Police in York are appealing for information after thieves broke into eight supermarket delivery vans.

Between 10pm on Wednesday 9 November and 1am on Thursday 10 November 2011, burglars broke into the Mercedes Benz delivery vehicles which were parked at the rear of the Sainsburys supermarket on Foss Islands.

The thieves smashed the vehicles’ windows before stealing eight Traffic Master satellite navigation systems and eight catalytic converters. The estimated cost of the damage and stolen items is valued at approximately £20,000.

DC Vince Morris, of York CID, said: “I urge anyone who witnessed the burglary or can help to identify those responsible for the theft to contact the police or Crimestoppers immediately. I would also like to speak to anyone who may have been offered the stolen items.”

If you can assist with this investigation please contact DC Vince Morris, at York Police Station on 0845 60 60 24 7 quoting reference number 12110190491. Or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

York Libraries have announced a new series of author events.
Beryl Kingston, popular author of ‘Gates of Paradise’, ‘Neptune’s Daughter’, and ‘Avalanche of Daisies’, comes to York to celebrate the launch of her 22nd book. ‘Off the Rails’ is a novel surrounding the life of York’s own ‘Railway King’ George Hudson, and was partly researched in York’s own Archives & Local History department.

Tickets are priced at £5 with a YorkCard, or £6.50 without, and are available from Explore York on (01904) 552828 or exploreyork@york.gov.uk

With the Councils care budget for the elderly facing a multi million pound overspend, one might have expected decisions on the future of the service to have been debated publicly and implemented by now.
Instead the Council continues to dither trying to balance the wishes of its UNISON pay masters on one hand with the financial imperative of providing good quality care, for an increasing number of customers for the service, on the other.
Now decisions have been taken behind closed doors which could see the Home Care service (the home visits by care workers during the day and night) privatised. In itself that is no surprise. It had been on the cards for the last couple of years following a pay review which made the inhouse teams uncompetitive.
What is surprising is that it has taken the new Council so long to act.
The same meeting apparently decided to continue to manage the Sheltered Housing with Extra Care schemes (SHEC) “in house”. This is probably the right decision as the private/voluntary sector offer little better in terms of efficiency in these settings. The Council will “explore how a more flexible personalised service could be delivered”.
The Home Support Service also faces changes. The Council says, “the current service is 40% funded by Supporting People (SP) and its customers must be eligible to receive a social care service. The SP programme has already agreed that it’s funding needs to be used differently to provide a more accessible service. Therefore, the proposal is that the current Home Support service will be reduced to 74 staffing hours per week (which equates to approximately 4 staff) who will continue to support “Supporting People” funded customers”.
These are key decisions affecting dozens of vulnerable York residents. No Council report has been produced analyzing the options to be considered and, while internal consultation is now promised, effectively decisions have been taken (the deadline for the 2012/13 budget looms).