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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
People Scrutiny Committee |
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Date |
15 April 2026 |
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Present |
Councillors J Burton (Chair), Waller (Vice-Chair), Cuthbertson, Moroney, D Myers, Runciman, Steward (Substitute), Vassie (Substitute) and Wells (Substitute) |
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Apologies
Officers in attendance
In attendance |
Councillors Mason, Nelson, and Nicholls
Sara Storey - Corporate Director, Adults and Integration Michael Melvin - Assistant Director of Adults Safeguarding Jane Timson - Independent Chair of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board James Parker – Scrutiny Officer
Councillor Steels-Walshaw – Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care |
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25. Apologies for Absence (5:31pm)
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mason, Nelson, and Nicholls, who were substituted by Councillors Vassie, Wells, and Steward respectively.
26. Declarations of Interest (5:33pm)
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 Cuthbertson declared an interest in item 4, City Of York Safeguarding Adults Safeguarding Board Annual Report 2024/25, in that he was a Governor of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT).
27. Public Participation (5:32pm)
It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
28. City Of York Safeguarding Adults Safeguarding Board Annual Report 2024/25 (5:34pm)
The Corporate Director – Adults and Integration, noted that she was in attendance representing the three statutory partners on the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board (CYSAB).
The Independent Chair of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board presented the presentation, as seen in Annex D to the report, and noted that the Board now had a manager in place who could help progress work in safeguarding and that this recruitment was a pivotal moment for the Board.
The Independent Chair of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board reported that the Care Act 2014 was the first time the Safeguarding Board was made statutory, and that many Local Authorities already had Boards in place before this. The three main statutory roles were reported as: Publishing a strategic plan each financial year, publishing an annual report, arranging a safeguarding adult review where a person had died or had experienced serious abuse or neglect and there was reason to believe agencies could have worked better together to safeguard the person; everybody had a duty to raise concerns. The Independent Chair then highlighted duties set out within the Care Act 2014.
The Independent Chair noted that the Board strengthened its membership of the Board in 2025 to ensure involvement of front-line staff who were experiencing safeguarding; and outlined partners of CYSAB.
The Independent Chair then discussed achievements of CYSAB in 2024-25, as seen in the report, and highlighted key elements of the New Strategy for 2025-2028, including incoming changes to National Care Reforms introduced by Baroness Casey stating that there needed to be stronger role of the National Safeguarding Board; Local Board’s would need to align their reporting data to national priorities, and CYSAB would self-asses itself against expectations from the National Board.
The Independent Chair noted that these changes would put CYSAB on a similar footing to Children’s services which would be a positive improvement for Adult Safeguarding.
In response to questions from members, the Independent Chair of CYSAB, Corporate Director – Adults and Integration, Assistant Director of Adults Safeguarding, and Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care confirmed that:
· Consent had been received for all images used within the Annual Report (Annex A).
· The Board was not linked directly with all housing or resident associations, but there was a board member who was linked through Housing Services.
· There was a strong relationship between Local Area Coordination and Safeguarding, and Cuckooing/Home Invasion was picked up within work streams; Work was ongoing to “widen the funnel” of reporting and improve the effectiveness of picking up on safeguarding concerns.
· In order to ensure information received was not duplicated, there was an expectation that the first agency involved in a case would share the relevant information with partners; this process ensures that the individual would not need to share the information multiple different times to different agencies. Unique identifiers such as NHS numbers could assist with catching duplicated information.
· Adult Safeguarding sat in a different legislative area than Children’s Safeguarding as Adults have many more independent rights, making safeguarding decision making a much less binary approach.
· Often, people who were brought to the attention of the safeguarding team were already known by other partners who would have information they could share.
· Anyone looking to report safeguarding concerns should contact any partner of the Board who should be able to help.
· Although the Board was not inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the Board considered action plans of improvement from CYC and other partners to be assured of improvements to be made, and the Action Plans updated the Board regularly.
· To ensure the Board captured the lived experience of individuals, it worked with providers who could provide case studies and talked to individuals themselves to see if they are happy with outcomes; training was formulated by taking individual into account.
· Providers must ensure guidance is readable and Board could offer advice to partners where needed.
· In exceptional circumstances, people may opt. against the involvement of their family, but in ordinary cases family was used a as a starting basis.
The Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care discussed how Ward Councillors held unique positions to see their communities and highlighted that safeguarding was the responsibility of everyone.
The Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care reported that Members would be invited to a Safeguarding Briefing to be held at the end of April 2026 offering safeguarding training.
The Assistant Director of Adults Safeguarding would ensure issues of shame and embarrassment were highlighted more clearly within guidance produced regarding self-neglect.
Resolved:
· That the People Scrutiny Committee recommended to the authors of the report the following inclusions:
i. That organisations should conduct exit interviews to get a better understanding of reasons for staff leaving.
ii. That work be done to raise awareness of what adult safeguarding concerns could be.
iii. That safeguarding training be arranged for Councillors and wider areas of CYC.
iv. That there should be a renewal of the consideration for all wards having Local Area Coordinators.
· That the People Scrutiny Committee:
i. Noted the contents of the annual report 2024/25.
ii. Considered how it could contribute to the joint work of the Board and noted strategic plans for 2025 onwards and how they can be supported.
Reason: To support the Board’s work leading the strategic development of safeguarding adults work across York’
29. Work Plan (7:26pm)
The Scrutiny Officer informed members that there was an informal work planning session to be scheduled by June 2026, looking ahead to the new municipal year. He also reported that there was an all-member scrutiny briefing session on 16 April 2026, including briefings on school attendance and the attainment gap.
The Chair and Vice-Chair updated members on the progress of the Task and Finish Group on Housing Repairs, reporting that it was expected to be brought to the Committee’s next meeting.
Resolved:
· That Members considered and agreed the Committee’s draft work plan.
Reason: To ensure that the Committee maintains an appropriate programme of work.
Cllr Burton, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.00 pm and finished at 7.31 pm].