Track the business activity and commercial plans of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority — identify tender and future spending opportunities before they reach the market, follow cabinet and committee decisions, and understand the council’s priorities, with intelligence extracted from 16 analysed meetings.
Meetings analysed16
Procurement opportunities6
Pressures tracked9
Estimated pipeline value£2.2bn–£2.5bn
Active procurement topics
Over the last 12 months, the most frequently discussed commercial topics in this council's meetings have been Economic Development & Business Support (28 mentions, easing), Highways & Transport (25 mentions, rising), Professional Services (22 mentions, easing) and IT & Digital (20 mentions, easing).
Commercial signals extracted from recent York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority meetings — approvals, budget decisions and early procurement discussions, before a tender is published.
The mayor proposed a 9.6% increase in the mayoral general precept for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, taking the Band D amount to £1,162 for 2026/27. The increase is driven by a near 25% reduction in government grant over three years, pay and inflation pressures, and the need to maintain operational capability, capital investment and road safety partnership work.
“This paper sets out the financial context of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and my recommendation for introducing a 960 increase for Bandandy properties in York and North Yorkshire setting the 2026 27 male general precept at £1162 for a Bandandy property which is a 80p a month i…”
Members approved the approach for distributing the four-year transport capital settlement, including major allocations for highway maintenance, a mayor's road maintenance fund, road safety cameras, active travel, bus punctuality, and other transport schemes. The report set out that funding would be distributed over 2026-27 to 2029-30, with significant sums earmarked for delivery partners and strategic schemes.
“Our settlement details were received in December, and we have a four-year settlement for capital funding of 428.8 million pounds over the next four years, and 27.4 million of revenue funding over the next three years. It's the responsibility of the combined authority to distribut…”
The Combined Authority approved a housing growth strategy setting a target of 60,000 new homes over 10 years, with at least 25,000 affordable homes. The strategy is intended to coordinate housing delivery, infrastructure, planning, and sector capacity across York and North Yorkshire, and it was amended in response to scrutiny feedback before approval.
“Thank you very much, Matt. Thank you, Andrew. And as you said, this strategy sets out the ambition to build the right homes in the right places, and and for the people's needs as well. And fundamentally, you you you are I I’ve misspoke, all right? It’s 60,000 at least 25,000 of o…”
The committee reviewed a major constitution rewrite to reflect the new Devolution and Community Empowerment Act, including new decision-making rules, commissioner roles, scrutiny arrangements, and expanded powers over transport, planning, housing, health, and borrowing. This is not a procurement decision itself, but it will materially shape future procurement governance and authorisation thresholds.
“So this piece of work has been ongoing for for some time. Its purpose was to make it um reflect entirely the the legal foundation of the combined authority, but also to be more of a a usable, readable manual for staff and for members. Uh so it's much easier to to track the core c…”
Members endorsed the refreshed Local Skills Improvement Plan for 2026 to 2029, which aligns with the national industrial strategy and local growth plan. The plan prioritises competitive advantage sectors and enablers such as leadership, digital, and employability skills, and will be submitted to the Secretary of State for approval.
“So, the purpose of this report is to present the York and North Yorkshire local skills improvement plan to the combined authority to confirm if it is content to endorse the plan and for it to be submitted to the Secretary of State for approval. So, government commissioned employe…”
Officers presented a revised regional strategy for a sustainable future, renamed from the carbon negative roadmap, and set out that it will go to the combined authority on 27 March 2026 before an eight-week public consultation in April. The strategy retains the carbon negative ambition but broadens the framing to economic transformation, healthy communities, transport, food, coastal environment and community action, with stakeholder engagement and implementation plans to follow.
“Yeah, thank you. Um I'll just do a very brief overview and then I'll pass really to go through the the bulk of the report. Um but as the chair said um this report um was previously um the roommap carbon negative and we looked at this as being a refresh um and as we started to go…”
The meeting focused heavily on transport strategy, especially the new local transport delivery plan, bus service improvement plan, and plans to merge enhanced partnerships across York and North Yorkshire. Members and public speakers raised rural access, York service levels, cross-boundary routes, and the risk of losing DfT funding if plans are not delivered on time. There was also discussion of the Yorkshire Dales franchising pilot, rail station and platform projects, the York Central and Sherburn development areas, and the performance framework and KPIs for the combined authority. The Mayor also highlighted investment zones, trade support, skills/training, and concerns about underfunding for transport revenue and infrastructure.
The committee reviewed the authority’s governance, assurance, data protection, audit progress, risk management, business continuity, treasury performance, and a substantial constitutional rewrite driven by the new Devolution and Community Empowerment Act. Procurement-relevant points included planned work on website/disclosure logs, business continuity planning with North Yorkshire Council support, continued use of Veritau for information compliance, treasury SLA review to improve returns on surplus cash, and potential future changes arising from new devolved powers, commissioners, and transport/health functions. The authority also reported strong reserves, delayed capital delivery due to equipment lead times and contractor availability, and a generally improved audit position, though performance management and governance development remain priorities.
The meeting covered annual appointments and governance housekeeping, but the main procurement-relevant discussion focused on a revised 2025/26 outturn and budget roll-forward, the closure of the Shared Prosperity Fund, a large delivery update across grants and contracts, approval to consult on the new Local Transport Plan, and an outline business case for the Net Zero Accelerator programme. Members also discussed the Local Growth Delivery Plan, including a new £1m allocation to scale business support and enable investment-led growth, alongside the need for a future performance framework and better outcome measurement.
The meeting focused heavily on housing growth, affordable housing delivery, brownfield regeneration funding, and skills planning. Members approved a housing growth strategy, accepted additional brownfield housing funding, endorsed a refreshed local skills improvement plan, and noted an investment events programme supported by mayoral investment funding. The discussion also highlighted infrastructure, workforce capacity, and the role of regional partnerships such as Homes England and the Chamber of Commerce.
The committee reviewed a wide range of governance and assurance papers, with the main procurement-relevant themes being internal audit planning, information governance, risk management, and finance controls. Members pressed officers on improving audit coverage, transparency, risk reporting, and readability of reports. There were also updates on treasury management, significant governance weaknesses, and a constitution review timetable, but no direct procurement award or tender decision was made.
The meeting focused heavily on transport investment and governance, especially the transfer of mayoral bus powers back to the Combined Authority, a four-year transport capital settlement, and record highway maintenance and road safety funding. Members debated the balance between North Yorkshire and York allocations, the introduction of fixed and average speed cameras, active travel and school streets, and an opportunity to host the 2026 and 2027 Tour of Britain. There were also updates on local growth, skills funding, and a sustainable future strategy consultation.