North Yorkshire Council
Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee
15 December 2025
Update on Transformation Portfolio
Report of the Corporate Director for Resources
1. PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1. To update the Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the progress of the transformation activity within the council, including progress with the convergence of services, associated restructures, and the development of an updated Transformation Strategy for the Council.
2. SUMMARY/INTRODUCTION
2.1. The Transformation Portfolio of activity continues to progress at pace. A large number of services have made considerable advancement on their convergence journey which leaves the council well placed to move on to its next phase of transformation.
2.2. A large amount of activity has been undertaken in developing the council’s strategic approach to Transformation, Technology, Data and AI. Associated strategies are going through internal approvals, with the aim of ensuring that the council is best placed to leverage these critical enablers and maximise the opportunities they bring for the organisation and our residents.
3. Transformation Portfolio Update
3.1. Work in the portfolio is spread across three key areas; Cross-Cutting themes, Delivering the Target Operating Model and Service Specific programmes of work. The paragraphs below set out an update on some of the progress since the last report to the Committee.
Cross Cutting Themes
3.2. Customer Theme
The Customer Programme has undergone a full reset and will be positioned as a multi-year transformation delivered across three phases:
· Foundations
· Build & Scale
· Optimise
3.3 Key deliverables and milestones are being defined for each phase and will be monitored by the customer programme board. Within the programme progress has continued with the Customer Experience Strategy now approved and procurement of a new Customer Relationship Management platform has been completed. The supplier has begun mobilisation and is working with the council’s project team to develop a joint implementation plan for its roll out across the council in line with the phases mentioned above. Work is also underway to look at the council’s telephony solution with the business case developed and documentation prepared for procurement assurance.
3.4 The Way We Will Work
As early work within the programme focussed on dealing with the initial issues caused as a result of the legacy councils coming together it is now being re-framed to improve the productivity of our people and reduce operating costs by creating modern, flexible and inclusive working environment. It will embed a values-led culture that champions collaboration, accountability and innovation ensuring we work as One Council to deliver efficient, customer focussed services. A high level scope for this activity is being brought forward to the Management Board in December.
3.5 Service Convergence
Since the establishment of the programme 2 years ago, it has successfully overseen and tracked the bringing together of the budgets, policies and processes, customer, data and performance information, staffing structures and systems across 46 services. Notwithstanding the completion of some remaining complex system projects, the convergence against these categories has now been largely achieved. During this period, many system consolidations and upgrades have been successfully completed including:
· The launch of a new Destination Management System to support the strategic change to the management of Tourism across North Yorkshire and the promotion of North Yorkshire as a destination.
· Consolidation and rationalisation of printer contracts, reducing the cost of printing and have a consistent approach for staff moving between work locations.
· The implementation of a single case management system in the Legal Services team with all historical data transferred.
· The implementation of a single committee management system for the Democratic Service team, with all legacy data transferred.
· The implementation of a single asset management solution for social housing repairs and maintenance.
· The launch of a unified housing allocations scheme, supported by a back-end system.
· The migration of all homelessness data into a single database, for visibility across the whole county.
· Migration of all 7 legacy Revenues & Benefits systems onto a single system with aligned processes, procedures and reporting that will enable further transformation within the service.
· The implementation of a single fleet telematics device and software solution for all of our commercial fleet.
3.6 Work is ongoing on several other projects, including:
· Procurement and implementation of over 400 new Parking Machines with associated signage (by June 2026) and parking apps (July 2026) as well as a new Parking Permit and Enforcement system (April 2026).
· The consolidation of Trading Standards data onto a single system (Environmental Health & Licencing migrations have recently been completed), supported by a customer portal (by June 2026).
· Migration of Planning services onto a single system, with the former Harrogate Planning team and the whole of the Building Control function already migrated, with the remainder moving over in a staggered fashion (by autumn 2026)
· The establishment of a replacement case management system for HR/Payroll on a new long-term platform (by Dec 2026)
· The migration and rationalisation of customer forms and processes from ageing and deprecated legacy customer systems onto a sustainable solution (by spring 2027)
· Migration, archival or deletion of data held on legacy council servers infrastructure, to achieve ‘One Network’ (by 2029)
3.7 With the successful delivery of these and more, key projects within the programme, and the number of remaining projects now greatly reduced as a result, we are in the process of reshaping the programme. Discussions are currently underway with key stakeholders about the vision and outline structure of this, with a view to present a proposal to Management board in January 2026. The proposed new programme will be comprised of:
· An agreed selection of the remaining projects from within the Service Convergence programme (and the consideration of some projects to move to service-aligned programmes)
· Some key current and emerging Technology service projects that will require Transformation support (aligned to the delivery of the Technology strategy via the enterprise architecture approach and digital transformation roadmap)
· Any other emerging convergence projects arising from service plans.
3.8 Restructure Activity and Progress Update
Since the establishment of the new council, a significant programme of organisational change has been undertaken to ensure services are aligned to strategic priorities and operating efficiently. During the 2024/25 financial year, over 2,600 staff were involved in restructures across various service areas. This represents a substantial achievement in delivering change at scale while maintaining continuity of service.
3.9 In the current financial year (2025/26), a further 244 staff have gone through restructure processes during the first two quarters. This continued activity demonstrates the council’s commitment to refining structures and ensuring resources are deployed effectively to meet the needs of residents. A full report on restructure activity will be provided at the end of the financial year. It is important to note that restructures form part of day-to-day business operations and are a regular feature of organisational management, separate from the council’s wider Transformation portfolio.
3.10 For noting, the Health and Adult Services (HAS) Directorate has recently completed a significant restructure affecting approximately 800 staff, with a planned go-live date of January 2026. This marks a major milestone in ensuring the directorate is positioned to deliver high-quality services in a sustainable way.
Delivering the Council’s Target Operating Model
3.11 A number of programmes and supporting projects are underway to help ensure strong foundations are in place to support the council’s Target Operating Model. The Finance programme includes a range of activities focussed on the finance function and its support of the wider organisation. Good progress has been made with bringing together the council’s numerous income management systems, with plans on track to have all of the systems consolidated by the end of December. Implementation of the council’s new core finance system is at a critical stage. We will know more in the new year regarding migration for April 2026 and are currently looking at contingency arrangements.
3.12 The Data programme provides the enabling tools for the council to make the best use of the data that it holds. Procurement of a data platform has been concluded and a preferred supplier identified to enable an initial prototype to be developed to inform a wider roll out. A contract has also been awarded to a new supplier for a central gazetteer, with a system go live date in March 2026, this work will improve resilience, simplify addressing and improve data quality.
Service Specific Programmes
3.13 There are several service specific programmes of work, with some key updates in this period are set out below:
· Sport & Active Wellbeing programme consolidation of sport and active wellbeing activity under the Active North Yorkshire banner has continued and the Leisure Investment Strategy setting our investment in the facilities has been approved by the Executive. Procurement of a single Leisure Management System to bring together all the separate systems is underway with a view to award a contract in the new year. This should provide sufficient time to implement the system ahead of the remaining leisure sites in Scarborough and Ryedale being brought in house.
· Waste programme – the adoption of a 4-day working week is almost complete with only a limited number of properties in Harrogate to be moved across to the new collection regime. The HWRC permit policy has been approved and plans are underway to roll this out.
· SEND Programme - Procurement for the new Digital EHCP system is advancing well, with tender submissions currently under evaluation and a draft Business Case prepared, final procurement approvals are scheduled for December ahead of a planned contract award in early January 2026.
Transformation Strategy Update
3.14 The Council developed its first Transformation Strategy in Spring 2024, during a period of significant organisational change. The focus was on unifying the eight predecessor councils and establishing the identity of the new North Yorkshire Council with a strong emphasis on placing the customer at the heart of everything we do. As seen above huge amount of progress has been made in this area which means the council can now look towards maximising the opportunities available to be truly transformational.
3.15 A draft internal document has been developed, ‘NYC 2030 – Shaping Tomorrow’ setting out North Yorkshire Council’s vision and roadmap for delivering a digitally enabled, agile and high performing organisation. Structured around five key enablers – Digital Opportunities, Data-Driven Decision Making, Harnessing Artificial Intelligence, Adopting Innovation and Maximising Council Assets and Networks – the strategy is underpinned by three cross-cutting themes; Customer, The Way We Will Work (TWWWW) and Managing Demand. These elements are pivotal in delivering the Council Plan, vision and ambitions.
3.16 The strategy integrates with key enabling documents including the Medium Term Financial Strategy, Customer Strategy, People Strategy, Technology Strategy, Data Strategy and AI Strategy. It operationalises the Council’s Target Operating Model (TOM), translating high-level design principles into practical service-level transformation.
3.17 As a transitional strategy, it sets the foundation for a unified strategic planning cycle and a future all-encompassing corporate strategy, a key deliverable under the TWWWW programme. It is a corporate strategy and a call to arms – owned by all staff and Championed by the Management Board – to drive change, improve services and ensure financial sustainability for the benefit of North Yorkshire’s residents, communities and businesses. A draft of the document is appended in Annex A.
3.18 The strategy is an internally focussed document and will continue to be refined over the coming period, signed off in line with the council plan refresh in order to ensure the two documents are closely aligned.
4.0 REPORT RECOMMENDATION
4.1 The Committee is asked to note the report and provide feedback on the attached draft Transformation Strategy at Annex A.
Gary Fielding
Corporate Director – Resources
County Hall
Northallerton
4 December 2025
Report Author & Presenter – Amani Anderson Leefe, Assistant Director Transformation
Background Papers: None
Appendices:
Annex A – Draft Transformation Strategy – NYC 2030 Shaping Tomorrow