Lendal bridge figures published

The York Council has finally published the presentation which apparently led to Labour Councillors abandoning the traffic restrictions on Lendal Bridge.

click to download full presentation

click to download full presentation

The papers have crept into the daylight following a vigorous campaign by Liberal Democrats and residents for a full scrutiny review of the fiasco.

The presentation is not the final report, which is still scheduled to be considered by the Cabinet on 6th May.

However there are some glaring anomalies in the claims made by officials.

In claiming that hotel and bus use had increased, they have failed to include benchmark comparisons; preferring just to assume that any favourable trend is a result of the Lendal Bridge restrictions.

In truth the economic recovery and good weather have played a part in attracting more visitors to the City over the last few months.

& First buses claimed in September that their new fare pricing and routing policies, would attract more passengers (as appears to be the case although robust bus reliability measures are missing).

Also missing are details of the number of PCNs issued during the period between the end of the trial and the decision to abort the traffic regulation order.

Cllr Merrett sacked from transport role

Dave Merrett has been sacked from his transport responsibilities in York.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

He has been heavily criticised for poor execution of traffic restrictions on Lendal Bridge and more recently for an email exchange, about the controversial introduction of wide area 20 mph speed limits, in which he abused Opposition Councillors.

He will retain his Cabinet pay as he takes over responsibility for environmental services. He will also be responsible for York’s Local Plan – another shambolic situation.

He is replaced by Cllr Levene who recently was forced to announce a budget overspend on ice clearance last year despite having had the mildest winter on record!

Tracey Simpson Laing is also demoted losing responsibility for health matters.

The Council Leader has said the changes have been made as he “didn’t want to lose control of the Council in the 2015 local election to a LibDem/Tory coalition” (!)

Merrett 20 mph private Emails published

Minster FM have published details of private Emails exchanged by Labour Councillors over plans to introduce 20 mph speed limits across York.

In the Emails he tries to inflame opinion by calling for letters to be sent to the local paper – and to be posted on its web site – labelling opposition Councillors as “Ludites”.

It appears that the Emails were sent using Council facilities which breaches regulations forbidding the use of equipment, paid for by taxpayers, for political purposes.

The Emails reveal that the main road trial 20 mph limits have been ineffective, that accident levels in other City’s which introduced wide area 20 mph levels have increased and that there is a lot of opposition to the idea in York.

In released pre publication officer reports to Cllr Semleyn – a paid 20’s plenty organiser – he urges her to mobilise support.

The revelations are bound to increase pressure on Cllr Merrett to resign from his Cabinet post.

York unemployed figures down

US-unemployment-jobs-fair-007

The latest ONS figures reveal that there are 1430 men and 682 women unemployed and seeking work in York at the end of March.

This represents 1.6% of the working population and compares to the regional average of 3.8%

The total of 2122 represents a reduction from the January total of 2183.

Unemployment in the City has reduced by 931 over the last year.

The improvement can be traced to the general economic recovery underpinned by several specific Coalition government initiatives

Lendal Bridge restrictions – Why no public report?

Council Forward Programme click to enlarge

Council Forward Programme click to enlarge

The Council published late yesterday their decision notice on lifting the Lendal bridge traffic restrictions. It referred to a meeting which had taken place a week earlier.

The notice that the meeting would take place was also published yesterday (which is no help for residents trying to follow the Byzantine meanderings of the Councils processes)

The Council claims that the decision was taken under “delegated powers” by the Council Leader acting alone.

The decision notice does not include any background report (which is in itself highly unusual given that the last Council meeting was prevented from discussing the issue because “all the facts weren’t available”)

The Decision has not been labelled as “key” meaning that it cannot be called in for consideration by an ”all party” committee.

However a decision on the Lendal Bridge issues was, and is, due to be made by the Cabinet on 6th May 2014.

Key decision items have to be included in what is known as the Forward Plan and an entry was made for this policy item.

It confirms that it is a “key” decision.

The Councils Monitoring Officer needs to explain these inconsistencies, and pretty quickly.

No one doubts that officers could have switched off the ANPR cameras at least when their use was found to be unlawful.

But a decision to revoke the traffic order required an approach in line with the published Forward Programme.

It is likely that the Local Government Ombudsman would take a dim view of the Councils manoeuvres.

In the meantime the Council should agree to set up a scrutiny committee to look into the irregularties.

James Blanchard selected as the Lib Dem Candidate for York Outer

 

James Blanchard

James Blanchard

James Blanchard has been selected as the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for York Outer ahead of next year’s General Election.

James joined the Lib Dems while studying at Leeds University and is currently a councillor in Kirklees. He has worked for a number of major regional companies and organisations in senior communications and campaigning roles, including the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and the Environment Agency.

Party members selected James to contest the seat at a special hustings meeting at Oaken Grove Community Centre in Haxby.

Commenting James Blanchard said:

“It is an honour to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for York Outer. I am looking forward to working hard for local residents to ensure they get the local services they deserve. I will also be campaigning hard alongside our local councillors to ensure that York’s precious Green Belt is protected from reckless housing plans.

“I am proud to be a Liberal Democrat. It is down to our work in government that over 70,000 York residents are seeing their income tax cut by £800 a year while £5million in pupil premium funding has been secured for local schools to ensure that every child in York, whatever their background, gets the start in life they deserve.”

Madeleine Kirk, who contested the seat in the 2010 election, also congratulated James on being selected. She said, “I am looking forward to working with James and I know he will be an integral part of the local team as we prepare for elections in 2015. James is an experienced campaigner who I know will work tirelessly for local residents. I wish him the best of luck.”

http://yorklibdems.org.uk/en/page/james-blanchard

jamesblanchard@yorklibdems.org.uk

Budget overspend despite record mild winter

No winter maintenance

New figures reveal that Labour run York Council overspent this year’s winter maintenance budget despite it being one of the mildest winters on record.

The council’s 2013/14 winter budget, which funds gritting and salt bins, was £107,000 in the red despite the city seeing no significant snowfall or prolonged frosts this winter. This has led to concerns that recent cuts by Labour have left the budget dangerously low and if next winter sees more typical weather there will be major disruption in York.

Labour has cut the winter maintenance budget every year since coming to power in 2011, and last year took 30 miles of road off the priority gritting list while cutting two-thirds of the city’s salt bins.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, commented:

“It is extraordinary that despite it being the fifth mildest winter since national records began the Labour Council has still overspent its budget.

“Cuts by Labour have reduced gritting routes and salt bins across York and therefore reduced the city’s capacity to cope with bad weather. If we have a more typical winter next year then the budget is just not there to ensure roads and paths are gritted and residents are kept safe.

“Liberal Democrat budget plans called for an extra £30,000 to be put into winter services and an extra £500,000 to be given to communities for local priorities such as extra salt bins or gritting. This would ensure that the resource was there to cope with bad weather.

“Labour got lucky this winter. However, the policy of spending money on city-centre vanity projects like Kings Square instead of on frontline services like gritting roads will catch-up with them.”

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