Askham Lane roadworks

Askham Lane will be closed between 184 and 192 Askham Lane for urgent sewer work for a period between 22 and 29 November.

Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

Traffic lights will control traffic between Cornlands Road and Askham Lane

For further information please contact phone 01904 551367 or email darren.hobson@york.gov.uk

An alternative route for traffic travelling along Askham Lane will be available
• from the northern closure point via Cornlands Road, Gale Lane, Foxwood Lane and Askham Lane
• from the southern closure point via Cornlands Road, Gale Lane and Askham Lane

Witness appeal following Wigginton collision

Police are appealing for information following a serious road traffic collision on the B1363 near York

It occurred shortly after 1pm on Sunday 20 November 2011, between Wigginton and Sutton-on-the-Forest. The collision involved four vehicles, a blue Renault Clio heading out of York and a white Vauxhall Astra van, a black Suzuki Swift and a blue VW Polo, which were all heading into the city.

As a result of the collision the 64-year-old man, from Ampleforth, driving the VW Polo suffered chest injuries and the 28-year-old man, also from Ampleforth who was his front seat passenger, suffered a broken leg. The York woman driving the Suzuki Swift suffered chest injuries. All three were taken to York District Hospital, where they currently remain in a stable condition.

The road was closed for approximately five hours following the collision.

Traffic Constable Lee Cobb, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said: “This was a nasty collision which left three people requiring hospital treatment as in patients.

“I am appealing to anyone who may have seen the collision or any of the vehicles prior to the incident to come forward as a matter of urgency.”

If you can help to progress this investigation please contact TC Lee Cobb at Tadcaster Police Station on 0845 60 60 24 7 quoting reference number 12110196583.

Free cavity wall and loft insulation

The York Council has teamed up with the Yorkshire Energy Partnership to offer free home insulation to York residents through the ‘Warmer Warmer’ scheme.
Subject to a free, no obligation home survey, householders can get free loft and cavity wall insulation in their homes, on a first-come first-served basis. The scheme is open to all private homeowners in the City of York Council area, including landlords. The deal expires on 31 January 2012.
For more information or to claim your FREE insulation, call Yorkshire Energy Partnership on 01904 55 44 06 quoting ‘Warmer Winter’.
The £100,000 scheme aims to to tackle fuel poverty and keep the cold at bay during the freezing winter months and is being funded by national energy providers and City of York Council.

Labour and transparency

The last (Labour) government brought in a raft of measures which required public servants – when making decisions – to be open and honest about what may have influenced their judgements.

One of the consequences was that local Councillors were required to declare publicly if they had received any financial donations from, or had other links to, individuals, companies, Unions or other organisations which might benefit from a particular decision on which they were voting.

The move led to an improvement in the transparency of decision making. The new Code of Conduct was enforced initially by a National Standards Board but that responsibility soon passed to a local, independently chaired, “Standards Committee”.

Last week we published a list of Labour Council candidates who had declared on their election expenses returns the amounts donated to their campaign by interest groups such as the Local Government Trades Union UNISON.

A total of £ £2,385.65 was admitted as the cost of a 6 page glossy manifesto leaflet that had been printed and paid for by UNISON. It had apparently been delivered in all York wards except Heworth, Heslington, Haxby, Heworth Without, Huntington and Strensall. It remains unclear why electors were not given the manifesto in these wards especially as the total cost of the leaflet – according to UNISON – was £4724. Whether or not election expenses returns are accurate though is a matter that falls within the responsibilities of the Electoral Commission (and ultimately the Police) if inaccuracies are suspected.

A few days after the election expenses returns had been lodged with the Guildhall in June, the new York Council met to decide whether to change the budget for the current financial year.

One of the proposals tabled by the new Council Leader was to increase the amount allocated to the local government union to pay for their members to have “time off” to attend to union affairs. In total the cost of this concession was valued at £37,350. The budget amendment was carried with all Labour Councillors voting in favour of the proposal.

Councillors are not allowed by law to vote on issues in which they have a “prejudicial” interest. Essentially these are decisions where they might benefit from the proposal.

Councillors may also declare a “personal” interest. While this might not debar them from voting on an issue, it ensures that residents are aware of a possible influence on their voting behaviour.
At the June meeting the following Labour Councillors didn’t declare the Interest which arose out of the donation that UNISON had made towards their election expenses.
Cllrs Horton, Douglas, King, Scott, Semlyen, Looker, Watson, Alexander, Riches, Barnes, Fitzpatrick, Gunnell, Merrett, Cross, McIlveen, Burton & Jeffries.

5 other Councillors did declare personal interests either because they were current, or past, members of UNISON (Crisp, Fraser, Laing, Hodson & Williams)

(NB. Labour representatives for the Heworth and Heslington Wards had previously claimed that they did not issue the UNISON funded leaflet in their wards).

The issue is now one for the local Standards committee to consider.

We will publish later this week extracts from the standing Register of Interests which can be found on the Councils web site and which is supposed to list any donations made by third parties, including Unions, towards a councillors election costs. We have copies of the Register as it was at the end of October. It contains some surprises.