NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL
15 JULY 2026
STATEMENT OF EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR CORPORATE SERVICES
Democratic Services and Scrutiny
Healthwatch North Yorkshire
There has been a national review of Healthwatch organisations, the result of which is that the responsibilities for commissioning them, their scope and remit will change as of the spring/summer 2027 (subject to the enactment of the Health and Care Bill). This is of concern as the current service, Healthwatch North Yorkshire, is a high performing, independent organisation that champions the users of health and social care services, helps to improve service standards and identifies gaps in provision and care. It is anticipated that, should the proposed changes in the Bill be enacted, the current organisation with its skilled and experienced staff can be supported through a transition period. In this way there will be minimal disruption to the service and the key role that it plays within the health and social care arena.
Independent Remuneration Panel for Member Allowances
The Independent Remuneration Panel on Member Allowances is meeting over the summer to review the basic allowance and special responsibility allowances paid to members and to determine whether any recommendations should be made to Council in November 2026 regarding the level that they are set at for 2027-28. The Panel will also consider the member allowances scheme in the round. As in previous years, the Panel will actively seek the views of members as part of their deliberations.
Localities
The Localities service has made strong progress this quarter, in areas such as voluntary sector and Parish Sector support, strengthened partnerships, and outcomes across digital and financial inclusion, community resilience and wellbeing, and social regeneration. Some key highlights in over the last quarter include:
Communities
· Prevention Plus Pilots: Work has continued at pace on an enhanced prevention model across North Yorkshire. The model entitled Prevention Plus will fund eleven test and learn pilots across the county. The ambition is to create a multi-agency approach to form a local ring of support around an individual, enabling them to live a fuller, better-quality of life within their own environment, with a strong and supportive link to their community. It builds on the strengths of trusted Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise organisations, embedded statutory roles and place‑based multi‑agency working. The application process went live in June. The three-year Test and Learn Pilot will commence in Autumn 2026.
· Digital Inclusion: The second year of the UKSPF funding – which ended in March – supported 31 organisations to hold sessions in 213 venues, trained 211 digital champions and supported 6,427 people. 184 refurbished devices were distributed through the Council’s ‘Reboot’ scheme. Looking forward we have now secured funding to extend and build on the related cross sector digital inclusion training programme, have relaunched the Reboot NY website, and are designing digital inclusion support to deliver resilience through the Crisis & Resilience Fund.
· North Yorkshire Local Assistance Fund (NYLAF): At mid-June, 2,481 applications had been approved. Based on current averages, this is projected to reach approximately 2,932 approvals by the end of the quarter. £231,487 has been spent on emergency provision. NYLAF played a critical role in the interim solution for Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF), whilst the broader scheme was being developed.
· Inspire Grants: Strong demand continues with 56 grants (£54,346.11) awarded by between April and mid-June.
Parish Liaison, Local Devolution and Community Rights
· Parish Liaison: In response Parish Sector Organisations (PSOs) raising the issues of access to relevant information and consultations being more streamlined – a dedicated Parish Council website has been launched at the end of June. This brings all key information for Parish Councils together in one place to make access to North Yorkshire Council information and processes simpler for them. It will also provide dedicated information, consultations and support to all PSOs on a regular basis.
· Devolution and Community Rights: The new Community Transfer Policy (which outlines the Council’s arrangements and processes for the transfer of land, buildings and services to the community) was considered by Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee at the June meeting. The policy and processes will be recommended for adoption by the Council at the Executive in July and it is proposed that this will formalise arrangements for all types of local devolution, replacing Double Devolution.
Migrant Programmes
· Swift: The Swift programme has put in place monthly multi-agency drop-ins across a range of localities, ensuring support and advice can be more easily accessed, and partners can come together to provide integrated support. These sessions have been widely promoted, and attendance is building as referring partners develop an awareness of the provision.
· Translation and Interpretation: The AI Translation that has been brought in alongside human translation services continues to prove successful as well as generating an overall saving. Services across the Council are finding it has removed barriers and enabled more consistent access to services given the efficiency and comparatively low cost of the AI system.
Planning operations
Work on the implementation of a single hosted planning system (One Uniform) continues. By way of a re-cap, we now have Harrogate, Scarborough and Craven plus all of Building Control in the new hosted system. This is a significant step forward, from which we are starting to see the benefits in relation to workflow management and performance.
Since the last update, migration work for Hambleton and Selby has progressed, with new cases in both areas now being processed within the hosted system. We remain on track to merge the historical data from these legacy systems by 4 August 2026.
Following completion of this phase, focus will move to the migration of Richmond, Ryedale, and Minerals and Waste services. This is scheduled to commence in early August, with a planned go-live date of 23 November.
As we continue to deliver this important systems project, there will be inevitable impacts on timescales relating to the processing and validation of applications during periods of migration. Officers continue to work hard to ensure that impacts are kept to a minimum and there is communication with customers to manage expectations during these periods.
Development Management and Enforcement
From 1 April until 26 June 2026, the service has dealt with 37 major, 388 minor, 800 other and 10 County Matter applications. In addition, we have also dealt with a considerable number of other types of applications, including prior approvals, screening opinions, scoping reports, trees, hedgerows, discharge of conditions, telecommunications, etc.
Performance across all application types exceeds statutory national targets.
In terms of Planning Enforcement, from 1 April until 17 June 2026 we have received 460 cases, closed 304 cases and served 21 notices.
Customer
Customer – Front Facing Operations
After the successful launch of the new telephony platform in March this year we are now heading towards the go-live of the new Customer Relationship Management platform on the 8 July.
The first service to go live on the new platform will be the highway service. This will include:
· Report a pothole
· Report a pavement issue
· Report a streetlight
· Report a salt heap or grit bin
· Report an issue with a tree or vegetation
· Report a flooding issue
· Report an issue with a bridge
· Report an issue with traffic signals
Customers will have the option to report these anonymously or create a customer account and receive updates on progress.
Shortly after this, the ‘book it’ system for Registrars will be upgraded. As well as Public Rights of Way, Blue Badge and carers emergency cards later in the year.
For most customers, there will be little or no noticeable change. The online ‘Report It’ pages may look slightly different, but:
· reports can still be submitted in the same way using the new portal – customers will have the option to create a new account if they wish
· customers can continue to report issues as a guest or anonymously
· all other Council services and contact routes are unchanged
Reports submitted before 8 July will continue to be progressed as normal and do not need to be resubmitted.
We will display clear messages on the website to guide customers during the change and will keep Members informed once the updated system is live and operating.
The CRF is a national funding programme introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), operating from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.
The fund replaces both the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments, bringing these into a single, dedicated programme. It is designed to support individuals, communities and organisations to respond to immediate crises while strengthening longer-term resilience and recovery from future shocks.
The scheme went live on 1 April 2026 and is structured around four main strands:
· Crisis support
· Housing support payments
· Resilience
· Community support
A local eligibility framework has been approved, and the required Delivery Plan was submitted to DWP on 1 July 2026.
CRF is a core part of the Council’s local welfare support, aligning the Council’s overall response to residents in financial hardship by combining crisis intervention with a stronger focus on prevention and resilience. As we transition from previous discretionary schemes, customer expectations are being managed through clear and consistent communication on eligibility and the support available.
Delivery will be coordinated across Council directorates, working in partnership with external organisations to provide a joined-up and effective local support system.
COUNCILLOR HEATHER PHILLIPS