Liberal Democrats have failed in an attempt to overturn a controversial decision to cut social care in York.
The cuts mean that City of York Council’s community care service will be available only to those with substantial or critical needs, rather than those with “moderate” needs. 184 people with “moderate” needs will now lose their support, which can include help with shopping, bathing, showering or preparing meals.
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Labour have decided to overrule resident’s objections and implement a 20 mph speed limit in an area stretching initially from the Ouse to The Mount.
The area includes Bishopthorpe Road.
It is expected that it will be the precursor to an attempt to extend the limit to virtually every other street in the City.
The proposals for South Bank are less controversial than in other areas as existing speeds in the narrow terraced streets are usually less than 20 mph anyway. The situation elsewhere in the City is very different.
Residents will be concerned that decisions to promote schemes like these attract little publicity these days. A Labour Councillor meets with two officials and nods through proposals. There is no debate and members of the public, the Media and opposition Councillors are barred from the meetings.
As a result the vast majority of residents will have no idea what decisions are being taken and only keen “surfers” of the Council web site will even know that change is in the air.
It makes consultation arrangements farcical.
The details of the meeting have now been published (2 weeks after it took place) and can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/20-mph-limit-in-South-Bank
The minutes of the meeting make it clear that those taking the decision were aware of recent figures on road traffic accidents which revealed a big increase in accidents in areas subject to 20 mph limits.
Despite this Labour still plan to go ahead with the project which will cost taxpayers around £600,000 to implement across the City.
City of York Council, York Pullman and East Coast Mainline are working in partnership to open a new bus and information point in York Railway Station.
The new information desk is located in the station’s Travel Centre and will be officially opened on Tuesday 14 August.
Commuters and visitors will get access to up to date and accurate answers to their queries about local bus services as well as general visitor information.
The customer-facing counter will be operated by York Pullman and has been developed with thanks to £30,000 funding from the Better Bus Area Fund – a grant provided by the Government. (more…)
