Details released on public ticket ballot for Royal Maundy Service

The Dean and Chapter of York today launched details regarding the public ticket ballot for the Royal Maundy Service on 5th April at York Minster at 11 am.

The Very Reverend Keith Jones, Dean of York said, “We at York Minster are thrilled that The Queen has decided to distribute the Royal Maundy at York Minster in Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee Year. It is our hope to enable as many members of the public as possible to be in inside the Minster during the service for this Royal and beautiful ceremony.”

The ballot process is open to all members of the public who reside within the Diocese of York. The tickets are free of charge. The guidelines for residents making a request are:
•One application per household for up to two tickets.
•Applications must be made in writing, stating the name(s) of those to be entered into the ballot.
•Tickets are named and non-transferable.
•Two forms of identification will be required to enter the Service, one of which must be photographic.
•Those attending should come with the minimum of baggage to speed security checks.

Requests should be made in writing to the Very Revd Keith Jones, Dean of York, Church House, Ogleforth, York, YO1 7JN, enclosing a C5 stamped addressed envelope with the word BALLOT written on the reverse. If an SAE is not enclosed the application will not be entered into the draw.

Due to the layout of seats for the service, not all balloted seats can be guaranteed to have a view of the Royal party.

All applications must be received by 5pm on Friday 24th February 2012 for consideration. The draw will take place on Wednesday 29th February and successful applicants will receive their tickets by post. Those attending will be required to be in their allocated places by 10 am.

CONCERNS RAISED OVER LABOUR’S TAX, BORROW AND SPEND

Labour’s claims to be a party of economic responsibility have been undermined, with an announcement to increase borrowing by £20 million in their upcoming budget. Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Firth has questioned whether this gamble which exposes York’s residents to substantial risk and expense is appropriate at this time.

Only just over a year ago Cllr Alexander was expressing his grave concern that the council’s debt had reached £116 million spuriously quoting similarities with the national debt of Greenland. Now with the stroke of a pen he hopes to add a further 17% increase on that debt. At the same time the proposed budget would impose a substantial increase in council tax of 2.9%, to go towards paying off the debt generated by the irresponsible borrowing, while at the same time reducing services imposing redundancies and cutting funding to voluntary groups.

Paul Firth, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Corporate Services, commented saying “After criticising the City of York’s debt whilst in opposition, James Alexander seems happy to add massive increases to it now that he’s in power. Reckless borrowing from the last Labour government has brought the country to its knees and now he seems intent on bringing the same misery to York. He must learn that in challenging times the answer is not to pile onto a city’s debt whilst simultaneously hiking the taxes of those that live there”.

“It is highly questionable if this borrowing will provide the returns to the council that Labour seem to hope it will, and in the mean time York’s debt will continue to grow. This is a substantial amount of borrowing that we’re dealing with, and it seems that the move is being made without a clear plan about how that will translate into economic benefit for the city”.

How the Council cuts will bite – 1. Local voluntary groups

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We today begin to take a detailed look at how some of the planned Council cutbacks will affect the residents of York.

The voluntary sector in the city has played an important role in the City’s life long before David Cameron invented the “Big Society” phrase.

During the current year the Council is supporting the sector to the tune of £3.2 million. Much of this goes to large organisations like the Museums Trust (which is set to get a £300,000 cut to the £1.3 million that it currently gets for running the City’s Museums and Art Gallery).

However it is the smaller neighbourhood organisations, some of which relay on Ward committee support, which face the biggest cuts.

The Ward committee budget is being cut from £646,000 to £224,000, meaning that pro rata cuts would see voluntary bodies lose more than half their income.

We believe that it is wrong to do so to fund vanity projects like “free” city centre WiFi access.