Health and wellbeing progress snapshot
Our Equalities and Human Rights 'snapshot of progress' will be updated every 6 months to provide details of our activity, as we work to deliver the Council Plan; One City, for all.
For our core commitment to health and wellbeing we will improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities, taking a Health in All Policies approach, with good education, jobs, travel, housing, better access to health and social care services and environmental sustainability. We will achieve better outcomes by targeting areas of deprivation, aiming to level opportunity across the city.
Priority actions
Find out more about progress on each priority action related to health and wellbeing:
- Reverse the current trend of widening health inequalities by supporting people manage their health conditions
- Provide access to good health and social care opportunities, training and skills
- Create higher paid jobs and encourage better working conditions
- Encourage healthy travel options to maintain healthy lifestyles
- Support people with additional needs get the right support at the right time
- Improve customer experience across council operations
Priority action: Reverse the current trend of widening health inequalities by supporting people manage their health conditions.
Progress by March 2025:
- Funding awarded to support and grow the drug and alcohol recovery system in York. See: Decision Report (PDF) - Decision Report: Investment of 2023/4 council budget growth money - Substance Misuse
- Domestic Abuse Strategy for York launched. See: Decision Report (PDF) - North Yorkshire and City of York Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024 to 2028. The York Domestic Abuse Strategy Delivery Plan was approved and prioritises early intervention and prevention as the focus of partnership working. Work includes education and training across all front-line services and equipping professionals with the knowledge to recognise signs and indicators of domestic abuse and particularly to understand the needs of rarely heard and marginalised groups. The group also ensures that specialist support services commissioned across both York and North Yorkshire are inclusive and accessible and that safe accommodation is available to meet the needs of victims
- York launched 'clean air night'
- York Health Trainer service has the fourth-best smoking quit rates in the country. See: Swap smoking for more money and better mental health
- Executive approval of an initial £196,000 from Department of Health and Social Care to be spent on reducing smoking in York in 2024/2025, with grant expected to continue each year until 2028/2029 - 9 May 2024. See the Building a smokefree generation in York document
- A new drug and alcohol service launched on 1 July. Change Grow Live are new provider of York Drug and Alcohol service delivering £1.8 million service to provide community based treatment
- A revised action plan has now been approved as part of the 10-year Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The action points include, reducing the gap in healthy life expectancy between the city’s richest and poorest communities.
- ‘Next Generation York: the health of adolescents in our city’, the annual report from the Director of Public Health for 2024/25 has been published, setting out some of the main health challenges for children and young people in York.
- Over £450k of Health Inequalities and Prevention Funding has been allocated by the York Health and Care Partnership for 2025/26 onwards, under three strategic ‘pillars’ including a community-based intervention focused on Children and Young People, an enhancement to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) in General Practice, and investment in prevention and early intervention services in the city. See the YHCP Report to HWBB - March 2025 SCL approved version
Priority action: Provide access to good health and social care opportunities, training and skills.
Progress by March 2025:
- York Health and Care Partnership held a health and care recruitment and volunteering event, promoting apprenticeships and different courses
- A new Skills Plan for York and North Yorkshire was approved by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority on 8 September
Priority action: Create higher paid jobs and encourage better working conditions.
Progress by March 2025:
- 4 new packages of support were launched for York’s business community, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, covering start-ups, growing social enterprises, innovate York workshops for entrepreneurs and businesses and decarbonising business advice
- Good Business Charter cases studies are now promoted on the CYC website
Priority action: Encourage healthy travel options to maintain healthy lifestyles.
Progress by March 2025:
- The Public Charging Strategy was approved. See: Agenda for Executive on Thursday, 13 July 2023 (Item 17)
- Bus Service Improvement Plan was awarded £23 million funding from the DfT to make sure York’s bus depot is fully electric by the end of 2023, with nine new electric First buses joining York’s fleet in August 2023
- Local Transport Strategy and Movement and Place Framework approved by Executive on 18 July will help to radically re-frame how people move in and around the city. Local Transport Strategy 2024 to 2040
- The £1 single fare will continue until the end of March 2026
- Publication of Local Cycling and Walking Implementation Plan Report Annex A
Priority action: Support people with additional needs get the right support at the right time.
Progress by March 2025:
- The All Age Commissioning Strategy was approved by Executive. See: Agenda for Executive on Thursday, 14 September 2023 (Item 26)
- Health, care and communities partnership worked together to scope York’s prevention offer was agreed at the Place Partnership, exploring integration, and strengthening the links between health, public health and the VCSE. See: York Health and Care Partnership update November 2023
- Executive approval for the creation of a SEND Hub and re-procurement of an Advocacy Hub at its meeting of 5 September
- Consultation on the City of York Council’s draft Adult Social Care Strategy for the next three years has taken place. This strategy sets out commitments, priorities and approaches, reflecting both the challenges ahead and the opportunities to make a real impact by supporting people to live independently, stay safe and well, and access joined-up, person centred care at the right time. The strategy is available to read online. The consultation ran until the end of March 2025.
Priority action: Improve customer experience across council operations.
Progress by March 2025:
- The Working as One City Programme approach was agreed, leading to a series of service reviews exploring how to improve customer experience whilst reducing costs - the first review will focus on Early Intervention and Prevention, followed by how the customer interacts with the council; this includes co-developing a locality model to inform discussions with York’s Place Board to help improve resident experience at a neighbourhood level
- Neighbourhood plans have begun to be produced for each ward, identifying strengths, needs and gaps to inform locality working
- Our Big Budget Conversation ran between 16 July and 1 September 2024. This captured ideas and input to help the Council make informed decisions that reflect the priorities and needs of our diverse community. A further round of consultation is planned, to ensure that residents have the opportunity to input into the process of setting the budget, and gain a better insight into council finances
- A consultation with the Talk About Panel (a representative panel of York residents who we ask opinions of on council policies and performance) has informed the development of a Managing Customer Relations Policy. The policy outlines expectations for interactions between staff and customers and is based on the recently adopted Poverty Truth Commission Organisational Standards. It recognises the importance of trauma-informed practice, meaning we factor in how people may have been affected by difficult life events in how we engage and work with them. The new policy will be used by officers across all frontline services to support them in approaching challenging interactions, and in deciding when and how to escalate issues appropriately
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