Media reports Ebay sales of “free” Tour de France event tickets….

………But Council still to explain missing 5000 tickets

As reported three weeks ago, 5000 tickets for the “free” Knavesmire launch event on 6th July were being held back by the Council as “prizes in competitions”.

Tickets are now reported to be changing hands on the black market at £30 each.

The recipients of the 40 “VIP” tickets that that the Council reserved for the Tour de France start event at the racecourse have not been disclosed nor have the beneficiaries of the additional 200 exclusive tickets which were retained “for a specific viewing area”

The York Council is using £1.6 million of York taxpayers money to subsidise events connected with the Tour De France

Acomb Library events.

With the central library now closed until the autumn for refurbishing, the opening hours of the Acomb Front Street Branch have been extended.

It is additionally opening on Wednesdays (9am to 5pm), Saturday opening will be extended to 4pm while on Sundays the doors will be open between 11am to 3pm

Big York Council Departmental overspends in 2013/14

Council took £1.8 million in spy camera fines which may have to be refunded

Social care budgets were over spent by £1.3 million last year with Environmental Services (mainly waste collection)   clocking up a £443,000 and Children’s Services/Education a £309,000 loss.

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Overall York Council  Departments spent £1.7 million more than had been budgeted.

The budget broke even only because of a £2 million surplus on “centrally administered” budgets.

The figures are revealed in a report  to be considered by the Councils “Cabinet” tomorrow (Tuesday)

As previously reported, the biggest problems arise in Social Care where the Council reveals overspends on community support (£236k) due to a higher number of customers than forecast, a continued increase above forecast level in the number of customers taking up Direct Payments (£129k), increased use of external placements for emergency and short term breaks (£252k) and a higher than budgeted number of customers in residential nursing placements (£718k).

The Councils financial position was saved only because it continued to enjoy the benefits of low interest rates on its borrowing (equivalent to a £990,000 budget saving).

It achieved only 73% of its planned capital investment programme storing up a massive £83 million backlog in work which it says it will try to address during the current financial year.

The government gave the City an extra £732,000 to reduce the Rate burden on small businesses although there has been a slow take up on this important concession.

The position is also masked by £1.765 million in fines income received from spy camera use in the Lendal Bridge and Coppergate.

The Council has now admitted that the trials cost a whopping £718,000 to implement. £1.047 million has been put in a reserve account which will presumably be used to refund fines imposed unlawfully.

The balance would have to come from Council taxpayers (the equivalent of a 1% rise in Council Tax levels).

The spy cameras on Lendal Bridge have been removed while those on Coppergate were switched off on 1st April.

The housing revenue account (Council house rents income) showed a £12.1 million surplus at the end of the year.

 The report to the Cabinet pointedly fails to contain performance data on the quality of public services being provided to York residents.

NB As at April 1st  2014, 6717 York Council Taxpayers had arrears of £ 4,769,989.36

How to get York residents attention? Call your project something impenetrable

York Council reduces opening hours

order chaos

The Council is being asked to approve the next stage in it’s, ludicrously titled, “rewiring” project.

The project has nothing to do with moving electricity supply cables in the Councils West Offices!

It is just a euphemism for another reorganisation; but the non de plume will effectively raise a barrier to resident understanding.

A report to a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) proposes to reduce the hours of opening of the Councils contact centre.  In future it will open between 9:00am and 5:00pm (Mon-Fri)

Although it is claimed that this is a response to resident contact patterns, the reality is that the centre is hopelessly overloaded with IT systems unable, after 6 months, to even provide complainants with an issue reference number.

The Council report also makes much of devolving management of public services to local communities.

 Incredibly it talks of the need for “local buildings to be multi agency focal points”.

This is the same Council which has cut Community Centre support –all of which are located in the least well off communities – to the bone.

Two face closure.

It comes from a Council which has off loaded, to an independent trust, local libraries – one of the few successful public services provided in the City over the last few years.

The programme aims to facilitate cuts of £5.5 million in the Councils budget.

The largest part of these will come from Social Care. The Social Care budget overspent by more than £1.3 million last year.

While some change is inevitable, the Council would be wise to provide more details of the implications of its plans for residents and in plain English.

Dropping gimmicky titles would be a good start