Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mason, Nelson, and Nicholls, who were substituted by Councillors Vassie, Wells, and Steward respectively.

At this point in the meeting, Members and co-opted members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see the attached sheet for further guidance for Members.]

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

Councillor Cuthbertson declared an interest in item 4, City Of York Safeguarding Adults Safeguarding Board Annual Report 2024/25, in that he was a Governor of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT).

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines are set as 2 working days before the meeting, in order to facilitate the management of public participation at our meetings. The deadline for registering at this meeting is 5:00pm on Monday, 13 April 2026.

To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill in an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting, please contact Democratic Services. Contact details can be found at the foot of this agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The meeting can be viewed live and on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

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

This Annual Report discusses the work of the members of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board to carry out and deliver the objectives of the strategic plan during the year 2024/25.

The Corporate Director – Adults and Integration, noted that she was in attendance representing the three statutory partners on the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board (CYSAB).

The Independent Chair of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board presented the presentation, as seen in Annex D to the report, and noted that the Board now had a manager in place who could help progress work in safeguarding and that this recruitment was a pivotal moment for the Board.

The Independent Chair of the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board reported that the Care Act 2014 was the first time the Safeguarding Board was made statutory, and that many Local Authorities already had Boards in place before this. The three main statutory roles were reported as: Publishing a strategic plan each financial year, publishing an annual report, arranging a safeguarding adult review where a person had died or had experienced serious abuse or neglect and there was reason to believe agencies could have worked better together to safeguard the person; everybody had a duty to raise concerns. The Independent Chair then highlighted duties set out within the Care Act 2014.

The Independent Chair noted that the Board strengthened its membership of the Board in 2025 to ensure involvement of front-line staff who were experiencing safeguarding; and outlined partners of CYSAB.

The Independent Chair then discussed achievements of CYSAB in 2024-25, as seen in the report, and highlighted key elements of the New Strategy for 2025-2028, including incoming changes to National Care Reforms introduced by Baroness Casey stating that there needed to be stronger role of the National Safeguarding Board; Local Board’s would need to align their reporting data to national priorities, and CYSAB would self-asses itself against expectations from the National Board.

The Independent Chair noted that these changes would put CYSAB on a similar footing to Children’s services which would be a positive improvement for Adult Safeguarding.

In response to questions from members, the Independent Chair of CYSAB, Corporate Director – Adults and Integration, Assistant Director of Adults Safeguarding, and Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care confirmed that:

·      Consent had been received for all images used within the Annual Report (Annex A).

·      The Board was not linked directly with all housing or resident associations, but there was a board member who was linked through Housing Services.

·      There was a strong relationship between Local Area Coordination and Safeguarding, and Cuckooing/Home Invasion was picked up within work streams; Work was ongoing to “widen the funnel” of reporting and improve the effectiveness of picking up on safeguarding concerns.

·      In order to ensure information received was not duplicated, there was an expectation that the first agency involved in a case would share the relevant information with partners; this process ensures that the individual would not need to share the information multiple different times to different agencies. Unique identifiers such as NHS numbers could assist with catching duplicated information.

·      Adult Safeguarding sat in a different legislative area than Children’s Safeguarding as Adults  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To consider the Committee’s work plan for the upcoming municipal year.

The Scrutiny Officer informed members that there was an informal work planning session to be scheduled by June 2026, looking ahead to the new municipal year. He also reported that there was an all-member scrutiny briefing session on 16 April 2026, including briefings on school attendance and the attainment gap.

The Chair and Vice-Chair updated members on the progress of the Task and Finish Group on Housing Repairs, reporting that it was expected to be brought to the Committee’s next meeting.

Resolved:

·      That Members considered and agreed the Committee’s draft work plan.

Reason: To ensure that the Committee maintains an appropriate programme of work.