the York Business Improvement District and the Federation of Small Businesses, to understand the impact of recent National Insurance changes in order to be able to lobby Government for mitigation measures.”

iii) From Councillor Merrett:

Non-proliferation of Fossil Fuels

“Council notes its 2019 approved motion declaring a Climate Emergency, supported at that time by each of the council’s main political parties. Much good work has taken place here in York since that time, across multiple council administrations, in the transition towards becoming a net zero city.

Council notes York’s position as one of only 112 cities globally with an A rating from the independent Carbon Data Programme, for the third year running this year.

Council further notes:

· that the impacts of climate change affect everyone everywhere, including York, through hotter summers, longer periods without rain and more flood events;

· improvements made nationally in UK energy consumption, with a trend away from fossil fuels towards renewables and low carbon energy sources;

· and welcomes the ambition for energy security and renewables embodied in Great British Energy;

· the UK’s still significant reliance on gas and oil, which represent around 75% of the UK’s total energy consumption;

· the role advanced economies should play in the transition towards cleaner energy generation and consumption;

· the ongoing Non-Proliferation Treaty on Fossil Fuels campaign, as part of national and international efforts to achieve a just transition to net zero, and to ensure global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels (COP21 Paris Agreement);

· The campaign’s three key fossil fuel aims of non-proliferation, a fair phase out and a just transition.

Council:

· believes all Local and Combined Authorities should do all they can to progress this transition;

· welcomes the Government’s position on stopping new licensing of fossil fuel extraction;

· believes use of fossil fuels needs to be phased out and therefore opposes any new extraction of fossil fuels, including the ‘proppant squeeze’ gas extraction method currently proposed in North Yorkshire.

Council resolves to request the Council Leader:

· give York’s written support to the Non-Proliferation Treaty on Fossil Fuels campaign, confirming York’s position to the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero;

· write to the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire and the city’s two MPs confirming the council’s position on non-proliferation of fossil fuels, and seeking their support in achieving this goal, through both regional decision-making, national energy policy and support for the MP for York Central’s Early Day Motion 111 in support of the above Treaty.”

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15. Urgent Business

Any other business which the Chair considers urgent under the Local Government Act 1972.

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Democracy Officer

James Parker / Jane Meller

Contact details:

· Telephone:(01904) 553659 / (01904) 555209

· Email: james.parker@york.gov.uk / jane.meller@york.gov.uk

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