Liberal Democrats have failed in an attempt to overturn a controversial decision to cut social care in York.
The cuts mean that City of York Council’s community care service will be available only to those with substantial or critical needs, rather than those with “moderate” needs. 184 people with “moderate” needs will now lose their support, which can include help with shopping, bathing, showering or preparing meals.
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Labour have decided to overrule resident’s objections and implement a 20 mph speed limit in an area stretching initially from the Ouse to The Mount.
The area includes Bishopthorpe Road.
It is expected that it will be the precursor to an attempt to extend the limit to virtually every other street in the City.
The proposals for South Bank are less controversial than in other areas as existing speeds in the narrow terraced streets are usually less than 20 mph anyway. The situation elsewhere in the City is very different.
Residents will be concerned that decisions to promote schemes like these attract little publicity these days. A Labour Councillor meets with two officials and nods through proposals. There is no debate and members of the public, the Media and opposition Councillors are barred from the meetings.
As a result the vast majority of residents will have no idea what decisions are being taken and only keen “surfers” of the Council web site will even know that change is in the air.
It makes consultation arrangements farcical.
The details of the meeting have now been published (2 weeks after it took place) and can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/20-mph-limit-in-South-Bank
The minutes of the meeting make it clear that those taking the decision were aware of recent figures on road traffic accidents which revealed a big increase in accidents in areas subject to 20 mph limits.
Despite this Labour still plan to go ahead with the project which will cost taxpayers around £600,000 to implement across the City.
Times are changing
Many may feel that the PCC elections, due to take place on 15th November, will prove to be an unhelpful diversion for a Police force which has a good record in reducing crime in York and North Yorkshire at a levy of £200 per for the average household.
The Force has a achieved this under the general guidance of a broadly based “Police Authority” which included Councillors from all over the area, and with differing political views, together with several magistrates.
The structure of Police Authorities is far from perfect. They include no directly elected representatives and therefore accountability with the electorate is at best indirect. So a refinement of its membership, roles and responsibilities may have been overdue.
Nor have all Chief Constables always shown sensitivity and respect for the concerns of local residents. Several examples of apparently unnecessary expenditure have emerged over the last few decades, while recently there have been reports of inappropriate nepotism in recruitment processes.
However, electing a single politician to take responsibility for addressing crime issues is an over-reaction to the perceived weaknesses of the present system. At worst it could bring into question the political impartiality of the Police.
At a salary of £70,000, plus significant on costs, it may also be a role that the taxpayer simply can’t afford.
Over the last few days other concerns have emerged.
2 Labour candidates for the posts (elsewhere in the country) have been forced to stand down. They had committed offences in their younger days and, although not jailed, it was judged that their “experience” was inappropriate for someone towards the top of the justice system. They have been forced to stand down although the Labour party has yet to explain how they came to be selected in the first place.
Last week a judge ruled that existing JPs (magistrates) must resign before they can take up a PCC job. Initially the Judge had said that the ban on JPs would apply to anyone standing as a CANDIDATE, although this view was apparently quickly reversed. The revised guidance says that, for this first round of elections, as long as they undertake not to sit on the bench while the campaign is in progress, candidates will not have to resign as JPs unless they are elected.
Stranger still – according to The Guardian – is the presumption now that members of the – largely advisory – Police and Crime Panels may also have to resign if they also serve as a JP. The Police and Crime Panel (PCP) will have the ability to veto the Commissioner’s plans for the police’s share of council-tax bills and their proposed candidates to be Chief Constable, as long as it has a two-thirds majority on any vote.
The membership of the York and North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panels was announced a couple of weeks ago. It includes at least 1 J.P.
Only 2 candidates have so far been announced for the PCC post in York and North Yorkshire. They are Julia Mulligan a Conservative (http://juliamulligan.org.uk/) and Ruth Potter Labour: (http://www.yorklabour.org.uk/police/)
Other potential candidates may be discouraged by the £5000 deposit that each will have to find.
There will be no postage paid election address delivered so many residents will have to trawl the internet to get details of the candidates and their policies.
City of York Council, York Pullman and East Coast Mainline are working in partnership to open a new bus and information point in York Railway Station.
The new information desk is located in the station’s Travel Centre and will be officially opened on Tuesday 14 August.
Commuters and visitors will get access to up to date and accurate answers to their queries about local bus services as well as general visitor information.
The customer-facing counter will be operated by York Pullman and has been developed with thanks to £30,000 funding from the Better Bus Area Fund – a grant provided by the Government. (more…)
The York Council spent £1.2 million on employing consultants during the last financial year. The expenditure is broadly in line with previous years (09/10 – £1.3M, 10/11 – £1.2M).
The Council uses consultants to undertake work when either it doesn’t have the internal capacity &/or the skills to deliver specialist projects.
The figures would, therefore, be unsurprising were it not for the fact that in December last year the “Cabinet” member with responsibility for corporate decisions of this sort (Coun Julie Gunnell) was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, “Since taking control of the council from the Lib Dems we have sought to rebalance the use of consultants and now only use them where absolutely necessary!”
So everyone seems to be agreed then that expenditure of around 0.5% of the total budget on the use of external companies is about what might be expected?
In reality there is a conflict between Labour’s grand expenditure plans and the reduced capacity of the Council workforce now that many managers have been sacked.
The top 5 consultancy contractors employed by the York Council during the last year were:
1. Sweet Group, £201,115, quantity surveying services
2. Amtel Consulting, £125,133, management consultancy and specialist interim services
3. Halcrow, £77,539, Highway design consultants
4. Crosby Interim Consultancy Services, £77,474, specialist interim services
5. V4 Services, £26,075, management consultancy and specialist interim services
Foxwood Lane/Woodthorpe to Monks Cross click to enlarge
Copmanthorpe to Haxby Click to enlarge
First are expected to move quickly to register revisions to local bus services, following the announcement by Labour Councillors made earlier in the week about cuts.
Details will shortly be available here. http://tinyurl.com/bus-service-registrations
There are a number of changes to frequencies and several major re-routings.
The most significant is probably for the Number 12 which will now run from Foxwood/Woodthorpe to Monks Cross (not Haxby). This is a shorter journey and will, claim First, improve reliability. The Foxwood loop is retained and there are no plans to change the route through Woodthorpe.
Haxby will be serviced by the number 13 running from Copmanthorpe via Tadcaster Road. This frequency on this service will be cut to hourly.
Other service changes affect the Hollybank link to Acomb and the station, the Dodsworth service to the City Centre and Monks Cross, Bishopthorpe to York and Skelton to York.
A new service to the Sports Village on Hull Road will be started. The new swimming pool there opens on Tuesday.
Many areas will lose out under the new arrangements but the main concern is the continued reluctance of the York Council to publish route by route reliability figures on a regular basis.
Reliability on services such as the number 4, has suffered since the Council started to draw up plans for a statutory bus contract system in the City.
A classic case of “taking your eye off the ball”?
The Council has issues a media release saying, “To celebrate the end of the London 2012 Games and the success of Team Yorkshire’s athletes – such as Jack Laugher and Joanne Jackson – children in York will be able to swim for free this summer”.
The announcement comes a few days after it was revealed that Olympic legacy preparations in York had stalled. The Active York organisation had failed to finish designing its web site despite the Games approaching a climax while the Councils own web site was littered with out of date information.
See: http://stevegalloway.mycouncillor.org.uk/2012/08/06/new-swimming-pool-opens-next-tuesday-but-york-olympic-legacy-at-risk/
Children under 16 will go free from Monday 13 August to Sunday 2 September on production of a YorkCard or Yozone Card at Yearsley and Energise pools.
Free entry is for open swim sessions only. Swim timetables for both pools are available at www.york.gov.uk/fit or by calling 01904 552424.
The cost to taxpayers of the concession has not yet been revealed
The Sheriff, Guild of Scriveners and many Serjeants will all take part in the annual medieval-themed York charity event, Assize of Ale, this weekend.
In the middle ages Sheriffs were concerned that the ale of York should be of a suitable quality and brought it upon themselves to appoint Serjeants to test the quality of ale in the city.
This Saturday (11 August) at 1.50pm, members of the Guild of Scriveners, friends and supporters will be summoned and then sworn in as Serjeants by the Sheriff of York, Councillor Paul Firth, in the historical Mansion House, where they will then take part in the medieval custom by visiting the cities alehouses to ensure it is palatable.
Families can enjoy a full day of medieval fun this Saturday (11 August) as part of the Medieval Summer and York 800.
York’s Merchant Adventurers’ Hall will play host to a range of activities from 10:30 – 4:30, including juggling, comic performances, games, crafts and have-a-go battle drills for children with the Wars of the Roses Federation.
Visitors can also meet experts from the York Archaeological Trust, come face to face with characters from the middle ages, witness amazing birds of prey and enjoy music played by the wandering minstrel.
Tickets cost £6 per adult, £4 per child or £12 for a family of three, £18 family of four £22 family of five and a ticket includes access to the entire site for the whole day.
To pre-book call 01904 615505.
City of York Council will be carrying out essential resurfacing works on Heslington Road from Monday 13th August.
The programme of works is due to take two-weeks to complete, working Monday to Friday between 9.15 am and 4pm. (more…)