North Yorkshire Council
Housing & Leisure Overview & Scrutiny Committee
10 June 2026
Grounds Maintenance Scrutiny Review Cover Report
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To present the final report arising from the Task Group scrutiny review of the Council’s approach to Grounds Maintenance, following the convergence of Housing Services from the three legacy stock-holding councils.
1.0 BACKGROUND TO REVIEW
1.1 In September 2024 the Housing & Leisure Overview & Scrutiny Committee were asked to consider:
· The key drivers for policy development showing a clear commitment that the policy approach would be based upon the needs of customers and developed in consultation with tenants, and;
· The proposed policy framework, which mapped out the core documents required to underpin the Council’s service to tenants.
1.2 It was confirmed that work had already commenced to harmonise some high priority policies, and the Committee was asked to consider a list of the remaining policies, standards, and procedures (65 in total) prioritised on a high, medium, low basis based upon the requirements of the Consumer Standards, where there was currently no policy, or conflicting policy in place and the level of risk exposed by not having a harmonised policy in place.
1.3 The Committee recognised that in most cases it was about consolidating the existing documents of the legacy stockholding authorities and agreed to focus their review work on a small number of key standards and policies where member contribution via a task group review could add the most value. It was agreed that one of the policies suitable for scrutiny review would be the Grounds Maintenance Policy.
1.4 A Task Group was formed to undertake the scrutiny review on behalf of the full Committee, made up of the following Councillors:
Councillor Kevin Foster
Councillor Kirsty Poskitt
Councillor Jack Proud
2.0 REVIEW PROGRESS
2.1 The Task Group met a number of times to progress their work on the review. They undertook a number of site visits and met with members of the Tenants Panel on a number of occasions.
2.2 At the Task Group’s final meeting on 26 May 2026, the Task Group concluded its work on the review by considering the review final report, shown at Annex A, together with a proposed Grounds Maintenance Policy which had been drafted to take account of the recommendations arising from the scrutiny review (see Appendix D to the review final report).
2.3 At the same meeting, the Task Group considered feedback from an all-tenants consultation survey on the proposed Grounds Maintenance Policy (437 responses received).
2.4 The full Housing & Leisure Committee is now being asked to consider and comment on the review final report arising from this Task Group review and the finalised draft Grounds Maintenance Policy.
2.5 This cover report seeks to draw Members attention specifically to:
· The legal and financial implications information shown at section 8 of the review final report at Annex A.
· The finalised draft Grounds Maintenance Policy which includes an operational grounds maintenance specification – see Appendix D to the review final report.
· The analysis of the all-tenant consultation feedback at Appendix E to the review final report
· An Equality Impact Assessment – see Appendix F to the draft final report.
2.6 The Executive Member for Culture, Arts & Housing will be asked to approve the Grounds Maintenance Policy and the scrutiny review recommendations at his decision session on 8 July 2026.
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3.0 |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
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3.1 |
The Housing & Leisure Committee is asked to consider and endorse: i. The recommendations arising from the scrutiny review – see review final report at Annex A. ii. The draft Grounds Maintenance Policy at Appendix D to the review final report.
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Barry Khan
Assistant Chief Executive – Legal and Democratic Services
County Hall
Northallerton
26 May 2026
Report Author – Melanie Carr, Senior Scrutiny Officer
APPENDICES:
Annex A – Grounds Maintenance Scrutiny Review – Task Group Final Report