York Council set to scrap crime prevention fund

The City’s £250,000 “Safer Communities Fund” is set to be scrapped.

The crime busting scheme was one of the first initiatives announced by the new LibDem/Green administration in July 2019.

Use of ward budgets for “target hardening” works over the last 2 decades had been a popular choice by local residents.

Stronger fencing, ,CCTV cameras, more robust street furniture, anti climb paint, snicket/alley closures, improved lighting and many other improvements had been funded from this source.

A report last year explained the purpose of the new Fund.

As part of the council’s Supplementary Budget Proposals agreed on
17 July Council, £250k was awarded to wards as a “Safer
Communities Fund”. The allocation of this funding, in proportion to
population in the normal way, is shown in Annex 1.
Building on the success of the Community Care fund it is proposed that the Safer Communities Fund is operated in a similar way in that it is added into ward revenue funds so that it can be used flexibly by wards on any projects that meet residents’ priorities in terms of creating safer communities.
It is suggested that the planned impact of the spend should be set out in advance and the subsequent outcomes evaluation (see para 25 below concerning evaluation).
Evaluation could be developed in partnership with the Community Safety Team who would also be able to provide evidence-based examples of good practice so that we are able to encourage community groups to put forward good proposals within a flexible budget regime which is operated in line with policies and procedures for ward funding.
PCSOs could also be consulted as part of the ward team as they will
be able to bring useful views to the table and this will provide an
excellent opportunity to strengthen ties between wards and the police.

While it is fair to say that the new scheme has remained something of a enigma to most residents, concerns about crime levels generally – and anti social behavior in particular – remain a high in several neighbourhoods.

In recent years, the Councils attempt to delegate spending power to local communities has been flawed.

A £1 million ward highways budget was divided between equally highways improvements and walking cycling schemes. The latter was spent almost entirely on projects in the south east part of the City.

A year later it is difficult to identify any roads or paths that have benefited. This may partly be because the Council fails to maintain a list of schemes on its web site with appropriate progress reports.

There is a stronger sense of local community in the wake of the pandemic.

People do want to be involved in decision making.

But the current processes used by the Council fail to fully engage people.

Perhaps the increased use of social media seen during the Lockdowns offers a clue as to how engagement levels can be raised in the future.

In the meantime, the Council must explain how it will improve the level of support that it offers to those policing our streets.

Coronavirus York update; 26th November 2020

Deaths and test results

There has been a big jump in the number of COVID deaths announced today. EIGHT new fatalities have been announced by the York Hospital Trust. Two occurred yesterday, four on Tuesday and two on Monday.

The cumulative total second wave death toll at the York and Scarborough hospitals has now reached 74

TWENTY NINE (29) additional positive test results announced today. Brings cumulative total to 5576

It appears that the threshold used by the government, to determine whether an area could be given a Tier 1 classification, was that the location must have fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 head of population. Very few areas met this criteria (Cornwall, Isle of Wight).

On the last validated numbers (21st Nov) York had 132.47 cases per 100k population.

On the present downward trajectory, York would pass below 100 cases threshold before the next review date. This is expected to be 10th December with any changes in classification effective from 16th December.

During the week ending 19th November, 3530 P2 tests were carried out in York. Of these, 8.6% proved to be positive.

This was a lower positivity rate than was seen during the previous week

Neighbourhood data has now been published. There is little change from yesterday.

We have reordered the table to reflect the cases per 100k of population rate.

This is one of the the figures that the government used to determine which Tier an area was allocated into.

Essentially the City needs to have a rate below 100 to be considered for Tier1 by 10th December.

Two neighbourhoods. Heslington and Clifton Without, are well above this rate at present.

The colour coding now reflects the central government’s presentation key

Tier 2 for York

York has been placed back into Tier 2 restrictions by the government. The new arrangements start on Tuesday.

The main impact is on pubs which will have to serve meals if they are to open while households will not be able to mix indoors.

All shops, hairdressers etc will still reopen from Tuesday.

The situation will be reviewed after a fortnight and may be changed again before Christmas

Outdoor events will be limited to 2000 spectators.

This will affect York City FC who were hoping to move into the new Community Stadium at Monks Cross.

However work at the stadium is still underway today with no sign of completion in sight. The Club may look to reopen Bootham Crescent. Social distancing at an all seater stadium would be easier to manage.

An update from the York Council on the stadium situation is long overdue.

*Work on the new Community Stadium at Monks Cross is far from complete.*

It looks like high case rates in Scarborough may have contributed to York being placed in Tier 2 restrictions. There may be concerns about capacity at the York Hospital Trust which is also responsible for care in Scarborough. More details are available by clicking here

West and South Yorkshire have been placed into the highest TIER 3 category. This includes additional restrictions on travel to, and from, the areas.

COVID Winter Grant Scheme for the needy

The York Council will consider next week how it is to allocate the, government funded, Winter Grant scheme.

On Sunday 8 November 2020, the government announced a package of extra targeted financial support for those in need over the winter period. The COVID Winter Grant Scheme will see new funding issued to councils to support those most in need with the cost of food, energy and water bills and other associated costs.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will provide funding to the council, who will administer the scheme and provide direct assistance to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic.

This will include some families who normally have access to Free School Meals (FSM) during term time.

The funding allocation for York is £416,729.

Around £200,000 of the fund is set to be used to provide meals for needy children during the Christmas and Easter school holidays (i.e. those who would normally quality for Free School Meals)

There are already many local schemes operating which provide support to local people hit by te pandemic. These include surplus food giveaways

More tyres fly tipped in countryside near York

Tyres dumped on Wighill Lane. Have been reprrted but this isn’t he first incident of this sort during the last 6 months

Projects completed in Westfield

Resurfacing and white lining work on part of Gale Lane has now been completed

Building work at the disabled centre on Ascot Way has now been completed. Staff have occupied the building and adjacent facilities like the bus shelter and the public notice board (although damaged) are now accessible again

Public service update from York Council

Its good to see that some departments at the York Council are providing updates on public service standards. Even better, that some Councillors have chosen to brief the information on to Parish Councils and Residents Associations.

For those living in areas where Councillors maybe less “on the ball”, there follows a summary of the information provided.

“Grass Cutting

The changing weather we saw this summer led to fluctuations in the rate of grass growth, which led to standards dropping below the normal at times, but generally our resources coped, we are part way through the last cut of the year on most types of grass areas.

Hedge Cutting

We are part way through the last of three cuts to hedges in snickets and communal housing areas.

Spring Bedding

We have just started the planting of over 18,000 spring bedding plants in the parks, gardens and tubs across the city, these will provide welcoming colour in spring, as visitors continue to return to the city.

Street Cleansing

Summer was certainly a very challenging time for this part of our service, mainly due to the change in use of some of our open spaces and the bins in and around them.

These areas were at times covered in litter and debris due to the irresponsible actions of some residents and visitors who seemed to think that just because we were no longer in lock down, they had the right to treat the city and our staff with contempt, by leaving ‘rubbish’ strewn across these areas, something I’ve never seen before on a sustained basis.

However our team, with the help of additional resources and the Enforcement team managed to return the city to its normal standard as soon as possible on a daily basis.

We also managed to assist the Minster with their litter clearance whilst their staff were furloughed.

Highway Weed Control

I think I can say with confidence that this year’s programme of weed control has been a success we have received very few complaints and re-growth between treatments did not exceed what we would normally have expected to see.

Leaf Clearance

We are now at that time of the year when not only do some members of the public throw litter about, but Mother Nature joins in, in the form of leaves!

We will be commencing our leaf clearance programme on Monday 26^th October, and this is scheduled to take place for the next six to eight weeks (if my crystal ball is correct!)

The leaf clearance will be undertaken using both mechanical and manual means.

We will have two trailer drawn leaf vacuums, our teams will use these to remove leaves from pavements and grass verges.

Our two large mechanical sweepers will be targeted at streets with trees, using the local knowledge of our staff, members and reports made by residents.

These leaves cannot be recycled because they are cleared from nearby to or on the roads and are treated as contaminated waste.

As always we cannot see and clear every street at one time, so we would be grateful if Councillors could do the following:

If you aware of leaves that are causing a ‘danger’ i.e. on a major footpath, near a school, elderly persons home etc. and are wet and slippery, please report these to member enquiries, if not a ‘danger’ please monitor and we will get there!

Once the main leaf fall is over, if there are leaves, which appear to have been missed, please pass these through member enquires and we will attend to them”.

Good work from the Council there.

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Council works to ensure children don’t go hungry this half-term

City of York Council has today approved funding to provide more than 2850 children with food vouchers to support them this half-term.

The council is providing almost £43,000 of emergency funding to continue supporting children with free school meals, for children who normally receive free school meals during term-time. This is on top of the £9000 previously spent on free school meals from the emergency fund set up to support individuals and families during the pandemic.

The council has put in place emergency funding for October half-term and will be seeking support from the Government and bringing forward proposals for further support during Christmas, February half-term and Easter.

Schools will be in touch with the families of those children that are eligible to ensure they can get their £15 voucher.

Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council said: “This has been a difficult year for everyone and as a council, we have been doing everything we can to support local residents.

“We want to ensure that children who receive Free School Meals don’t go hungry this half-term. Nearly 3,000 children can access this support, with vouchers of £15 per child provided to all who are eligible for free school meals.

“Staff at the city’s schools have been incredible in supporting children and families and once again they are stepping up to help administer this programme. I am incredibly grateful for all they are doing.”

Would you believe it; They’re going to dig up Tadcaster Road again!

A Council media release today confirms what many feared. The Tadcaster Road carriageway is going to be dug up again only 3 months after it was resurfaced.

The carriageway is currently in excellent condition and contrasts markedly with the condition of most other roads in west York.

But it seems that the Council jumped the gun when they undertook a £600,000 resurfacing scheme earlier in the summer.

The government announced a £5 million improvement budget in July only weeks after work on the road was completed. The government was responding to a bid that the York Council had made earlier in the year.

It is likely that taxpayers will want to know a lot more about how this blunder happened.

The Council media release issued today says,

“One of the busiest roads in York is set to benefit from a £5million government funded road improvement scheme.

City of York Council was successfully awarded funding from the Department of Transport’s Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund.

The funding will enable to council to improve large sections of drainage along this route which will reduce localised surface water flooding. The work includes the delivery of additional pedestrian crossings and will ensure the road is maintenance free for the next 10 years.

The authority has been proactively working with all the major utility companies, water, gas, electric, phones, to coordinate their future work. During this process it became apparent that Northern Gas Networks (NGN), were due to carry out major work in 2023. Working in partnership they have brought this work forward to 10 October 2020 ensuring minimum disruption for residents and commuters. The council works are scheduled to start in January 2021.

Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Executive Member for Transport, said at City of York Council, said:
“It’s excellent news that our bid for £5million to upgrade Tadcaster Road to reduce localised flooding has been reviewed by Government and is now in approved. This will deliver much needed improvements to one of York’s busiest routes.

“Our primary goal is to ensure these works are coordinated with utilities companies so that the level of disruption for residents, businesses and visitors is reduced as much as possible.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Wasn’t part of Tadcaster Road resurfaced earlier this year?
Yes, the council bid to government for a scheme on Tadcaster Road. The council received confirmation in March that it was unsuccessful and would not receive funding. Therefore the council resurfaced a section of Tadcaster Road as it was in need of urgent repairs between The Horseshoe and St Aubyns Place.
However, in June the council was then awarded the £5million funding to improve large sections of drainage along Tadcaster Road which will reduce the risk of localised surface water flooding.

Northern Gas Networks have recently informed the council they have plans to carry out major works to their service at Tadcaster Road by 2025. The council was not made aware of these works before the section of Tadcaster Road between The Horseshoe and St Aubyns Place was resurfaced earlier this year.
Whilst it is not an ideal situation, the Council would rather sacrifice a small part of the works that have been undertaken already rather than risk the digging up of the major £5 million scheme in a few years’ time for the Northern Gas Networks scheme.

Bus shelters getting a coat of paint

Good to see some of the Councils bus shelters getting a much needed coat of paint. In contrast to the advertising shelters – which are generally kept clean and safe – many of the Councils shelters are dirty and neglected.

Some are overgrown with weeds and hedges.

Shelters are an important factor in making public transport an attractive option for travellers. They should be cleaned and repaired regularly

York Public Health Director quits

New housing chief also backs out of taking up York job

The Director of Health, Housing and Adult Social Care at the York Council has quit.

Now Councillors are scrambling around trying to make interim appointments to fill key vacancies just as the “second wave” of Covid 19 gains strength in the City.

They will discuss the issue at a meeting taking place next week

It seems likely responsibilities in the department will be carved up as interim Directors are appointed from within the existing office ranks.

it's life jim but not as we know it | Tumblr

The situation has been exacerbated by the actions of a Hull based official who had been offered the job of Assistant Director Housing and Community Safety.

The previous post holder left the Authority in February 2020.

The appointee had been due to join the York Council on 7th September but has backed out.

Now an interim appointment is to be made from within the Councils existing staff pool. The post will report to a new (delightfully opaquely styled) Director of “Place”.

The role is principally concerned with Council house management.

The department has been criticised for its ponderous reaction to several issues including the increasing length of time taken to let empty homes.

Several housing reports – due to be presented for decision over the last 6 months – have been mysteriously shelved. There has been no explanation and the original decision dates (long passed) have not been updated on the Councils forward plan. .

Does local decision making matter?

The York Council is asking residents to support them by making representations to the government about a possible local government reorganisation.

They have point about unnecessary change being debilitating at a time when all resources should be focused on the recovery from the health crisis and the possible downside from BREXIT.

Most attention is focused on Council boundaries. The biggest threat to accountability is however posed by the introduction of a Mayoral position covering the whole of York and North Yorkshire.

Local government reorganisations in 1973 and again in 1997 were debilitating with new structures and personalities taking many years to come to terms with roles, geographies and priorities. The post reorganisation periods were not ones that will be recorded in history for dynamic and decisive decision making. Rather they were periods where individuals and political parties jockeyed for position and advantage.

We now enjoy a settled structure with which everyone is familiar if not universally comfortable.

Some will say that there is no right time for system reform. That may be true.

But there is certainly a wrong time and we are clearly in the middle of it.

There has been little debate about the powers and responsibilities of an elected Mayor. While the achievements of the, hitherto largely urban, mayors attract mixed reviews, few argue that the system gives the average person any greater say over decisions affecting their local community.

The system is untested in a predominantly rural area of the size of North Yorkshire. The nearest parallel we have is the directly elected Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner. Turnout in the elections for that post was only 23%. There was no mandate for the creation of the position and therefore people have not engaged with it. The underlying concern – absolute power corrupts absolutely – although an exaggeration in this case clearly has some relevance with many PFCC and Mayors displaying, after a few years, a tendency towards directional rather than consensus government. For this reason, the NYPFCC was eventually discarded by her own party and clings to power only because of the pandemic which caused elections to be suspended.

Women Voting GIF by US National Archives

For that reason we hope that any move towards creating a Mayoral post will be subject to a referendum of those living in the area.

They should be given a chance to choose between the change and the status quo.

That would be in line with the government’s stated intention to apply the principle of subsidiarity to local decision making and not to impose change on an unwilling community.

NB. In the period up to October 2016, there had been 53 referendums on the question of changing executive arrangements to a model with a directly elected mayor. Of these, 16 resulted in the establishment of a new mayoralty and 37 were rejected by voters

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