NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL

 

20 May 2026

 

STATEMENT OF THE CHAIR OF THE CORPORATE & PARTNERSHIPS OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

 

The Corporate & Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee oversees corporate performance, governance, transformation, workforce matters, partnership activity, and resilience planning across the Council.

 

Since my last statement to Council, the Committee has met twice, on 16 March 2026 and again on 26th March 2026.

 

At its meeting on 16^th March the following items of business were considered:

·         Feedback on Notice of Motion relating to supporting Area Committee decision-making

·         Progress update on convergence and transformation of services

·         Bi-annual update on Community Safety Plan Delivery & Partnership Working

·         Update on Council Plan Refresh

·         Youth Justice Annual Performance Update

·         Draft Work Programme for 2026-27

 

The Committee considered the Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Peter Lacey together with feedback from officers on his proposals.  Having discussed them in detail, the Committee recognised that addressing the issues raised would require changes to the Constitution.  We therefore recommended that the Notice of Motion be referred to the Constitution Working Group for their consideration and that they report back to full Council in due course.

 

We were pleased to note the Council had successfully completed the convergence works for the seven legacy systems within the planned 7-week downtime.   We requested that future updates include a timeline for progressing the ongoing areas work so that we may better scrutinise progress.  We also requested a more in-depth update on the Council’s use of AI, recognising it is an area with lots of potential technical and security issues and associated risks for the Council. 

 

Our bi-annual update on Community Safety focused on two of the Partnership’s priorities – Domestic Abuse and Serious Violence Duty.  Given how complex and multi-faceted domestic abuse is, we were pleased to note the ongoing efforts of the Community Safety Partnership.  We also recognised the challenges associated with us being a rural county, and welcomed the steps being taken to address those challenges through changes in commissioning.  We also considered the joint Serious Violence Response Strategy and requested more detailed information on the outcomes of the targeted interventions in place as part of our next update on serious violence.

 

The Committee considered the draft Council Plan for 2026-30.  In regard to the Council’s aim of being net zero on carbon, we recognised a notable shift in the language used, with a downgrading of the wording from ‘working towards’ to referencing a ‘shared ambition’.  Assurance was given that it was not intended to dilute the language but rather to acknowledge the focus on working together.  We also noted the lack of comparative data in the Plan, which we have previously criticised in past years. 

 

Finally, the Committee welcomed the service overview of the North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service and noted the annual performance data provided.  We also agreed some minor amendments to our draft work programme for the year ahead.

 

The meeting on 26^th March was specifically to consider a call-in item relating to the acquisition of Resolution House.

 

The Town Mayor of Scarborough (also the Chair of Scarborough Town Council) attended the meeting to speak about the history of the Town Hall, being the civic heart of the city’s tradition, its history, and its democratic life. He suggested the Town Hall should remain the centre of Scarborough’s civic life, not simply another asset within a wider property portfolio, and asked that it be formally defined as a separate entity from the wider Town Hall site, recognised as a civic asset, and that its maintenance and continued democratic use be explicitly protected within the Council’s plans.

 

The Committee also heard from the signatories of the call-in and the Executive Member for Finance & Resources and received officer feedback on all of the issues raised.

 

Having considered all of the information provided and after taking a named vote, the committee agreed to endorse the Executive decision to acquire Resolution House and agreed that no further action should be taken in regard to the Call-in. 

 

 

COUNCILLOR ANDREW WILLIAMS