Agenda and draft minutes

There was an apology for absence from Councillor Simon Myers.  An apology had also been received from Councillor David Hugill, a member of Scrutiny Board.

Resolved

That the public Minutes of the meeting held on 18 August 2026, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed by the Chair as a correct record.

Councillor Heather Phillips declared an interest in relation to Minute 969 on the basis that she was a member of a scout group that used Birch Hall Scout Camp.  As this was not a pecuniary interest she remained in the meeting room and took part in the debate and vote on the item.

Councillor Michael Harrison declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in Minute 968 as his employer was listed within the Treasury Management Quarter 3 report.  As he had previously been granted a dispensation by the Standards Committee, he remained in the meeting room and took part in the debate and vote on the item.

Members are recommended to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of agenda items 7,8 and 9 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.

It was noted that the following reports contained appendices which were considered to be exempt:

Minute 969 – Future of the East Barnby Site – Appendices A, B, C, D and E

Minute 970 – Schools Condition Capital Programme 2026-27 – Appendix B

Minute 971 – Planning of School Places – Basic Need Programme 2026-27 – Appendices A, B and C

As the contents of the appendices were not discussed there was no requirement to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the items.

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 Thursday 13 August, 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

That the Executive

(i)           notes the forecast outturn position against the 2026/27 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.1

(ii)          notes the release of £10,918k contingency in recognition of a number of pressures including the savings currently flagged as at risk of delivery for the current and previous years in paragraph 2.2.6

(iii)         notes the position on reserves in Section 2.5

(iv)        notes the allocation of £938k from the Finance Reserve to fund the additional costs of the new finance system implementation as outlined at paragraph 2.5.2

(v)          Notes the work being undertaken by all directorates (paragraph 2.1.5) to reduce costs where possible and that there will be regular monitoring of this position throughout the year

(vi)        notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the second quarter of 2026/27

(vii)       refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management

(viii)      Approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3

(ix)        Approve an allocation of £800k from the Capital Contingency Reserve to the Catterick Garrison Levelling Up scheme as outlined at paragraph 4.4.1

(x)          Approve an allocation of £200k from the Strategic Capacity Unallocated Reserve to the Harrogate Convention Centre Studio 2 scheme for fixtures and fittings as outlined at paragraph 4.4.2

(xi)        Approve an allocation of £361k from the Strategic Capacity Unallocated Reserve to the Royal Albert Drive Landslip scheme as outlined at paragraph 4.5.4

(xii)       Approve the allocation of £175k earmarked Strategic Capacity Unallocated Reserve to deliver pay on entry technology as outlined at paragraph 4.7.2

Considered – A joint report of the Chief Executive and Interim Corporate Director Resources bringing together key aspects of the Council’s performance on a quarterly basis. 

The Executive Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Heather Phillips, presented the report which covered the period 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026 and provided details of performance at the end of year outturn.  She highlighted improvements in call answering times and waste collection performance, and also work on child protection plans.

The Leader welcomed members of Scrutiny Board to the meeting.  In response to questions to Executive Members from Scrutiny Chairs and Member Champions the following was confirmed:

Thriving Places and Empowered Communities

The Executive Member for Open to Business highlighted the work of the tourism team which had led to an increase in visitor numbers.

·       Remaining space at the Treadmills development and Royal Baths was being actively marketed, with further lettings progressing, and confidence was expressed that occupancy would improve over time.

·       Officers were developing an updated suite of tourism performance measures which would be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in October.  Should a tourism tax be introduced, the Council would seek to work with the Mayor to ensure any revenue generated was invested in supporting the sector.  Visitor numbers were being monitored and should they fall mitigation measures would be considered.

·       In response to a question regarding inward investment reporting, Members were advised that there was often a significant time lag between initial enquiries, planning applications and eventual investment outcomes.  It was confirmed that revised performance measures would be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in October.

·       The Planning service continued to perform strongly against national performance measures.  It was acknowledged that staffing challenges and inherited backlogs had affected performance since local government reorganisation, leading to some delays in decisions. Implementation of the One Uniform system would improve service resilience. It was noted that the majority of applications progressed without complaint and complaint numbers remained low overall.

Sustainable and Connected Places

·       Increased volumes of residual waste being deposited at household waste recycling centres appeared to be the cause of rising household residual waste levels. The developing waste management strategy would focus on waste reduction, reuse and recycling to help reduce overall waste volumes.

·       National tourism data and benchmarking information would be used to benchmark the performance of Visit North Yorkshire and incorporated into the revised performance measures due to be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in October.

·       In response to a question regarding differences in reporting for waste-related performance indicators, Members were advised that two measures relied on a national reporting system that operated with a time lag, whereas the landfill measure was based on locally held data and reflected the strong performance of the Allerton Park facility in diverting waste from landfill.

·       Increased highway customer service requests were expected during the winter maintenance period due to requests relating to gritting, grit bins, flooding and drainage issues, with severe weather during the quarter contributing to increased  ...  view the full minutes text for item 968.

Recommendations

i)      Cease further capital investment in the East Barnby site where the Outdoor Learning Service (East) has been based and approve the termination of the lease with the Mulgrave Estate, subject to completion of the necessary legal and financial due diligence.

ii)     Agree to the continuation of the Outdoor Learning Service (East) through an extension to the business continuity arrangement with Birch Hall to 31st July 2028.

iii)    Agree to repurpose the previously agreed reserve funding set aside for investment in the East Barnby site in September 2023 to support the transition to, and implementation of, the business continuity arrangement including management of the proposed staffing restructure and the necessary legal and contractual arrangements.

iv)    Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Children & Young Peoples Service to undertake an options appraisal and business case to set out the long-term vision, ambition and future viability, for the provision of Outdoor Learning in North Yorkshire from 1st September 2028.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director Children and Young People’s Service seeking agreement to cease further capital investment in the East Barnby Outdoor Learning Centre, terminating the lease with the Mulgrave Estate.  Approval was also sought to continue outdoor learning provision through an interim business continuity arrangement at Birch Hall Scout Camp until 31 July 2028, re-purposing previously agreed reserve funding set aside for investment at the East Barnby site to support and transition.  Authority was sought for the Corporate Director to undertake an options appraisal and business case for the long-term future of outdoor learning provision on the east coast.

The Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, introduced the report. She advised that the East Barnby site had been closed since December 2025 due to significant electrical and wiring concerns and property surveys had identified the need for substantial capital investment to enable the site to reopen. As the site was leasehold, any significant expenditure would not result in a long-term asset for the Council. She informed Members that the report did not propose ending outdoor learning on the east coast but instead sought approval for a revised delivery model through Birch Hall Scout Camp whilst a long-term solution was developed. It was noted that Birch Hall had successfully accommodated transferred bookings and provided access to a range of outdoor activities.

Councillor Liz Colling highlighted the importance of the East Barnby site to generations of young people and expressed regret that the site was no longer viable.  She referred to concerns raised by the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee regarding limitations of the Birch Hall site in relation to weekend use and accessibility.  The Executive Member provided reassurance that risk assessments, emergency procedures and health and safety arrangements were in place at Birch Hall.  It was further noted that the issue was not a lack of historic investment but that ongoing repair and maintenance requirements had increasingly exceeded available budgets due to the age and condition of the buildings. Members supported the proposals and the commitment to develop future outdoor learning provision on the east coast.

Resolved (unanimously)

i)               Cease further capital investment in the East Barnby site where the Outdoor Learning Service (East) has been based and approve the termination of the lease with the Mulgrave Estate, subject to completion of the necessary legal and financial due diligence.

ii)              Agree to the continuation of the Outdoor Learning Service (East) through an extension to the business continuity arrangement with Birch Hall to 31st July 2028.

iii)             Agree to repurpose the previously agreed reserve funding set aside for investment in the East Barnby site in September 2023 to support the transition to, and implementation of, the business continuity arrangement including management of the proposed staffing restructure and the necessary legal and contractual arrangements.

iv)             Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Children & Young Peoples Service to undertake an options appraisal and business case to set out the long-term vision, ambition and future viability, for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 969.

Recommendations

The Executive is recommended to

i)      Approve the proposed Schools Capital Programme for 2026-27 as summarised in Appendix A

ii)     Approve the detailed Programme, including the Planned Capital Maintenance     Programme, for 2026-27 as set out in Confidential Appendix B

iii)    Approve the continuation of the approach for dealing with any schools that convert to Academy status following the approval of the Programme as set out in paragraph 3.2

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director Children and Young People’s Service seeking approval for the Schools Condition Capital Programme 2026-27.

The Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, introduced the report, advising that the Council had received a School Condition Allocation grant of £6.8 million for 2026-27, which was a reduction on the previous year's allocation. The Executive Member outlined the significant challenges facing the Council in maintaining the school estate, noting an estimated maintenance backlog of over £20 million and planned maintenance requirements of more than £60 million over the next five years.

Resolved (unanimously)

The Executive is recommended to

i)      Approve the proposed Schools Capital Programme for 2026-27 as summarised in Appendix A

ii)     Approve the detailed Programme, including the Planned Capital Maintenance     Programme, for 2026-27 as set out in Confidential Appendix B

iii)    Approve the continuation of the approach for dealing with any schools that convert to Academy status following the approval of the Programme as set out in paragraph 3.2

Reasons for recommendations

The approach that is described in this report will result in the development of a programme that is consistent with the Council’s GEMS strategy and with the DfE’s guidance for the use of the School Condition Allocation.  Such a programme will be designed to address priority condition, compliance and operational issues within the school estate.

The programme will include a specific provision to meet the costs associated with significant failures or compliance issues that arise during the course of the year, and a general contingency sum to meet additional unforeseen costs associated with the provisions and schemes identified within the overall programme.

Recommendation

The Executive are recommended to note this report and to approve the Basic Need Programme that is set out in Appendix C

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director Children and Young People’s Service providing an update on the Basic Need Programme and seeking approval for investment proposals for 2026-27 to ensure the continued provision of sufficient school places across North Yorkshire.

The Executive Member for Education, Learning and Skills, Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, advised that the Council had a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places were available for children of statutory school age. Whilst pupil forecasts indicated an overall reduction in pupil numbers across the county over the coming years, growth associated with significant housing developments meant that additional capacity would still be required in a number of locations. The Executive Member explained that Basic Need Grant funding from the government and developer contributions supported the delivery of new school places and referred to recent successful projects delivered through the programme, including the new Oakbridge Church of England Primary School in Northallerton and the expansion of Barlby Community Primary School.

Resolved (unanimously)

The Executive are recommended to note this report and to approve the Basic Need Programme that is set out in Appendix C

Reasons for recommendations

The recommendations contained within this report ensure that the Council is able to fulfil its statutory responsibility in respect of school place sufficiency.

Recommendation

That the Executive endorse the appointments as detailed in the report.

Considered – A report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services in relation to vacancies on outside bodies following the resignation of Councillor Gareth Dadd as Deputy Leader and Finance and Resources portfolio holder.  The report detailed appointments which were specific to portfolio holders or position.

Resolved

That the Executive endorse the appointments as detailed at paragraph 2.2 of the report.

Considered – The Forward Plan for the period 7 August 2026 to 31 August 2027 was presented.

Resolved

That the Forward Plan be noted.