Priority a) Health and wellbeing: A health generating city, for children and adults
Partnership working
We meet regularly with partners across health and care services to coordinate activity to support people to live healthier, independent lives. A key part of this is the York Health and Care Partnership, chaired by our Chief Operating Officer and consisting of key health and wellbeing partners across the city. The partnership meets monthly and takes a systems approach to health and wellbeing in the city.
In the last year, we've worked constructively with partners to make strides in ensuring York continues to be a safe, welcoming place to live. This includes the launch of a Domestic Abuse Strategy, revised governance arrangements for and the re-initiation of the Human Rights and Equalities Board, an action plan developed in response to the Anti-racism and Inclusion Strategy and an action plan to support the Gypsy and Traveller Community. There has also been significant work to align the work of partners to keep residents safe, including the development of a Community Safety Strategy developed with the Safer York Partnership.
The specialist mental health housing strategy including homelessness pathways and an extension to the Safe and Sound Homes (SASH) contract was approved in November 2023, while new funding of £234,900 was awarded from the Government’s Rough Sleeper Initiative to support people sleeping rough off the street.
Health and wellbeing at all ages
The All-Age Commissioning Strategy was approved in September 2023. This takes a Community Development Model of health promotion to support those in need to access services close to them and supporting independence and a strength-based approach of people.
The Children and Young People’s Plan has been approved, setting out our assurance and ambition plans and a city-wide strategic framework for all our partners, reflecting the key things that matter most to children, young people, parents and partners.
Family Hubs and Raise York have been successful in providing high quality, whole-family, joined up family support services with over 5,000 unique users at the Family Hub centres (Hob Moor, Avenues, Clifton) and over 8,000 visits to the Raise York website. Services utilised include midwifery, healthy child service and story time.
We worked with care experienced young people to develop an updated Corporate Parenting Strategy, outlining our ambitions and long-term aspirations for care experienced young people as they become adults. Read the Corporate Parenting Strategy 2024 to 2027
Following an inspection in August 2023, Ofsted found that “Care leavers are very well supported by staff, with whom they have stable and trusted relationships. They are supported effectively into adulthood by workers who are emotionally invested in them.
Health in All Policies
As a core commitment, health and wellbeing is seen throughout our activity, including:
- the development of a Movement and Place Framework to potentially reconfigure how the road network can focus on people with more sustainable and active travel routes to move around the city
- the new Air Quality Action Plan 4 to build on air quality improvements in the city
- free school meals pilots in Westfield and Burton Green - a £100,000 fund which supports the delivery of projects which support those primary schools in York which are most in need
- the continued work with the Poverty Truth Commission
Work continues to support people to improve their health and wellbeing. This includes:
- funding to tackle substance misuse
- support and grow the drug and alcohol recovery system
- grant funding to support smoking cessation
In addition to continued application of schemes that address some of the wider determinants of health and provide support to some of our most vulnerable residents, such as:
The Warms Places Grant was also launched to provide warm places for people struggling to cover energy costs over winter.
UK Shared Prosperity Funding has also been utilised, to support York Community Energy to provide outreach to households across the city. This includes support with installing energy-saving measures and helping York residents to apply for retrofit grants. Together with the Retrofit One-Stop-Shop being developed following an award of £3.3 million from Innovate UK to us and our partners, this will support people to live in more sustainable, warmer homes.
What we plan to do over the next three months
- develop a York Youth Justice Service Plan
- produce a Community Dementia Model
- consider the establishment of a Joint Committee between ourselves and the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board
- finalise a Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy 2024 to 2029
Areas of Positive Performance
Council delivery
The number of children in care was 232 in Q2 2023 to 2024. Whereas, the number of children subject to a Child Protection Plan was 139 in Q2 2024 to 2025.
City outcomes
The number of children in temporary accommodation was 45 in 2023 to 2024, compared to 63 in 2022 to 2023.
The absolute gap in percent of children reaching the expected level of development for 2 to 2.5 years of age, between the highest and lowest York wards, was 10.5% in 2023 to 2024, compared to 13.7% in 2022 to 2023.
