The Council plans to introduce a voluntary landlord accreditation scheme shortly.

The suggestion – which has been implemented in other parts of the country – was made several years ago. It is intended to protect landlords, tenants and residents living near privately rented properties.

It arose after complaints about the maintenance arrangements for some properties in the City which were only occupied by students during term time and which could be neglected at other times of the year.

Although voluntary, it is expected that the scheme will prove to be popular with both landlords and potential tenants as it will for the first time document good practice principals.

http://tinyurl.com/York-Landlords

Responsibility for making care grants (basically for furniture) and crisis loans will pass to the York Council in March.

The government is fully funding the change which it is hoped will make the service more sensitive to the needs of those who face a financial crisis.

Around £300,000 a year is made in grants of this type each year in York.

http://tinyurl.com/York-social-fund

The York Council “Cabinet” have agreed a new system of Council Tax benefit which could see some residents paying £5 a week more. There is a wide variance in the extra amounts that people will have to find although pensioners will see no change to their entitlement http://tinyurl.com/York-Tax-losers

Controversially the York Council has once again decided not to accept government subsidies which would have reduced the individual impact that the changes are having. Over £200,000 was made available in transitional grant. The effect of accepting the subsidy would have been to ensure that no one (currently assessed to pay zero) would pay more than 8.5% of their Council Tax liability

It is a similar approach to their refusal of the extra grant that the government have been offering and which would have reduced Council Tax levels by 5% for everyone in the City.

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North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following routes between Wednesday 5 and Tuesday 11 December 2012.

•A64, east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•The Village, Stockton On Forest, York
•A1036, Malton Road, York
•A1237, Monks Cross, York
•A64, east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•York Road, Haxby, York (Cycle Shop)
•York Road, Haxby, York
•A1237, Monks Cross, York
•A64, east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64, west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Broadway, Fulford, York
•Murton Way, Murton, York
•Fordlands Road, Fulford York
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Officers are warning residents to secure their homes as they begin anti-burglary patrols in the run-up to Christmas.

Officers will be on the look-out for vulnerable properties, including those with unlocked doors, and will leave a calling card if they spot any homes at risk.

Around a third of all burglaries committed in North Yorkshire are carried out at insecure properties where people have left a door or window unlocked.

Officers want to drive home the message that something so simple as locking your door, closing and securing a window – even when you are at home – could help prevent a burglary.

Recent burglaries

York

Overnight on Monday 3 to Tuesday 4 December 2012, three insecure properties were entered in York, with laptops stolen from two student flats in Heworth and jewellery taken from a house in Holgate.

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An updated report on the progress being made by the Poppleton Road primary school can be read by clicking here: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/files/2134399/urn/121281.pdf

Labour have ignored over 1,500 residents who signed a Liberal Democrat petition calling for the return of litter bins controversially axed earlier this year.

In June, in a move that sparked cross-party and public anger, 349 litter and dog bins were removed by City of York Council.

1,530 people living in Dringhouses & Woodthorpe, Fulford, and Huntington & New Earswick put their names to the petition demanding a reversal of the cull.

This intense public opposition led to 12 of the bins being reinstated and another 17 being relocated.

However, demands to return the remaining 320 bins were rejected by the Labour Cabinet for Environmental Services at a special meeting tonight.

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York has secured £252,705 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Inclusive Sport fund to increase provision of sport for disabled people in the City.

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Unusually for this time of year, a complaint has been made about an odour which can be smelt in the Wetherby Road area. We’ve highlighted the issue to Yorwaste who run the nearby Harewood Whin waste site

Yorwaste have now issued the following statement:

“NEWS RELEASE

3rd December 2012

Harewood Whin landfill site

Yorwaste is currently in the process of installing new wells that will collect landfill gas at its Harewood Whin site, near York.

The wells are being installed as part of the restoration of a new section of the site.

Until the work is completed there may be a temporary odour in the air, but we are working to complete this work as soon as possible. In the meantime, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to people in the vicinity of the site.

As we close sections of the landfill site, it is important to capture the gas emitted from landfill as it can be converted into a renewable energy source. There is always a short interval from completing this infrastructure work to being able to connect to the equipment that produces this renewable energy”.

The regulatory authority of waste disposal is The Environment Agency, Coverdale House, Amy Johnson Way, Clifton Moor, York YO30 4UZ Tel: 01904 692 296 / 08708 506506 Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

The York Council also now have a public health responsibility.

Following the flooding of the boiler room at Windsor House last weekend and the subsequent loss of heating at the home, immediate arrangements were made last Sunday for the 25 residents to be safely moved to alternative care. The vast majority of residents were transferred to the other six CYC homes, but 4 residents transferred to a private care home in Selby. Care arrangements are all suitable in the short term.

The heating system should be repaired by the end of this week. The Council anticipates being able to start moving residents back into Windsor House from next Monday (10th) onwards, although this is likely to be using the ground floor rooms only initially, as the lift is out of action and is likely to take longer to fix