Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Philip Barrett, John Cattanach, Stephanie Duckett, Paul Haslam, Andrew Lee, John Mann, Rich Maw, John McCartney, Andrew Murday and David Noland.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the Standards and Governance Committee had granted dispensations in relation to Minute Items 253 and 254:

       i.         to those councillors who served as trustees or were involved in other ways in the North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Centre; and

     ii.         to those councillors who were involved in an unpaid capacity in any other organisation directly impacted by the proposals in the council’s Revenue Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Declarations of interest were made as follows in relation to Minute Items 253 and 254:

Councillor George Jabbour as he was a Non-Executive Director of Border to Coast Pensions Partnership.

Councillors David Chance, Melanie Davis, Caroline Goodrick, Carl Les and John Ritchie since all served as trustees on North Yorkshire Citizens Advice and Law Centre.

Councillor Nathan Hull as his wife was an employee of North Yorkshire Council in Children and Young People’s Services.

Councillor Jack Proud in respect of the Housing Revenue Account budget 2026/27 since he was a council tenant.

Councillor Michael Harrison since his employer was referred to in the Treasury Management Strategy.  He remained in the meeting for the item as he had previously been granted a dispensation.

Councillor Gareth Dadd since he was a director of a company with holiday lets.  He remained in the meeting for the item as he had previously been granted a dispensation.

Councillor Mike Jordan since he was a member of Selby Internal Drainage Board, Danvm Internal Drainage Board and Vice-Chair of Trans Pennine Trail.

Councillor Sam Cross since he was a landlord of various properties.

Any correspondence, communication or other business brought forward by the direction of the Chair of the Council.

The Chair welcomed the Honorary Aldermen and members of the public and press who were present.

The Chair informed Members of the usual arrangements for the meeting.

The Chair reminded Members that as per the email previously sent by the Monitoring Officer, there was a legal requirement to ensure that Members were not in arrears for their Council Tax when voting on the budget.

The Chair advised that since the publication of the agenda, there had been some necessary amendments and updates to the budget reports arising from the High Needs Support Grant and other changes as announced in the Final Local Government Funding Settlement on 9 February 2026. These were detailed in the supplementary report published on the website and emailed to all councillors.

The Chair added that there were three proposed amendments to the Council budget that had previously been circulated by email and copies made available in the Council Chamber.  His intention was to work through these, inviting the proposer and seconder to put their amendments in the order in which they were received.

The Chair was delighted to announce that North Yorkshire Council had been successful in its bid to host the Yorkshire Day civic celebrations in 2029 and welcomed members of the Yorkshire Society executive committee to the meeting.

The following deaths of former councillors were noted:

• Former North Yorkshire County Councillor and longstanding Harrogate Borough Councillor, John Marshall
• Former Harrogate Borough Councillor, Bob Nash
• Former Scarborough Borough Councillor, John Warburton

A minute’s silence was held in memory of the deceased.

1.     Revenue Budget 2026/27 and Medium Term Financial Strategy to 2028/29

Recommendations 1a, 1d to 1p and 2 regarding the Revenue Budget for 2026/27 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2027/28 to 2028/29 at pages 5 to 7 of the agenda (pages 4693 to 4695 of the Minute Book) were moved by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Carl Les, and seconded by the Deputy Leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd.

       i.         The following amendment was moved by Councillor Liz Colling and seconded by Councillor Steve Shaw-Wright

“We call on Council to award £50,000 per annum to Citizens Advice for the 3 years of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (2026/27 to 2028/29) for activity that supports winter warmth initiatives and fuel poverty, strengthening the support for the most vulnerable members of our communities.”

The amendment was then debated.

On a vote being taken on the amendment, the motion was carried unanimously.

     ii.         The following amendment was moved by Councillor Matt Walker and seconded by Councillor Chris Aldred

“We propose that a fund of £100k be included in the revenue budget in both 2026/27 and 2027/28 with the intention of supporting Town & Parish Councils to properly assess and engage with the Council on a level playing field.  This fund would be co-designed with Town & Parish Councils including detail on how funds are accessed and approved but may, for example, include the commissioning of local support or one-off spend that enables a double devolution deal to be struck. 

Furthermore, where double devolution deals are shown to generate recurring savings to North Yorkshire Council then such savings should be recorded and considered for future funding from 2028/29 onwards when the funding of £100k per annum would need to be reviewed.”

The amendment was then debated.

A recorded vote was taken by roll call and the motion was declared defeated 31 for, 48 against and one abstention.

For:  Councillors Chris Aldred, Joy Andrews, Karl Arthur, Philip Broadbank, Eric Broadbent, Barbara Brodigan, Liz Colling, Sam Cross, Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, Melanie Davis, Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff, Kevin Foster, Hannah Gostlow, Bryn Griffiths, Mike Jordan, Peter Lacey, Steve Mason, Bob Packham, Stuart Parsons, Jack Proud, John Ritchie, Mike Schofield, Tom Seston, Subash Sharma, Steve Shaw-Wright,  Dan Sladden, Monika Slater, Neil Swannick, Andrew Timothy, Matt Walker and Arnold Warneken.

Against:  Councillors Alyson Baker, Derek Bastiman, Nick Brown, Lindsay Burr MBE, David Chance, Mark Crane, Gareth Dadd, Caroline Dickinson, Keane Duncan, Richard Foster, Sam Gibbs, Caroline Goodrick, Tim Grogan, Michael Harrison, Robert Heseltine, David Hugill, Nathan Hull, David Ireton, George Jabbour, David Jeffels, Janet Jefferson, Tom Jones, Nigel Knapton, Carl Les OBE, Cliff Lunn, Heather Moorhouse, Simon Myers, Andy Paraskos, Yvonne Peacock MBE, Clive Pearson, Heather Phillips, Kirsty Poskitt, Janet Sanderson, Karin Sedgwick, Andy Solloway, David Staveley, Roberta Swiers, Malcolm Taylor, Angus Thompson, Phil Trumper, Steve Watson, David Webster, John Weighell OBE, Greg White, Annabel Wilkinson, Peter Wilkinson, Andrew Williams and Robert Windass.

Abstentions: Councillor Andy Brown

    iii.         The following amendment was moved by Councillor Peter Lacey and seconded by Councillor Monika  ...  view the full minutes text for item 253.

See minute above.