City of York Council has been awarded a further £1 million of funding to improve the energy efficiency of homes in York, leading to lower fuel bills and improved comfort.
Some 60 private sector homes will receive extra cavity wall insulation, draft proofing, attic or loft insulation, while 110 council homes will benefit from additional energy efficiency measures.
To qualify for the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG), homeowners or private tenants need to have a household income of less than £30,000 per year and have a property with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of E, F or G. Some EPC D rates may be eligible.
Of the £1m, £550,000 will go towards improving council homes with additional energy efficiency measures and solar PV panels installed on roofs lowering electricity bills for tenants.
The remainder will be used to improve energy efficient in 60 private rented/owner occupier homes through the Home Upgrade Grant. This provides insulation grants for lower income home owners and private landlords with lower income tenants. They can apply for insulation for attic rooms, cavity walls and loft insulation, as well as draught proofing.
The funding has been secured from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Local Authority Delivery Funding. The project is being delivered in partnership with Better Homes Yorkshire, Eclipse Energy and Heat Insulation.
If you are a homeowner, private tenant or landlord, find out more about the scheme, to see if you’re eligible and to apply, please contact Better Homes Yorkshire on 0800 597 1500 or emailbetterhomes@york.gov.uk. More about energy efficient schemes is at www.york.gov.uk/HUG
Nineteen additional positive test results today. Brings the cumulative total up to 12,518
The number of cases in the City has increased from 62 to 65.
The rate /100k population is now 30.86. This is the first time it has been over 30 since late March.
However, following another 24 positive test results on Tuesday, the rate is expected to hit around 47 over the weekend.
Neighbourhoods
12 neighbourhoods now have 3 or more cases in each
Vaccinations
Little progress has been made with first jabs in the City over the last few days. Only 159 injections over 3 days. It has been suggested that inadequate supplies of the Moderna/Pfizer vaccine are to blame. This is the preferred jab for the younger cohort (Under 30’s) who are currently next on the list for an injection.
Second dose vaccination numbers are holding up well, with more than 50% of the population likely to have been inoculated by the end of the weekend.
The neighbourhood level progress reports on vaccinations have been published today. We are publishing both the first dose and the second dose outturns.
The second dose table is probably the most important given government advice that both doses are needed to get maximum protection.
There is a wide variance between the area with the highest proportion of vaccinated adults (Haxby, 70.5%) and the lowest (Tang Hall 27.1%).
This can mostly be explained by the variance in age profiles with those neighbourhoods with large student populations (aged under 25) not due to get most of their first doses until towards the end of the month
Tests
4763 PCR tests were conducted during the week ending 5th June
Of these, 1.3% proved to be positive. This is an increase on the previous figure of 1.2%
In addition 3124 “lateral flow” tests were conducted on 9th June
Outbreak Management Board
Some new information emerged at yesterday’s COVID management board meeting.
There has been a substantial growth in the City of cases of the COVID-19 variant which originated in India. It is expected, like elsewhere, to become the dominant strain over the next few days.
The Council are not advised of the vaccination status of those testing positive for the virus. They rely on national stats which say that only small numbers of vaccinated people fall victim to the virus.
The largest number of new cases are currently being found in the 10 -19 age group
Most tests currently involve school children.
The Council cannot say what proportion of positive tests are from people who are asymptomatic.
There is a lack of public awareness that free home testing kits are available.
There has been no local follow up of people who may have come into contact with someone who has the disease. More extensive tracing will start shortly. There will be an option for contacts to have daily tests rather than have to quarantine at home.
There may be a dedicated vaccination centre set up at the University of York when the programme moves on (possibly next week) to the 18 – 25 age group.
Consideration is being given to setting up a vaccinate hub in the City centre (although take up rates in the City are relatively high)
North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information about an incident that occurred on Askham Lane in York.
It is believed to have happened at around 1pm on Tuesday 8 June 2021, and involved a man in his 80s from York who was seriously injured as a result of the incident. He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary by air ambulance.
The incident is believed to have occurred on Askham Lane, York, between the junctions of Cornlands Road and Tedder Road, which was closed while officers investigated the scene.
The cyclist was found to have fallen from his bicycle. There do not appear to have been any other vehicles involved, although this cannot be entirely ruled out at this stage.
Officers are therefore appealing for witnesses to the incident, or anyone who may have CCTV or dashcam footage, to get in touch as soon as possible to assist the investigation. If you can help, please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for Chris Storey. You can also email chris.storey@northyorkshire.police.uk. Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12210135005.
The current period of fair weather has prompted high growth rates on grassed areas.
The surge in growth seems to have caught the Council out with mowing schedules inadequate to ensure that areas used for ball games are kept tidy.
There have already been some criticisms of the grass in parks in west York not being cut. Some have – rightly – not being mowed to ensure that meadowland is created to help pollinators. But the neglect of sports pitches remains unexplained by the Council.
Another Council department is encouraging active sports and leisure activities particularly among younger people. They will find this more difficult if grass is not cut.
Some amenity areas are being cut this week while some sports pitches remain unusable
It isn’t just sports pitches where a lack of maintenance is evident.
Once again cycle paths are becoming overgrown. It is usually the same ones each year with Tadcaster Road being the stand out example.
Some visibility splays at road junctions also haven’t been trimmed this year.
Cycle tracks are obstructed while some visibility splays need trimming for safety reasons
The Council should update residents on its planned maintenance schedules
20 of York’s primary schools are set to take part in Walk to School Week 2021, which runs from 14 to 28 June. This year the event includes activities taking place on Clean Air Day on 17 June.
Locally, around 6,400 students from 20 different schools will get involved. The annual awareness-raising event aims to encourage children and their families to walk, cycle or scoot to and from school, rather than travelling by car. This year the event will have a particular focus on the impact of pollution on our health, encouraging families to make a sustainable change to improve local air quality near schools.
Coinciding with Walk to School Week this year is Clean Air Day on 17 June. Every year, air pollution causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK. The World Health Organisation and the Government recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental health risk we face today.
Poor air quality causes heart and lung diseases, is linked to low birth weight and children’s lung development and may even contribute to mental health issues*. Clean Air day is being promoted through the council’s hard-hitting anti-idling campaign, Kick the Habit: which aims to to help tackle this problem in York www.york.gov.uk/engineoff
Residents of all ages can find out more about sustainable travel options by visiting www.itravelyork.info
York has become the first city in the UK to introduce city-wide real time transport modelling to help ease congestion and pollution.
Working in partnership with PTV Group, Wood Group and independent strategic modelling experts RelativeGAP, City of York Council has started using the latest innovation and cutting-edge technology to manage the road network.
In areas it has previously been introduced, area wide travel times have been reduced by nearly 10 per cent.
Previously, the council has monitored the network through staff monitoring CCTV and social media feeds, with network monitoring operators and transport engineers manually implementing new signal changes to manage the flow of traffic better in busy periods.
With the new PTV Optima installed in the control room, the council can now adopt a more pro-active approach in monitoring and changing the network live to best suit traffic conditions.
For example, if there was a road traffic collision on the York outer ring road, the new software will be able to predict the impact on the wider road network based on the current traffic conditions. This will give the council the ability to react ‘live’ by changing traffic light timings across the city (where needed) and informing people sooner of the impact and possible delays.
This is the first real-time transport model of this scale that has been used for live traffic management in the UK. Other cities outside of the UK to use similar modelling include Vienna, Abu Dhabi, Moscow and Sydney.
The introduction of the new modelling system follows a successful bid by City of York Council, as part of the ‘Smarter Travel Evolution Program – STEP’, which is funded by the Government.
There has already been some criticisms of the system with problems identified on the Hull Road, Other motorists have criticised what seems to be inadequate green phase signal times on The Mount near the Holgate Road junction, despite relatively low traffic levels.
One additional COVID-19 patient being cared for by the Hospital Trust. This bings the total back up to three.
There is now one patient in intensive care; the first placed there for over 10 days.
The latest government figures, covering the period up to 28th May, confirm that there have been no deaths from COVID-19 in any setting in York since April
Test results
Twenty-four new positive test results were announced today. That is the largest for over two months. It brings the total up to 12,518
19 of the “positives” were recorded at tests conducted on Monday. That may be linked to the return to school after the half term. The authorities have not commented so far on the spike. The 19 positive test results are the highest single day figure seen since 8th March – ironically that was the same day as schools re-opened to all pupils
Two additional cases today bring total up to 62. That figure relates to the week ending 4th June and so precedes the surge in case numbers seen this week.
The spike in case numbers means that the case rate /100k is 29.44 and is, unfortunately, trending to reach 39.4 before the end of the week.
The increase in infection rates in York mirrors a similar trend at North Yorkshire, regional and national levels.
A council spokesperson has commented “we have seen the bulk of transmissions occur within homes and between people who do not maintain social distance”
Neighbourhoods
Eleven neighbourhoods now have 3 or more cases
Vaccinations
We have heard from the Council who say that they “don’t know” what proportion of the current positive cases in the City had previously received one or two doses of vaccine. Most cases are apparently in the younger age groups and are therefore less likely to have been vaccinated (but the authorities really should know what proportion of victims have had a jab)
Tests
4482 PCR tests were conducted during the week ending 4th May 2021
Of these, 1.2% were found to be positive. That is less than the 1.3% found during the previous period.
In addition, 1735 “lateral flow” tests were conducted on 8th June.
On street testing in York
Council to hand out more tests to York residents
City of York Council has announced the latest streets it will be handing out testing kits to as part of efforts to keep the city safe and open.
Council staff will be once again visiting communities in the city offering testing kits to residents and encouraging them to test themselves twice a week. This will support the Council’s efforts to increase the number of people being tested for COVID to identify symptom-free cases and stop the spread of the virus.
It is not as the result of increased cases in that area or the presence of a variant of concern. It represents the latest drive to make testing more accessible and frequent. As they have done throughout this project, staff will have Council ID cards for identification and will be handing out free tests and advice, so residents will never be asked to pay.
The team will be going out and about on Wednesday 9 June and Friday 11 June this week.
On Wednesday 9 June the teams will visit properties in Eldon Street, Eldon Terrace, Markham Crescent, Neville Street, Neville Terrace, Nelson Street, Stanley Street.
On Friday 11 June the teams will be out on Warwick Street, Walpole Street, Haxby Road north of Walpole Street, White Cross Road, Vyner Street, Fountayne Street, Briggs Street, Scaife Street, Scaife Gardens.
This work further supports Council’s other efforts to get people tested:
Continuing to offer testing kits to employers in the city so that staff can get tested.
Continuing to offer in-person testing and collection service at the University of York, York St John University, York Leisure Centre at the York Stadium Leisure Complex, Acomb Explore and Foxwood Community Centre.
Continuing to offer in-person testing at St William’s College with residents, employees and visitors able to access this service.
