TOP-LEVEL services are to be delivered for York's old and young people alike, councillors have vowed.

At a meeting yesterday, City of York Council's ruling executive considered making York an "age friendly city", while also rubber-stamping plans for a new "integrated youth service" for the city's children and teenagers.

The motion on the elderly was tabled by Ruth Potter, the council's older people's champion, following a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

She noted that older people in York accounted for 19.4 per cent of the population, compared with 13.6 per cent nationally, and called on the council to adopt a range of principles.

They included a culture that "respects and includes" older people; regularly seeking older people's views and respecting their opinions in policies; properly maintaining and lighting pavements; and enforcing litter laws and repairing uneven pavements. Other policies included ensuring all public buildings are fully accessible; housing "integrated in the community" that accommodates changing needs and abilities; and improving bus travel.

A report by the council's housing and adult social services director, Bill Hodson, said York was likely to be already meeting many of the WHO's standards but said no detailed work had yet been done to assess its performance.

The executive agreed to refer the matter to the next full council meeting, with a recommendation that it be referred to the social inclusion working group and the inclusive York forum.

The changes to the youth service were initially agreed by the executive last year, and will bring together the youth service and Connexions Service.

Paul Murphy, the council's assistant director in partnerships and early intervention, said: "We believe this is the first step towards a better future for youth services in the city."

Connexions now comes back within the council's responsibilities, and Coun Keith Aspden, executive member for youth and social inclusion, said: "I am very pleased to see it coming back under local authority control. I look forward to seeing how we can deliver better services."

Coun Carol Runciman, executive member for children's services, said young people responded best when advisory services and activity-based services were merged. She said the changes would remove the "artificial divides" between activities and giving advice.