Grants for community groups offered by York Police

Local community groups are in for a cash boost, as North Yorkshire Police invites applications to its Police Property Fund.

Every so often, the police service auctions off property that has been seized as a result of criminal investigations, or that has been recovered from burglaries where no owner has come forward to claim the property back.

The proceeds of the auction are used to support local voluntary and charitable projects.

Recent recipients of the Fund include Swaledale Seedlings Playgroup, Art Therapy Yorkshire, Riding for the Disabled in York, Ryedale Community Transport and Richmond Tri-Kudo Triathlon Club.

North Yorkshire Police has now declared the latest round of applications open, and is urging local groups to come forward with their bids by 10 April.

The applications will be judged by Chief Constable Dave Jones, and Julia Mulligan, the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire.

Speaking about the fund, Chief Constable Dave Jones said:

“Through the Police Property Fund we are turning the negative results of crime into a big positive for the community, and that is very satisfying. We’re very interested in initiatives that could have a positive impact on local safety, but we also want to hear from groups that are creating opportunities for young people, or that help to bring communities together.”

Julia Mulligan, the Police and Crime Commissioner, said:

“Local communities are often best placed to know what support they need, and I want to empower those people to make positive changes where they live or work. This fund gives residents an easy way to apply for money which can ultimately make a community feel much safer.”

Groups who want to apply for funding must meet certain criteria, and should apply on the North Yorkshire Police application form. This is available at: http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/ppfa

New service for victims of crime

A new service has been launched today (1 April 2015) to help North Yorkshire residents who have been victims of crime and need emotional and practical support to cope and recover after crime.

The “Supporting Victims North Yorkshire” service provides help to victims in a number of different ways, to help them to cope and recover from the impact of crime. Experienced Supporting Victims Victim Care Co-Ordinators offer advice and guidance for victims of crime via a dedicated telephone service.

Supporting Victims can also refer victims to additional specialist services, aimed specifically at victims of sexual or domestic abuse, those who have suffered as a result of serious crime, people who have been persistently targeted and those feel vulnerable or intimidated as a result of criminal activity.
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York Council falls down league tables

A freedom of Information response has confirmed what many residents suspected. They are paying higher taxes than they would in many other City’s, and less is being invested in public services than 5 years ago.

Despite claims to the contrary, government grants to the city – relative to other unitary authorities – have been stable for 5 years..,

The main change is in Council Tax levels. When Labour took office in 2011 York had the second lowest Council Tax level in the country.

The Council now only ranks 14th lowest.

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York schools’ attendance is among UK’s highest

Attendance at City of York Council’s schools for 2013-2014 continues to be amongst the very best nationally, according to figures released by the Department for Education (DfE), with York returning the UK’s lowest number of persistent absentees for primary schools.

Data published on Friday 26 March for the first five half terms of 2013-14, shows that York is the UK’s joint second best-performing local authority for primary school attendance at 96.7%. City of York Council primary schools also had the joint lowest numbers nationally for persistent absentees at 1.3%.

This excellent performance was also reflected in secondary schools with attendance at 95.4%, placing York in the 20 top-performing local authorities out of 150 councils. The percentage of pupils in secondary schools regarded as persistent absentees was City of York Council’s lowest since records began with only 4.6% counting as persistent absentees.

Currently any pupil who is absent for 15% or more of their sessions is regarded as a persistent absentee, however from September 2015 this will change so that pupils with absence of 10% or more will count as a persistent absentee.

Pupils who miss between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of school tend to have lower attainment levels than average, with only 35 per cent achieving five A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths.

Jon Stonehouse, Director of Children’s Services, Education and Skills at City of York Council, said: “The work of teaching staff, police and council partners in the health sector as well as parental commitment all contribute to this excellent outcome which helps ensure that children overcome any barriers to attendance and have access to a good education. I would encourage any parent concerned about issues that they feel may lead to their child missing lessons to contact their school straight away.”