“Fairness” conference cost over £18,000

York taxpayers to cough up £8235

york-fairness-conference-logo

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the “Fairness Conference”, held earlier in the summer, cost £18,235 of which £10,000 was paid by Joseph Rowntrees Foundation.

The figures do not include “help in kind” contributions with the University providing free accommodation and an evening “reception”.

Speakers were not paid a fee but claimed £820 for air tickets, £303 for taxis, £361 for train tickets and £736 for accommodation.

The conference was criticised for unnecessary costs and lack of political balance in the line up of speakers (who were overwhelmingly Labour spokespeople).

Some suggested that the cost of the event might more usefully have been spent on the direct relief of poverty.

Full details of the expenses incurred can be found by clicking here

Commonwealth Games set to inspire more into sports in York

Residents inspired by the Commonwealth Games are being encouraged to become more active by taking part in York’s first programme of Commonwealth Open Days.

Sports village swimming pool

Sports village swimming pool

Throughout July and August, 24 local sports clubs, gyms and organisations will be opening their doors to children, young people and adults and inviting them to find out more.

The exciting programme of events and activities include family fun days, free taster sessions, classes and introductory joining offers.

The open days will feature a wide range of sporting activities on offer from tennis, athletics, bowls, cricket, golf, martial arts, rugby, squash and volleyball to gym workouts, playdays and beginner running groups and cater for all ages and abilities.

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Lendal Bridge councillors face crunch vote

The Labour councillors responsible for the botched Lendal Bridge trial will formally face calls to resign at tomorrow night’s meeting of York’s Full Council.

Quit

Council Leader James Alexander and Cllr Dave Merrett, the Cabinet Member responsible for the trial, will both face a vote to decide whether they keep their jobs.

The move is part of a Liberal Democrat motion which also calls for the 60,000 motorists fined for crossing Lendal Bridge to be repaid automatically without having to apply for a refund.

So far Labour has only said York Council will reimburse people who apply for a repayment.

The motion follows the embarrassing U-Turn last week when Labour announced that it would drop its appeal against a Government Traffic Adjudicator ruling which said the Lendal Bridge closure was unlawful.

In April Cllr Merrett said that if the trial was proved to be unlawful he would resign, telling BBC Radio York: “Yes, I accept that at the end of the day that if we’ve got it wrong to that extent that I’d have to resign”.

In April Cllr Merrett lost responsibility for Transport, but kept his Cabinet post taking control of Environmental Services.

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Woodlands playground future questioned

Foxwood Residents Association are seeking answers as to why a playground in the area has been locked and unused for over three years.Rowntrees play area

The playground, with new equipment, is on the Woodlands Estate which is managed by Joseph Rowntree Housing.

Local residents have approached the Association to seek their support in getting answers and most importantly getting the play area used again.

Shirley Gumley, Chairman of the Foxwood Residents Association, said

” It is a great pity that this play area has been locked for so long. There are lots of young children in the area who would appreciate a secure place to play and residents are feeling frustrated at the lack of communication from Joseph Rowntree on this issue.

If there is a reason why the area cannot be used then tell us rather than leaving everyone guessing”

A door to door survey on the issue is currently being undertaken in the area.

Latest Planning applications Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward

Below are the latest planning applications received by the York Council for the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward.

Full details can be found by clicking the application reference

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Location:       256 Tadcaster Road York YO24 1ES

Proposal:       First and second floor extension to house and single storey extension to rear

Ref No: 14/01419/FUL

Applicant:      Mr Shirley MCmanaman    Contact Mr Thomas Gray   Consultation Expiry Date        4 August 2014 Case Officer:   Will Steel      Expected Decision Level DEL

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Location:       125 Dringthorpe Road York YO24 1LF

Proposal:       First floor side extension

Ref No: 14/01511/FUL

Applicant:      Mrs Linda Kitchen   Consultation Expiry Date        4 August 2014 Case Officer:   Will Steel      Expected Decision Level DEL

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Location:       1 Northfield Terrace York YO24 2HT

Proposal:       Change of use from residential dwelling (use class C3) to bed and breakfast (use class C1) with two storey rear extension (resubmission)

Ref No: 14/01480/FUL

Applicant:      Mr Paul Smith   Contact Eamonn Keogh    Consultation Expiry Date        4 August 2014Case Officer:   Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed)       Expected Decision Level DEL

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Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning on line web site.  http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/

NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.

“Don’t call us” Lendal Bridge plea by York Council

The Council has issued the following statement. Refund_Stamp

It is incorrect as the Council hasn’t yet decided to offer refunds on Lendal bridge fines. At this stage it is merely a proposal from Cllr Levene.

No date has been set for the issue to be formally considered by any of the Council’s decision taking bodies.

The Council statement reads,

The Council has decided to refund people who received a fine during the trial traffic regulation of Lendal Bridge, those who appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal will receive payment from the Council and need take no further action. A refund will be made in all other cases provided a request is made through the council application process. This is due to the clear level of public concern during the trial. It is hoped that this can be seen as a statement of goodwill and we are drawing a line under the matter.

In order to protect the Council against the risk from fraudulent claims a simple application process is currently in development and it is anticipated that this will be launched in the near future. An announcement as to the opening of the application process will be made through the Council website and the Council’s normal communication channels.

Whilst we appreciate that those affected by this process will wish to make their application at the earliest possible date, refunds will only be made when requests are made through the official application process and contacting the Council prior to the opening of the process will not be necessary or assist your claim.

 

Dramatic fall in numbers fined for littering offences in York

Litter Esplanade car park river bank near Scarborough Bridge

Despite growing concerns about the amount of litter on our streets, the York Council has scaled back by nearly 95% the number of penalty notices issued for littering.

In 2013/14 only 16 Fixed Penalty Notices were issued compared to 216 in the previous year.

The number of people fined more than £100 has also dropped from the 2012/13 high when 18 prosecutions resulted in fines totally £1700.

£280 in victim surcharges were also received together with £4100 in court costs.

The Council has been criticised for the double environmental “whammy” of reducing the number of litter bins in the City while all but abandoning enforcement of anti littering legislation.

 

Government to give extra £1 million to help sort out York’s transport problems

Lendal Bridge recriminations continue

Lendal bridge without traffic

Lendal bridge without traffic

York been awarded a further £1million by the Department for Transport as a dispute about who paid for the Lendal Bridge trial has surfaced.

Refund decision- who decides and when?

None of the Council’s decision making bodies has considered a proposal to repay Lendal Bridge fines. It is merely a proposal to creep out for a “behind closed doors” meeting of the Labour Group. It is a key decision but does not appear in the Councils forward plan. The last time the Council considered the issue Labour Councillors combined to vote down a request for an independent scrutiny review of the failings of, and lessons to be learned from, the Lendal and Coppergate trials.

Now a decision date will have to be set and a report on the methodology – and costs – of setting up a refund system will have to be written and published. The ultimate success of a proposal to repay fines is not in doubt, as both Opposition parties (LibDem and Tory) have previously called for the refunds to be made. There is considerable doubt, though, about when such payments might start and what paperwork vehicle owners may be expected to complete.

How much did it cost and who pays?

The present government allows Local Authorities a large measure of devolution on transport spending priorities and last year the Councils Labour Leadership chose to spend some grant money on access restriction hardware (such as ANPR cameras).

This totalled around £100,000 and is money that has now effectively been lost. The latest grant allocation (see below) was made before the York Council made its announcement about refunding Lendal Bridge fines, so it remains to be seen whether the fiasco will adversely impact on future transport funding allocations for the City.

The vast majority of the costs of the Lendal Bridge and Coppergate schemes were funded by fine income. The detail was reported to the Cabinet earlier in the month Click here for report Para 23 makes it clear that £1.756 million in fine income had been received by the end of March. Administrative costs were £718,000. In the main, those were the costs of enforcement and processing the FPNs. The Council has never revealed how much it was charged by the Peterborough based company that it used to process the fine notifications.

LTP3 – What did it say?

Some commentators are also claiming the the Local Transport Plan (LTP3), submitted to government in 2010 when the Council was LibDem led, somehow prompted the Lendal Bridge access restriction trial. The plan can still be viewed on the Council’s web site click here

The Plan does suggest a trial which would have given public transport priority on Ouse Bridge (not Lendal Bridge) in the medium term (2019). However that was conditional on other network improvements being completed – notably to to the northern by pass and to Park and Ride facilities – in the interim. The Labour Leadership must accept full responsibility for trying to bounce an ill considered Lendal Bridge scheme, onto an unsuspecting public, before even the two new Park and Ride sites had been completed.

£1 million more from Government

We hope that the Council will get back to basics and ensure that there is full public discussion of their plans for the use of this money. They have gone backwards recently with the removal of card payment options at the Maygate car park, travellers can no longer look on the web to see which car parks are full and on street visual display boards are often not working.

Well used sub-urban bus stops still don’t have real time “next bus arriving” screens yet.

All are issues that need addressing before anymore money is squandered on “vanity” projects
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York Council call for young carers to be given extra support

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Liberal Democrats are calling for more support to be given to young carers in York by extending a successful national funding scheme.

The Lib Dems, along with groups such as the Carers Trust, are calling for Pupil Premium eligibility to be extended to include young carers.

The Pupil Premium is an additional allowance given to schools to support looked after children and those from low income families.

Children entitled to free school meals are eligible for the funding along with children in care, adopted children, children in hospital schools and service personnel children.

Schools in York have received £12.6 million since the Lib Dem policy was introduced in 2011.
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