Hard on the heels of the retirement of the Chief Executive, the York Council has revealed how it hopes to recoup the costs of the early retirement exercise.
The post of Director of Finance and Investment will be deleted. This was the post traditionally styled as the City Treasurer. More junior staff will absorb this work.
The present Director has been acting as Chief Executive for over 9 months now and he will continue in that role.
More consultation with stakeholders is promised before any new structure is implemented.
The restructuring will save about £86,000 a year in salary costs
So many pothole reports from both Councillors and residents are being fobbed off by Council officials, that the issue is going to be raised at transport chief Cllr Andy D’Agorne’s meeting on Thursday.
All complainants receive these days is a message saying
“The current status of your report is: closed – the problem has been inspected and no follow up work is required”
In the past – even if a pothole report didn’t meet what were termed “intervention levels” – an explanation of why work would not be carried out was given. That practice seems to have ceased.
As most on line reports include a photograph, there is clearly a risk and one that is likely to continue to deteriorate.
Kingswood Grove
Uneven carriageway needs patching
NB. We have reported again leaf detritus which has been in some of the gutter in little Green Lane since the autumn
City of York Council and Explore York Libraries and Archives have today announced a new temporary solution for Haxby and Wigginton library.
Exciting new plans have been agreed with Oaken Grove Trustees for the library service to be located there by summer. The current Haxby & Wigginton mobile service will stop once the new offer starts at Oaken Grove Community Centre.
The council is still committed to providing a new permanent library for residents which is bigger and better than the previous Haxby Library, is located with a partner organisation, and meets both residents’ expectations and Explore’s vision for a modern library service.
Cost of pension contributions will be just over £400,000
Following the early retirement of Ms Mary Weastell, Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of the Council commented:
Council statement
“Ms Weastell’s early retirement has given the City of York Council the opportunity to consider a restructure of the Council’s corporate management team. As part of this, we have been able to identify ways to save money through efficiencies and these proposals will ensure that costs can be met through existing budgets with no additional impact for the taxpayer.
“This will also ensure our senior team focus on the areas that are important to the city and that a consultation is able to be brought forward swiftly. Our ambitious council plan requires significant investment, and to achieve this it is right that we review the best way of delivering for the city to make the most of our available resources.”
Debbie Mitchell, Head of Finance, confirmed:
“As an open and transparent council, we want to share how much Ms Weastell has received as part of her early retirement. There are strict rules in place that govern payments due to individuals and, in line with these statutory requirements; the council has incurred costs of c £404k. The majority of this sum around £330k is statutory payments and pension strain costs to the authority that have to be paid.
“The Council will commence consultation to make at least £81k of savings per annum with a paper published today to the Staffing Matters and Urgency Committee to begin that process. Full details will be presented in the annual accounts as usual.”
The government has relaxed delivery restrictions on supermarkets. Click link. It means that deliveries can be made at any time of the day or night. Most local stores have their own delivery yards but neighbours of, for example, Morrisons on Green Lane may see lorries serving the store later at night.
Local residents associations have suggested that lists of local shops and takeaways who can deliver to these self isolating should be drawn up. They want to see a local neighbourhood coordinator appointed by the Council.
In the meantime they’re offering to publicise any local business that will accept remote orders (phone/email/online), pay electronically, and deliver to a doorstep. (Email Foxwoodra@btinternet.com)
Elsewhere community networks are getting established to deal with any escalation in the numbers confined to their own homes. The Leeds Council are, for example, taking steps to provide community support to safe and professional standards. click
Volunteer groups like #ViralKindness are also springing up.
City of York Council and Explore York Libraries and Archives have today announced a new temporary solution for Haxby and Wigginton library.
