City of York Council has announced today that it will be offering another five apprenticeships.

This comes in addition to the 30 apprenticeships already offered, for which a staggering 200 applications were received, bringing the total number of apprenticeships on offer to 35.

The council is now on the hunt for two road workers and blacksmith (deadlines 8 July), a heating engineer and an electrician (deadlines 15 July) to join their group of apprentices starting in September.

The additional apprenticeships are advertised on the National Apprentice Service (NAS) website, details can be found on www.apprenticeships.org.uk

How much has been spent by your council area on maintaining roads in 2010/11 and 2011/2012 (per financial year)? How much was your budget in 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 for
maintaining roads per financial year?

Answers
I can confirm that the budget and spend for each of the years are similar:
2010/11 £3,334,200 (LibDem Budget)
2011/12 £3,892,350 (LibDem budget)
2012/13 £2,357,650 (Labour budget)
The figures above include programmed and reactive maintenance,anti-skid and road markings.

Whether your budget for maintaining roads is at an emergency level for 2012 (this financial year)?
No – although our budgets have been reduced, we are able to carry out limited programmed works.

How many claims for compensation were lodged by drivers as aresult of damage to their car due to the poor state of the roads in2010/11 and 2011/12?
2010/11 – 111;
2011/12 – 27

The total cost your council area has paid out to drivers in compensation due to the poor state of the roads in 2010/11 and 2011/12.
2010/11 – £11,607.20;
2011/12 – £0.00

Crime rates in the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe area remain below regional and national averages.

Cuts to Ward Committees, York Pride, litter bins and other “street level” budgets, have been cited as contributors to a possible decline in standards.

York remains a Safe City. It has a good Police Force with low crime rates compared to many other parts of the country. But it won’t remain that way without a proactive and coordinated approach.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 4 July and Tuesday 10 July 2012.

•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Brayton Lane, Brayton, Selby
•Barff Lane, Brayton, Selby
•Grange Farm, Wheldrake Lane Elvington

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Playday – the first Wednesday in August – is 25 years old this year. For a quarter of a century, the UK has marked Playday by a celebration of children’s right to play, as proclaimed by the United Nations.

York has been active for many years in celebrating Playday. In this special year for the city, City of York Council and local organisations will be linking their Playday activities to the York 800 celebrations. Children have been playing in York ever since the city existed – which means the city can now celebrate at least eight centuries of play!

A clutch of exciting events have already been planned in York, but more are needed for Playday to reach families in all parts of the city. Co-ordinators are appealing to all children’s and youth organisations, community groups and even just families and neighbours in York to organise their own local Playday event.

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The spring has seen some movement in the housing market in west York. Recent sales have included properties in Otterwood Lane, Westfield Place, Foxton and Ullswater. Prices have generally been below £200k.

Chain free properties currently listed include a 2 bedroomed property in St James Croft at £140k, a 3 bed property in Kingsway West for £120k along with a 2 bed semi in Wains Road costing £120K and a 3 bed semi in Leven Road is priced at £160k.

Some properties in the City are still being discounted. A 1 bed flat in Peel Street is now available for £110K while a 2 bed terraced property in Upper Newborough Street is available for £112K
A 2 bedroomed property on Eaton Court is advertised at £122K while a 1 bedroomed property in the same street is priced at £115K

Rental prices are stable. A 3 bed house in Barkston Avenue is advertised at £595 pm while £675 will get you properties in either Kingsway West or Danebury Drive.

Even in the same locality the property market can be quite volatile. A property in Lingfield Crescent recently sold for £250k having appreciated at a rate of around 10% pa over 14 years. On the other hand a seller in Fairfield Court faced an annual loss of nearly 8% over a 5 year period of ownership.

City of York Council, Askham Bryan College and York College have secured over £400,000 to support young people with learning difficulties and disabilities after successfully bidding for Department for Education (DfE) funding.

The DfE announced an opportunity to bid against £40m in April to offer funding to support Local Authorities and involve funded providers of post 16 education and training, to whom the capital funding will be transferred directly.

City of York Council has secured £36,200 (and £100,000 council capital spend which was approved at budget Full Council), to create a new learning space and additional places within a new Autism Hub. It is hoped the hub will be placed within the former Oliver House elderly people’s home, which is set to be a new Health and Social Care Hub.

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City of York Council has prosecuted the parent of four children, aged 10, 11, 14 and 16, who failed to attend school regularly

York Magistrates Court heard (on 28 June) that the youngest child, aged 10, who is registered at a primary school in the city, had failed to attend on 21 out of a possible 142 occasions between October 2011 and February 2012.

The child had an absence rate of over 15 per cent which compares to the city average in primary schools of less than five per cent.

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For more information on events in York please visit the following web sites
1. Minster http://www.yorkminster.org/calendar/ or tel. 0844 939 0015
2. York Theatre Royal https://www.yorktheatreroyal.purchase-tickets-online.co.uk/public tel (01904) 623568
3. York Barbican http://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk tel. 0844 854 2757
4. Grand Opera House http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/grand-opera-house-york/ tel. 0844 847 2322
5. Visit York http://www.visityork.org tel. 01904 550099
6. Yortime www.yortime.org.uk
7. Early Music Centre http://www.ncem.co.uk/?idno=152 tel. 01904 658338

• GymFusion 1st July Sun 2:30pm Barbican

• Bootham Stray allotments 1st July Sun 12:30pm Bootham Allotments

• Michael McIntyre 2nd/4th July Mon/Wed Grand Opera House

• ‘Learning 4 everyone’ Ongoing Various
Sign up for your Adult Education Course The Autumn 2012 Adult Learning Brochure is now available and you’ll find a huge range of courses to both excite and enthuse you. There are lots of new courses, particularly one day courses, along with many old favourites, so don’t delay, choose your course and book a place via our online booking system. http://www.yorkaded.org.uk/books/autumn_2012_ad_ed_brochure/

• The Glory of York 3 July/2nd Sept Blue Tree Gallery www.giulianalazzerini.com/bluetreegallery

• Shift Happens iV 5th July Thurs 10:00am Theatre Royal

• Hitchhikers Guide 5th July Thurs Grand Opera House

• Early Music Festival 6th/14th July Early Music Centre & various http://www.ncem.co.uk/?idno=228

• The sixteen 6th July 19:30 Minster

• Perform with a Vengence 7th July Sat Grand Opera House

• Making your heart a healthier heart! 7th July Sat 09:30 St Johns University

• Music Festival York800 7th July Sat Parliament Street www.mormusic.co.uk

• Meet the King 7/8 July Sat/Sun 11:00am Cliffords Tower www.english-heritage.org.uk

• Festival of the Rivers 7th/22nd July Ouse

• River Song 7th July Sat 1300 Tower Gardens, Queen’s Staith and Kings Staith To launch Festival of the Rivers 2012 and York 800 Charter Weekend, York’s first Flotilla will grace the River Ouse. Powered and unpowered craft will form a spectacle as never seen before in the heart of the City.

• Dragon Boar race 8th July Sun Ouse

• Ebor Vox 9th July Mon Eye of York 800 years to the day since York was granted its City Charter by King John. Evening: Climax of Ebor Vox at the Eye of York, featuring York choirs singing across the city. Unveiling of York800 schools tapestry

• A medieval mystery revealed 10th July Tuesday Bedern Hall

• Bouncing back to netball 10th July Tuesday York Uni sports centre

• Roy Chubby Brown 12th July Thurs Grand Opera House

• Medals & Murders 12th July Thurs Dringhouses Library Rosemary Cook, author of ‘The Nightingale Shore Murder’ talks about the unsolved murder of Florence Shore in 1920 – and family history research, true crime and self-publishing

• I Fagiolini 12th July Thurs 8:30 & 10:15 pm Minster

• Crafts Market 12/15th July Thurs Parliament Street

• Race meeting 13th July Racecourse

• Lord Mayors procession 14th July Sat City Walls www.yorkwalls.org.uk

• Tour of Minster Close 14th July Sat Minster Close www.yayas.free-online.co.uk

• Big Band Dance night 14th July Sat Theatre Royal (De Grey Rooms)

• Immortal Attitude 14th July Sat Grand Opera House

• Summer Fair 14th July Sat 2:00pm Rowntree Park

• York Maze 14 July/8th Sept York Maze

• Drake’s Eboracum 15th July Sun Mansion House www.mansionhouseyork.com

• Showtime 2012 15th July Sun Grand Opera House

• Summer Holiday Fun 21st July/2nd Sept Railway Museum

• Go Royal at Cliffords Tower 21st Jul – 2nd Sept Cliffords Tower

• Beautiful butterflies 21st & 28th July Sat West Bank Park/ Clifton Backies

• The York “Bayers” Tapestry 23/24 July Mon/Tues Explore York Library

• Big Read with Susanna Gregory 25th July Wed 7:00pm Explore York Library visit http://t.co/lLc1TMtQ for full brochure

• Race meeting & musical showcase 27th/28th July Racecourse. Four of the most famous names in music from the 1980’s are set to perform on Friday evening July 27th. Tony Hadley who first achieved international success with Spandau Ballet, Marc Almond, the Sheffield band ABC and Altered Images will each perform following racing. It promises to be a fun filled 48 hours for racing and music fans as the following day popstars turned reality TV stars, McFly will perform

• Josef Miltshitzsky, Royal Recital 28th July Sat 7:00pm Minster

• York Mystery Plays 2nd – 27th August York Museum Gardens In summer 2012 this bold and dynamic new production sees the plays return to York Museum Gardens, for the first time on this scale since 1988. A 1400 seat bespoke theatre is being built around the ancient walls of St Mary’s Abbey to house this international event, which celebrates the York 800 City charter birthday and the Cultural Olympiad. http://www.yorkmysteryplays-2012.com/

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Award-winning author Rosemary Cook will be talking about her book, The Nightingale Shore Murder, which tells the true story of the unsolved murder of Florence Nightingale Shore.

Miss Shore was a Queen’s (district) Nurse, as well as an army nurse like her godmother Florence Nightingale. She went to school in York at Middlethorpe Hall in the 1880s. But in January 1920, someone attacked Florence Shore on the London to Hastings train, and she died of her injuries 4 days later. No-one was ever charged with her murder.

But now there are new suspects and a new and shocking theory. A talk about true crime, family history research and self-publishing.

Thurs 12 July, 7pm to 8.30pm at Dringhouses Library

Tickets available from Dringhouses Library, or ring 01904 552 674, or email dringhouses.library@york.gov.uk

Tickets £2, includes free glass of wine.