York Council under fire over Taxicard cut

Taxi rank Liberal Democrat councillors and the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society have criticised the removal of a taxi service for vulnerable residents in the city.

Labour run City of York Council removed the Taxicard scheme at the beginning of April as part of its 2014/15 Budget despite opposition from the Lib Dem Group. The card enabled residents with serious mobility impairments, who often cannot use buses, to travel in licensed taxis for free or reduced rates using a smart card system. In total, 1,536 people were in possession of a Taxicard.

York Council has offered bus passes to those affected. However, residents have contacted Lib Dem councillors saying that the bus passes are no good to them as they can not use buses.

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York Council compensation claims hit record high

Employees at the Council in York were awarded a record high £140,495 in compensation last year.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the amount was shared between 5 employees.

The council says that a further 5 claims were rejected.

The main causes for claims were “ slips/trips/falls and manual handling”

The previous high came in 2010/11 when 7 employees were awarded £104,596 in compensation.

Competition launched to find name for York’s new Local TV Channel

Launching in Spring 2015, “with the local community at its heart”, the channel is asking for ideas for its brand name in a campaign entitled #MyYorkChannel that will run on Twitter and at http://www.myyorkchannel.com/

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The channel has been viewed with suspicion by some because of its links with the York Council Labour Leadership.

It has even been suggested that the station may have a studio at the Guildhall

The prize for the individual or company behind the chosen name is £1,000 and the opportunity to work with the channel’s creative time to bring the brand to life. For everybody else, they hope it is the first of many opportunities to help shape the local television channel they want to see.

Naming ideas can be submitted at http://www.myyorkchannel.com/ and via Twitter using the #MyYorkChannel hashtag. The competition will run until 5pm on 27 June 2014.
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