Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Resolved

That the public Minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2026, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chair as a correct record.

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 Elizabeth Jackson, Principal Democratic Services Officer, and supplied the text by midday on 29 January 2026, 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 Leader who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no public questions or statements.

Recommendations

a) The TEEE O&S committee recommends to Executive the following:

1)        To set a consistent entry fee, the Group recommends the entry fee for 2026-27 to be set at either 40p or 50p per user, with the final value decided by Executive.

2)        To endorse a capital allocation to expand the locations where a charge is levied.

3)        To endorse a capital allocation to enable officers to explore alternative funding streams, including honesty boxes, app-based donations, advertising, sponsorship, and community partnerships.

4)        To continue to offer free access for disabled users, through the National RADAR key scheme.

5)        To maintain and seek to expand Changing Places provision to meet the needs of people with profound disabilities, supported by external funding.

6)        To implement as part of the next car park tariff review, an increase to the per ticket price across all off-street parking to fund all revenue costs for toilets within the immediate vicinity of any NYC car park. In addition to the revenue costs, the uplift in the tariff should include a contribution towards a capital modernisation programme - should be funded through the overall car park tariff income.

7)        Consider closure of sites which are in a poor condition, have low footfall and/or are in close proximity to other sites, subject to consultation with Parish/Town Councils, Division Members, Area Committee, Executive and with the final decision to be taken by the Executive Member for Managing Our Environment.

8)        To ring-fence proceeds from the disposal of any public conveniences for reinvestment into the wider toilet network.

9)        To commit to a capital improvement programme to ensure that by 2030 all sites are in a good or excellent condition.

10)     Collaborate with others, including the Combined Authority, to identify opportunities for financial support in operating tourist infrastructure and to actively pursue external funding to enhance and sustain the Service.

b) The capital allocation to deliver Recommendation 2 is £175,000 (proposed to be funded from the Strategic Capacity Reserve), and the capital allocation to deliver Recommendation 3 is £2,000.

The Leader, Councillor Carl Les, advised that the final report of the Public Conveniences Working Group had only been considered by the Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee the previous week.  The committee had made some amendments to the recommendations of the Working Group, which had been circulated to members of Executive in advance of the meeting.  It was therefore agreed that the report be deferred to enable further consideration of the amended recommendations.

Recommendations

1)    It is recommended that approval is granted to implement a new pricing structure for Active North Yorkshire as set out in this report, specifically this includes:

i)       Implementation of a phased approach to pricing consistency with an initial implementation of a two-tier pricing structure as set out above.

ii)     Removal of fixed term contracts to improve flexibility and accessibility and in response to customer feedback.

iii)    Approve the implementation of a new concession scheme, including senior concession to state pension age (currently 66, increasing to 67 in 2026).

iv)    Approve the principles of introducing on demand fitness and healthcare services, subject to further costs/benefit analysis and procurement.

v)     Approve the proposed learn to swim pricing model, maintaining free access to public swimming as part of the offer.

2)    Approve the measures to mitigate significant price increases and honour existing agreements for existing customers between 60-65 who receive an age-based concession, current gym only memberships at Harrogate and formal price for life agreements at Harrogate.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director Community Development setting out proposals for the new approach to membership and pricing for Active North Yorkshire (ANY), including recommendations on the implementation process.

The Executive Member for Culture, Arts and Housing, Councillor Simon Myers, introduced the report and thanked officers for their work to establish a transparent, equitable and sustainable pricing structure across the county following local government reorganisation.  The review placed greater emphasis on health and wellbeing, improving accessibility to leisure services and supporting partnership work with the health sector. He acknowledged that there were disparities in prices and stated that while the long?term ambition was a single countywide model, harmonisation at this stage would lead to steep increases for some areas. A phased approach was therefore proposed, with a two?tier structure reflecting past investment in facilities at Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon. It was confirmed that existing commitments such as formal “price for life” memberships would be honoured to avoid undue hardship. Customer feedback received during consultation included support for removing 12?month fixed contracts and there would be increased flexibility through the offer of monthly memberships.

The Executive Member responded to a question about proposed increases in the Selby area, noting that the Tadcaster gym was smaller, had fewer facilities and lacked a pool, yet fell within the same tier as Selby. It was explained that the membership offered multi?site access, including to Selby, and that forthcoming new equipment and wider access meant that overall customers would be better served by the proposed structure. The Executive Member confirmed that the Council did not make a profit from leisure services and that the pricing review formed part of a wider investment strategy across the leisure estate and referred to proposals for an on-demand digital and healthcare offer.  Recent correspondence from a resident about historic police and fire service concessionary rates at Thirsk prior to LGR was noted, though it was confirmed that such discounts could not be replicated as they were significantly more generous than any other concession offered.

Resolved (unanimously)

That approval is granted to implement a new pricing structure for Active North Yorkshire as set out in this report, specifically this includes:

i)               Implementation of a phased approach to pricing consistency with an initial implementation of a two-tier pricing structure as set out above.

ii)              Removal of fixed term contracts to improve flexibility and accessibility and in response to customer feedback.

iii)             Implementation of a new concession scheme, including senior concession to state pension age (currently 66, increasing to 67 in 2026).

iv)             Approval of the principles of introducing on demand fitness and healthcare services, subject to further costs/benefit analysis and procurement.

v)              Approval of the proposed learn to swim pricing model, maintaining free access to public swimming as part of the offer.

vi)             Approval for the measures to mitigate significant price increases and honour existing agreements for existing customers between 60-65 who receive an age-based concession, current gym only memberships at Harrogate and formal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 843.

Recommendation

That the Executive appoints Parish Councillor Richard Daniel, from Stillingfleet Parish Council to the Ouse and Derwent Internal Drainage Board.

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services in relation to a vacancy on the Ouse and Derwent Internal Drainage Board.

Resolved

That the Executive appoints Parish Councillor Richard Daniel, from Stillingfleet Parish Council to the Ouse and Derwent Internal Drainage Board.

Considered – The Forward Plan for the period 26 January 2026 to 31 January 2027 was presented.

Resolved

That the Forward Plan be noted.