Numbers visiting city centre stable

increase-footfall-retail

The latest “footfall” figures released by the Council suggest that fewer people have walked through the Parliament Street area over the last year.

A 12% reduction in footfall numbers may partly be influenced by the location (and relocation) of the market while a single week increase may indicate a special event being staged.

The camera records for Parliament Street stretch back to 2009. In some weeks the numbers may have been affected by visitors being “channeled” by stalls and other street furniture either beneath the cameras or out of their range.

However using a 12 month rolling weekly average numbers have declined in recent months.

Elsewhere in the City centre, footfall cameras suggest a more stable visitor pattern.

  • In Church Street. the latest yearly rolling average shows 26,671 visitors per week. This is slightly down on the March figure of 27,766
  • Comparable figures for Micklegate show 49,605 now, a small increase compared to the 49,161 counted in March
  • In Stonegate, 133,569 people walked down the street each week in the 12 months leading up to August 2015. The 12 months leading up to March 2015 had seen an almost identical number of pedestrians (133,596)
  • In Coney Street a rolling average of 239,000 was recorded in 2010. This fell to 180,116 on the latest figures although camera locations have changed.

Overall the figures suggest that the City centre has felt the benefits of a recovering economy. However, there are some concerning trends which may require action by the new “Make it York” economic development body.

The figures are likely to strengthen the case for establishing a Business Improvement District in the City centre

The figures can be downloaded from the Councils open access web site. A summary spreadsheet is available by clicking here 

York in national top 5% of apprenticeship take-up

ApprenticeshipLatest Government figures put York in the top 5% of English local authorities for apprenticeship take-up.

They also set the city in the top 10% of local authorities for keeping young people in education or training after Year 11.

Official figures from the Skills Funding Agency and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published earlier this month, show that over the past nine months, the increase in the percentage of York residents starting apprenticeships is in England’s top 5% when compared to all other local authorities.

Government data published on 2 July 2015showed that in the nine months up to April 2015, 1,340 York residents started an apprenticeship compared to 1,300 in the previous twelve months. In York there is a well-established network of training providers delivering high quality training for apprentices. A key lead co-ordinating role is played by the York Apprenticeship Hub based at the council.

For school leavers, the figures show that of all York’s Year 11 students leaving school in summer 2014, 97.4% were continuing their education and training. This puts York in the top 10% of local authorities in England for retaining young people in education or training.

The detail shows that nearly 90% of all post-16 school leavers in 2014 continued with their education at a college or a school sixth form, which puts York in the top 10% of local authorities in England. A further 6.4% of school leavers took up employment with integrated training and/or apprenticeships while only 2% were not in education, employment and training (NEET).
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York event to encourage businesses to ‘go digital’

keep-calm-and-go-digital

Amongst the raft of information available to visitors at Middleton’s Hotel, Skeldergate from 10am-3pm will be advice on how a £3,000 Connection Voucher can rejuvenate local businesses in the city and the City Centre WiFi project.

Since April 2014 over 200 businesses and registered charities have received a Connection Voucher to speed up their broadband. Suppliers and City of York Council staff will be on hand to offer information and advice on the scheme and answer any questions attendees may have.

Special guests for this month’s event are Google Digital Garage who will be on hand to talk to small and medium sized businesses about how they can learn and benefit from new digital skills and use the internet to grow and attract more customers. Other companies at the event include: TalkTalk, Landlord Broadband, York Data Services, Agile, BT and Pinacl plus many more.
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Further fall in number of York jobseekers and residents claiming benefits

 National statistics released today have revealed the number of residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance in York has fallen again.

Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown the number of York residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance has again fallen.

The number of claimants in York has fallen by 50.3 percent in the last year.

There are now 889 claimants in York, a fall of 52 from last month and of 901 from May 2014.

The claimant count represents 0.7 percent of the working population and contrasts to the regional average which stands at 2.5 percent. The figures are also much lower than the national average which stands at 1.8 percent.

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Indecision grips York Council’s Environmental Services Director recruitment?

Jobs for the boys and girls

It looks like there could be a gap of over 18 months before a new senior manager is appointed to administer the Environmental Services Directorate at the York Council. The Directorate has many important responsibilities covering transport, planning, the Community Stadium and the York central development together with other economic development projects.

Darren Richardson left the post in June 2014 in the wake of the Lendal Bridge fiasco. He was replaced by a (somewhat controversial) consultant whose contract is due to expire on 9th July.

It looks like the Council are set to temporarily promote one of its existing staff to take up the responsibility pending a report on other aspects of the senor management structure at the Council.

It looks like this re-organisation report will not be ready until December 2015!

A report to a meeting taking place on 22nd June recommends that non Council staff would also be able to apply for the temporary post during a narrow widow of opportunity between 26th June and 10th July 

The post will be advertised on the Council’s jobs web site and could attract a, pro rata, salary of around £90,000 pa.

The York Council jobs web site can be accessed by clicking here https://jobs.york.gov.uk/index.aspx

As we remarked on Friday; it is one of what seems to be a proliferation of web sites now operated by the York Council (to the general confusion of many citizens)

10 Council staff to be transferred to “Make it York”

Behind closed doors logoIn a behind closed doors decision, York Council officials have agreed to transfer 10 staff to the new “Make it York” company.

The transfers will be made on 1st July. They employees come from the economic development department, events and City centre management

46 staff have already been transferred to the company from “Visit York” and “Science City”

The last Council was heavily criticised for taking decision like this without firs publishing papers giving the reason for the proposals.

There are also outstanding issues with new organisation on governance and the need to establish and report on measurable performance goals for the company.

Make it York has been criticised for failing to involve sub-urban commercial areas like Front Street in its development plans.

 

York eleventh in foreign visitor league

According to new figures published by ONS, York attracted fewer foreign visitors than its neighbour Leeds last year. The City was also behind both Oxford and Cambridge

City visits by foreign visitors 2014

The visitors included those on business trips and well as holidaymakers.

Neither the York Council nor Visit York have as yet commented on the new figures.

There was an increase in the number of visits to the UK by overseas residents for the fourth consecutive year in 2014, and the highest number of visits since the IPS began in 1961. It also had the highest recorded spending.

In 2014 overseas residents made 34.4 million visits to the UK, 5.2% higher than in 2013.

Earnings from visits to the UK reached a record level of spending in the UK of £21.8 billion, they increased by £0.6 billion (2.8%) compared to 2013.

The number of nights spent in the UK rose to 264.6 million, an increase of 7.8% compared to the previous year.

Visits from North America and Europe increased in 2014 by 3.3% and 6.6% respectively. Spending from North America and Europe also grew by 11.6% and 4.2%. However, visits and spending by visitors from “Other Countries” showed a decline of 0.2% and 2.9% respectively.

Holidays remain the main reason for visits to the UK, accounting for 13.6 million visits, a rise of 7.2% compared with 2013. Business visits and visits to friends and family both showed a growth of 4.8%.

A record 17.4 million overnight visits to London were made by overseas residents in 2014, an increase of 0.6 million (3.5%) from 2013, and £11.8 billion was spent on these visits.

Overnight visits to the rest of England grew by 5.1% to 14.2 million. Visits to Scotland and Wales also continued to rise in 2014, with Scottish visits up 11.5% and Welsh up 7.3%.

UK residents made 4.0% more visits abroad and spent £1.0 billion (3.0%) more during these visits in 2014 than 2013. The length of visit also increased, up 1.9% to 616.5 million nights.

York Council seeking local suppliers for Community Stadium build work….Still no news on planning application.

Are you interested in supplying services for the York Community Stadium build?

With the planning decision notice still awaiting the attention of the new Local Government Minister, the York Council has decided to look for local sub contractors for some of the stadium build work

Community Stadium Nov 2014

Local construction businesses who are interested in supplying products and services required for the building of the York Community Stadium and Leisure Complex scheme are being invited to attend a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event.

City of York Council, in partnership with ISG, are hosting the event on Monday 1 June at the council’s West Offices between 10am -3pm.

ISG are the preferred construction partner for the stadium development as part of the successful consortium bid led by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).

Attendees will benefit from hearing more about ISG’s supply chain standards, the packages still to be let and funding available for training and apprenticeship recruitment.

Packages include:
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More in employment in York

National statistics released today have revealed the number of residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance and benefits in York has again fallen.

Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown the number of York residents claiming Job Seekers Allowance has again fallen. The number of claimants in York has fallen by 51.3 percent in the last year. There are now 941 claimants in York, a fall of 107 from last month and of 1,931 from April 2014.

The claimant count represents 0.7 percent of the working population and contrasts to the regional average which stands at 2.6 percent. The figures are also much lower than the national average which stands at 1.9 percent.

The figures also showed that the number of young people claiming Job Seekers Allowance has fallen by 60.8 percent in the last year. In April 2014 the total number of claimants aged 18-24 stood at 370 and has reduced by 225 in the past twelve months to 145.

Figures have also been released today by the Department for Work and Pensions showing that the number of residents claiming benefits has also fallen. The statistics show the number of claimants in York as of November 2014 is 9,840, a fall of 160 since August 2014.

The claimant count represents 7.3 per cent of the working population in York, which is lower compared to both the regional average (13.9 per cent) and the national average (12.5 per cent).