Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Ireton sent apologies and was substituted by Councillor Heather Moorhouse.

Resolved – That the Minutes of the Call-in meeting held on 11 August 2025 be taken as read and confirmed by the Chair as a true record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Melanie Carr of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Wednesday 24 September 2025, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

·            at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·            when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

No public questions or statements were received.

Considered - A report of the Head of Community Safety and CCTV updating on local Prevent arrangements with the Community Safety Partnership Chair (NYP Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Wyllie) in attendance.

Odette Robson, Head of Community Safety and CCTV introduced the report and drew members’ attention to the updates on priorities detailed in paragraph 1.3 of the report.

Councillor Andrew Williams drew attention to the Hate Crime statistics shown at paragraph 6.2 of the report and expressed concern at the increase in incidents across all of the Hate Crime categories. In particular he drew attention to the growing problem of hate crime perpetuated online via social media and queried the potential to use AI technology to identify incidents and perpetrators.  He requested a more detailed update on what the Community Safety Partnership and North Yorkshire Police were doing to tackle hate crime for the Committee’s next meeting in December 2025.

It was confirmed that the increase in hate crime incidents was in line with the national picture and that the increase in North Yorkshire was likely due in part to a rise in confidence in reporting.  It was confirmed that the Community Safety Hubs received daily updates on Hate Crime incidents, the number of associated arrests and ongoing investigations.

Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Wyllie noted the concerns around online hate crime and confirmed that whilst this was currently a capacity issue for the Police, they hoped to address it through the use of improved technology in the future.

Other Members expressed frustration at the lack of data on other types of crime not detailed in the report such as burglaries, street crime, shop lifting etc.

In response Odette Robson drew attention to the four key strategic priorities for the Community Safety Partnership detailed in section 2 of the report, which included tackling Hate Crime and the operational delivery of the Police’s statutory duties via the Community Safety Hubs (CSH).  She went on to reassure members that the types of crime they had identified as missing from the report fell specifically within the remit of the Hubs. She acknowledged that whilst some of the Hubs were more progressed with their engagement strategies than others, all were now providing updates directly to the Council’s Area Constituency Committees, which included detailed data on all crime, ASB, community tensions etc.

Attention was also drawn to:

·          Weekly Intelligence meetings held to consider updates on a full range of crime data;

·          North Yorkshire Police’s (NYP) website where area specific police officer contact information could be found;

·          NYP’s regular Parish Council newsletter;

·          The multi-agency problem solving meetings (MAPS) hosted by the Hubs;

·          The decrease in weapon possession by young people;

·          A Retail Crime Conference held in the county earlier this year;

·          A previous Inconsiderate Parking Initiative run in Scarborough – it was noted that inappropriate parking outside schools was a Council matter, whereas obstruction of the highway was a police matter;

·          A recent successful project run in Eastfield (Scarborough) aimed at preventing/reducing ASB committed by young  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive for Local Engagement, providing an update on the work of the Localities Service and Corporate Volunteering.

Marie-Ann Jackson, the Head of Localities introduced the report and drew attention to a recent DFE announcement confirming the Government’s decision to extend their Holiday Activities and Food Programme for free school meal eligible children.  She confirmed that the exact allocation to North Yorkshire had yet to be confirmed.

The Chair thanked officers for the detailed report, and as there were no questions arising, it was

Resolved – That the bi-annual update on the work of the Localities Team be noted.

A progress update on the transformation activity within the council, including the draft Customer Experience Strategy and draft Corporate Property Strategy.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director for Resources providing a progress update on transformation activity within the council, with a particular focus on a draft Customer Experience Strategy and a draft Corporate Property Strategy

Brigette Giles, interim Assistant Director of Transformation introduced the new Assistant Director for Transformation – Amani Anderson Leefe, and provided a brief overview of a number of notable achievements across a range of service areas, as detailed in paragraph 3.11 of the report.

Members noted the cross cutting themes and the programmes in place to help the council achieve its Target Operating Model.  In particular they recognised that the Finance Programme was a key core cornerstone for the organisation.

It was confirmed that the council’s Transformation objectives would be reviewed in April 2026.

Attention moved to the draft Customer Experience Strategy and Members noted:

·        The initial lessons learnt

·        The need to retain telephone contact for customers, particularly for the elderly;

·        The need to share information with Councillors so that they may better assist and respond to inquiries from residents in their division. 

·        The focus on accessibility as part of drafting the Strategy

Members also noted the breakdown of the demographics of the Council’s customer base. In particular the data on earnings, suggested it would be useful to know the median figure.  They also welcomed:

·        The proposals around data collection at first point of contact

·        The planned collection of geographic data, recognising that an understanding of the engagement methods most used per locality would help in reducing barriers and encouraging the use of other methods where appropriate.

·        The move towards a new CRM platform, as it would allow Members to have a better understanding of all incoming customer contact.

·        Improved communications with Parish Councils and Town Councils as an aid to improving partnership working.

In response to Members’ questions on the draft Corporate Property Strategy, officers confirmed:

·        The Council now had a full understanding of its property portfolio

·        The Strategy would enable more timely decision making

·        A Corporate Property Board and two operational sub-groups were now in place, bringing all decision making under one Forum.  This would be reviewed in six months to ensure it is working well.

·        Savings achieved to date from property rationalisation were higher than expected

·        The Council would need to get smarter in using properties to the benefit of multiple services

·        There were more opportunities to explore to improve sustainability and support carbon reduction

Whilst they noted their broad support for both strategies, Members agreed that any new strategy should include dates of expected outcomes to enable progress to be monitored.  In response it was confirmed that a high level Transformation Plan was currently being mapped out and could be presented at the committee’s December 2025 meeting.

The Chair thanked officers for their latest transformation update, and it was

Resolved – That:

i.       The report be noted.

ii.     The December 2026 Transformation Update include the high level Transformation Plan currently being mapped out, and an update on Revenues & Benefits and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

Purpose of the Report – To consider, amend and adopt the committee’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

Members considered the work programme for the remainder of the 2025-26 municipal year and took account of the discussions on previous agenda items and other developments taking place across the county.

Resolved – That the work programme be amended to include the following additional items for the  15 December 2025 meeting:

i.                The high level Transformation Plan as part of the scheduled Transformation Update

ii.              A further detailed Community Safety Update, with a focus on:

·        Hate Crime – to include an overview of the number of arrests leading to conviction

·        The work of the Community Safety Hubs – to include statistics on other crime categories, ASB burglaries, retail crime etc, and an update on mitigation activity and outcomes.