Our vision
Find out more about:
- the York 2032 Strategy and policy framework
- how regional governance is changing
- how we'll be delivering the plan
One City For All, the City of York Council’s plan (2023 to 2027), sets a strong ambition to increase opportunities for everyone living in York to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
It builds on our strengths, to help us prepare for the future, and improve the quality of life for residents today.
It links to the city 10-Year Plan and 10-Year Strategies covering climate, health and wellbeing and the economy (York 2032) that was co-designed with city partners and set a vision and 5 key priority areas to focus on.
The Council Plan identifies what the Council will aim to deliver with partners over the next four years.
It is important that we are both ambitious and realistic. We will focus the council’s limited resources where it will make the biggest difference, whilst exploring innovative ways to attract investment into the city.
York 2032 Strategy and policy framework
Our vision
York will be a vibrant, prosperous, welcoming and sustainable city, where everyone can share and take pride and share in its success. A city where history meets the future.
Our priorities and goals
- Health and Wellbeing - All York residents (young, old and future residents) will enjoy happier, healthier, longer lives, in homes that meet their needs, able to actively participate in their communities, with access to the right support at the right time.
- Education and Skills - All ages will have access to learning throughout their lives to equip them with the skills to succeed commercially, socially, locally and nationally.
- Economic Growth - York’s economy will be vibrant and inclusive, with businesses supported to grow and prosper and talent nurtured, retained and supported. Our conomy will be developed to be well balanced with a mix of different sectors providing opportunities for young and old.
- Transport - York’s transport networks will be inclusive and sustainable, connecting neighbourhoods and communities.
- Sustainability - York will be carbon neutral and contribute to the regional ambition to be carbon negative, with iconic green spaces to enjoy today and the environment protected for future generations to enjoy.
Our Strategies
- Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022 to 2032
- Economic Growth Strategy 2022 to 2032
- Climate Change Strategy 2022 to 2032
- Setting the vision: City strategic ambitions are co-developed in partnership. The strategic ambitions are set for 10 years with 5 year review points, delivered with partners on behalf of the city. By their nature, they are aspirational, inspirational and encourage experimentation.
- Establishing objectives: In 5 to 10 year cycles with a review point in each Administration.
- Delivering action: Action plans are informed by citizens engagement and are reviewed regularly.
Regional governance is changing
The way the city and region work together is changing. Throughout 2023 and 2024, regional governance structures are being established to facilitate closer working between the City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council to help deliver our priorities over the years ahead.
The City of York Council remains a unitary authority with no change in responsibilities or boundaries. In the meantime, the newly established North Yorkshire Council brings together North Yorkshire district authorities and the county council into one new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council.
City of York and North Yorkshire councils negotiated a devolution deal between central government and local authorities in York and North Yorkshire. The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority will be established in 2023/24, with the election of the Mayor taking place in May 2024. The Council will then work with the elected Mayor, and North Yorkshire Council, to champion the interests of the city, and the region, particularly in respect of strategic transport and economic interests to national government.
The York Place Health and Care Partnership has been established, formalising arrangements to join up health, social care and the voluntary sector work with communities. A 10-year prospectus was co-designed with residents, partners and the community and clearly sets out how health, care and community partners will work together to improve the health and wellbeing of residents. The challenges within health and care will require significant integration of services.
Being clear on our priorities now will help us over the decade ahead as we continue to build a supportive and collaborative relationship with our local and regional partners.
Delivering the plan
The local authority sector is experiencing very significant pressures on its financial stability.
The challenge of increased demand within social care is creating a situation where the majority of local authorities are having to prioritise resources very carefully, with some restricting spending to statutory services.
Within York we face these challenges and know we will need to take decisions to ensure financial stability.
To deliver our plan, we must ensure financial resilience and stability over the next four years. Exploring new ways to fund action whilst developing additional income streams to invest in services will be crucial. We will need to reduce the size of the council to manage within our funding, whilst still being ambitious for our city, and our businesses, communities and the residents who live here.
We know it is only by being open and responsive, listening to people and learning from their experience, improving customer experience throughout our operations, and working hard for all the people of York, that we will be able to deliver our vision and this plan.
Our local, regional and national partnerships have a significant role to help us. Whether unlocking investment, sharing expertise or championing York’s interests, it is only by working together to deliver shared objectives that we can improve the quality of life for all our residents.
Our staff are key to achieving the actions set out within this plan.
We will continue to support and invest in our staff, seeking to retain staff and ensure the Council is a place people want to work for. We recognise the financial challenges will be a concern for our employees and will work closely with them.
This Council Plan is designed as a framework to set our priorities, guide our decisionmaking, and consider our resource allocation. It shows the outcomes we aim to deliver and the actions we will take if funding allows, with more details in our directorate and service plans which will be reviewed annually.
To show how the council can make a positive difference, it is our role to set the conditions so that York is One City for all. For example, we must ensure people with disabilities are heard and have the same rights and access to opportunities as everyone - with the council removing barriers to everyday living and with disabled children supported into adulthood.
