|
Meeting: |
Executive |
|
Meeting date: |
9 September 2026 |
|
Report of: |
Debbie Mitchell, Director of Finance |
|
Portfolio of: |
Councillor Katie Lomas, Executive Member for Finance, Performance, Major Projects, Human Rights, Equality and Inclusion |
Quarter 1 2026/27 Finance and
Performance Monitor
Subject of
Report
1. This report sets out the projected financial position and the latest performance information for the period covering 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026. This is the first report of the financial year.
2. The report outlines that, despite the Council’s continued financial challenges, performance continues to be good in across many areas of the Council.
3. The forecast for the year is that we will have a net overspend of £2.3m, which is an improvement compared to the same position last year at this time. The main area of overspend is Adult Social Care, where increased costs and complexity remain a very challenging position.
4. As outlined in reports to Executive throughout the previous financial year, the existing cost control measures remain in place, and further action is still needed to bring spending down to an affordable level over the medium term, to safeguard the Council’s financial resilience and stability. The Council’s track record of delivering savings, along with robust financial management, provides a sound platform to continue to be able to deal with both the current and future challenges.
5. The outcome of the Fair Funding report has placed the council in a precarious financial position with funding available to the council effectively frozen over the next two years and therefore the need to balance the budget in 2026/27 is essential.
6. Local government continues to be in challenging times, with worsening performance in a number of sectors nationally. The majority of performance indicators chosen to support and monitor the Council Plan in York, continue to show a generally positive and stable trend against this difficult financial picture and shows the hard work from staff, partners and the city to tackle these challenges.
7. The Council Plan basket of supporting set of indicators are the high-level measurable element of our performance framework, at a Council operational and City Outcomes level, and in newly available data up to Q1 2026-27 there has been positive performance in the below areas.
8. Key indicators around the number of children within services for Children in Care and Child Protection Plans are stable; the number of children in temporary accommodation and homeless households with dependent children in temporary accommodation have reduced, health inequalities in York wards/MSOAs have improved in some areas (the gap in the % of Year 6 pupils recorded as overweight (incl. obesity) between the highest and lowest York ward has narrowed in the latest data and the gap in the % of children totally or partially breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks between the highest and lowest York ward has also narrowed). Key indicators around educational achievement at both Foundation stage and KS4 remain high and above national averages.
9. The % of adults that are physically active remains high, and overall satisfaction of people who use services with their care and support also remains stable and positive. For males, the slope index of inequality in life expectancy at birth has reduced and the gap in years in Life Expectancy at birth for males and females between the highest and lowest York MSOA has narrowed.
10. There has been a positive direction of travel over the last few years in city centre performance measures, with low shop vacancy rates. The workplace earnings gap has reduced in the last year, as has the Housing affordability ratio, and the % of the working age population in employment remains high and above national and regional averages. Newly born businesses in York continue to thrive and Park & Ride and local bus passenger journeys continue to grow following a strong recovery post-covid.
11. Many of our housing indicators are showing a positive direction of travel, with an increase in the % of dwellings with an energy rating in the A-C band in the EPC register and a high % of repairs completed on the first visit. The % of tenants satisfied that their landlord provides a home that is well maintained has increased considerably in the latest figures. The latest Talkabout resident satisfaction measures are positive with a stable number of residents giving help to a group or club, high levels of resident satisfaction with their local area as a place to live, an increase in the percentage of the panel who think the council are doing well at improving green spaces and an increase in the number who report an ‘excellent’ experience when they last contacted the council about a service.
12. Indicators around air quality are positive, with continued decreases in the annual mean Nitrogen Dioxide concentration recorded across three areas, and reductions in carbon emissions across the city and from council buildings and operations.
13. The Council Plan Progress Reports started in September 2023 which is when the Council Plan 2023-2027 was approved by Executive. The second annual report, providing an update of activity against each of the plan’s seven priorities in the year from September 2024 to September 2025 was approved at the November 2025 Executive. The report is published on the Council’s webpages: https://www.york.gov.uk/CouncilPlanProgressReport2025 and sits alongside the six-monthly snapshot of progress. The report complements the Finance and Performance Monitor, providing a narrative for the steps that the steps that the Council is taking to meet its ambitions.
14. The report identifies funding that has been allocated to City of York Council from outside bodies primarily the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Benefits and Challenges
15. This report is to note the latest financial projections and current performance. The main challenge is delivering on agreed savings whilst also identifying further reductions in expenditure. The benefit of a balanced budget is that resources can be diverted into delivering Council priorities.
Policy Basis for Decision
16. This report is to note the latest projections and current performance. The ongoing financial resilience and stability of the council is essential in ensuring Council priorities can continue to be achieved.
Financial Strategy Implications
17. The report sets out the projected financial position. There remain overspends within Adult Social Care and some savings that are proving difficult to fully recognise in the short term. There continues a need therefore to focus on reducing expenditure and maximising income to safeguard financial resilience and stability.
18. The report assumes a number of mitigation measures within Adult Social Care which it will be necessary to closely monitor.
Recommendation and Reasons
19. Executive is asked to:
a) Note the finance and performance information.
b) Note that work will continue on identifying the savings needed to fully mitigate the forecast overspend.
c) Accept that the budgeted savings relating to the Explore contract are not to be progressed and that the undelivered savings (£600k) will need to be added into growth as part of 2027/28 budget process
d) Note the funding awards provided to the council detailed in the report.
Reason: To ensure expenditure is kept within the approved budget.
Background
Financial Summary and Mitigation Strategy
20. The current forecast is that there will be an overspend of £2.3m. This compares to a projected overspend of £4.4m at the same stage of last year. The 2025/26 outturn was an underspend of £1.5m which was added to reserves although as reported at the time many of the underspends in 2025/26 were either one off or budgets have been adjusted however there continues to be a recurring overspend within Adult Social Care, which continues to be of concern. Many of the underspends and mitigations that have allowed us to balance the budget at year end have generally been one off.
21. Members will be aware that the financial position of local government is a national challenge and that the pressures being seen across both Adult and Children’s Social Care are not something that is unique to York. Many Councils are experiencing significant financial pressures and struggling to balance their budgets now, so it is vital that we continue the work to reduce our expenditure down to a sustainable level both within the current financial year and over the medium term.
22. The delivery of savings plans continues to be a clear priority for all officers. Corporate Directors and Directors will keep Executive Members informed of progress on a regular basis.
Financial Analysis
23. The Council’s net budget is £187m. Following on from previous years, the challenge of delivering savings continues with c£11m to be achieved to reach a balanced budget. Early forecasts indicate the Council is facing net financial pressures of £2.3m and an overview of this forecast, on a directorate by directorate basis, is outlined in Table 1 below.
|
Service area |
2026/27 Net budget £’000 |
2026/27 Forecast Variation £’000 |
|
Children & Education |
32,808 |
-76 |
|
Adult Social Care & Integration |
81,273 |
3,722 |
|
Environment & Regulation / City Development |
16,948 |
1,184 |
|
Housing & Communities |
6,676 |
547 |
|
Corporate & Central Services |
48,804 |
-2,583 |
|
Sub Total |
186,509 |
2,794 |
|
Contingency |
500 |
-500 |
|
Total including contingency |
187,009 |
2,294 |
Table 1: Finance overview
Reserves and Contingency
24. The February 2026 budget report to Full Council stated that the minimum level for the General Fund reserve should be £7.4m. At the beginning of 2026/27 the reserve stood at £8.9m following the transfer of the 2025/26 underspend into general reserves.
25. Should the mitigation outlined in this report not deliver the required level of savings in the current financial year then this reserve is available to support the year end position. However, in light of the ongoing financial challenges being faced by all Councils it is now more important than ever to ensure the Council has sufficient reserves. Therefore, should it be the case that we need to draw down a substantial amount from this general reserve in 2026/27, growth will need to be included in the 2027/28 budget to ensure that reserves can be maintained at an appropriate level.
26. In addition to the general reserve of £8.9m there are a range of other earmarked reserves where funds are held for a specific purpose. These reserves are always subject to an annual review and these funds will again be reviewed on a quarterly basis and where appropriate to do so will be released to support the in-year position. Whilst this is a prudent approach that will ensure the financial resilience of the Council it is not a substitute for resolving the underlying overspends but instead allows time to develop future savings proposals in a planned way.
27. As in previous years a contingency budget is in place, and this is currently assumed to be available to offset the pressures outlined in this report.
Loans
28. Further to a scrutiny review, it was agreed that these quarterly monitoring reports would include a review of any outstanding loans over £100k. There is one loan in this category for £1m made to Yorwaste, a company part owned by the Council in June 2012. Interest is charged on both loans at 4% plus base rate therefore interest of 7.75% is currently being charged. All repayments are up to date.
Funding Approvals
29. In line with the council’s Constitution and Scheme of Delegations, expenditure in excess of £500k is a Key Decision which requires a decision from the full Executive and will contain a delegation to the relevant Director(s) to expend the funding specified. Below that Key Decision limit, Directors have delegated authority to approve spend against these funds of up to £500k, subject to any full Executive or Individual Executive Member decision. Once authorised via an appropriate Decision, an Officer Decision Notice, detailing the purpose and the funding stream, will be completed. All approvals that are subject to either Planning considerations or resident consultation will require Executive oversight at an appropriate decision session. All officer decisions are in consultation with the relevant Executive Member.
30. Project delivery governance is in line with the council’s code of governance, with projects reporting to the relevant internal governance boards and project highlight reports published on the Open Data Platform.
31. The council has been awarded the following grants over the last quarter.
Vibrant and Sustainable High Streets
32. The Combined Authority have awarded CYC £196k from the Vibrant and Sustainable Highstreets Fund (£50k York Castle, £80.2k Walmgate Improvement Scheme, £66k Acomb Front Street). The fund aims to support projects that will improve highstreets, increasing footfall and encourage people to spend more time in town centres.
Mayoral Transport Fund
33. The Combined Authority's Mayoral Transport Fund has awarded CYC: £1.3m from the Road Maintenance Fund; £1.58m from Highways Improvements (Minor Works) and £5.8m from Highways Maintenance. CYC's share of the Mayoral Transport Fund. The share of funding relating to significant schemes is yet to be determined.
Energy Generation Accelerator Programme (EGAP)
34. The Combined Authority have awarded CYC £420k for EGAP projects in 2026/27 (£100k York Central Heat Network, £200k Harewood Whin, £120k staff support). The programme supports the development of renewable energy projects that accelerate them from concept to investment-ready schemes.
Trailblazer
35. For 2026/27, the Combined Authority awarded £1.012m across 7 projects (Employer Engagement, Mental Health Hubs, 50+ Programme, Overcoming barriers for Young People, Supported Pathways: Construction Skills, Supported Pathways: Opportunity Brokers, Data and Research Integration) and Management & Admin costs. The Trailblazer programme aims to support economically inactive people into work and support employers to create job opportunities.
Mayoral Investment Fund
36. The Mayoral Investment Fund is part of the regional devolution deal. The Combined Authority awarded CYC £2.85m over 2 years. For 2026/27, the allocation is £2,339,216 across 5 projects (Acomb & Haxby Town Plans, Cultural Passports, Construction Skills, Our City Centre Regeneration and EV Charging Infrastructure).
Connect to Work
37. The Combined Authority awarded CYC £603,664 over 5 years to deliver an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) programme. For 2026/27, the allocation is £99,568. The programme aims to provide a supported employment programme to unemployed and economically inactive people with disabilities, long-term health conditions and/or those in disadvantaged groups.
Adult Skills Fund
38. The Combined Authority awarded CYC £1,548,978 for 2026/27. The Fund supports a wide range of adult education and skills programmes, that aim to widen access and participation in learning.
Directorate Analysis
Children and Education
39. The table below summarises the latest forecast by service area.
|
|
2026/27 Budget |
Forecast Outturn Variance £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance % |
|
Children’s Safeguarding |
27,134 |
+216 |
+0.8 |
|
Education & Skills |
8,647 |
-57 |
-0.7 |
|
School Funding & Assets |
1,562 |
-186 |
-11.9 |
|
Director and Central Budgets |
-4,535 |
-49 |
1.1 |
|
Total Children and Education |
32,808 |
-76 |
-0.2 |
40. The 2026/27 year end position is forecast to be a £76k underspend. This continues the trend of the Directorate delivering its services within the overall budget
41. Children's Safeguarding is currently forecast to overspend by £216k against a budget of £27.134m.
42. The number of Children in Care stood at 225 at the end of May 2026, compared with 230 at the end of March 2026. Placement expenditure continues to be the most significant area of financial risk; however, overall placement costs are expected to be approximately £265k lower than in 2025/26.
43. The service has revised its placement budget structure by separating Residential Care and DCS placements. This change allows individual Heads of Service to monitor costs more effectively and supports clearer identification of cases relevant to potential health funding contributions
44. Overall placement budgets are forecast to overspend by £138k.
The most significant pressure relates to DCS Placements and Community Provision, which is forecast to overspend by £301k. Budget realignments have been undertaken, including the transfer of £400k from Residential Care budgets and a further £400k one-off contribution from a brought-forward balance from 2025/26. Without these interventions, the service would have been forecasting an overspend of approximately £1.1m.
45. The Together We Can service is forecasting an overspend of £140k, reflecting the fact that the budget was originally established for a single facility, whereas the service now operates two facilities.
46. Several placement budgets are currently forecasting favourable variances.
47. Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) placements are forecast to underspend by £73k, a significant improvement from the £381k overspend reported in 2025/26. Placement numbers have reduced to 37 placements, compared with 60 placements during 2025/26, while additional growth funding has also been incorporated into the budget.
48. Residential Care placements are forecast to underspend by £158k, despite the inclusion of planned savings targets and budget transfers to DCS placements. Current activity consists of one residential placement and three semi-independent placements.
49. The Beehive service is forecasting an underspend of £82k, largely due to staffing costs being below budget. The budget has not been reviewed since the facility opened.
50. Direct Payments are currently forecasting an overspend of £158k. Reviews are underway to examine payment arrangements, identify potential recoveries and strengthen approval processes.
51. Legal costs remain a significant pressure and are forecast to overspend by £246k. Regular financial review meetings have been established with Legal Services, and one-off support from restructuring budgets has helped reduce the scale of the pressure during 2026/27.
52. Education and Skills is forecast to underspend by £57k (0.7%) against a budget of £8.647m.
53. The most significant favourable variance relates to York Learning, which is forecast to underspend by £145k, following an underspend of £214k in 2025/26. The service also continues to hold a substantial accommodation reserve balance carried forward from previous years.
54. Home to School Transport remains one of the most financially uncertain budgets within the directorate. Forecasting remains difficult pending implementation of the new transport contract in September. Growth funding of £230k was allocated to the service at the beginning of 2026/27, and future monitoring reports will provide further clarity regarding the long-term financial impact of the new arrangements.
55. School Funding and Assets is forecast to underspend by £186k (11.9%) against a budget of £1.562m. The favourable position is mainly attributable to several recurring underspends across centrally managed budgets, including:
· Schools Interest Charges: £36k underspend
· Pupil Premium balances: £100k underspend
· PFI balances: £50k underspend
56. These budgets also generated underspends in 2025/26, indicating that there may be opportunities to review ongoing budget requirements in future financial planning rounds.
57. Director of Children & Education and Central Budgets are forecast to underspend by £49k.
58. The favourable position arises from small underspends across redundancy budgets, trade union costs and leadership team expenditure.
59. The DSG carried forward a deficit of £664k at 1 April 2026 following an in-year deficit of £1.26m in 2025/26. Monitor 1 forecasts a further in-year deficit of £3.27m, which would increase the cumulative DSG deficit substantially.
60. The primary driver of this deterioration is the High Needs Block, which is forecast to overspend by £5.024m, compared with an overspend of £1.176m in 2025/26.
61. The pressure reflects continuing growth in EHCP numbers and increasing complexity of children's needs. EHCPs have increased from 1,521 in 2024/25 to 1,986 in 2026/27, with further growth expected over the medium term.
62. Although the Authority's DSG allocation has increased by approximately 6% in 2026/27 to £101.7m, this falls significantly short of the growth in demand, with EHCP numbers increasing by approximately 22% over the same period. In addition, the Authority no longer receives the £2m Safety Valve funding that previously helped offset financial pressures.
High Needs Funding and SEND Reforms
63. The financial impact of revised mainstream school banding arrangements is beginning to emerge. Under the revised framework, funding ranges from £4,000 for Specific and Targeted provision to £8,000 for Enhanced provision, with Exceptional cases funded according to individual need.
64. New special school banding arrangements will be introduced from 1 September 2026, with standard funding set at £15,000 per pupil and bespoke packages funded at £75,000. While the standard rate broadly reflects current average funding levels, the number of pupils requiring bespoke packages will significantly influence future DSG costs.
65. In June 2026, York's SEND Reform Plan was approved locally and submitted to the Department for Education. The plan sets out a three-year programme to strengthen mainstream SEND provision and reduce demand for specialist placements. The Council has secured a £1.3m SEND Transformation Grant to support implementation, with final DfE approval expected during September 2026.
66. Key mitigation actions include tighter review of EHCP funding allocations, reviews of independent placement costs and transport provision, implementation of enhanced DSG monitoring arrangements and ongoing assessment of the financial impact of revised special school funding arrangements.
Adults
|
|
2026/27 Budget £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance % |
|
External Care |
|
|
|
|
Direct Payments |
6,778 |
-241 |
-3.6 |
|
Home and Day Support |
5,160 |
-259 |
-5.0 |
|
Supported Living |
21,458 |
+460 |
2.1 |
|
Residential care |
23,840 |
+873 |
3.7 |
|
Nursing care |
7,862 |
-528 |
-6.7 |
|
Short term placements |
1,490 |
+24 |
1.6 |
|
Rebasing budget adj |
-4,033 |
+4,253 |
** |
|
In House Services and Staffing |
|
|
|
|
Staffing (mostly social work staff) |
10,357 |
+1,023 |
9.9 |
|
Contracts and Commissioning |
1,875 |
-107 |
-5.7 |
|
In House Services |
5,245 |
-13 |
-0.2 |
|
Be Independent & Equipment |
1,178 |
+22 |
1.9 |
|
Other |
108 |
+15 |
13.9 |
|
Recharges |
-45 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total Adult Social Care |
81,273 |
+5,522 |
6.8 |
|
Savings and Mitigations |
|
-1,800 |
|
|
Total After Mitigations |
81,273 |
3,722 |
4.6 |
68. ASC received £10.3m growth in the budget for 2026/27. Of this, £2.25m has been allocated to recruit resources to implement transformation and improvement projects, as well as responding to the CQC assessment completed last year. A further £4m to cover price inflation pressures with £4m remaining to fund underlying pressures against external care budgets.
69. The summary table has a line in describing a £4.2m pressure from rebasing the budget. This has not been attributed to particular care budget areas but will reduce as savings and mitigations crystallise throughout the year across the directorate. This allowed all budgets to be rebased: managers are aware of the numbers of packages their budgets are based on, each with budgeted unit costs for income and expenditure which can be tracked through the year.
70. As part of the budget setting process for 2026/27, all External Care budgets were rebased using a snapshot of open packages in February 2026. The rebasing exercise also considered the impact of the ASC transformation and improvement project plans with budgeted numbers flexed across the year in-line with ASC strategy.
71. Budget Council approved £400k of savings for Adult Social Care with further savings expected from ongoing business efficiencies and mitigation projects to offset the projected overspend.
72. Mitigation projects are underway to support bringing down the ASC projected outturn. The below table summarises the projects and the expected savings impact for 2026/27 has been included in the Q1 budget projection.
73. The project plans for the mitigations listed are in development and assumptions have been made to project the potential saving opportunities. There are potential risks to the savings as plans are finalised and implemented.
|
Area |
Projects |
Savings Projection 26/27 (£k) |
|
|
Total |
1,800 |
|
Early Intervention & Prevention. Front Door & Waiting Lists. |
Generate additional income from Be Independent services by increasing customer base by 10% and support reduction to front door. Reduction of package base by 2% over three years by triage, use of advice/ guidance and targeted use of LACs to support individuals. |
220 |
|
Direct Payments |
Remove contingency from individuals using agencies where provider would deliver replacement care if carer unavailable |
250 |
|
Day Support & In-House Services |
Expand Community Support Assistant's reablement role to reduce Day support population. Maximise use of spare rooms at 22 The Avenue and remodel service to maximise independence reducing length of stay in this setting |
80 |
|
Supported Living |
Full review of all settings to ensure appropriate care hours provided and use of assistive technology maximised to support individuals’ independence. Review vacancies in settings where void costs are incurred to fill from waiting lists and/or other external care placements. |
350 |
|
Residential & Nursing Care |
Reduce short term placements by getting people home first. Review of D2A overspends and working with ICB to address. Stretch target to reduce OP residential care placement by 10% and to working with new providers in the city to secure block beds at standard/ reduced rate. |
500 |
|
Health Income |
Strengthen applications regarding CHC and S117 assessments increase checklists submitted and ensure assessments completed in a timely manner for individuals moving into ASC from Children. |
250 |
|
Staffing & Agency Use |
Reduce use of agency staff across all ASC staffing teams |
150 |
74. The following sections describe any significant variations to budgeted costs, customer numbers and income. The variations are generally due to not fully meeting previous years’ savings targets plus significant price pressures in the market. Some variations are large due to having small numbers of individuals within those budgets whose individual needs can vary significantly.
Direct Payments (£241k underspend)
75. Direct Payments (DP) is projected to underspend with the majority of this driven by Physical & Sensory Impairment (P&SI) DPs (£165k) as package numbers have fallen by 3 and the average weekly rate has also reduced by £21 per week to budget.
76. Older People (OP) DPs have also reduced to budget with 1 less package as the DP package has been replaced with a home care one, and average rates £8 per week less that budget (£57k).
Home and Day Support (£259k underspend)
77. Day support is part of the ASC Community Support Budget (CSB) along with Home Care. The projection here relates purely to the day support expenditure with CSB income reported within Home Care.
78. Individuals in receipt of day support have increased across all cohorts with 22 more packages than budget (£243k) – an increase of 9 in LD. The overspend is offset with a slight reduction in the weekly cost across day support.
79. OP Community Support projection for home care is £824k underspent due to a reduction in the volume of care from block providers and an increase in projected income from personal contributions to care.
80. Mental Health (MH) Community Support is £384k overspent to budget due to increased home care packages including one high-cost package of £5.5k per week with no income.
81. Learning Disability (LD) Transport is projected to overspend by £173k and the budget includes savings of £100k to be achieved through review of the transport provision. The projection is based on actual costs year to end and forecasting this forward for the full year at the same rate.
82. The budget projection for home care includes all income for Community Support including Better Care Fund contributions hence the credit net budget.
Supported Living (£460k overspend)
83. The projected Supported Living (SL) overspend comes from one high-cost placement in LD for an individual moving from Children’s to Adults Social Care (£478k). The individual was in receipt of joint health funding and assessments are on-going with the ICB to review funding eligibility for the new placement.
84. Where SL schemes/ settings are not at full capacity, payments are made by CYC to providers for VOIDs. The VOIDs are projected to overspend by £130k to budget. This is a priority area of ASC with a project in place to ensure all schemes are utilised to their full capacity.
85. Contributions from Health have increased in SL placements for P&SI and MH compared to budget with 3 more people receiving continuing health care (CHC) funding and 2 more receiving Section 117 funding (£231k).
Residential care (£873k overspend)
86. The Residential Care budget area is projected to overspend by £873k, of which the majority relates to Older People (OP) Residential Care. This increase is driven by an additional 14 people receiving care at a higher average weekly rate than in budget (£1,287k). This is offset with additional income from personal contributions (£448k) with 25 more individuals contributing to their care compared to budget and 8 more with Universal Deferred Payment agreements (£528k).
87. The increase in OP residential volume is partly driven by short term emergency placements becoming permanent – within the first 2 months of 2026/27, 34% of short-term placements have been recommissioned as permanent residential care packages.
88. The year end position will vary depending on the success of reducing the numbers requiring residential care and the mitigation proposals assume numbers reducing.
89. Residential Care for 18–64-year-olds with Learning Disabilities has reduced in volume by 3 placements with one person moving into Glen Lodge, a CYC in-house service; however, the average weekly rate for this external care has increased by £286 per week (£568k). Income has increased compared to budget through CHC and personal contributions to care, reducing the overspend by £142k.
Nursing Care (£528k underspend)
90. Older People Nursing placements have decreased by 8 placements to budget (£511k) and income from health has increased with 2 more CHC packages than budget (£84k).
91. P&SI nursing care packages have increased in volume by 1; however, there are several high-cost packages with average weekly cost increasing to budget by £170 per week (£202k). This is offset by additional income received from Section 117 and personal contributions (£87K).
92. Mental Health nursing is projected to underspend by £246k due to a reduction in packages including one placement that is now fully funded by health.
Short Term Placements (£24k overspend)
93. There is a small overspend projected for short term placements driven by Older Person planned respite care for residential and nursing as well as a projected overspend in Discharge to Assess (D2A).
94. Emergency respite and short-term placements are difficult to project given their nature of being unplanned. Year to date there are 32 Older Person emergency respite placements with half coming from hospital discharges with no previous commissioned package of care with CYC. As we have seen a large number of short-term placements become long term, work is being carried out to understand what is driving this to reduce the demand and make the wraparound support more effective.
In House Services and Staffing
95. The Council employs a variety of staff to advise and assess residents’ and individuals social care needs. We also directly provide care and support to individuals and have teams which provide home care both in the community overnight and in our Independent Living Schemes, as well as running day support activities for those with a learning difficulty and those experiencing poor mental health. We also operate short stay residential care for the same groups.
Social Work Staffing (£1,023k overspend)
96. The staffing overspend is driven by use of agency workers and a number of teams being over established to manage demand, cover long term sickness and support the improvement work. The teams experiencing these pressures are the Safeguarding Team (£316k), Mental Health Social Work teams (£440k) and the Learning Disability Team (£292k) with some costs being mitigated by temporarily holding posts vacant pending the implementation of the workforce actions in the Improvement programme work.
97. The Improvement programme includes a workstream on Leadership, Workforce and Culture, including a strong focus on increasing the stability of the workforce. This will include a high impact recruitment campaign to fill vacant roles and new roles created as part of the improvement funding; a focus on wellbeing and support to enable people to be in work and reduce absence; and stabilisation of the workforce by creating permanent appointments and reducing temporary arrangements.
Environment and Regulation / City Development
98. The Environment & Regulation and City Development directorates are forecasting an overspend at quarter 1 of £1,184k and the table below summarises the latest forecasts by service area.
|
|
2026/27 Budget £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance % |
|
Highways |
5,792 |
0 |
0 |
|
Fleet |
-78 |
-1 |
1.3 |
|
Waste |
8,703 |
235 |
2.7 |
|
Public Realm |
3,862 |
-9 |
-0.2 |
|
Emergency Planning |
144 |
+10 |
6.9 |
|
Planning Services |
-96 |
+418 |
-435.4 |
|
Public Protection |
819 |
+86 |
10.5 |
|
Management |
175 |
0 |
0 |
|
Transport |
6,600 |
-147 |
-2.2 |
|
Parking Services |
-10,279 |
-99 |
-1.0 |
|
City Development |
1,306 |
+691 |
52.9 |
|
TOTAL |
16,948 |
+1,184 |
+7.0 |
99. Within Waste Services, an overspend of £235k is forecast. The uncertainty around delivering the savings from waste optimisation (+£260k) has been factored int the projection. At present, it is assumed no savings will be realised until 2027/28. The additional Extended Producer Responsibility grant that was received in 25/26 is not expected to continue and so this is forecast to be on budget instead. Likewise, the additional income received in 25/26 has been built into the budget e.g. garden waste subscription and commercial income around holiday lets.
100. Income from selling spare capacity at Allerton Waste Recovery Plant is again forecast to be higher than budgeted levels, as overall council waste tonnages remain relatively static (£100k).
101. At the HWRCs, income is forecast to be £24k higher than budget, which confirms that the booking system at Hazel Court has been effectively implemented.
102. Planning Services continues to report a shortfall in income. Firstly, there is a reduced number of applications for planning and pre-application advice, although 2 major application receipts will ease the pressure this financial year (+£73k). For Building Control, the income is expected to be £303k less than the budget, as the service continues to operate at a reduced level. The income from land charges is also under pressure this financial year, following a change to the processes (+£83k). These pressures are partly offset by an underspend of £41k within Design and Conversation, taking the overall projected overspend across Development Management and Building Control to £418k.
103. The Emergency Planning budget is reporting a small overspend of £10k, which is the costs of the collaboration agreement with NYC. This is an improved position on the 2025/26 outturn.
104. Public Protection is forecasting an overspend caused by two main factors: an under recovery of consultancy income, due to lack to capacity in the team to deliver external work, and an increase in costs of the case management system, Flare (+£26k).
105. Within Transport there is an underspend of £147k across the service. There are underspends due to additional income levels of Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (-£108k), Streetworks permits (-£95k) and EV charging activity (-£70k). These are offset by overspends on staffing and maintaining the hostile vehicle mitigation measures +£103k.
106. Revenue from ANPR has an underspend of £40k, as although the camera equipment had not been functioning as required earlier in the year, they returned to operation again and the budget in now back on track.
107. Car park income is currently forecasting a pressure against budget of £200k, which follows a reduction in transaction numbers at the start of the financial year. Additional income of £1.08m has been factored into the budget, which also reflects the inflationary fee increases. In the first quarter, there has been a reduction in the number of transactions (-7%) and income is -2.1% lower than 2025/26 after quarter 1. There have been a number of factors impacting car park usage such as reduced consumer confidence, spells of hot weather and use of alternative transport methods which all impact parking transactions. The situation will be monitored closely over the next quarter.
108. Across parking services expenditure an underspend of £299k is projected. This is largely due to the impact of the business rates increases across council car parks not being as high as originally assumes as transitional relief has been awarded in year.
109. The net income from all parking sources is utilised to support the council’s highways and transport expenditure.
110. The key variance in the City Development directorate sits within the Communications budget. The saving identified to increase advertising revenue from the new contract continues to cause a pressure in 2026/27. Work has progressed to replace the bus shelters in order to fit new digital screens as well as gain planning permission where relevant. This process is ongoing. Without the minimum number of screens in operation however, revenue will not be generated. The pressure in 2026/27 is expected to be £713k.
111. Revenue from ANPR has an underspend of £40k, as although the camera equipment had not been functioning as required earlier in the year, they returned to operation again and the budget in now back on track.
Housing and Community Services
112. The directorate is forecasting an overspend at quarter 1 of £547k and the table below summarises the latest forecasts by service area.
|
|
2026/27 Budget
£’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance % |
|
Housing Services |
720 |
-250 |
-34.7 |
|
Healthy & Sustainable Homes |
295 |
-28 |
-9.5 |
|
Building Services |
-531 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
Communities |
6,690 |
+530 |
+7.9 |
|
Customer Services |
-498 |
+295 |
-59.2 |
|
TOTAL |
6,676 |
+547 |
+8.2 |
113. Housing Services are expecting an underspend for 2026/27 from the Homelessness and Resettlement budget of £240k from staff vacancies with a total underspend across all Housing services of £278k. Other budget savings will come from Housing related support of £170k subject to whether this is required to help those in need later in the year.
114. Income from the 4 council run hostels is currently below target due to vacancies greater than the 10% expected in the budget. This is partly offset by lower salary costs pending a restructure and regrading of a number of the hostel and ancillary staff. The total overspend is £69k which may change depending on when the restructure is agreed and implemented across the service.
115. There are other overspends of staffing and legal fees within the service. In particular this is due to resolving landlord lease agreements with the Yorhome letting agency involving the use of external solicitors (£40k) and a post within Housing Strategy working to create self build opportunities that should be funded from the capital receipts (£48k).
116. It is currently assumed that further budget savings will come from Housing related support of £170k subject to whether this is required to help those in need later in the year.
117. This will result in an overall underspend across Housing general fund totalling £250k.
118. There is currently a forecast to overspend by £825k which is caused in the main by unachieved savings targets from previous years. The largest variance is from the York Explore contract where a saving of £600k has still not been achieved following a lengthy process with the client, including the council undertaking a Libraries Assessment of Need (AON), as set out below.
119. The review of the library service has been taking place over the last couple of years, following a statutory process as set out under guidance by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The largest part of the process has included a city wide engagement to ask what people need from their local library service. This feedback was used alongside existing user trend data, the city's demographical demands and other demand measures to create a York Libraries Assessment of Need (AON).
120. The AON was then used as context to discuss with York Explore Library and Archives Mutual limited, who operate the Library and Archives service on behalf of the Council, to look at the options to make future savings under the terms of the operator contract.
121. The outcome of the process has concluded that in relation to options put forward given the role libraries will play in the future through the developing Neighbourhood Working Model, now is not the right time to make changes to the service.
122. In recognising the need to not progress the saving it will be necessary as part of the 2027/28 budget process to add back the saving as unavoidable growth totalling £600k.
123. There is a further £65k overspend within Community Safety as a result of the saving in this area not expected to be achieved.
124. Income from the crematorium is still down on budget. The prices and budget were increased by 5% in April and this is a difficult and competitive market. People are choosing alternatives to the traditional ceremony which are available at lower cost outside of the local authority run facility. Overall there is a forecast overspend totalling £288k but it should be noted that bereavement service is still contributing £1.68m surplus to general fund.
125. Customer Services have achieved a £100k saving in 2026/27 on staff costs but the Complaints and Web team are forecasting a £69k overspend from staffing and unbudgeted software and licences costs which are necessary for the service to operate.
126. The Registrars service is enjoying additional income through marriage bookings and should achieve an additional £62k to help offset the Bereavement Services overspend.
127. There have been identified some essential repairs needed at children’s and youth centres covering electrical safety, roofing, asbestos, boiler and fire safety. Not all the repairs have been completed as yet and the estimated total for all works is £45.5k
Housing Revenue Account
128. The Housing Revenue Account budget for 2026/27 was set as a net surplus of £2,755k prior to debt repayment due in 2027. There were carry forwards of £1,105k agreed as part of the outturn report meaning the revised budget stands at £1,650k surplus (excluding £10,600k debt repayment).
129. The current forecast is for a very minor underspend of £81k. It is still very early in the year to have any certainty over income levels but it looks like rent income is down due to an increase in vacant properties. Void levels are averaging 2.2% which is 1% above target. Garage rents are also down due to the number of blocks that are now in poor condition. The loss of income is estimated as £480k. Other income though has exceeded the budget with additional income coming from the Independent Living Centres service charges and leaseholder charges bringing in £198k extra.
130. Costs are also up as a programme of electrical installations is required to meet the social housing statutory obligations and is expected to cost £821k which is £442k higher than budget. All other budgets have been reset to match a repairs schedule that requires more efficient use of contractor resources. Rents and insurance are expected to be £121k above budget due to the cost of temporary accommodation properties and the additional cost of council tax payable on the void properties.
131. There are two vacant posts in the Housing leadership Team giving a saving of £156k which are partly being offset by additional software annual fees and above inflation statutory subscription costs of £100k
132. The final underspend is from interest costs as during the last 3 years some of the self financing loans have been paid off and no new loans taken out, a budget saving of £670k. The budget has not been reduced to reflect the reduced debt because new loans are expected in future as part of the strategic building programme. The HRA needs to be able to support the debt costs during the building phase prior to the gain in rental income offsetting the cost of borrowing.
Corporate and Central Services
133. The forecast outturn position for the remaining areas of the Council is a net underspend of £2,583k and the table below summarises the latest forecasts by service area.
|
|
2026/27 Budget
£’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance £’000 |
Forecast Outturn Variance % |
|
Director of Finance |
4,865 |
-612 |
-12.6 |
|
CO HR & Support Services |
11,880 |
+364 |
+3.1 |
|
Director of Governance |
4,428 |
+265 |
+6.0 |
|
Public Health |
125 |
-100 |
-80.0 |
|
Other Corporate & Treasury Mgt |
27,506 |
-2,500 |
-9.1 |
|
Total |
48,804 |
-2,583 |
-5.3 |
134. The underspend in Finance is driven by favourable variances in; External Audit £51k, Transactional Services £132k, AD Finance, £58k and Office of the Chief Executive £60k, which are compensating pressures in Property Services (£153k) and Business Intelligence (£72k) where plans to deliver savings allocated this year are still being finalised.
135. There is a forecast overspend in HR & Support Services of £364k. The £100k saving on Executive Support remains at risk, the postage budget within Business Support remains under pressure (£108k) and ICT is reporting a pressure largely driven by the loss of income from the IT support contract with Explore £100k. Work is still ongoing to further mitigate this position.
136. The overspend in Governance is largely caused by pressures in Legal Services: software licenses £39k and staffing £48k. The Information Governance team has a similar pressure on key software for the service (£57k).
137. Within Public Health the reserve stood at £635k at 31st March 2026. £623k has been drawn from the Public Health Grant Reserve to rebase starting budgets. The Q1 forecast shows a projected underspend of £215k against this budget which will be transferred to the reserve at the end of the year.
138. The main area of underspend is due to staffing vacancies in the core Public Health team
139. There are elements of the public health directorate that are funded from general fund primarily relating to domestic abuse, local area coordinators (LAC’s) and sports development. Alternative funding has been identified for a number of posts across the LAC’s and sports development which will deliver a £100k saving.
140. Across corporate budgets it is currently forecast that an underspend of £0.5m can be delivered.
141. Within Treasury Management the budget of £21.1m is forecast to underspend by £2m. This is following a review of the budget requirement following the 2025/26 outturn where borrowing was lower than forecast. This reduces both Minimum Revenue Provision charges in 2026/27 as well as interest charges.
142. There remains £500k set aside as a contingency and this is assumed to be used to offset other financial pressures across the council.
Performance – Service Delivery
143. This performance report is based upon the city outcome and council delivery indicators included in the Performance Framework for the Council Plan (2023-2027) which was launched in September 2023. Wider or historic strategic and operational performance information is published quarterly on the Council’s open data platform; www.yorkopendata.org.
144. The Executive for the Council Plan (2023-2027) agreed a core set of indicators to help monitor the Council priorities and these provide the structure for performance updates in this report. Some indicators are not measured on a quarterly basis and the DoT (Direction of Travel) is calculated on the latest three results whether they are annual or quarterly.
145. A summary of the city outcome and council delivery indicators by council plan theme are shown in the paragraphs below, and the latest data for all of the core indicator set can be seen in Annex 1.
Performance - Health and Wellbeing: A health generating city
146. Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) – This score (between 0 and 1) measures the proportion of all children (aged 0 to 15) living in income-deprived families in LSOAs. In 2025, York’s score of 0.24 means that 24% of children (aged 0 to 25) live in income-deprived families, which has increased from 2019 when it was 10% of children. Across Upper Tier Local Authorities (UTLA), nationally (out of 153 UTLAs), York is the 16th lowest score and regionally (out of 15 UTLAs), York’s is the lowest score.
147. Number of children in temporary accommodation – The number of households with dependent children living in temporary accommodation rose steadily from 26 at the start of 2024-25 to 35 by Q2 2025-26. The latter half of 2025-26 showed some reduction in need with 30 families housed in temporary accommodation at year-end (latest data). The number of children across the 30 families housed at year-end was 54 which is a reduction from 76 in Q2 where larger families were in need.
148. The total number of households in temporary accommodation has remained consistent throughout 2025-26 demonstrating there is now a smaller proportion of households with dependent children in this accommodation. This has reduced from 55% of households in Q2 to 48% at Q4 and is below the latest national rate of 64%. The majority of these children in York are in stable family setups, do not show evidence of achieving worse outcomes, and York continues to report no households with children housed in Bed and Breakfast accommodation at quarter end. Data for Q1 2026-27 will be available in November 2026.
150. % of reception year children recorded as being overweight (incl. obese) – The participation rates for the National Child Measurement Programmes (NCMP) in York for 2024-25 were 97.2% for reception aged children and 95% for Year 6 pupils. Data for 2025-26 will be available in November 2026.
· The 2024-25 NCMP found that 23.2% of reception aged children in York were overweight (including obese), compared with 23.5% in England and 25.9% in the Yorkshire and Humber region. York has the lowest rate of overweight (including obese) for reception aged children in the Yorkshire and Humber region. The rate in York has increased compared with 2023-24 (from 22.8% to 23.2%).
· Of Year 6 children in York, 34.7% were overweight (including obese) in 2024-25 compared with 36.2% in England and 37.9% in the Yorkshire and Humber region. York has the second lowest rate of overweight (including obese) for Year 6 children in the Yorkshire and Humber region. The rate in York has increased compared with 2023-24 (from 33.5% to 34.7%).
151. Slope index of inequality in life expectancy at birth – Average Life Expectancy for men in York (80.1 years) is above the England average (79.7 years). For women (84.0 years) it is also above the England average (83.5 years).
· Healthy Life Expectancy for men in York (60.8 years) is below the England average (60.9 years). For women (61.4 years) it is above the England average (61.3 years).
· The Slope Index of Inequality in life expectancy at birth measures the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas within a population. A higher value indicates a greater difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas, suggesting greater health inequalities. The first published values were for 2011-13.
· Between 2011-13 and 2022-24 the inequality in life expectancy for women, in York, has increased (worsened) from 6.2 years to 6.6 years. The English average is currently 8.0 years.
· Between 2011-13 and 2020-22 the inequality in life expectancy for men, in York, increased (worsened) from 6.6 years to 10.6 years. However, in the two most recent periods up to 2022-24 it has fallen (improved) to 8.9 years. The English average is currently 10.4 years.
152. % of adults (aged 16+) that are physically active – The latest data from the Adult Active Lives Survey for the period from mid-November 2024 to mid-November 2025 was published in April 2026. In York, 421 people aged 16 and over took part in the survey, and they reported higher levels of physical activity, and lower levels of physical inactivity, compared with the national and regional averages. Positively:
· 72.7% of people in York did more than 150 minutes of physical activity per week compared with 64.6% nationally and 63.7% regionally. There was a reduction in physical activity in York compared with the previous year (76.5%).
· 18.6% of people in York did fewer than 30 minutes per week compared with 24.7% nationally and 26.5% regionally. There was an increase in physical inactivity in York compared with the previous year (12.9%).
154. Percentage of people who use services who have control over their daily life – Older People – In 2024-25, 68% of older people in York that responded to the Adult Social Care Survey said that they had “as much control as they wanted” or “adequate” control over their daily life. This is lower than the corresponding percentages experienced by older people in the Y&H region and lower than for older people in England as a whole (both 74%). It has decreased in York from the 2023-24 figure (76%).
156. Health Inequalities in wards/MSOAs – The ‘health gap’ indicators show the difference between the wards/MSOAs with the highest and lowest values. A lower value is desirable as it indicates less variation in health outcomes based on where people live within the City. Trend data for these indicators helps to monitor whether the gaps are narrowing or widening over time.
· Gap in years in Life Expectancy (LE) at birth for Males between highest and lowest York MSOA (5 year aggregated) – The value for this indicator for the 5 year period 2019 to 2023 was 10.4 (the gap between the LE of 84.4 years in Bishopthorpe & Copmanthorpe and 74.0 years in Heworth South and the Groves). The gap has narrowed compared with the previous reporting period of 2016 to 2020 (from 11.7 years to 10.4 years).
· Gap in years in Life Expectancy (LE) at birth for Females between highest and lowest York MSOA (5 year aggregated) – The value for this indicator for the 5 year period 2019 to 2023 was 8.1 (the gap between the LE of 86.9 years in Heworth North and Stockton and 78.8 years in Westfield, Chapelfields and Foxwood). The gap has narrowed compared with the previous reporting period of 2016 to 2020 (from 11.1 years to 8.1 years).
· Absolute gap in % of children who reach expected level of development at 2-2.5 years of age between highest and lowest York ward (4 yr aggregated) - The value for this indicator for the 4 year period 2022-23 to 2025-26 was 13.6% (the difference between 98.8% in Copmanthorpe and 85.2% in Clifton). For the last three periods the value in the lowest rated ward (Clifton) has remained fairly steady at around 85% but the value in the highest rated ward (most recently Copmanthorpe) has risen to 98.8% which means the gap has increased.
· Absolute gap in % of Year 6 recorded overweight (incl. obesity) between the highest and lowest York ward (3 year aggregated) - The value for this indicator for the 3 year period 2022-23 to 2024-25 was 18.5 percentage points (the gap between 43.1% in Westfield and 24.6% in Micklegate). The gap has narrowed compared with the previous reporting period (from 22.8% to 18.5%).
· Absolute gap in % of children totally or partially breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks between highest and lowest York ward (4 year aggregated ward data) - The value for this indicator for the 4 year period 2022-23 to 2025-26 was 34.3% (the gap between 80.6% in Micklegate and 46.3% in Westfield). For the last four periods the value in the highest rated ward (most recently Micklegate) has remained fairly steady at around 80% whilst the value in the lowest rated ward (Westfield) has improved from 40.8% to 46.3% so the gap has narrowed.
157. Children and young people in care per 10k, excluding short breaks – At the end of June 2026, 225 children and young people were in York’s care. As a rate per 10k population, this is just below the National average (2024-25) and within York’s expected range. Separated children (also known as ‘UASC’), a sub-group of children in care, are expected to increase in number in York due to the National Transfer Scheme. The scheme mandates that “the Home Office will not transfer UASC to an authority that is already looking after UASC in line with, or greater than, 0.1% of their child population”. For York, this is equivalent to approximately 34 young people based on current population. At the end of June 2026, 14 separated children were in York’s care, compared to 15 at the end of March 2026.
158. Children subject to a Child Protection Plan – 149 children were the subject of a Child Protection Plan at the end of June 2026, which is higher than York’s expected range. As a rate per 10k population, York (at 42.6) is above the National average (40.6 in 2024-25).
Performance - Education and Skills: High quality skills and learning for all
160. % of working age population qualified to at least L4 and above – In 2025-26, 53.8% of the working age population in York were qualified to at least L4 and above (certificate of higher education or equivalent), which is higher than the national and regional figures (48.6% and 41.1% respectively). This result ranks the city of York fourth regionally. The 2025-26 figure is a decrease from 2024-25 (59.6%).
161. % of pupils achieving 9-4 or above in English and Maths at KS4 – Data shows that 74.4% of Year 11s in York achieved grade 4+ in English and Maths in summer 2025, compared to 65.2% of pupils Nationally.
162. % of children who have achieved a Good Level of Development at Foundation Stage – Data shows that 71.4% of 5-year-olds in York achieved a Good Level of Development in summer 2025, compared to 68.3% of pupils nationally and 66.3% in Yorkshire and Humber.
163. Free School Meals (FSM) – There has been a slight increase in the percentage of children who are eligible for a free school meal in the primary sector (18.3% in 2025-26 compared to 17.5% in 2024-25) but a small decrease in the percentage of children taking a free school meal (14% in 2025-26 compared to 14.6% in 2024-25). There has been a slight increase in the percentage of children who are eligible for a free school meal in the secondary sector (17.5% in 2025-26 compared to 16.5% in 2024-25) and a small increase in the percentage of children taking a free school meal (11.2% in 2025-26 compared to 11.1% in 2024-25).
164. From September 2026, FSM eligibility is moving to a 2-tiered system:
· Targeted FSM - Families with earnings of £7,400 or less on Universal Credit. Pupils will receive a free school meal, and the school will receive Pupil Premium funding.
· Expanded FSM – Families receiving Universal Credit with earnings above £7,400. Pupils will receive a free school meal, but the school won’t receive Pupil Premium funding for these children.
Performance - Economy: A fair, thriving, green economy for all
165. Universal Credit Claimants – At the end of May 2026 there were 15,651 people, in York, on Universal Credit. This is the highest figure to date, surpassing the previous high of 15,630 in December 2025. The figures dropped to a low of 11,054 in May 2022 but they had been steadily increasing since then. This (claimant total) represents 12% of the working population in York, compared to 23% regionally and 20% nationally.
166. There are two types of claimant: those in employment (PAYE) or self-employment and those not in employment. Both types had been gradually increasing in the last 12 months however both numbers appear to have peaked possibly as all claimants of health-related legacy benefits (e.g. Employment and Support Allowance) have migrated across to Universal Credit.
167. The percentage of claimants in employment or self-employment has consistently been higher than both regional and national percentages. This may be a result of a higher prevalence of employees in the lower paid sectors such as retail, care and hospitality, with York’s percentage of employees within these sectors (c20%) being higher than 16% nationally and 15% regionally.
168. Earnings gap between the 25 percentile and the median (£) – In York, the latest figures suggest that median earnings have increased by 4.7% and the 25 percentile earnings have increased by 7.4%, and this means that the earnings gap has decreased by 3.5%, in 2025, to £175.90. Nationally, there has been an increase of 5.3% to £172.70 and regionally an increase of 6.4% to £154.80. Data for 2026 will be available in November 2026.
170. % of vacant city centre shops – At the end of June 2026, there were 38 vacant shops in the city centre which equates to 6.1% of all city centre shops. This is one more than at the same point in 2025 and much lower than the latest national benchmark in 2025-26 of 13.4%.
171. GVA per head (£) – In 2023-24, the GVA per head in York was £41,162 which was the second highest figure regionally. This latest figure is an increase from last year (£37,748). Annually since 2009-10, the GVA per head has generally been increasing (from £25,976 per head). Data for 2024-25 will be available in September 2026.
172. % of working age population in employment (16-64) – In Q4 2025-26, 79.9% of the working age population were in employment, which is higher than the national and regional figures (75.5% and 73.3% respectively) and the York performance gives the city a ranking of first regionally. The figure for Q4 2025-26 in York remains high compared to previous years.
174. Survival of Newly Born Businesses post 1 year – The survival rate post 1 year has been consistently around 94% in York for the last 4 years, with the latest figure of 95.0% in 2023-24. The York figures have been consistently higher than the National and Regional rates (93.4% and 92.5% respectively).
Performance – Transport: Sustainable accessible transport for all
175. The transport data within this report is mainly a number of existing annual measures, and while high-level datasets provide a general understanding of the challenges and direction in the city, they are not detailed enough to draw full conclusions for Transport Policy and local schemes. Therefore collectively, across departments, the Council are looking into improving data provision from its existing network of cameras and assets to help assist policy decisions, as well as exploring the cost and accuracy of providers of new technology. This data will be surfaced in other transport documents and on York Open Data where appropriate rather than detailed within the main Council Plan performance framework.
176. Bus Passenger Journeys– Passenger journeys for park and ride customers totalled 0.92m during Q1 2026-27, which is higher than 0.87m at the end of Q1 2025-26. Bus usage in this area has increased consistently year on year since lows seen during the pandemic.
177. Passenger journeys on other local providers dropped a little in the last financial year from 10.2m in 2024-25 to 10m in 2025-26. Journeys taken have picked up again during Q1 2026-27 and were 2.39m compared to 2.35m for the same period the previous year.
178. Although a strong recovery has been made to bus usage post-covid, the long-term behavioural and lifestyle changes of increased online shopping and hybrid working are likely to continue re-shaping the use of public transport. In recent years, journeys appear to have stabilised, suggesting the emergence of a new baseline for demand. Bus passenger numbers are affected by a number of factors and the increase in the bus fare cap from £2 to £3 at the beginning of 2025 is likely to have had some impact alongside the potential impact of increased parking changes, encouraging more people to switch from driving to using the bus. When looking at the latest national data for 2024-25, York services delivered 71.4 journeys per head of population compared to 62.4 nationally and 41.3 for the region. 2025-26 figures are due to be released at the end of 2026.
179. Area Wide Traffic Levels – Between 2011-12 and 2016-17, the number of vehicles on the city’s roads increased year on year to a high of 2.2 million. Following this, the numbers decreased to a low of 1.75m in 2020-21. However, the covid pandemic brought with it numerous national lockdowns and local restrictions so the decrease in traffic levels was to be expected. Since then, figures increased to 2.08m in 2022-23 and have remained fairly comparable since. The latest figure is 2.03m vehicles in 2025-26.
180. The area wide traffic levels come from CYC’s network of automatic traffic counters, covering 15 sites (main A and B roads in York, but not including the A64). Further information for this indicator can be accessed on the York Open Data platform. This data is different from the public DFT data on traffic levels, which is collected on an annual or bi-annual basis by the National Data Company NDC and subsequently published by the DFT on its website.
181. Index of pedestrians walking to and from the City Centre – Walking data is collected over a 12 hour period once per year (a count of pedestrians crossing an inner cordon set just beyond the inner ring road and includes off-road routes such as riverside paths) and there is a valuable record going back many years. Whilst this provides us with part of the picture, the limited nature of the data (that it is only collected on one day) mean that other variables such as the weather and roadworks can have undue influence. In response to this we are exploring other methods to monitor walking, wheeling and cycling across the network, including modern counters.
182. From a baseline in 2009 (36,919), our annual 12 hour pedestrian count recorded a 29% increase in pedestrians compared to 2024 and a 30% increase compared to the baseline year of 2009. This is likely to have been heavily influenced by the weather, which was fine and dry in 2025 compared to the wet day for measurements in 2024.
183. % of customers arriving at York station by sustainable modes of transport –The data is usually gathered by an annual survey which takes place for a five-hour period in seven locations around the station. Members of the public are asked how they arrive at the station and the results are flow weighted to take into account the split of people arriving at each entrance. To support this survey, which can be impacted by weather and other factors, we are exploring further methods to monitor sustainable travel to the station including modern counters.
184. In 2025, 61% of customers arrived at York station by sustainable modes of transport which is a large decrease from 79% in 2024. The drop could be due to the ongoing works taking place at the front and back of the station.
186. From a baseline taken in 2010, cycling figures increased year on year until 2014, where a high of 18% above baseline was achieved. Annual figures from 2014 then slowly started to fall until prior to the pandemic (2019) where cycling levels in the city were around 13% above the baseline. During the pandemic, figures then fell significantly then remained comparable until 2022. The latest data for 2025 shows an increase in cycling activity to 3% above the baseline. This shows a 6.7% increase in cycling levels between 2024 and 2025, which may be linked to the increased parking charges introduced in 2025 and the fine weather experienced throughout much of 2025.
· 26% of people in York cycled at least twice in the last 28 days compared with 15.5% nationally and 13% regionally.
· 68% of people in York walked at least twice in the last 28 days compared with 62% nationally and regionally.
188. The number of CYC electric vehicle recharging points – There were 103 CYC electric recharging points at the end of Q1 2026-27, which is the same as at the end of 2025-26.
189. The Department for Transport have made improvements to data collections on the provision of EV chargers moving from tracking charging devices (which can have more than one charging connector attached) to tracking individual chargers. This is to provide a better understanding of total charging capacity both nationally and at a local level.
190. Statistics are based on an industry source (Zapmap) which is collated from the main networks and operators in the public EV charging space and will exclude any non-operational devices undergoing maintenance work. Two periods of data have been published so far and show the following performance for York.
191. There were 255 publicly available chargers in York at the end of Q4 2025-26 which was the same as Q3. This is rate of 122 chargers per 100,000 people in York, compared to 172 nationally and 110 regionally. When looking at 50kW+ chargers, for rapid or ultra-rapid charging, there were 92 in York at the end of Q4 increasing from 77 in Q3. York was above benchmarks for rapid chargers with 44 chargers per 100,000, compared to 40 nationally and 35 regionally. Q1 data is due in August.
193. The percentage of non-principal roads in York, from local figures, where maintenance should be considered was 20% in 2025-26 (a large decrease from 33% in 2024-25). Like the above indicator, there are two processes for collecting this indicator, a local one for providing the figures above, and a one-off SCANNER survey which is used by the DfT for benchmarking. The latest York figure for SCANNER is 4% for non-principal roads in 2024-25 which is lower than the latest benchmarks in 2023-24 (National average 7% and Regional average 4%).
194. There has been a minor change in the survey methodology in that we are now using the latest model ‘asphalt condition’, which has replaced or refined the previous ‘road surface condition’ model. Road condition is split into Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor categories and essentially the new model tries to better distinguish Poor roads where the score has deducted down to zero – i.e. some Poor roads are better than others. The new model (2025/26) has slightly affected the proportions with a general ‘damping down’ of overall figures for Excellent/Good, but more strikingly a very different relationship (more realistic) between Fair and Poor which causes the changes in figures between 2024/25 and 2025/26. We have confidence in the newest version of the model and highways feel this is more representative of the network. A graph which shows more detail on the road condition splits is included below.
Performance – Housing: Increasing the supply of affordable housing
195. Number of new affordable homes delivered in York – An acceleration in affordable housing completions was seen in the second half of 2025-26, with a combination of the council’s Housing Delivery Programme and section 106 completions providing much needed, high quality new build homes for residents in housing need. Nevertheless, during 2025-26, affordable housing completions remain significantly below the identified level of need (193 affordable homes have been delivered in 2025-26). National scale challenges are facing many areas with buoyant housing markets such as a shortage of sites for affordable housing and labour and supply chain constraints, and these have affected delivery in York. The council itself is maximising delivery opportunities currently and will access a range of funding opportunities for direct delivery in addition to maximising provision through Section 106 planning agreements.
196. There is a significant and growing future pipeline of affordable homes with planning permission in place across the council's own newbuild development programme and section 106 planning gain negotiated affordable housing. This has been supported by the implementation of the council’s Adopted Local Plan. The work to accelerate delivery at the York Central site further enhances the future delivery pipeline.
197. The Government and Combined Authority have stated that housing supply, and affordable homes in particular, are amongst its key delivery priorities and the council will take advantage of new opportunities in this climate wherever possible. Data for Q1 2026-27 will be available in September 2026.
199. New data processes put in place by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government caused a temporary interruption to the supply of EPC certificate information while internal processes were realigned to new data sourcing. Progress updates for this area are now available again, however, whilst moving platforms MHCLG carried out a series of data quality improvements, such as removing duplicated or cancelled certificates, which resulted in fewer records carrying across. For York this has meant around 7,500 less properties with information available.
200. When looking at the certificates at the end of April 2026, the % of properties on the register for York with an EPC rating of A-C was 48.8%, this is a slight uplift from 47% in Q4 and may have been influenced by the changes in data sourcing. Although this measure has increased incrementally month on month since CYC began reporting on the information in March 2023 when 42% of properties were rated A-C. The largest changes in York continue to be in the middle categories with around 6% less properties rated D-E and around 5% more rated C. Data is based on the last recorded certificate for 57,165 properties on the register for York in April, some of which will have been last assessed more than ten years ago (64,744 properties previously).
201. When looking at certificates updated in the last quarter only (Q1), 1,592 new certificates were lodged for York and 62% of these were rated A-C compared to 61% for the region and 65% nationally for the same period. Data for Q2 2026-27 will be available in October 2026.
202. Net Additional Homes – Between 1st April 2025 and 30th September 2025, a total of 549 net additional homes were completed. Data for the full year 2025-26 will be available in September 2026.
· This includes the following:
o 541 new build homes
o 10 were a result of changes from other uses to residential homes
o 2 homes were demolished during the monitoring period
· In terms of the type of sites that were developed:
o 227 homes were completed on housing sites (Use Class C3)
o 21 homes were over 55s accommodation
o 300 were additional off campus, privately managed student accommodation
203. Net Housing Consents – Planning applications determined during the monitoring period of 1st April 2025 to 30th September 2025 resulted in the approval of 162 net additional homes. Data for the full year 2025-26 will be available in September 2026.
· The main features of the housing approvals are:
o 143 of all net homes consented were granted on housing sites (Use Class C3).
o 19 consents were due to the relaxation of Permitted Development Rights
205. Of the 30 households with children in temporary accommodation at quarter end, all were recorded as accommodated in hostels, this will generally be James House which is designated accommodation for families. Everyone who is homeless and in temporary accommodation will have a support worker to guide them through the process of finding and keeping future accommodation along with help for budgeting, debt advice, independent living skills, tenancy management and completion of actions on a personal housing plan. York continues to report no households with children housed in Bed and Breakfast accommodation at quarter end.
206. When looking at the total number of households in temporary accommodation per households in area (000s), York continues to perform positively compared to benchmarks at Q4 (0.7 in York compared to 5.5 Nationally and 1.68 Regionally). Q1 2026-27 data will be available in November 2026.
207. Number of people sleeping rough – A monthly count of people sleeping rough takes place on the last Thursday of each month. Navigators carry out an early morning street walk checking known rough sleeping hot spots and responding to intelligence or reports of rough sleepers.
· The latest figure shows that there were 18 people sleeping rough in York in June 2026, which is lower than the 23 people in June 2025.
o Of the 18 people, 11 had no local connection (those who have no family or friends connection to York)
o 2 people were in the category of ‘Accommodation Available (Local Connection)’ – those where accommodation is available but hasn’t been returned to, this can be for a number of reasons including: substance abuse, intoxication, mental health, socialising/street drinking or seeking public donations in the night-time economy. The majority are from York or at least have a Local Connection to York via a family member.
o A further 5 people were in the category of ‘Actual Rough Sleeping (Local Connection)’ – those who are from York with no accommodation available or are not willing to accept accommodation.
208. HMO’s as % of properties in York – The estimate of the proportion of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) divided by the total number of dwellings within York in 2024-25 has remained comparable to last year at 4.3% which is the 3rd highest in the region, behind Leeds and Sheffield. The average for England is 1.5% and regionally it is 1.6%. It is not surprising that the levels are higher in university cities as a recent survey suggests that 7 in 10 students live in a privately rented HMO house while studying in the UK. A HMO is defined as an entire house, flat or converted building which is let to three or more persons who form two or more households and who share facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom and toilet. Data for 2025-26 will be available in June 2027.
209. % of dwellings failing to meet the decent homes standard – At the end of 2024-25, 144 council properties were considered to be non-decent which was 2% of council housing stock. This was below the national benchmark of 3.2% reported by the regulator for social housing for 2024-25 but a slight increase from 1.9% the year before following home improvements surfacing during the 2024 housing stock condition survey. New and improved housing information enabled the council to act on works needed and following this, provisional year-end numbers for 2025-26 indicate a subsequent reduction in non-decent homes. Final figures are currently being validated and will available in the next monitor.
210. % of repairs completed on first visit – The percentage of repairs completed on the first visit was 81.2% in 2025-26, compared to 80.4% in 2024-25. The latest figure of 81.9% in Q1 2026-27 remains high.
211. Number of void properties – There were 55 void properties at the end of March 2025 but this has now increased to 104 at the end of June 2026.
212. Void properties form a critical part of the Council’s housing service, directly affecting housing supply, tenant wellbeing, and the efficient use of stock. Reducing void times remains a priority to maximise the availability of homes while ensuring properties are safe, compliant, and meet lettable standards.
213. % of tenants satisfied that their landlord provides a home that is well maintained – Survey responses collected in 2025-26 reflected that 65% of tenants were satisfied that the council provided a well maintained home, increasing from 56% the previous year. This measure is one of the satisfaction measures collected for the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH). The latest national figures reported by the RSH for 2024-25 show that 68% were satisfied in this area. 2025-26 benchmarking is due in November 2026.
214. Results from the 2025-26 tenant survey reflected improved satisfaction with the services provided, of between 3-12% across all measures monitored by the regulator. York continues to focus on key compliance rates for gas, fire, lift, asbestos and water hygiene safety across housing stock.
Performance - Sustainability: Cutting carbon, enhancing the environment for our future
215. Average of maximum annual mean Nitrogen Dioxide concentration recorded across three areas of technical breach – With the exception of 2024 (and 2020 during the pandemic), CYC’s air quality monitoring network has previously demonstrated sustained exceedances of the health-based nitrogen dioxide objective of 40µg/m3 in 3 areas of the city, namely Gillygate/Lord Mayor’s Walk, Blossom Street/Holgate Road and Rougier Street/George Hudson Street. These are referred to as ‘technical breach areas’ and fall within CYC’s Air Quality Management Area.
216. Whilst not all monitoring points within these areas are exceeding health-based standards, there has previously been at least one monitor at a point of relevant public exposure within each area that is above the annual mean objective of 40µg/m3. This indicator considers an average of the maximum annual mean concentrations of NO2 in these three areas.
217. As can be seen from the graph above:
· Projections undertaken during development of CYC’s Fourth Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP4) suggested that it might take until 2026 for this indicator to fall below the health-based objective of 40µg/m3. The rate of improvement observed in York between 2022-2025 has significantly exceeded that observed in earlier years from 2012-2022 (which was around 2.5% improvement a year over 10 years).
· The AQAP4 target was met in 2025 and the indicator is well within the 40µg/m3 objective. This is a positive result.
218. Measures such as the introduction of electric buses (and other types of electric vehicle) across the network in recent years have undoubtedly contributed to this ongoing success. Additionally in 2025, air quality in Gillygate improved further as a result of the signal trial. In line with commitments in AQAP4, CYC aims to improve air quality further in all areas to improve public health.
219. Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting – The latest provisional data for the proportion of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting was 37.9% in 2025-26, which is a decrease from 40.8% in 2024-25. The percentage of “dry recycling” (recycling excluding composting) of all household waste decreased to 21.9% from 22.7% last year and the percentage of composting decreased to 15.7% from 17.8% last year. The fall in composting was predominantly in Q1 when there were some issues with the return to services following the planned maintenance at Allerton Park. There was a decrease in the total household waste collected to 831kg per household from last year (855kg). There was a small reduction in reuse, recycling or composting waste per household (315kg from 349kg in 2024-25), but residual (approx. non-recycling) household waste increased to 516kg per household from last year (507kg).
220. Level of CO2 emissions across the city and from council buildings and operations – Emissions associated with the council’s scope 1 operations (heating and fleet) have reduced over the last 12 months, due to the work underway to improve the efficiency of our buildings and fleet electrification. However, as a result of the ongoing electrification of the fleet, emissions associated with electricity usage have increased. We continue to increase the volume and accuracy of data in our reporting methodology, with these improvements leading to an increase in our Scope 3 emissions. Fully understanding our emissions is an important step in managing and mitigating our impact. Further details are available here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s179414/Report.pdf.
221. City-wide emissions have reduced by 16.4% over the last two years (up to 2023) and have halved since 2005. The latest available data shows that emissions are now below the lowest point during the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive downward trajectory demonstrates potential for decoupling economic growth and emissions; however, we still need to accelerate and expand our efforts to meet our net zero by 2030 ambition. Further details are available here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s179439/EMDS_City%20Wide%20Emissions%202024.pdf
222. % of Talkabout panel satisfied with their local area as a place to live – The first bi-annual resident satisfaction survey taken by the Talkabout panel took place during Q1 2026-27. Results from the Q1 2026-27 Talkabout survey showed that 81% of the panel were satisfied with York as a place to live, a three percentage point decrease from the previous survey. 82% were satisfied with their local area, which is unchanged from the previous two rounds, and higher than the Community Life Survey result from 2024-25 (73%).
225. During 2025-26, CYC planted 54 standards within the city’s highway verges, parks and open spaces.
226. % of Talkabout panel who think that the council are doing well at improving green spaces to help biodiversity and mitigate climate change – The results for Q1 2026-27 showed that 48% of respondents agreed the Council and its partners are doing well at improving green spaces, an increase from 40% in the previous round of the survey.
Performance – How the council will operate
227. FOI and EIR – % of requests responded to in-time (YTD) – 94.8% of FOI and EIR requests were responded to in-time during 2025-26. The latest figure is 95.7% in Q1 2026-27 which remains high.
228. % of 4Cs complaints responded to in-time – There has been a large decrease in the number of corporate complaints received over recent years with 743 received in 2025-26 (compared to 1,054 in 2024-25 and 1,310 in 2023-24). However, the percentage of corporate complaints responded to in time during 2025-26 was 51.1% which is much lower than 70.1% in 2024-25. Data for Q1 2026-27 will be available in September 2026.
229. During the last year there have been challenges with filling vacancies in the team which has caused delays in responding to complaints and a back log to form which has been difficult to manage without being fully staffed. Capacity remains an issue with ongoing recruitment and long-term staff illness affecting the performance of complaints management however having brought in additional temporary resourcing in the area this is starting to improve.
230. In addition to this, some enhancements have been made to CYC website to reduce the number of cases received and administered by the complaints team which are considered to be business as usual requests. Whilst this doesn’t affect complaint volumes it has led to increased capacity for complaint handlers to manage complaints and improve timeliness.
231. Permanent recruitment to bring the team back to full capacity is underway. It is expected that although this may initially cause numbers to increase as cases are logged it will then lead to further stabilising of the back log with recording and response times returning to more usual standards for the council. CYC continues to operate out-with the LGSCO complaint handling code timescales with most corporate complaints. Statutory Adults, Children’s, and Housing complaints are prioritised and are shared with services within timescales.
233. Average sickness days per full time equivalent (FTE) employee – At the end of June 2026, the average number of sickness days per FTE (rolling 12 months) was 12.3 days (compared to 11.8 days in June 2025). The latest benchmarks show that the CIPD public sector benchmark is 13.3 days per FTE, putting us just below national trends.
234. York Customer Centre average speed of answer – Phones were answered, on average, in 2 minutes and 25 seconds during Q1 2026-27 by the York Customer Centre. This is slower than in 2025-26 (2 minutes and 11 seconds) and in the previous few years.
Consultation Analysis
235. Not applicable
Options Analysis and
Evidential Basis
236. Not applicable
Organisational
Impact and Implications
237. The recommendations in the report potentially have implications across several areas. However, at this stage
· Financial implications – These are contained throughout the main body of the report. The actions and recommendations contained in this report should ensure the continued financial stability and resilience of the Council both in the current year and in future years.
· Human Resources (HR) – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
· Legal – The Council is under a statutory obligation to set a balanced budget on an annual basis. Under the Local Government Act 2003 it is required to monitor its budget during the financial year and take remedial action to address overspending and/or shortfalls of income.
· Procurement – There are no specific procurement implications to this report.
· Health and Wellbeing – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
· Environment and Climate action – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
· Affordability – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
· Equalities and Human Rights – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
· Data Protection and Privacy – There are no implications related to the recommendations.
· Communications – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
· Economy – There are no direct implications related to the recommendations.
Risks and Mitigations
238. An assessment of risks is completed as part of the annual budget setting exercise. These risks are managed effectively through regular reporting and corrective action being taken where necessary and appropriate.
Wards Impacted
239. All
Contact details
For further information please contact the authors of this report.
Author
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Name: |
Patrick Looker |
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Job Title: |
Assistant Director of Finance |
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Service Area: |
Finance |
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Report approved: |
Debbie Mitchell |
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Date: |
27 August 2026 |
Co-author
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Name: |
Ian Cunningham |
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Job Title: |
Head of Business Intelligence |
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Service Area: |
Finance |
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E-mail: |
Annexes
Annex 1: Quarter 1 Performance Tables - City Outcomes and Council Delivery Indicators 2023-2027
Glossary of abbreviations used in the report
AON Assessment of Need
AQAP Air Quality Action Plan
ASC Adult Social Care
ANPR Automatic Number Plate Recognition
ASF Adult Skills Fund
C&E Children and Education
CHC Continuing Healthcare
CIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
CO Chief Officer
CSB Community Support Budget
CQC Care Quality Commission
CYC City of York Council
D2A Discharge to Assess
DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport
DFT Department for Transport
DP Direct Payments
DSG Dedicated Schools Grant
EGAP Energy Generation Accelerator Programme
EHCP Education, Health and Care Plan
EIR Environmental Information Regulations
EPC Energy Performance Certificate
EV Electric Vehicle
FOI Freedom of Information
FSM Free School Meals
FTE Full Time Equivalent
GBC Good Business Charter
GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education
GVA Gross Value Added
HMO Homes in Multiple Occupation
HR Human Resources
HRA Housing Revenue Account
HWRC Household Waste Recycling Centre
ICB Integrated Care Board
ICT Information and Communications Technology
IDACI Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index
IFA Independent Fostering Agency
KS4 Key Stage 4
LA Local Authority
LAC Local Area Coordinator
LD Learning Disability
LE Life Expectancy
LSOA Lower Super Output Areas
MRP Minimum Revenue Provision
MSOA Middle Layer Super Output Area
NCMP National Child Measurement Programmes
NDC National Data Company
NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide
OP Older People
PAYE Pay As You Earn
P&R Park & Ride
PH Public Health
PFI Private Finance Initiative
P&SI Physical & Sensory Impairment
SEND Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
SL Supported Living
UASC Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children
UTLA Upper Tier Local Authority
WWY Work With York
Y&H Yorkshire & The Humber
YNYCA York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority