Helping people with learning disabilities live the best possible life is at the heart of a strategy will be launched on Monday 21 October by partners in the city.
York’s learning disability strategy will be presented by the Learning Disability Partnership at Priory Street. The strategy aims to support people with learning disabilities to live fulfilling lives, and to raise awareness of the help and support available to them, as well as what more needs to be done.
For the past 18 months, people across York have been talking and working together to prepare the all-age learning disabilities strategy. It prioritises how to live well in York from birth to later life. These priorities are being as independent, healthy and included in their communities as much as possible.
The four main priorities of the strategy are: education, life-long learning and employment; participating in and contributing to the community; living as independently and being as healthy as possible. Action plans around these are being drawn up with the partnership.
Central to this work are people with learning disabilities themselves, together with their families and carers, volunteers and professionals from across education and employment, health and social care, travel and culture. An easy read version of the strategy has been published.
Parents of children currently in Year 6 are reminded that applications for secondary schools places for September 2020 should be made before midnight on Thursday 31 October.
For pupils in Year 6 – the last year of primary school – parents and carers can apply for a maximum of five schools and City of York Council recommends that at least one preference should be the catchment school
All details and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at www.york.gov.uk/guideforparents. This guide contains information on school admissions and appeals processes as well as information on admissions statistics, oversubscription criteria and other information for parents and carers.
“Last year, 91.5% per cent of pupils in the secondary school admission round secured their first preference. Our staff have worked hard to ensure that our schools have enough places for all applicants and we will let students know about their allocated school on National Offer Day on 2 March next year”.
Its taken over 4 months, but weed growth has finally been cleared from the drainage channels on the A59 near Poppleton. The work, undertaken yesterday by Council staff, has improved the appearance of this key entry into the City
Weeds on the A59 reported in early JulyA59 gutters clear of weeds (17th October 2019)The only area left to treat is the slip road onto Longfield Lane.
It remains unclear how far the Councils weed control contractors have got with their “3rd application” of weed killer.
Attention will now switch to the autumn leaf removal programme. This is due to start on Monday. It will last for about 8 weeks.
Councillors have been briefed in the following terms,
“The leaf clearance will be undertaken using both mechanical and manual means.
We will have two trailer drawn leaf vacuums,
our teams will use these to remove leaves from pavements and grass verges.
Our two large mechanical sweepers will be
targeted at streets with trees, using the local knowledge of our staff, members
and reports made by residents.
These leaves cannot be recycled because they
are cleared from nearby or on the roads and are treated as contaminated waste.
As
always we cannot see and clear every street at one time, so we would be
grateful for the following
If
you aware of leaves that are causing a ‘danger’ i.e. on a major footpath, near
a school, elderly persons home etc. and are wet and slippery, please
report these to member enquiries, if not a ‘danger’ please monitor and we will
get there!
Once
the main leaf fall is over, if there are leaves, which appear to have been
missed, please pass these through member enquires.
You
may be interested to know that the Communities and Equalities team, who work
with volunteers across the city have recently ‘enrolled’ about a dozen
volunteer leaf clearers.
They are also working with volunteers from Goodgym to clear leaves from large grassed areas in the parks and these are recycled in leaf bays within the parks”.
The Council will be discussing another
report on the future of library buildings in York next week. There is little new in the document.
Acomb Library
We have seen a decade of agonising about the service which has
been run for several years by an independent – not for profit – social interest
organisation. They recently won the right to run the library service for a
further 15 years.
Whether staff moral has held up in the face of Council
indecisiveness in recent years may be open to question.
Compared to other areas, York has a relative successful
library service. It has not slipped into the “basket case” situation seen recently
with several other public services in the City.
Usage levels have been stable, no libraries have been
closed, new libraries have been established at Burnholme, New Earswick and the
soon to be opened (probably) Community Stadium. The Reading Café in Rowntree
park is successful and an overhaul of the Central Library and Archives has been
completed.
The library service has recognised that it needs to be more
than a book lending service. Some have styled themselves as learning or “explore”
centres. Some have opened cafes. Several have established “Friends of” groups.
Derelict expansion site behind Acomb Explore Library 2017
But progress in west York has been slow.
In 2008 the Council identified the need to expand the Acomb Library.
It had had a modest extension to the front, but other parts of the building were
aging. The Council decided to acquire land to the rear to facilitate expansion.
The idea was that a “one stop shop” should be established with staff moving in
from the then nearby “Acomb Office”. Officials were told to buy the bowling
club land but failed to push a deal though. The bowling club was latter to be
sold to a private housing developer. The Council land is now part of a building
compound.
The expansion plans were jettisoned by a new administration when it took office in 2011.
Since then the staff from the Acomb (housing) Office have been centralised into West Offices. There has been no significant investment in the library building. The acquired land became an overgrown eyesore.
About two years ago an opportunity arose to rationalise the site by incorporating the library, bowling club and extension land into one redevelopment plan.
The Council failed to act. As a result, expansion options have
been compromised.
The latest report confirms a £4 million budget for improvements
to the libraries in Acomb and Clifton. This was first announced 4 months ago. The
report says that the use of this investment is aimed at “reducing running costs”.
The report talks of identifying “co-location partners”
It will be mid 2021 at the earliest before residents will
see any building work taking place at the Acomb Explore site.
So for the next 4 years west York will no doubt be expected to muddle through
The report confirms that “the 15-year Library Contract
sets out the requirement for Explore (the operators) to co-locate all the
Gateway libraries by 31 March 2027”.
This could have significant implications for smaller
libraries such as that at Dringhouses.
