New scheme announced to support the most vulnerable rough sleepers in York

On Tuesday 4 November, Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) is launching in York.

Whatever the weather this winter, and to give the most vulnerable rough sleepers safe shelter, on Tuesday 4 November,Arc Light and York Mind are launching Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) in York .

York – Number of residents accepted as homeless & numbers in temporary accommodation at year end
Year	Accepted	in temp. accom. at 31st March
*2003/4*	460	242
*2004/5*	424	259
*2005/6*	433	233
*2006/7*	214	207
*2007/8*	258	209
*2008/9*	208	167
*2009/10*	130	79
*2010/11*	183	94
*2011/12*	151	93
*2012/13*	146	99
*2013/14*	109	80
*2014/15*	Not available	65

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Council admits error in Library use figures

Following our story at the weekend, the Council has now said that there was an error in the usage figures they provided for York libraries last year.

The revised figures now issued, in response to the Freedom of Information request, turn what appeared to be a decline in use into a modest increase.

Revised York Library visit numbers. click to enlarge

However the most recent figures available suggest that the number of visits made in the City to libraries has reduced by around 30% since the central library was closed in June.

2014 library visitor numbers click to access

Smile! – Drone filming in York

The York Council says that filming of York landmarks using a remotely operated drone will take place on 3 and 4 November 2014 from 7am during daylight hours.

The drone operators will have direct contact with control crews on the ground throughout.

The filming will focus on York Minster, City Walls and Bars (Micklegate and Bootham), the River Ouse, Museum Gardens and Clifford’s Tower.

Mental health provision off York Council agenda

Another important policy area change has been shelved by the Council.

Its forward programme of decisions included an item on the joint procurement of some mental health services in partnership with the NHS.

The Council said that the report would present a proposal to jointly commission “some of our mental health provision with the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and include these services currently provided by CYC within the mental health tender that the CCG will be releasing in November 2014. This will include having a pooled budget arrangement and transferring affected staff to the organisation of the successful tender bidder”.

After being postponed on two occasions, the proposal has now been dropped without explanation.

NB. The Liberal Democrats announced last month new polices aimed at increasing the priority given to addressing mental health needs. They included guarantees on waiting times.