Foreign trips – delay in publishing information criticised

Following our story yesterday some correspondents have criticised the Council for failing to keep its “transparency” web site up to date.Expenses

The web site is aimed, apparently,  at telling taxpayers what expenses are being incurred.

  • Council officials foreign travel expenses are now published on their web site. There have been no entries made since May 2014 Click here
  • Senior officers expenses – including the cost of air travel but not destination and journey purpose information – are published separately although there have been no updates since June. Click here
  • Summaries of Councillors expenses are now only published annually.

The York Council seems to be struggling to publish information that it is required by law to provide click

Investing to protect York’s medieval Bar Walls

Walmgate bar painting

City of York Council is investing over £100,000 to protect and preserve York’s historical Walmgate Bar Walls which date back to the medieval period.

Walmgate Bar is the most complete of the four medieval gateways in York and the walls themselves are the best example of medieval city walls still standing in England today, which over a million people walk across every year.

Originally built as defences, the focus is now on conservation and the council is working with English Heritage to carry out a number of improvements to Walmgate Bar this month to help preserve over 1,900 years of history.

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“Salt bins being checked, repaired and filled” – York Council

Salt bins filled with rubbish

Salt bins filled with rubbish

Following our story of a few days ago, the Council has said that it is checking all salt bins.

Where necessary they are being repaired before being filled with salt.

Hopefully they will also remove the accumulated rubbish and update the salt bin map displayed on their web site.

Andrew Waller is actively pressing for some of the salt bins in the Westfield area – axed 2 years ago by Labour – to be reinstated,.

Foreign trip curbs to be introduced by York Council

Opposition Councillors move to reduce travel costs as taxpayers complain

The concerns expressed by many York residents, about the amount being spent on foreign visits and travel by both Councillors and officials, are to come under the microscope.

Cannes Nov 2012

The move comes after Labour lost overall control of the Council.

In the main the initiative is aimed at the payment of travel expenses incurred directly by the York Council but it has been suggested that this will be extended to cover other organisations that the Council has representation on and, in particular, those that receive significant Council grant funding.

Any new process will not put an outright ban on travel.

Rather a case for foreign travel will have to be considered by a public session of the all party Urgency committee (which meets each week). The expectation is that the aims of any travel will have to be identified and, later, that a note will be published indicating what was achieved by the trip.

The move is part of a raft of changes being proposed by opposition Councillors which could transform the way that the York Council does its business.

They aim is to make the Council more open and more sensitive to local residents views.

A key feature would be an end to “behind closed doors” decision making meetings.

The costs of foreign – and indeed UK – travel, have been a cause of criticism ever since Labour took control of the Council in 2011.

Previous stories – Click link to access

Cabinet approves £25,000 jaunt to Cannes

Labour Councillor’s Strasbourg trips

Shamed Labour Councillors publish expenses claims

York MPs travel expenses

York Councillors travel expenses exposeds

Foreign travel fails to broaden Social Services report

Labour Cabinet runs up £4000 travel bill.

More about foreign trips

York Council spent £5747 on trip to Cannes

Day out in Scotland

Day out in London

Smile! – Drone filming in York

The York Council says that filming of York landmarks using a remotely operated drone will take place on 3 and 4 November 2014 from 7am during daylight hours. drone

The drone operators will have direct contact with control crews on the ground throughout.

The filming will focus on York Minster, City Walls and Bars (Micklegate and Bootham), the River Ouse, Museum Gardens and Clifford’s Tower.

What’s in a name?

confused1The York Council courted controversy in 2012 when announcing that it was setting up a £28 million Economic Infrastructure Fund (EIF)

The controversy centred on the Labour leadership’s decision to add around £20 million to the Council debts by borrowing much of the fund (the rest was to come from the governments “new homes bonus” deal).

Now a report has been published on the Councils “equalities” plan which shows a somewhat cavalier approach to history and consistency.

We are now assured as aprt of a report on “equalities” that the £28 million has been invested in an “Economic Inclusion Fund (EIF)” !!

The fund is actually being used to pay for projects such as:

  • Refurbishment of Kings Square
  • Acquisition of an “Arts Barge”
  • Tour de France start
  • Newgate market refurbishment
  • New City centre bus stops
  • Holgate Road bridge into the York central site (“bridge to nowhere”)
  • Paving a small section of Fossgate
  • Paving the entrance to Hungate

 

Very little of this expenditure has contributed to a reduction in “inequalities” in the City.

When the Council comes to discuss the plan, no doubt someone will point out that the Equalities plan is already over 12 months behind scheduled.

Inventing links to existing – borderline reckless – capital expenditure decisions is disingenuous in the extreme.

Police issue Halloween and Bonfire Night advice

North Yorkshire Police are urging people to act responsibly and stay safe this Halloween and Bonfire Night period.

Halloween

Although this time of year is seen as fun by many, there are those in our communities for whom it causes concern and increases the fear of crime.

Police officers and Police Community Support Officers will be undertaking patrols to ensure that residents and visitors feel safe and that the impact of any anti-social behaviour can be reduced.
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Guildhall future still in doubt as Labour cancel key meeting

Labour Councillors have cancelled a meeting of the “Cabinet” scheduled to take place on 4th November.

York Guildhall

York Guildhall

The move came without any explanation.

The meeting had been expected to consider the future of the Guildhall – scheduled by Labour to become a controversial “digital arts and media centre”.

With the balance on the Council having changed, the project – which was originally to have been determined in June – may never now get the “go ahead”.

York residents petition

York residents petition

Both LibDem and Tory Councillors have been very critical of the Labour leadership (see petition right collected in 2012) for leaving the building largely empty and for failing to recognise the role that both the Guildhall and Mansion House should continue to have in the civic life of the City.

The Cabinet meeting was also expected to receive a report on the final costs of the Tour de France events with most eyes still on the reported six figure costs of the “Grand Departy” held at the Huntington Stadium in July.

The Council have already delayed answering a Freedom of Information request on the issue – somewhat disingenuously claiming that they had not yet assembled all the bills for the event.

The FOI request has now been re-submitted.

York Council web site crashes again

Not for the first time, the Council’s web site has been unavailable to residents this weekend.

not-priority-229x300

The Council was heavily criticised a few weeks ago when it failed to use social media effectively to keep residents up to date on progress being made following a similar loss of service.

Now no one has even bothered to put a note on their Facebook page or to use “Twitter“

It is an important issue as many residents seek to use the online functions – for example to pay bills – at the weekend when they have spare time available.

It is also the cheapest way for the Council to process contact with its customers.

Sadly the failure  is all to typical of the Councils muddled priorities