North Yorkshire Police have been given officers and PCSOs new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour in the Stonebow, Colliergate and St Saviourgate areas of the city.

There has been no public consultation by the York Council on the proposal which potentially represents a significant extension to police powers.

A dispersal order comes into action today – Friday 28 June – and will run until 27 December 2013.

It is enforceable between the hours of 9pm and 6am and gives the police powers to disperse groups of two or more people whose behaviour is intimidating or causing harassment, alarm or distress to members of the public.

To remain in or return to this area having been told to leave by the police, may be an offence under Section 30(4) of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

Breaching the order is punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to £5,000, or both.
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West Bank Park will be transformed into a festive focus for the community, when it’s annual summer fair takes place.

At the West Bank Park Fair on Sun 30 June, from 1pm to 4pm, families will be entertained with a falconry display and fun dog show with classes including best pooch smooch and dog most like its owner.
There will be a bouncy castle, climbing wall and for those who prefer to watch and listen, people can pull up a chair for the musical entertainment from live local bands.

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See our historic city through Medieval eyes as we explore the people and human stories behind the facades of the great monuments. This guided walk tells of good and evil, of saintly intentions and of worldly ambitions as grand knights and flamboyant churchmen assert their status.

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Hundreds of children in York registered for free school meals are not receiving them, according to government figures released this week. The revelation follows news that a council ‘Task Group’ has been set-up to examine the issue of the low take-up of all school meals in York.

Figures show that out of 1,819 pupils registered for free school meals in primary, secondary and special schools in York only 75.7% actually took-up the dinners meaning 583 schoolchildren were not eating the free meals for which they were registered. Nationally, take-up is around 82%.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Ann Reid, who will chair the City of York Council cross-party Scrutiny Task Group, commented:

“The Task Group will be looking at the low take-up across the board but we know there is a particular problem with the take-up of free school meals. There are many reasons children don’t always choose to take the free school meal after registering, including possible stigma, preferring to leave school at lunchtime, and not liking the healthy options offered. Given this, the Task Group will look at what the Council can do to make sure schools get all the help and advice they need to increase uptake. This could be promotional work or expanding the ‘cashless’ system successfully used in many schools.”
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The government has announced that the freeze on Council Tax levels will continue for another two years.

The government is also continuing the additional funding grant made available to those Councils that have held Council Tax levels for the last 2 years.

The Labour controlled York Council has already increased Council Tax by 3.8% over the last 2 years and so local residents will not benefit from the announcement.

It remains to be seen whether the Council will now see the error of its ways and introduce the freeze in the run up to the 2015 local elections.

If the Council wants to increase Council Tax by more than 2% it will need to seek the support of taxpayers through a local referendum.

A York project with Photo Voltaic (PV) panel specialists NWS to combat fuel poverty and serve as a national exemplar has won a national award.

To date, 8,511 Solar PV systems have been installed on 479 York council homes.

This week, The Green Organisation’s Green Apple Award was presented by Doreen Lawrence OBE to NWS which created and completed a ground-breaking, self-funded Solar PV project l.

A winner in the category of ‘Construction Companies: Energy Efficiency’, the project’s key aim was to create a viable model for providing free solar PV installations for housing authorities following the UK government’s reduction of the feed-in-tariff associated with micro-generation systems.

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