“Grand Departy” Inquiry agreed

Only minutes before the York Council Leader resigned, a Council scrutiny committee had agreed to hold an Inquiry into the Grand Departy shambles.

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

The event lost £187,000.

Officials attending the meeting admitted that mistakes had been made.

The Culture Scrutiny committee agreed to look at the processes – including decisions on marketing and safety – connected with the event as well as the operation of the spectator hubs and camping arrangements.

All the opposition parties supported the review although two Labour Councillors at the meeting opposed holding an inquiry.

A report will also go to the Cabinet in January.

The meeting was held in public and can be viewed on the Council web cam.

“Crisis” in recruiting social care staff in York

A report to a Council committee taking place next week reveals that

“Providers are facing a “crisis” in terms of recruiting suitable carers across home care, residential and nursing care services”.Social care

The Council says it is looking at ways of retaining staff and supporting additional recruitment.

Most York Council funded care services are now undertaken by private contractors. With wages by far the highest cost of providing personal care for the elderly and disabled there is a growing suspicion that increased staff costs will be passed on to Council taxpayers, when contracts are re-tendered.

The report also reveals that new standards and process have been introduced by the Care Quality Commission. (CQC)

All services are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and, as the regulator, it carries out regular inspection visits and follow-up visits (announced/unannounced) where applicable.

The frequency of CQC inspections will be dependant on the provider’s rating and on intelligence received in between scheduled inspections.

All reports are within the public domain and CQC have a range of enforcement options open to them should Quality and Standards fall below required expectations.

  • Of the 43 residential care homes in York, 6 currently have compliance actions listed against them.
  • Of 35 Home care providers in York, 2 currently have compliance and enforcement issues against them

The Councils states that when last surveyed 89% of their care customers were satisfied with the services that they were receiving.

“Grand Departy” crunch meeting tomorrow as costs of stilt walkers are revealed

Liberal Democrat calls for an inquiry into the ‘Grand Departy’ music concert are to be heard at crunch scrutiny meeting tomorrow.

grand-departy

Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, last week submitted a request for a review into the “planning, promotion and delivery” of City of York Council organised events for the Tour De France, including the £187,000 loss-making ‘Grand Departy’ concert.

A decision on whether to proceed with the review will be taken at tomorrow’s Learning & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Since the review request was submitted new concerns have emerged over public safety at the Grand Departy. Minutes from the July meeting of the council’s Safety Advisory Group (which took place just days after the event) have highlighted problems.

These included locked fire exits, blocked emergency exits and no licence to allow people to use covered seating areas. The Group said it would not support a similar event proposed at such late notice.

“Until these budget and safety issues are properly addressed many people will have little faith in the council to successfully run any large-scale cultural event.”

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The meeting comes as the York Council has been forced to reveal more detailed costs of the Grand Departy. Details can be downloaded by clicking here. The papers reveal that the costs of the stage, amplification and lighting alone cost more than total ticket sale income.

The Council have also released details of how over £60,000 was spent on other aspects of the “cultural festival”. Click here to download

. Details of the scrutinty meeting can be found here: .

The Committee is made-up of 3 Labour councillors, 1 Lib Dem, 1 Conservative, 1 Green (Chair) and 1 Independent.

Cllr Cuthbertson, who will make the case for an inquiry at tomorrow’s meeting, commented:
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York Christmas lights to be switched on this Thursday

A sparkling evening in York is promised for Thursday 20 November, when the Christmas lights will be switched on by the Lord Mayor and younger members of his family, as well as favourite characters from this year’s pantomime at York Theatre Royal. The event will be compered by Adam Tomlinson and Anna Wallace, presenters at BBC Radio York.

Merry Christmas 2013 smaller

The Lord Mayor will be joined in St Helen’s Square by his four grandchildren who will together perform the countdown to illuminating the St Leonard’s Hospice Light up a Life Christmas Tree and Christmas lights around the square. Panto favourites funny-man Martin Barrass and much-loved baddie David Leonard will also be on hand to add to the fun and bring a little of York Theatre Royal’s Mother Goose style to the evening.

Frank Woods, Chair of the York Retail Forum said: “Here we are again, on the verge of Christmas, and approaching the start of the festive period with an official switch on of the lights at St Helens Square. This is a fabulous time of year, hard work in the retail sector, but very rewarding as we all see our clients leaving the shops happy with the purchases, ready for placing under the tree. It is, of course, also a vital time for retailers, which can make a trading year really successful. The lights switch on, and St Nicholas Fair/festival is the perfect way to kick-star Christmas, especially as, this year, the St Nicholas Fair is to be extended over a month.”

Retailers throughout York will be open until 8pm on the evening of 20 November and on each Thursday evening up until Christmas.

Approximate timings for the switch on will be:

  • · From 5.30pm: The University of York Brass Band play Christmas carols and favourite Christmas music in St Helen’s Square
  • · 6.10pm: The Lord Mayor and pantomime characters will be briefly interviewed by BBC Radio York and will start the public countdown
  • · 6.15pm/6.20pm: The St Leonard’s Hospice Christmas tree lights will be officially switched on. The University of York Brass Band continues playing and local choirs, including Haxby Road Academy, Supersingers and York Music Centre Girls Chamber Choir will sing around the city throughout the evening, bringing musical magic to different retailers.

Residents and visitors can also see the new Christmas lights at the Coppergate Shopping Centre which promise to thrill and delight whilst also raising money for York based charity, Jessie’s Fund. A magical, musical Christmas tree comes alive each hour and, on receipt of a donation, will play music and change colours. On Sunday 30 November from 3pm shoppers and families who have benefitted from Jessie’s Fund together with local retailers will be celebrating Christmas with singing around the tree.

Meanwhile, Gillygate is organising more Christmas celebrations when the street is transformed into ‘Jollygate’ between 5pm and 8pm on Thursday 11 December. The Gillygate Traders association, in partnership with Access to Music, will be presenting an extravaganza of sound and shopping as shops come alive with the beautiful sounds and talent from Access to Music students past and present. Shops will host their own bespoke gigs and the musical mayhem culminates in a headline act at The Gillygate pub after-party from 8pm onwards. Everyone’s welcome!

Praise for York schools

89 per cent of York secondary schools and 87 per cent of the city’s primary schools are classed as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, according to the latest Ofsted inspections.

York High School

The figures will be presented to City of York Council’s Learning and Culture Overview and Scrutiny Committee later this week (19 November) together with other schools’ data for 2014. (more…)

Free meeting room offer at Gale Farm Court

The residents of Gale Farm Court, the sheltered accommodation unit for older people which is located on Front Street, have come up with a novel way of making better use of their community room.Rock band

They are offering free use of the room – which can accommodate up to 40 people – to local groups who need a meeting space.

The residents will permit free use of the room with priority being given to groups who might let residents join in with their activities.

Obviously this offer is likely to be of particular interest to craft, further education and discussion groups who are in need of additional participants, but it may also go some way to satisfying the demand for space at places like Energise and the Library which are sometimes over subscribed.

Any group that is interested should communicate their details and requirements to:

Kerrie Smith|Sheltered Housing Scheme Manager

t: 01904 552298 |m: 07825680637| e: kerrie.smith@york.gov.uk

 

Small business bus in York tomorrow

York will see the Small Business Saturday Bus roll into the city on Tuesday 18 November to launch the city’s drive to encourage residents and visitors to show their support for local small businesses on Small Business Saturday, taking place on 6 December 2014.

small-business-saturday-bus-tour

Small Business Saturday is about encouraging everyone in the UK to support small businesses with events and promotions being held on what is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The Small Business Saturday bus tour is promoting the campaign in advance to shoppers and also handing out vital promotional material to help businesses be involved on the day. The arrival of the bus offers an opportunity for small business owners to gain advice and tell the Small Business Saturday team and City of York Council’s York Means Business team what they are doing to celebrate Small Business Saturday. The bus will be located in St Helen’s Square from 11am until 3pm.

York will be celebrating Small Business Saturday itself by hosting a market celebrating York’s independent businesses. Located along Duncombe Place (outside York Minster) and organised by City of York Council and the Proudly™ initiative, itself a collective of York’s independent businesses,the event will feature local businesses selling goods and sharing their unique stories.
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York Council project failures

Calls for system overhaul

With yet another major York Council project falling behind schedule, and hopelessly over budget, there are growing calls for a review of project management processes in the City.

Poppleton Bar Roadworks delays

Poppleton Bar Roadworks delays

The latest budget overrun is reported on the A1237 Haxby – Wigginton cycle path. As well as major delays the project will now cost over £1.3 million compared to a budget of £700,000.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said,

“It is time re-introduce regular project updates to the Councils monitoring committees.

Any significant delay – or cost overrun – of more than 10% must trigger a formal report in future.

We’d also like to see more openness in reporting with regular updates being posted on the Council’s web site”

As well as the cycle path, projects which would be subject to review include:

The Press are reporting that the Green Council Group Leader has now decided that there are questions about the Lendal Bridge trial which do need to be answered publicly. Despite voting last week against an Inquiry, he is apparently now saying that the Council’s Chief Executive should be asked to account for the mistakes at a “governance” committee meeting.

NB. The Lendal Bridge situation is also likely to be discussed at the Council meeting which is scheduled to be held on 11th December.

New childcare hubs for York

Parents in York will find it even easier to find childcare to fit their needs thanks to a new national pilot scheme to create childcare ‘hubs’.

Ten Community Childcare and Early Learning Hubs have been set up across the country by childcare charity 4Children, on behalf of the Department for Education, four of which are in York.

The Hubs consist of a variety of early years settings and schools all working together in a local area to achieve three goals – improving quality, offering blended childcare to parents and supporting the provision of new childcare places as required.

Victims of crime sought for Independent Justice Panel

Julia Mulligan, North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner and Jonathan Mortimer, the independent Chairman of the Out of Court Disposal Scrutiny Panel, are today asking for victims of crime to come forward to help scrutinise the use of police cautions and other non-court penalties.

PCC logo

The Panel was set up earlier in the year in response to public concern about the use of Out of Court Disposals in North Yorkshire. The Panel has identified that its objectives are to ensure that such penalties are used appropriately, consistently across the county and to make recommendations to North Yorkshire Police.
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