York’s biggest jobs fair is back.

Anyone looking for work or wanting support into training or employment are welcome to York Jobs Fair on Wednesday 20 March 2019.

From 10am to 2pm at the York Railway Institute (RI), Queen Street, around 70 employers, training providers and career advisors including John Lewis, Hiscox and Work With York are expected along with some 700 visitors.

Funded and organised by City of York Council in partnership with Job Centre Plus, this free event brings together employers, employment support agencies, and education and training providers to offer local people over 4000 job opportunities, career information and advice.

 

York Central moves another step closer with £37.32m funding decision

York Central has moved a step closer as £37.32m of external funding was promised to deliver the new generation of homes and higher paid jobs York needs and to improve the railway station.

The funding was confirmed yesterday (Wednesday 13 March) from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund and Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), delivered by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

The funding will contribute to a new western access road, bridge and spine road into York Central, a fully accessible western entry into the railway station and the station frontage scheme which will bring a transformation of transport interchange facilities, enhanced accessibility and new public realm at the front of York station.

The scheme will support the delivery of up to 2,500 new homes and over 6,000 new jobs.

£23.5m of this funding will contribute to the £155m infrastructure funding package for York Central with a further £11.7m towards the costs of transforming the front of the station.  Together the two schemes will open up the 72 hectare York Central site which is surrounded by railway lines, and create vibrant and distinctive residential neighbourhoods, cultural spaces, and a high-quality commercial quarter at the heart of York.

The plans for the front of the station will demolish Queen St Bridge, improve the public spaces and improve the transport interchange to create a greatly improved fitting gateway to the city.  This funding is conditional upon the award of Housing Infrastructure Funding later this month and on the award of Planning permission.

The West Yorkshire Transport Fund money follows the £35m budget agreed by City of York Council in December. This will then be repaid using retained business rates from the York Central Enterprise Zone. The council’s £77m bid for the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund is at an advanced stage, with a decision expected soon.

The outline planning application for the site will be considered by the council’s planning committee on Monday 25 March 2019.

Jobs and wages in York

Figures published by ONS last month on wage levels in the city caused a panic with some commentators.

The figures suggested that median wage levels in the City had fallen by 9.4% compared to the previous year.

But had they?

According to ONS gross wages were £384.10. The previous year – on the back of an unlikely 5.6% increase – the median wage had been £423.80?

So had workers really seen a £40 a week drop in earnings?

If so, what went wrong?

Most people seem to have forgotten that the published figures are provisional. The final figures will not be available until later in the year. The figures are based on a sample of returns from employers. The sample size changes. ONS advised caution in using short term figures to demonstrate a trend.

As well as the reduction in wages, the ONS figures also say that the City also saw a drop of 3000 in the number of jobs.  Against the background of a record high (and stable) number in employment in the York, that alone suggests a sampling error.

Looking beyond gross pay, a further breakdown indicates that the fall had mainly been down to a reduction in overtime payments. Given the uncertainty in the market as a result of BREXIT, it would not be surprising if there was a slowing down in economic activity. Less overtime would be an obvious symptom of a more cautious approach to investment

However, the most likely explanation for the blip, is that the figures are just plain wrong!

Source ONS

New “pop up” shop opened by Lord Mayor in Coney Street

A new pop-up shop was opened today  in York, occupying one of the empty premises in Coney Street.

The pop-up, which was officially opened by The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Keith Orrell, is the latest expansion from Fabrication Crafts Ltd, a social enterprise originally based in Leeds that aims to provide skilled craft people with a place to sell their work.

The store will sell locally made products created by talented crafts people from both York and Leeds. Items will include clothing, home ware, furniture and food, as well as the option to order bespoke items.

Established in 2008, Fabrication works with a number of community organisations including Yorkshire Federated Housing’s Passion4Fashion project. The pop-up shop on Coney Street will remain open throughout the festive season until February.

The shop is being run in partnership with the National Trust, in an attempt to tackle empty properties across the country owned by the body, which may struggle to find tenants due to their listed statuses.

This particular Grade II listed Coney Street building was originally built in the 1600s before being remodelled in the 20th century.
(more…)

York apprentice of the year winner works for Minster FM

Apprentices from across York graduated on Tuesday 27 November at the eighth annual apprenticeship awards ceremony at the Grand Opera House.

York Apprentice of the Year 2018 – Under 25 (Smaller Employer) is Natasha Palmer – Digital Content Apprentice at Minster FM and has completed an Advanced Level 3 Digital Marketing qualification with 3aaas

After receiving the award, Natasha said:  “I was thrilled to be nominated for this award and I am astounded that I won, as the standard of all the nominees was amazing. I have an incredible time working at Minster FM, they give me so many opportunities and are so supportive. I am already working towards my Level 4 Qualification and I cannot thank Minster FM and my tutor Rebecca enough. Choosing an apprenticeship has been one of the best decisions of my life and I cannot recommend it enough.”

York Apprentice of the Year 2018 – Under 25 (Larger Employer)  was Calum Finn – Process Engineering Apprentice at Nestlé and has completed an Advanced Electrical & Mechanical Engineering qualification with York College

Apprentices received scrolls from The Guilds of York for completing their apprenticeship training and qualifications and proudly walked across the stage to loud applause from the 300 strong audience of family, friends and employers.

The ceremony included inspirational key note speeches from FERA Science Ltd, winner of the York Large Employer of the Year 2017. Laura Faulkner, Assistant Scientist and Apprentice Graduate 2017 talked about her on-going career journey towards a degree apprenticeship with York St John University and Andrew Swift, CEX, talked about the importance of attracting, developing and retaining talent to support the growth of FERA.

Following the presentation of the scrolls, the ceremony moved on to the prestigious York Apprenticeship Awards which recognise the outstanding qualities, achievements, commitment and progression of both individual apprentices and their employers.

Winners for the five categories were selected by the independent panel following a high number of quality nominations.

A full list of award winners can be viewed by clicking here

Post Office clarifies Lendal Post Office transfer plans.

Lendal Post Office

We reported earlier in the week that some of the documents issued by the Post Office were unclear about what services would be transferred from Lendal to their new branch in Coney Street.

They have written back to provide some clarification.

“I hope it will be helpful to explain that the vast majority of products and services available in a Directly Managed Branch will transfer to a franchise with the exception of The UK Visa and Immigration Biometric Enrolment Service for the Home Office.  This service is currently available nationwide by agreement with the Home Office and is provided through a mix of directly managed and WHSmith’s branch locations. 

The Home Office recently awarded a new contract for this service to another supplier and it has been announced that our role in this is coming to an end in November, although we are discussing supporting the Home Office until March 2019”.

The Home Office is understood to have issued a contract to an on line supplier.

WHSmith

The Post Office has not provided any quality of service stats for the Lendal branch.

Nor will they reveal the target “queue waiting times “for the new branch which they hope to open in the WHSmith’s premises.

We think that the quality of  customer services should be a key factor in making any decision about moving public service access points.

A little more transparency wouldn’t be amiss although the move to 7 days a week opening will be a step forward.

Residents wishing to comment on the plans should click here to fill out the Post Office survey

Bid to bring empty Coney Street shop back into use. Lord Mayor of York opens local “pop-up” shop on Friday

Coney Street, York

The pop-up, which will be officially opened by The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Keith Orrell, is the latest expansion from Fabrication Crafts Ltd, a social enterprise originally based in Leeds that aims to provide skilled craft people with a place to sell their work.

The store will sell locally made products created by talented crafts people from both York and Leeds. Items will include clothing, home ware, furniture and food, as well as the option to order bespoke items.

Established in 2008, Fabrication works with a number of community organisations including Yorkshire Federated Housing’s Passion4Fashion project. The pop-up shop on Coney Street will remain open throughout the festive season until February.

The shop is being run in partnership with the National Trust, in an attempt to tackle empty properties across the country owned by the body, which may struggle to find tenants due to their listed statuses.

This particular Grade II listed Coney Street building was originally built in the 1600s before being remodelled in the 20th century.

David Morgan, General Manager for the National Trust in York, said: “This building is one of the oldest in York and formed part of the estate of Frank Green, who gave Treasurer’s House to the National Trust.

Cllr Keith Orrell

“All rental income from our commercial properties helps to support the beautiful York gardens and houses in our care and we are really pleased to see the building come to life once more with a community focused brand such as Fabrication.”

The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Keith Orrell, said: “It’s great to be able to open this new venture for Fabrication, especially in the heart of York.

“It is very important that we support local business and continue to work in partnership with the National Trust, who have helped us preserve this historic estate.”

Closure of Lendal Post Office gets mixed response

A local MPs reaction, to news that Post-Office services will be transferred about 200 metres to a site within W H Smiths on Coney Street, has provoked a mixed reaction. A photo of a local Councillor giving the clench fist salute at an anti-Post Office street rally, raised concerns that this might be the precursor to barricades being erected in the streets, accompanied by loud singing of the “Internationale”

The MP was pictured pasting a “protestcard” in a dummy pillar box (apparently oblivious to the fact the Royal Mail has been a separate business for many years).

But she may have a point.

The Post Office’s “on line” consultation seems to be less than transparent. It refers to the introduction of 7 day a week services at the new site (good) but singularly fails to say what services will be provided there.

Lendal Post Office

It merely says

 “A wide range of services would still be available at the (new) branch”.

So not all services will transfer then?

We have written to the Post Office asking them to clarify which services, currently provided at the Lendal office, will not be available at the Smiths branch, and where the nearest alternative customer access point is located?

Without this information, customers can’t possibly respond to the Post Office questionnaire which asks whether people will be inconvenienced by the move.

We have also asked the Post Office to provide quality of service stats for their present Lendal operation.

For example, mean and maximum queuing times?

We think that the Post Office should also publish customer quality of service targets for any new branch.

WHSmith

If they don’t provide more information, then we may have to look out an old songbook.

How does it go,

This is our final and decisive battle;
With the Internationale humanity will rise up!

..although possibly, being York, that might only involve a slightly heated exchange on “twitter”?

A Big, Big, £155 million decision for York Council next week

Councillors are rarely asked to make more far reaching decisions than the one they will have to take, about the future of the York Central site, next week. They will approve a £155 million budget to fund “abnormal infrastructure costs” with £45 million of it coming from Council resources. Of this, an additional £35 million will be borrowed.

The Council has already spent £5.4 million of its existing £10 million York Central budget.

The Council hopes to recover its investment through increased business rates payments generated by the new commercial premises that will be built on the site. It is unclear how national government policy may develop on business rate discounts and planning exemptions for those occupying properties in Enterprise Zones.

The abnormal costs arise from a new access bridge, highway cycle and pedestrian routes into and through the site, a new station entrance, a 5.5 ha park, 3 public squares with enabling ground works, site clearance, remediation and utilities supply.

York Central Partnership (YCP) is a partnership of landowning bodies on the York Central site and is comprised of Network Rail, Homes England National Railway Museum and CYC. Over the last 3 years YCP have developed a comprehensive masterplan for the 72 ha site and are currently awaiting the determination of an outline planning application for the 45ha main site to the west of the railway station, which will deliver up to 112,000 sq. m of commercial space and up to 2500 homes as well as a large park, public squares and an expanded Railway Museum (over a net developable area of c25ha).

A report to Councillors says, “This abnormal enabling infrastructure cost of £155m means that without significant public funding the site is simply not viable and the compound risks of preparing the site for development are not likely to be acceptable to the market. It is therefore proposed that the YCP, having undertaken the enablement and funded the work to date, continue to take the role of infrastructure deliverer for the first phase of infrastructure (CYC) and master developer (NR and Homes England as the predominant land owners on the site), in order to de-risk the project and bring it within viable financial parameters. 

Through doing this, the partnership will also exert influence over the timing, nature and quality of development, to optimise fit with policy and corporate objectives whilst respecting the important relationships with local communities, the rest of the city and the historic setting of the site”.

The Council would recover its investment from additional Business Rate income generated by the site. The report forecasts that there could be a maximum cumulative risk to taxpayers of £11.4 million if commercial development is “slow” on the development.

No estimate has been given on the additional annual revenue costs for the Council as the site occupiers start to use public services (e.g. waste collection, lighting etc.) in the City.

The developers do not, at present, have an identified core tenant for the office units.

It is hoped that some residential units on the site may be marketed as early as next year. It is likely to be 2021 before the access roads and bridges are completed.

Any decision by the Council to commit to the expenditure next week will once again mean that there are potential conflicts of interest between the authority as an investor and in  its role as an “independent” planning authority.

The Councils record on impartially determining applications in which it has a financial interest (e.g. Lowfields) has been disappointing in recent years

NB. Figures being reported to the same meeting next week reveal that the York Council will – before taking on the above debt – owe £213.1 million. This will increase to £314.2 million by 2022. By the same date, 18% of council tax payments will be used just to to pay interest and principal repayment charges on Council borrowing.