Nearly 6,000 York residents are set to receive reduced council tax bills this week, as the council continues to provide support to residents facing financial hardship during the coronavirus pandemic.
Those who are eligible for council tax support will receive a £150 reduction on their account, spread over the remainder of the year, utilising a government grant awarded to the council.
The grant totals over £950,000, with £868,000 already being allocated. The remaining money will be availablefor new customers until 31 March 2021.
Executive Member for Finance and Performance, Cllr Nigel Ayre, said:
“The coronavirus pandemic has posed significant financial challenges for many residents and that is why we are investing further funding to help support those who need it the most during this difficult time
This council tax support grants will help people who may be worrying about their financial situation. It is also another way in which we are helping the most vulnerable people in York, which has been one of our key priorities throughout the pandemic.
I would encourage anyone facing financial difficulties to access the help and support that is on offer by calling 01904 551550 or emailing COVID19help@york.gov.uk.”
Help is available if you are struggling to pay Council Tax, due to Covid-19 or other reasons
You can ask for any payments missed since April 2020 to be spread across the rest of the year up to March 2021 by e-mailing tax@york.gov.uk or calling 01904 551556
If your income has changed please let us know so we can update your Council Tax Support. You may be entitled to an increased amount. Please complete the change of circumstances form at york.gov.uk/benefits/change-circumstances-benefits
You may be eligible for more help by applying to the discretionary council tax reduction scheme at york.gov.uk/TaxReductionScheme.
Advice and support services in the City can help you stem the tide and get the right support for you. Please see a helpful list of contacts overleaf for those who can help you.
Most waste due to be collected on Monday was picked up as scheduled. The only exception was recycling in the Naburn area.
The expectation was that the new waste collection lorries – due to arrive early next year – would provide a boost for recycling.
However it seems that hopes that additional capacity might lead to the collection of a greater variety of recyclable items may be dashed. There has been no discussion with Councillors about the configuration of the new lorries. There seems to be little prospect of the collection of, for example, food waste being introduced.
Indeed once source at the York Council is saying that – like the Leeds Council – the separate collection of glass may be abandoned. Instead residents would be asked to return bottles to the “bring sites” which are located across the City.
It is likely that such a policy would lead to a further reduction in the proportion of waste that is recycled in the City.
One additional positive Coronavirus test result has been added to the government stats. This brings the cumulative total to 902.
There has been one additional Coronavirus related death in a York care home during the last week (26/6/20) according to ONS published figures
There have been no additional deaths at York Hospital Trust sites
Council expenditure on marketing hits £350,000
The Councils expenditure figures for June have now been published. All accounts for amounts exceeding £250 can be viewed byclicking here.
Taxpayers will be taking a particular interest in the amount being spent on COVID-19 related marketing.
The total has now reached £354,326.65 since February.
City centre signs
This includes ££68,659.00 spent in June.
By far the largest supplier was the York based marketing company “Ideas Group” who were responsible for the Councils post pandemic PR strategy. This included some of the signs that can be seen round the City centre.
They submitted bills for £43,000 in June.
Libraries reopening
Many of York’s libraries and reading cafes have reopened. Those wanting to borrow books must make an appointment before visiting.
Museum opening plans
York Castle Museum and York Art Gallery will both open to the public again on August 1st. According to the York Museums Trust the Yorkshire Museum will remain closed.
The Merchant Adventurers Hall coffee room will be reopening on Thursday 9th July.
Minster School
The authorities have confirmed that the Minster School will close permanently from the end of its summer term.
Hand sanitisers
The York BID has installed hand sanitiser stations on some streets in the city centre
Park and Ride
The Askham Bar park and ride site – which reopened at the weekend – was very quiet today
Better bus services announced by First York from this weekend
First have issued notifications of the following service changes
Askham Bar Park & Ride has now re-opened; services will operate every 15 minutes at weekends, every 10 minutes Monday-Friday during peak times and every 15 minutes throughout the day.
Timetables
From Sunday 12th July, the following changes will take place to help with safe, socially-distanced travel for necessary journeys. Full details of the changes and timetables can be found in the‘Forthcoming’ section of our timetables page.The changes are being made to help manage continued capacity restrictions on buses due to social distancing as further lockdown measures are eased.
City Services
Service 1 – there will be changes to early evening services, and late evening services will be operating to a revised timetable (up to every 30 minutes). Sunday daytime services will be increased to run up to every 20 minutes during busy periods.
Service 4 – there will be changes to early evening services, and late evening services will be operating to a revised timetable (up to every 30 minutes). Sunday daytime services will be increased to run up to every 20 minutes during busy periods.
Service 5/5A – minor timetable changes will be occuring. The 22:00pm and 23:00pm from Strensall will now operate at 21:50pm and 22:50pm respectively, and the 22:55pm from Acomb will now operate at 22:45pm.
Service 6 – there will be changes to early evening services, and late evening services will be operating to a revised timetable (up to every 30 minutes) for the majority of the late evening period. Services will leave Clifton Moor during the evening at 00/30 minutes past the hour, and from Campus East at 15/45 minutes past the hour. Sunday daytime services will be increased to run up to every 20 minutes during busy periods.
Service 10/10A – service timetable has been updated to reduce the amount of time spent waiting at bus stops, due to the current reduced traffic levels.
Service 11 – these buses will run every 30 minutes for the majority of the day.
Service 11S – this service will not operate.
Service 12 – these buses will run every 30 minutes for the majority of the day.
Service 200 – this service will continue to operate 3 early morning services.
University Services
Service 66 – evening and Sunday services will be increased to every 40 minutes.
66A, 66X – will not operate. Alternative journeys will be provided by Service 10, 10A and 66.
Service N66 – will not operate.
Park and Ride Services
Service 2A – service frequency will be increased to every 10 minutes for the majority of the day Monday – Saturday, and every 12 minutes during Sunday daytime. Evening frequency will be restored to every 30 minutes.
Service 3 – will not operate. Alternative journeys will be provided by service 12 between Askham Bar Tesco and York.
Service 7 – service frequency will be increased to every 10 minutes for the majority of the day Monday – Saturday, and every 12 minutes during Sunday daytime. Evening frequencywill be restored to every 30 minutes.
Service 8, 66A, 66X – will not operate. Alternative journeys will be provided by Service 10, 10A, 66.
Service 9 – service frequency will be increased to every 10 minutes for the majority of the day Monday – Saturday, and every 12 minutes during Sunday daytime.
No consultation prior to “behind closed doors” decision
Pedestrian hours in York City centre will be extended from 10:30am to 8:00pm, 7 days a week. Currently they end at 4:00pm each day.
The scheme will extend to include Fossgate and Goodramgate.
Cyclists will be able to slalom through some of the affected streets.
The Council leadership claims the move is aimed at helping “traders” and says cafes and pubs will be able to “set up tables on the public highway more easily”. The change was agreed yesterday only hours after alcohol fuelled disorder returned to City centre streets.
Disabled people will be badly affected. They can no longer access the City centre streets and have so far snubbed the additional parking spaces – and free taxi service – set up at the Monk Bar car park
The Council have also failed to address the confusion over their “free parking” offer which applies to some car parks in July and August. It got off to a confused start at the weekend.
The Council says that the following public toilets are now offering a contactless payment option and will be open until 10pm
St George’s Field
Coppergate Shopping Centre –
Exhibition Square
Silver Street (contactless from next week)
There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the Councils recent transport and other decisions reflect the wishes of either the majority of residents or of the business community. Not surprisingly out of town shopping centres seem to be recovering much more quickly from the lock-down recession, leaving the city centre vulnerable to fanciful and ill considered social engineering experiments.
New pedestrian rules imposed by Junta
What is increasingly intolerable is the failure of the Councils democratic systems. There is no reason why notice of this proposal could not have been published in advance with a decision subsequently taken at a publicly accessible meeting.
Instead it exploited an emergency delegation scheme which was intended to take the City through the worst phase of the lock-down.
The Council own “scrutiny” system has also once again been found wanting with meetings, which took place yesterday, failing to effectively challenge the decisions of the secretive “junta” which now dictates to York residents.
Changes to pedestrian hours may well be something that York people would want to trial. This option could have been included on a list as part of the Councils so called “big conversation” survey.
It wasn’t, so we don’t know peoples views.
However, given the failures of the last few weeks, they will not forgive quickly those who chose to impose their views in such a discourteous and arbitrary way.
