Latest York Council newspaper sets new record for dullness

The Council has published another “Our City” newspaper.

It is a dull read and it even manages to use most of its front page up with an article on the Council “budget” which says absolutely nothing – other than that there will be one next year!

The articles have all appear to have been recycled from social media and the commercial press.

Once again the Council has broken its own ten year old protocol which requires that any leaflets that it may produce, must show the cost of production and distribution.

There are better things to spend taxpayers money on.

Does the York Council even know how good its public services are?

A response to a recent Freedom of information inquiry suggests that in many cases they don’t.

We asked for performance information on 20 key Council service areas (see left). They are the kind of services that every resident is likely to use – or see – each year.

Performance information had been gathered routinely, and reported publicly, up to 2011. However, over recent years, the York Council has seemed to be increasingly reluctant to provide information about basic service standards.

The Council said that it didn’t measure how many issues it received – or how it responded – for five public service areas. They were:

Dog fouling
Fly posting
Play equipment defects
Public open space/park maintenance issues &
Council estate communal and garage area defects.
Garage area maintenance standards not recorded

That shocked us – not least because some involve safety issues.

We asked for information on the:

A Number of issues reported

B Average time taken to resolve issue

C Target completion time

D % of issues resolved within the target time

E Longest outstanding issue at the month end

F % quality checks which were considered to be satisfactory

The Council was able to provide volume information, on the number of issues that had been reported, for most of the activity areas.

Areas where the number of problem reports were increasing included

Trees, bushes and weeds overgrowing paths
Graffiti &
Street lighting faults

The number of reports in other activity areas was fairly stable over an 18 month period.

Looking at how quickly issues were resolved, the only target times regularly achieved were for clearing full litter bins “within 3 working days” (a fairly generous target) and removing “obscene” graffiti within 1 working day.

If you telephoned the Council offices in August you had a 75% chance of your call being answered in 20 seconds.

A visitor would have waited, on average, 8 minutes to be seen.

However residents emailing the Council and expecting a response within one working day, would be disappointed. The Council has stopped recording the length of time taken to deal with electronic communications.

So what’s the longest wait that I can expect?

Well the Council doesn’t measure the longest outstanding issue. So no one knows.

But there must be some quality checks?

Some issues like weed growth never seem to eb resolved

Some issues like weed growth never seem to be resolved

Well actually no. The Council says that it doesn’t record the results of quality checks undertaken by inspectors nor does it undertake any customer satisfaction surveys with complainants.

So work undertaken isn’t routinely checked and recorded.

Maybe the issue hasn’t even been resolved? Just ticked off on the work management computer?

Who’s to blame?

Poor management practices, Councillors, Directors, computer systems? The Chairs of the Council’s Scrutiny Committees – who should guard the public interest – have generally failed to table performance information.

So perhaps everyone shares the responsibility?

Will they put things right?

Maybe. The, still relatively new, Council deserves some time to put things right. But they need some quick wins to restore public confidence.

They could start by putting these, and other, basic KPIs on their “open data” web site and updating them each month.

The sooner that a new Chief Executive is appointed by the Council – and its management vacancies filled – the sooner we can expect to see an improvement in service standards.

The full set of results, covering the last 18 months, can be downloaded by clicking here or here (Sendspace Excel spreadsheet)

Our thanks to the FOI team at the Council who clearly tried very hard to provide the information that we had requested.

Have your say on Council Tax Support consultation – Acomb Library 17th November

City of York Council is inviting residents to have their say on changes to its Council Tax Support Scheme.

Any change would remedy the unfairness of the last Labour Council which imposed a system which hit hardest the lowest paid members of society. They were told to pay several hundreds of pounds which many simply didn’t have. Labour had hoped that the government would be blamed for the cynical ploy. Instead electors kicked out the Labour leadership at May’s Council poll.

The consultation takes place from: Monday 2 to Sunday 29 November 2015 and asks whether the council should consider providing more assistance to residents by increasing the maximum 70 per cent discount they can receive.

click

To complete the consultation visit www.york.gov.uk/consultation . Drop-in sessions are also taking place on:

•Wednesday 4 November West Offices, Station Rise, 2.30 – 7.30pm

• Thursday 12 November Burton Stone Community Centre 2.30 – 7.30pm

• Monday 16 November Haxby Explore 2.30 – 7.00pm

• Tuesday 17 November Acomb Explore 2.30 – 7.30pm

• Monday 23 November Tang Hall Explore 2.30 –7.30pm

• Tuesday 24 November Copmanthorpe Library 2.30–6.30pm

• Thursday 26 November Fulford Explore 2.30 – 5pm

A review of the York Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme was taken to Executive on Thursday 29 November, which saw members agree to progress with a consultation.

At the meeting, Executive were presented with a report which outlined what existing financial support was available to residents, the number of people seeking support and what further steps could be taken to support York’s most financially vulnerable residents in the short term but also in a sustainable way going forward.

City of York Council’s CTS scheme has been in place since April 2013 and is intended to provide low income and vulnerable council tax payers with financial help towards meeting their council tax liability.

Since April 2013, the maximum amount of Council Tax support or discount available to working age households in York is 70 per cent, which means every working age household is required to pay at least 30 per cent of their council tax bill regardless of their income or family circumstances.

The council is now considering whether to change the current 30 per cent cap and is asking residents to have their say, which could result in changes being implemented as soon as next year subject to Full Council approval.
Currently there are 5,096 working age residents who qualify for CTS – who are typically reliant on welfare benefits for their income because of illness, disability or unemployment, receive tax credits, are lone parents or who are in low paid work.

Residents who are state pension age and qualify on the basis of their income will continue to have support based on 100 per cent of their Council Tax liability and are not affected by this consultation.
Full details of the scheme can be found on the council’s website. www.york.gov.uk/counciltaxsupport

The council’s YFAS (Financial Assistance) scheme was only introduced in 2013 (the same time as CTS) and provides emergency financial support in a crisis but also support for qualifying residents with their council tax. This was initially grant funded by the Department of Work and Pensions, which then withdrew funding from April 2015.

The council has continued to commit a base budget of over £500k to the scheme, with additional funding for two years, to ensure the impact of withdrawal of the specific grant was not felt by YFAS residents.
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Commissioner cuts £172,000 from police dogs budget

North Yorkshire Police, Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary are to merge their police dog sections to create a single integrated service from summer 2016.

it is claimed that the move “will increase police coverage in rural areas, reduce overall costs by more than three million pounds over the next five years, and enable a substantial 24-hour dog unit to be to retained across the three Forces”.

Police dogs carry out a wide range of duties to support police operations, including tracking people, chasing down criminals, finding explosives, cash, weapons or drugs, “passive” drug identification, keeping public order and supporting firearms officers. Many of these tasks require highly specialised training, which means that, at the moment, each Force only has a limited number of police dogs with these skills.

Cleveland Police and Durham Constabulary embarked on a shared dog unit earlier this year and hope to build on this success through the further collaboration with North Yorkshire. Police dogs and their handlers from the three forces will all be trained in the same way and will adopt the same tactical approaches. This will give each force access to more police dogs per shift, as well as greater access to specialist police dogs to cover particular types of operations.

In North Yorkshire, dogs live with their handlers in different locations across the whole county.

To support them better, operational bases will be set up in Harrogate, York Fulford Road, Northallerton/Thirsk and East Coast/Ryedale.

These, together with bases in Durham and Cleveland, will mean that more dogs are deployable to the north of the county, improving the service to some of North Yorkshire’s most remote rural areas, as well as covering urban “hot spots” more effectively.

As part of the move, dog handlers in North Yorkshire will fall in line with their counterparts by working 12-hour shifts, a change from their current variable pattern with shorter shifts.

Mike Stubbs of North Yorkshire’s Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said it had “serious concerns about the move to 12 hour shifts”.

He said: “North Yorkshire is a very different environment to Cleveland or Durham – our dog handlers have to cover a massive area.

“Is it right they should be expected to do a blue light emergency run on demanding roads towards the end of a 12 hour shift, having already driven many miles across the county in the course of their shift?

“There are laws and limits for commercial drivers to protect against the effects of driver fatigue which the police enforce. It defies common sense that those principles are being ignored for drivers of police vehicles.”

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Tax credit changes will hammer families in York say Lib Dems

8,000 families in York will lose out under Conservative plans to cut tax credits.

Figures produced by the House of Commons Library show over three million low-income working families currently in receipt of tax credits will see their entitlement reduced, as part of the Government’s proposals.

Despite claims from the Conservatives that those affected will benefit from plans to increase the minimum wage, the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has said Tory figures don’t stack up. IFS analysis shows a £750 average annual loss for families in York will only be offset by £200 as a result of the new minimum wage.

Liberal Democrats have opposed the move and said it undermines the work of the Coalition Government, to make sure it always pays more to be in work than on benefits.

Cllr Sue Hunter (pictured), Liberal Democrat Councillor for Westfield, said:

“The changes to tax credits will hammer families inYork. The move completely undermines any claim the Tories have of being on the side of working families.

“What makes this even worse is that 12,200 children in our area will now be forced to live in poorer households, reducing their life chances and making it harder for their parents to make ends meet.

“Study after study have shown that the Conservative’s claim to be supporting low income families through a minimum wage increase nowhere near make up for these cuts. It’s time for them to come clean and be honest with those doing the right thing and going out to work.

“I am pleased that Lib Dems are opposing this measure. We worked hard in the Coalition to ensure that work would always pay more than choosing to remain on benefits. It is a disgrace the Conservatives are now undermining this.”

The Lib Dems are currently opposing the plans in the House of Lords: http://www.libdems.org.uk/lib-dems-table-fatal-motion-tax-credits

Crunch time for Council as officials recommend borrowing £7 million to spend on Guildhall project

Heritage Lottery Fund refuses financial help

Senior York Councillors are being recommended to let York taxpayers bear the bulk of the risk in a new Guildhall office project.

click to enlarge

Although the redevelopment has shed its pretentious “media centre” label – attached by the last Labour administration as they adopted a £9 million development scheme – the new project seems to be a case of the “Mayors new clothes”.

Little has changed as the rookie administration is asked to plunge the City further into debt. Each York residents already owes £1326 each following previous Council decisions.

The Council have clearly failed to find a public sector partner who was willing to bear the financial risks involved in converting the complex into a “serviced office venue with virtual office and business club facilities”.

There is welcome news that the Councils traditional civic headquarters – the Guildhall itself and adjacent Council chamber – will continue to be publicly accessible. Officials project income of £80,000 a year from these facilities although this is likely to be dwarfed by ongoing maintenance, energy and caretaking costs.

The project also incorporates a restaurant and café/bar.

The main criticism, of the new Council approach is likely to be that it has failed to test the market for the site. While for many, retaining the historic building in public ownership was a “given”, the so called review process undertaken in the summer turned out to be little more than a cosmetic exercise. Despite the obvious access difficulties for commercial use, alternatives such as hotels or residential were neglected.

York Guildhall

Apartments in the City centre are fetching astronomical prices and the offer of a river view would be irresistible for many. In Clifton Moor the owners of offices have found it impossible to let them. Ironically, many are now being converted into flats.

If the Council has to borrow £7 million to fund the scheme, then debt repayment costs of around £600k a year – for 30 years – will have to be paid. The recommended scheme generates only an estimated £362k in annual rental income and that assumes a high occupancy level.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has now formally turned down a request for a grant so that is one source of funding which has disappeared.

So York residents will be hoping that subsidies from the LEP and similar bodies will offset the burden.

Without them – and a lot of luck – the project could be a burden on generations of York taxpayers for decades to come.

Road and footpath condition in York – questions asked

click to enlarge

The York Council has been asked to reveal how many reports of problems with defective roads and footpaths it is receiving each month. The request for the publication of information comes in the wake of a Freedom of Information response which revealed that the Council believed that “5% of roads in the City require resurfacing”.

The new Council announced that it was increasing the amount available for maintenance by around £1 million this year. So far no list of streets that might benefit has been published.

The background to the initiative is the absence of performance information which should be (but isn’t) routinely published by the Council. Even scrutiny committees seem reluctant to monitor the number of defects that are being reported and the length of time taken to address issues.

This applies across a wide range of public services in the City.

What is clear is that the cuts on highways expenditure agreed by the last Labour Council have had a major impact on service quality.

Recycling rates down in York. Council discusses waste management crisis

Perhaps not before time, the York Council will discuss tonight how to reverse the trend towards lower waste recycling rates in the City.

The proportion of waste recycled dropped each year during the term of office of the last Labour Council. The only glimmer of hope was that the total amount of waste produced in the City has fallen by 15% from its 2006 peak. But that can mainly be put down to changes to the lifestyle habits of the local population.

York is still paying out over £4 million in Landfill Tax each year – money which would be much better spent on sustaining local public services.

The momentum built up over nearly a decade waslost in 2011 when the new Labour Council Leadership scrapped plans to provide a salvage and reuse centre at Harewood Whin. They would later close the Beckfield Lane recycling centre, introduce charges for second green bin emptying and restrictions on access to the remaining civic amenity recycling centres.

Even those who do use the Hazel Court recycling centre will wonder whether everything possible is being done to maximise the reuse of items. Most electrical goods, for example, are currently dumped into a skip (from a height).

No monthly stats on recycling performance are routinely provided. The table below was obtained using Freedom of Information legislation.

One option would be to revive the idea of reusing and salvaging materials. An investment by the – part City of York Council owned – Yorwaste company in such a facility would send a clear signal that the City is serious about regaining the momentum in its battle to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

Shock as Council Newspaper dumped in flat stairwells

Copies of a Council newspaper that cost thousands of pounds to publish have been left in the stairwells of Council flats in the Windsor Garth area.

Copies of Council newspaper dumped in flat stairwells

The newspaper has apparently been delivered together with with a “Local Link” advertising magazine and various other bits of junk mail.

Many haven’t found there way through letterboxes and local residents say that anything left in communal areas is likely to be put straight into recycling containers.

The newspaper has also courted controversy as it fails to include details of the cost of production – something that the Council agreed to print on all its publications more than15 years ago.

If design, printing and delivery costs are included, then a newspaper can cost around £10,000 to distribute to all (80,000) homes in the City

The publication has been described as a “waste of money”.

In the Kingsway area residents point to three Council funded noticeboards which have not had anything displayed on them for over two years.

Poor deal for York taxpayers

The new owners of the Haymarket car park site have announced the name of the hotel which will be built there. Vastinct Hospitality has bought part of the site from Hiscox and will build a 120 bedroomed economy “Moxy” hotel there.

Hiscox new York HQ. Ready for occupation before the end of the year

No financial details of the deal have been revealed but it is bound to reignite the indignation felt by many taxpayers in 2012 when the Council sold off the site on the cheap. Then, in the depth of the recession, the Labour Council accepted an offer of a little over £2 million for the site – far below the current £5 million valuation.

Critically the Council failed to include a condition in the sale agreement which would have seen Council taxpayers benefit from any subsequent increase in the sites value. As well as the Haymarket car park (which produced an income of £300,000 a year for the Council) the site included the Peasholme hostel and adjacent ambulance station.

York police station empty and boarded up

Now existing hotels in the City face competition from a new arrival which may have benefited from slack Council accounting 3 years ago.

The new Council and its auditors should review the 2012 deal and ensure that no further errors are made.

There is a lesson for the public sector more generally here.

Some vacant sites are an eyesore. The old Fire station on Clifford Street and the adjacent police station need to be brought back into use quickly.

There is a boom in the residential market at present and City Centre sites are fetching high prices. While the adjacent magistrates court building is listed, this should not prevent the reuse of the rest of the site.

It is the optimum time to market empty City centre properties.

In respect of these two properties the public authorities concerned should get a move on.

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