York groups and organisations invited to bid from ‘Improving Finances, Improving Lives’ fund

We have invited applications from a range of organisations and community groups for grants from our ‘Improving Finances, Improving Lives’ fund for 2018/19. The closing date for applications is 4 May.

We have set aside up to £170,000 as part of our financial inclusion work for this year. We are working alongside Citizen’s Advice York, Advice York and South Yorkshire Credit Union to help ensure residents have the knowledge to manage their finances effectively.

All four organisations are also committed to better coordination of advice services across the city. They plan to ensure that advice-givers and those offering help better understand the welfare benefits system and opportunities are explored to reduce general living expenses.

Last year, we awarded grants of over £180,000 to nine projects that help improve financial inclusion for residents in the city. These were for a range of schemes including the provision of specialist debt advice, improving the employability of people aged over 50,  work at GP surgeries to offer welfare advice support to patients (freeing up doctors to focus on clinical issues), providing advice in community based locations to support residents’ financial capability and providing support on Universal Credit. Organisations who need further information about applying should contact the council by email at financial.inclusion@york.gov.uk.

Councillor Carol Runciman,  executive member for Adult Social Care and Health, who has responsibility for financial inclusion, said: “Our commitment to supporting vulnerable residents and promoting financial inclusion reflects one of the council’s key priorities to ensure we have a prosperous city for all.

“Past grants to support projects has helped to make a positive difference to the lives of many people across the city.

I am very happy that we have been able to continue to invest money in this important area of work and I hope that we get the same level of interest that we had last year”

“Resurface our roads” say York residents

£8.4 million budget allocated but disappointment for sub-urban areas

The York Council has announced which roads and footpaths will be resurfaced during 2018/19.

There is good news for Askham Lane, Middlethorpe Grove, Skelton, Marygate and the national cycle route 66 (which will get a £1/4 million resurface).

Much of the rest of the budget is taken up by the continuing street light upgrade programme, with £100,000 to be spent on remedying fibre excavation reinstatements  and £400,000 on City Walls repairs (up by 25%)

School Street – City’s worst carriageway?

The Council says that the priorities were determined following surveys.

“In order to produce the programme of highway works for each year, information is drawn from a number of sources:

· Visual safety survey of all our roads and footways.

 · Digital condition survey of all our roads and footways

· Detailed condition survey of all our roads and footways.

 · United Kingdom Pavement Management System (UKPMS) visual and machine surveys

The survey records five condition categories, being grade 1 (very good), grade 2 (good), grade 3 (fair), grade 4 (poor) and grade 5 (very poor).

The City of York Council commission the service of Gaist Solutions Limited who carried out a detailed video survey of the whole of the council adopted highway network. The survey was utilised to assess the condition of all parts of the network.

Poor roads and footpaths that didn’t make the resurfacing list

 Each road and footway is assessed and given a ranking (score) based on a range of criteria, all metrics of the network were collated and a treatment solution was determined.

The Council goes on to say that further assessments will be undertaken to identify the impacts that have arisen from the long spells of freezing conditions during winter 2017/18. Where necessary works programmes may be amended to address any change in risk arising from reductions in highway asset condition because of this

Nevertheless some residents may be bewildered when they find that their local footpath has not been included in the programme. Path surfaces in streets like St Stephens Square and Ridgeway are now very uneven.

Probably the worst carriageway in the City is School Street in Acomb which doesn’t get a mention.

There will be pressure for the council to publish the “score” that each road received when surveyed.