The ever popular St Nicholas Fayre 24 – 27 November, has everything from gifts and crafts to the best local produce including venison, suckling pig, ostrich, kangaroo and wild boar. Why not try some famous Swaledale cheese or heavenly herbal punch made to a traditional recipe? ….See the City come alive with Victorian costumed traders, carol singers and the delicious smells of roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate laced with brandy.
The Fayre offers a range of markets specialising in gifts, crafts, and the very best in local farm produce. Outside markets move into Parliament Street, St Sampson’s Square and Coppergate. The magnificent medieval townhouse, Barley Hall, presents a special medieval market with live crafting, mulled wine and costumed traders.

Other events include
Fri 21 Oct 2011 – Sat 24 Dec 2011
• Christmas Adventure at Stockeld Park – Christmas Adventure
Wed 23 Nov 2011
• Wines for Christmas at Fairfax House
Thu 24 Nov 2011
• Mansion House at Christmas at Mansion House
Thu 24 – Sat 26 Nov 2011
• St Nicholas Fair – Craft Event at Quilt Museum and Gallery
Thu 24 – Sun 27 Nov 2011
• St Nicholas Fayre at Barley Hall at Barley Hall
Sat 26, Sun 27 Nov 2011
• An Audience with Victorian Father Christmas at Clifford’s Tower
Sat 26 Nov 2011 – Sun 18 Dec 2011
• Christmas at Castle Howard at Castle Howard
Sat 26, Sun 27 Nov 2011
• Christmas Music and Lights at Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
Sat 26 Nov 2011
• Four Seasons By Candlelight at York Barbican Centre
Sat 26, Sun 27 Nov 2011
• Meet Father Christmas at Castle Howard at Castle Howard
• Santa’s Steam Adventure at National Railway Museum
Sat 26 Nov 2011 – Sun 8 Jan 2012
• The Ice Factor – Outdoor Ice Skating at York Designer Outlet
Sat 26 Nov 2011
• York Walk – Choccy & Sweetie Tour at Museum Gardens
• York Walk – St Nicholas Tour at Museum Gardens
Sun 27 Nov 2011
• Artsmix- Christmas Contemporary Art Market at Castle Howard
Mon 28, Tue 29 Nov 2011
• Yorkshire Christmas Craft and Produce Market at Castle Howard
Tue 29 Nov 2011 – Sat 3 Dec 2011
• The Keeping of Christmas at Fairfax House
Wed 30 Nov 2011 – Sat 10 Dec 2011
• York Early Music Christmas Festival at National Centre for Early Music

For more details visit
http://www.visityork.org/inspire/christmas/stnicholas.aspx

The High Pay Commission, an independent inquiry into top pay in the private sector, published its final report on Monday. Here’s how The Guardian reports its key conclusions:
The commission sets out 12 recommendations to tackle high pay. The main reforms include:
• Greater transparency in the calculation of executive pay to end the “closed shop” on pay decisions. At present, many people do not understand until it is too late how a vast salary – often composed of as many as seven different elements – is worked out.
• Putting employees on remuneration committees, a move included in the government’s own consultation remit.
• Publishing the top 10 executive pay packages outside the boardroom.
• Forcing companies to publish a pay ratio between the highest paid executive and the company median.
• Requiring companies to reveal total pay earned by the boardroom members.
• Establishing a new national body to monitor high pay.
In York Liberal Democrat Steve Galloway is backing the report.
“The excessive rises in executive pay are clearly unfair. They bear little or no relation to improvements in long-term company performance. This is particularly corrosive at a time when millions of workers are feeling the pinch.
“This report underlines the urgency of the work that Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable is doing to bring rewards back into line with performance.
“It is crucial that the proposals are now adopted by the Government without delay.”
Former York resident Vince Cable said:
“Many of the options we are consulting on are reflected in the High Pay Commission’s final report and we welcome their contribution to this important debate. The government will announce next steps early next year. In the last decade we have seen extreme increases in top executive pay which appear to be completely unrelated to the performance of companies. They are therefore acting against the interests of shareholders and consumers.
“There is widespread consensus, not just among the public but in the business community, that this is unacceptable and is undermining the credibility of our markets-based system. What I’m working towards is responsible capitalism where rewards are properly aligned with performance.”
I count myself an economic liberal, a believer in regulation-lite government. But Vince Cable’s moves appear shrewd to me, founded on three fundamental tenets of a free and fair market economy:
• Transparent information on executive pay, including how top executive pay relates to median employee pay, enabling shareholders to become more involved in the oversight of companies;
• The clear alignment of remuneration with performance — as Graeme Archer suggests in the Telegraph: ‘Make every listed company publish the ratio of their CEO’s salary to that of their lowest paid employee. Plot that ratio over the last five years, against the share price over the same period.’
• Pay structures that reward long-term and sustainable corporate growth, rather than salaries/bonuses that reflect short-term risk.
Liberals do not believe in a market free-for-all, recognising that the perfect free market in reality does not exist; that government intervention is needed to ensure a level playing field, with low barriers of entry and easy access to information. The party’s support of the High Pay Commission’s proposals seem to me entirely consistent with a liberal approach to market economics.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 23 November and Tuesday 29 November 2011.
• A59, Beamsley Hill, Harrogate
• Jennyfields Drive, Harrogate
• Skipton Road, Harrogate
• King Edwards Drive, Harrogate
• A61 Leeds Road, Harrogate
• A59, High Street, Starbeck
• Silver Street, Barton
• Leeming Lane, Catterick Village
• A6108, Darlington Road, Richmond
• A66, Gilling West
• A684, Aysgarth
• A6108, Middleham
• Gatherley Road, Brompton
• Brayton Lane, Brayton, Selby
• Barff Lane, Brayton, Selby
• A61, Green Lane, Brearton
• Northfield Farm, Cobcroft Lane, Cridling Stubbs
• A64 eastbound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
• A64 westbound Carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
• Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
• Beckfield Lane, York
• Green lane, Acomb, York
• Skipwith Road, Escrick
• A63 Hemingbrough
• Church Lane, Wheldrake
• B1257 Newgate Bank, Hawnby
• A19 Crathorne
• Station Road, Thirsk
• B6271 Great Langton
• B1264 Low Worsall
• Guisbrough Road, Great Ayton
• B1257 Great Broughton
• B1249 Staxton Wold, Staxton, Scarborough
• B1249 Foxholes to county boundary
• A1039 Filey Road at Flixton
• A165 Reighton by-pass
• A64 Malton by-pass, Malton east and westbound
• A64 Seamer by-pass Scarborough
• A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
• A64 between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
• A64 between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah
• A64 between Barton Hill and Whitwell Hill
• Stoney Haggs Road, Scarborough, southband towards Seamer Rd
• A170 Scarborough to Thirsk Road at Snainton
• B1257 Helmsley – Stokesley, Road Newgate Bank
• A170 at Scawton Moor
• A170 Eastgate Pickering
• A170 Wilton
The mobile safety cameras will be in operation at the above sites at various times during the dates stated. Cameras will not be in use on the above routes all day, every day. The above locations were accurate when this news release was produced.