Coronavirus York updates; 24th November 2020

Christmas

Households across the UK will be able to form a “Christmas bubble” with two other households during a five-day window over the festive period, it has been announced.

Between 23 to 27 December, people will be able to meet with those two other households in their bubble – but only in a private home, a place of worship or outdoor public spaces.

Travel restrictions across the whole of the UK will also be lifted during the five-day period, allowing people to travel between countries or between tiers in order to meet with those in their bubble.

Deaths and test results

ONE additional death reported by the York Hospital Trust. It occurred on Saturday. The cumulative second wave death toll at York and Scarborough hospitals is now 62.

THREE more care home deaths have been announced. ONE occurred on 17th November and TWO on the 19th. The cumulative second wave death toll in local care homes has now reached seven (CQC figures).

There is some concern in the City that any decision, on which “Tier” York will find itself in on Thursday, may be influenced by hospital capacity issues. The above hospital deaths figure may not tell the whole story.

The Trust has not broken down the split in fatalities between the York and Scarborough units. Furthermore, the NHS is (rightly) flexing its capacity to address peaks in different parts of the region, so there may be some non York residents included in the recent 62 reported fatalities.

An alternative way of looking at the issue is by analysing the data on death occurrences provide by the ONS (click) and which relates to people normally resident in York.

This shows that there have so far been 185 fatalities this year as a result of COVID.

However, only 14 of these have occurred since the beginning of September. Of these, 8 were hospital deaths

Even allowing for some delay in figures coming through, that represents a more encouraging picture.

There have been 29 new positive test results announced today. That is the lowest daily total since September. It brings the total number of cases to 5518.

The daily new infection rate (7 day rolling average) is now below 40.

Only two neighbourhoods in York are now above the national infection rate. They are Clifton Without and Skelton (following a recent spike) and Heslington where case levels are reducing only slowly.

Elsewhere in the City case numbers are generally falling steadily.

Extra financial support for York businesses

Even more York businesses impacted by the latest lockdown can benefit from financial support as City of York Council launches a new grant scheme today.

The council has worked with partners and business leaders to decide how to most fairly and effectively use the discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant.

Businesses now have until Monday 7 December to apply for the grants, which are open to:

Businesses effectively forced to close through lockdown but don’t qualify for government grants, whether they are liable for business rates or not.
Businesses where trade is impacted by more than 75% due to lockdown, whether they are liable for business rates or not.

Applications must be from:

A York-based business which have fixed premises in York – (note fixed premises is not a market stall or pitch) or
businesses run by a York resident and trade is at least 75% in York (note this could be a market stall or pitch).

The council is also preparing a voucher scheme for local businesses to access support like training form local providers.

Business must not be in administration, insolvent, or have a striking off notice made against it, must have started trading before 5 November 2020, and not in receipt of unoccupied rates for business rates.

For more information about all the grants available for business affected currently visit the council website.

£55,378 York grant to “Welcome to Yorkshire”

Never any worries about Tour funding, tourism chief insists | Yorkshire Post

It looks like the York Council will pay the beleaguered “Welcome to Yorkshire” (WTY) tourism body over £55,000.

The controversy wracked regional body has lost a lot of subscriber income recently as a result of the impact of the pandemic.

Following a scandal about profligate spending, the organisation reformed last year and took on a Wakefield Labour politician as its chairman.

Ironically the Wakefield Council, along with Hull, is now refusing to pick up its share of the rescue package.

The reason for some scepticism is clear.

York businesses benefit from marketing campaigns aimed at getting more tourists to visit the region. The City is an obvious first port of call for foreign visitors in normal times.

The visitor economy will need help to get back on its feet over the next year or two. Visit York (part of Make it York) leads for the City on tourist promotion. Relations in the past with WTY have been strained with little evidence of coordination.

Improvements are planned and a Service Level Agreement has been published (click).

What the SLA lacks are measurable outcomes at street, shop, bar, attraction and bed occupancy level. This deficiency is shared in the rather woolly documentation which guides the Council’s, similarly uneasy, relationship with Make it York.

Make it York are expected to make a bid for additional funding at a Council executive meeting in December

WTY should cut back on its sponsorship activities. Tagging horse race meetings, cycle races, garden exhibitions, award dinners etc may be OK in good economic times, but not today.

It should focus on its core advertising programme and let local tourist bodies take the lead in attraction planning.

The most successful organisations are locally rooted and driven by committed, experienced leaders.

In York organisations like the BID have proved what can be done with relatively modest resources and good communications.

WTY could learn from them.

Highways schemes approved by Council

More minor highways improvement schemes have been approved under the York Councils delegated ward budgets.

They are located in the Dringhouses, Fulford and Osbaldwick wards. A list can be viewed by clicking here

The process and method of prioritisation of the use of the £1 million available budget is obscure. No comprehensive list of the improvements approved and implemented in each part of the City has been published on the Councils web site. Requests for improvements to footpaths and roads in the Westfield area have produced little response.

Even in Fulford, where funds are being allocated, some may wonder whether an investment in replacing opaque panels in local bus shelters might have deserved some consideration? Instead two prominent shelters look shabby or are overgrown by vegetation.

It is a similar picture on the west of the City.

Footpaths in the area near Fulford Ings are muddy in places making cycle access difficult. Some discrete use of chippings would improve the route from Millennium Way to the Designer Outlet, helping to promote benign forms of travel.

The delegation of funding decisions to local communities is a step in the right direction but currently allocation processes look to be a combination of patrimony and chance.