Reports are emerging that Labour Councillors have decided to abandon the direct management of Library facilities in York.

They are claiming to have persuaded the Cabinet Office Mutuals Support Programme http://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ to provide “practical assistance” to establish the Library Service as a “social enterprise” organisation.

The scale of any support has not been revealed nor have the results of the consultation undertaken with residents about the future of library services in York.

Our view has always been that the Library service in York has been an outstanding success in recent years. We would be extremely cautious about making any changes. We recognise that “social enterprise” is very much a “buzz” concept at present but there is little evidence from the rest of the country that it is an appropriate way of managing a public service like libraries.

Some may point to the success of the York Museums and Art Galley since it became a “Trust” independent from the Council. It does, however, continue to receive over £1 million a year in taxpayers subsidies and, of course, depends for some of its income on charges.

Currently charges form only a small part of the income streams of the libraries.

The traditional definition of a social enterprise is “a business that trades for a social and/or environmental purpose. It will have a clear sense of its ‘social mission’: which means it will know what difference it is trying to make, who it aims to help, and how it plans to do it. It will bring in most or all of its income through selling goods or services. And it will also have clear rules about what it does with its profits, reinvesting these to further the ‘social mission’”

Time for a full public debate we think before any changes are made to our libraries.

http://www.york.gov.uk/news/latestNews/PR3154

The York Council has published details of the backgrounds of the people who work for it.

The figures reveal, not surprisingly, that the majority of staff who declare a religion consider themselves to be “Christian”.

However, the next most followed religion by Council workers is “Buddhism”!

This may explain why one prominent Labour Councillor uses the pseudonym “The Great Buddha” when posting on the Press web site.

To find out how many Muslims, Hindus, ect there are at the Guildhall click here: http://tinyurl.com/Council-workers

Contrary to claims, the figures also reveal that the total number of staff working for the council increased from 6462 in 2010 to 6713 in 2012.

A £1.6 million Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant will create a new home for the internationally-important city archive.

The ‘Gateway to History’ project will refurbish the first floor of York Explore Library Learning Centre into the new home for York’s archives, including a new archive storage vault built to 21st century conservation standards.

The project will reach out to communities across the city to get them involved in adding their stories to the 850 years of documents already preserved in the archive which records all aspects of the city’s history from complaints about mediaeval prostitutes, the city’s reaction to the death of Richard III, the growing influence of railways and the Rowntree family on the Victorian city to the defence of York in the Second World War.

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In addition to free City centre car parking, 3 of the City’s park and ride sites will be operating on Boxing Day

However there will be no other bus services running in the City on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day. (Details of services running across North Yorkshire during the holiday period ca be found here http://getdown.org.uk/bus/xmas.shtml). It seems more than slightly ironic, less than a month after a Council commissioned report criticised off peak bus services in the City, that the authority should choose to subsidise (to the tune of £10,000) park and ride services at the expense of its own residents. Most of the City centre car parks are half empty on Boxing Day anyway, reducing the need to encourage people to park on the outskirts of the City.

Three Park & Ride services will operate on Boxing Day, including:

• Askham Bar (route 3) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Tower Street at 6.42pm
• Designer Outlet (route 7) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Rougier Street at 6.42pm
• Monks Cross (route 9) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Rougier Street at 6.43pm

All three services will operate at a 15 minute frequency throughout the day and will be FREE for all passengers (and will stop at all usual stops along the route).

For more information about Park & Rides over Christmas and New Year visit www.york.gov.uk/transport or www.itravelyork.info

Police are warning that they are prepared to arrest more motorists than ever before during this year’s festive drink and drug drive campaign as people continue to ignore warnings.

Officers have arrested 43 people since the Christmas crackdown began on 1 December, despite repeated warnings about the potential dangers and possible repercussions linked to drink and drug driving.

Police have been out in force on the roads of North Yorkshire and the City of York since the campaign began and have breathalysed 1597 motorists.

Of the 43 motorists arrested on suspicion of drink or drug driving so far, 21 have been charged and face losing their licences before the year is out.

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North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 12 December and Tuesday 18 December 2012.

•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•B1228 Main Street, Elvington, York
•B1228 Dunnington Lodge, Elvington, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 Malton by-pass Malton east and west-bound
•A64 Seamer by-pass Scarborough
•A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
•A64 Between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
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A new section of roman road has been found under the Minster.

Details here: http://tinyurl.com/Roman-Road-Minster

The road is similar in appearance to sections of Vesper Drive in Acomb which also failed to make it onto the Councils resurfacing programme(!)

click to enlarge

The Planning committee scheduled for 20th December is being recommended to give permission for 87 new homes to be built at Huntington on land near Brecks Lane.

The proposed development consists of 13 two-bedroom houses, 40 three bedroom houses, and 34 four-bedroom houses. This contains a mix of detached, semi-detached and short rows of terraced housing.

The majority of houses are two storey in height with six houses being two and a half storey with rooms in the roof space.

Of the 87 houses proposed the applicant is offering for 30 of these to be “affordable”. The tenure split is 19 for affordable rent and 11 for discounted sale

Full details here: http://tinyurl.com/Planning-20th-Dec

Conservative Councillors are proposing a motion at Thursdays Council meeting which could help to raise the curtain of secrecy which descended when Labour took control 18 months ago. (http://tinyurl.com/York-Council-motions-13th-Dec) They are right to do so. Important decisions are being taken behind closed doors. Agendas are not published and officer reports remain confidential until decisions have been taken.

We doubt, however, if the paranoid Leadership of the Council will support the move.

In the meantime, the Council has to respect the legislation passed by the last government. One of the rights it gives is for Councillors to ask questions of those holding Cabinet/Executive responsibilities.

So on Thursday around 50 questions have been tabled. Although some are mundane in the extreme, others could provide information which could be of interest to residents. Some examples:

• EMPTY SHOPS “What proportion of retail and office space is currently empty in each of the City’s sub-urban wards and how does this compare to the City Centre? How much of the “Innovation & Delivery Fund” and the “Economic Infrastructure Fund” does the Cabinet Leader intend to allocate to regeneration initiatives in sub-urban employment centres such as Acomb Front Street?”

• COUNCIL HQ COSTS “Why is the Council purchasing 2405 new seats for the new Council offices when fewer than 1000 staff and visitors are likely to be in the building at any one time?” “What proportion of the furniture at the new HQ will be reused units from the existing offices?”

• CHARGES FOR SPORTS “Following the latest Cabinet decisions, the level of concessionary charges for pensioners playing bowls on public greens will have doubled since Labour took over the leadership of the Council 18 months ago. How many concessionary tickets for this activity have been sold in each of the last 2 years, how much income has this produced for the Council and what are the forecast sales for 2013?”

• CHARGES FOR SPORTS “In September the Cabinet promised to build on the legacy of the Olympics and improve sports participation in York. How does this fit with the plans to increase tennis court charges by 16.7% and 33% for concessions?”

• CARE VILLAGE DELAYS “The Cabinet agreed an April 2014 completion date for the new ‘Care Village’ which is to be built on the former Lowfields School site. When does the Cabinet Member now expect the new Lowfields Care Village will be completed and available for occupation? What are the reasons for any delay?”

• HOUSING WAITING LIST “How many people were registered on the housing waiting list in York when:
– The Cabinet Member took up post
– At the end of November 2012
How many additional social housing units have been occupied, and how many “new starts” on affordable housing units have been made, over the same period of time?”

• WONDERLAND “Following 2012’s ‘Illuminating York’ debacle, will the Cabinet Member assure the council that the 2013 event will revert to its previous successful format?”

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The Council has announced that an ice sculpture has won the competition to redesign the area around the York Guildhall.

The ice work beat off challenges from architects in Russia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Council sources say that the Council Leader didn’t fancy visiting any of those countries and in any event they had failed to appreciate that the intention of the contest was to produce a design that would disappear without trace.

“The ice sculpture solution is unique and will also provide a centre piece for the Festival of Angels event scheduled to commence at the weekend”

The sculpture should melt before the end of the year relieving the Council of any responsibility to find funding to implement the plan.

Cabinet member Julie “down in the“ Gunnells said, “I had expected something a little bigger but the all white design should fit in nicely when it snows”.