York has lower than average employment levels – official

The York Central constituency falls below the rest of the country on several measures revealed by the Office of National Statistics today.

click to access

click to access

The proportion of the population in employment (different from the statistics on the numbers claiming Job Seekers Allowance which are normally quoted) is 70%.

This is slightly below the national average.

Other stats include:

  • 84% of residents are in “good health” well above the national average
  • It has fewer people(13%) aged over 65 than the average ranking at 531 out of a total of 632 parliamentary constituencies nationwide.
  • 14% are claiming state pension compared to nearly 19% across the UK
  • The number of business enterprises per 10,000 residents is 267 units well below the national average
  • 7.3% of the population is “non white” which is again below the national average

Click the graphic to access an information map covering the whole country.

Grand Departy costs – York Council says it won’t release details until after the Westfield by election poll has taken place

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

Sparse crowd for Grand Departy

Three months after a party took place at the Huntington Stadium, the Council still claims that it does know how much income it received from ticket sales.

The budget costs of the 5 hour event were revealed as £228,000 in a response to a Freedom of Information request in August.

It beggars belief that the Council does not yet know how much the event cost and what bill Council Taxpayers will have to pick up.

In an internal review, of responses to an FOI request from former Council Leader Steve Galloway, the Council has admitted irregularities with officials apparently having incorrectly quoted national legislation to justify a cover up.

They have also apologized for delays in dealing with correspondence.

But they now say that a report will only be made to the Council’s Cabinet on the details of the flop in November; 2 months after it was originally scheduled.

A question on ticket sales has been put on the agenda for the Council meeting taking place on 9th October by Cllr Nigel Ayre.

This is the kind of obstructive secrecy that will be swept away if Labour lose their majority after the by election poll which takes place on 16th October.

The Council’s email to Steve Galloway says;
(more…)