Cllr “bleep” deleted from York Council webcast

 

Yesterdays webcast of the Council Urgency committee meeting has now reappeared on line (click).

Voroshilov,_Molotov,_Stalin,_with_Nikolai_YezhovUsually we associated early 20th century Soviet Union regimes with air brushing dissidents from photos.

Now, in a bizarre twist, any mention of Councillors allegedly under investigation for misbehaviour, have been “bleeped” out of the video.

In theory it means that only those present at the meeting and those viewing the original transmission know who Labour Councillors sought to publicly vilify and who was mentioned in the Tory response (about 10 minutes into the meeting).

Comrade Williams airbrushed from history

Comrade Williams airbrushed from history

Of course. though, even a casual glance at the agenda papers will reveal who was being talked about.

It is an awkward shambles with no one publicly yet taking responsibility for the censorship. much less the original ill judged comments.

Now senior York Council official declares war on York Knights Rugby Club

The acting head of the York Councils Environmental Services Department has tonight issued a statement containing an astonishing attack on the owner of the York Knights RLFC

York KnightsIn a media release from Sarah Tanburn – who was appointed by the now defunct Alexander regime to supervise the adoption of their “Big City” Local Plan and drive through major projects – says that the Council  “no longer has the necessary confidence in the working relationship with Mr Guildford or trust in his good faith to enable negotiations with him on the Community Stadium development“.

She effectively says that the Club must now make their own arrangements with third part facility owners.

The change in pollcy is entirely contrary to the ethos of the community stadium project which, since agreement was reached in 2010, was always intended to provide a home for both football and rugby clubs.

While accepting that legal issues between the Club and the Council were resolved in December, the Council now seems to have rejected an opportunity to get round a table and thrash out a deal.

it is unclear what involvement key Labour politicians (Cllrs Williams and Crisp) had in authorising the public attack, but it is likely to inflame the already shaky view that rugby fans have of the Council leadership.

John Guildford has made clear publicly that his main concern, about the deal offered by the Council, was that – contrary to the agreed planning permission – it did not guarantee that the Club could play games at Bootham Crescent until the new stadium opened.

It looks like any opportunity for the Knights to play at the Community Stadium will now rest on the results of the Council elections in May. The Liberal Democrats – who devised the stadium plan 5 years ago – remain committed to involving both sporting codes at the stadium.

There is now a major question mark about Labours attitude.

York hospitals crisis prompts call for probe as……..

 …….Liberal Democrats publish plan to invest an extra £8 billion a year in NHS

LibDems NHS graphic Jan 2015

Media reports are suggesting that unprecedented numbers of people have visiting A & E departments at the York and Scarborough hospitals over the last 3 weeks, leading to unacceptable delays in treatment.

The hospital has not published any figures for patient numbers and waiting times recently and the Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for “Health” has offered no comment.

Responsibility for scrutinising the performance of the health service in York now also rests with the York Council but again no statements have been issued and no special meetings scheduled.

Some are claiming that “bed blocking” – discharges from hospitals delayed through lack of spaces in nursing homes – is partly responsible for the crisis.

The hospital management are right to ask people not to misuse A & E services when other options may address their issues.

But more facts  about relative demand levels, together with the publication of up to date performance statistics, would help residents understand the problem rather more than they do now.

The latest Care Quality performance monitoring stats can be downloaded by clicking here (December 2014)

Liberal Democrats to increase NHS funding by £8bn by 2020

Liberal Democrats have today (Tuesday 6 January) set out plans to safeguard the NHS for the future.

NHS funding will increased by at least £8bn per year in real terms by 2020.

The Liberal Democrats are the first party to present a plan to meet the financial needs of the NHS as set out by Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England in his Five Year Forward View.

key_nhs.jpg

To achieve this boost in funding by 2020/21, Liberal Democrats will do three things:
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