Figures released today show City of York Council are one of the quickest councils in the country to pay grant funding to local businesses.
The data shows that City of York Council ranks 37th out of 314 local authorities for the percentage completed.
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According to consumer website tortoise spending in York is showing a 55% net drop.
Only crumb of comfort for some food shop businesses is that grocery sales remain strong
We reported before Christmas, that a Council project aimed at reducing flooding in the Osprey Close area, had stalled. The result was that in wet weather the link to Acomb Moor and Acomb Wood became impassible.
The Council promised to put hard core down on an alternative access but this was delayed.
Work on completing the job didn’t recommence before the Coronavirus lock-down prevented further progress.
Although most of the path is accessible now that the mud has gone, the alternative link path is steep and potentially hazardous for the less physically able. This is a shame given the large numbers of people wanting to use this, and similar, routes for their daily exercise.
Nearby the Public Right of Way application for Acomb Moor has also stalled and will not be pursued until normal work resumes at the Council.
In the meantime volunteers are trying to keep hedges trimmed back to allow continued use of the path.
We’ve reported obstructions to the Tadcaster Road/A64 cycle path. In both cases there were problems with hedge overgrowth which is making “social distancing” more difficult.
The York Council has agreed to fill in a pothole on Askham Bryan Lane. Initially the Council refused to address the issue but have now promised routine action.
The Council will have an additional team filling in potholes this year so it is still worth reporting any that represent a hazard for road users in general and cyclists in particular.
On line trader site launched by NYCC
The North Yorkshire County Council has launched an on line database of trades and services currently available. https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/buy-local
It is over 3 weeks since the York Council was asked to do the same thing- initially concentrating on those local food and pharmacy businesses offering remote ordering and doorstep deliveries. Still waiting!
Coronavirus cases and deaths in York
TWO more patients with coronavirus have died at hospitals run by the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, taking the total number of Covid-19 deaths in the trust’s two hospitals -York and Scarborough – to 42.
THE number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has risen again slightly in York, to 127 today from 125 yesterday, while numbers in the North Yorkshire County Council area rose from 436 yesterday to 456 today.
Supermarket queues
Much quieter today. Few queues at any of the supermarkets in west York at lunchtime. Updates here https://www.facebook.com/FoxwoodResidentsAssociation/
Land army
Many local farmers are using the good weather to catch up. Field unrecognisable from the picture following the flooding earlier in the year
Litter
Unfortunately some people are still leaving litter (mainly tin cans). This is noticeable on leisure/exercise routes like the York – Selby cycle track. The Council is not currently emptying litter bins and frankly volunteers have better things to do. Hopefully people will take their litter home with them.
Nice touch from Acorn Rugby
The York Councils decision to ban all mourners from services at the York crematorium looked well intentioned. It was, however, implemented in a clumsy and insensitive way.
The Council has now reversed its ban and a small number of mourners will be allowed to stand outside the chapel prior to interment. They will be comforted – if they wish – by a Minister or other “celebrant”.
That is the right decision.
It had been suggested on Friday – when a government Minister said the ban should be relaxed – that a compromise would be to allow close relatives to pay their last respects from a safe distance. From what effectively would be a quarantined area.
The hope was that the short services could also be beamed to relatives homes using modern technology. It remains to be seen whether this will be done by a Council which is under increasing pressures.
Some questions remain. The closest relative of a coronaviruses victim may well have been living with them. Anyone who has been in contact with a known sufferer or carrier is in any event required to self-isolate at home for 14 days
The major change recently has been the number of people dying in the local community who were not admitted to hospital. The Council says that “A death at home will mean that family members are likely to have come into contact with the deceased and staff at the Crematorium are only alerted to this 24 hrs before the funeral when the medical certificates are sent through. At that point there is no way of knowing whether family members have symptoms, are carriers or have self-isolated for the required number of days before attending the funeral”.
The Council now says that “there can be up to 14 services a day, with up to 10 people at each service, meaning that in one day, over 150 people could potentially visit the crematorium. It is vital that the number of people visiting the crematoria is kept to a minimum, in order to minimise the chances of spreading coronavirus”.
Similar arrangements apply to burials at Fulford Cemetery.
If Funeral Directors or the technical staff at the crematorium became ill then there could be a backlog of bodies. In turn this could lead to some unsavoury choices having to be made including the possibility of mass burials.
No one knows what the incidence of coronavirus deaths will be.
The Council says it will ensure that services of remembrance at York Crematorium will be offered to all families when restrictions are lifted and a city wide multifaith remembrance ceremony will be held, supported by local faith leaders and the Council.
Arrangements will be made for ashes to be scattered in accordance with relatives wishes.
We think that local politicians should concentrate on finding solutions to issues rather than point scoring. The local MP, for example, could usefully ensure that all those in bereavement services have adequate protective clothing and are offered regular virus testing. Processes to ensure the crematorium site and transport remain sterile may also need support.
It may be that those attending funerals will also need to be tested. The absence of a quick and reliable test remains a concern. (No one in China is allowed to move around if they have a high temperature)
When the crisis is over, there will be a time for reflection. Processes and contingency plans will need to be reviewed.
It may be that the many residents who now walk and cycle enjoying the City and its environs will demand that more parks and open spaces are made available in future.
Such facilities might provide a lasting memorial for those have have lost their lives and for their relatives who also had to make a sacrifice to keep others safe.
The North Yorkshire Police Commissioner Julia Mulligan opened a can of worms yesterday when she criticised leisure cyclists for the impact they were having on “villages”.
Perhaps an understandable comment if groups of 20+ riders were zooming through villages “en mass” at speeds of over 30 mph.
The Commissioner’s comments was widely condemned by cycling campaigners.
The reality is that most cyclists are riding alone on quiet roads while taking the governments recommended daily exercise quota.
Few stop in villages which are all now much quieter since motor vehicle traffic substantially reduced.
We doubt if most villagers even notice the cyclists although their numbers may slightly up.
Around York, some cyclists have abandoned dedicated cycle paths like the links from York to Selby & that from Rufforth to Knapton.
The reason paradoxically is a sort of congestion.
The routes have become increasingly popular with walkers. Family groups with children and dogs can make social distancing difficult on paths which have very limited widths in places.
On the other hand, quiet country lanes are relatively safe, ideal for leisure cycling and a great way to keep fit.
NB. The number of people in the UK dying from heart and circulatory diseases before the age of 75 is rising for the first time in 50 years, the British Heart Foundation has said.
In 2017, 42,384 people died from heart and circulatory diseases in the UK before the age of 75, a rise of just over three per cent on the 41,042 in 2014. Among under-65s, there were 18,668 deaths in 2017, up almost 4 per cent on the 17,982 five years earlier.
Tam Fry, from the campaign group the National Obesity Forum, said: “This must make Whitehall sit up and take tackling obesity seriously though each government this century has made just that a priority.
Council leaders have reassured the city’s businesses that the council is delivering on its promise to accelerate payments of government grants.
Over £7m had been paid by close of play yesterday (Thursday 9 April), meaning payment rates have increased every day this week.
Staff are working through the bank holiday to make sure that this rate of acceleration continues. Staff are working through the bank holiday to make sure that this rate of acceleration continues. Over £25 million (subject to some applications being held where there is concern about fraud) additional will be waiting for banks to process when they reopen on Tuesday.
The council has received nearly 3000 applications and has been working to speed up a process which includes government-defined requirements to:
The government has now issued new guidance and offered support with post-payment checks to help councils speed things up.
Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:
“Getting this money into accounts quickly – and securely – is a priority. Local authorities across the country are working to balance quick payments with checks to stop the fraudsters who are sickeningly trying to take advantage of these unprecedented circumstances.
“We continue to review our practice every day, share experience with other local authorities, redeploy staff and make daily improvements to accelerate payments.”
On wider support for business, Councillor Aspden added:
“We have acted quickly to get support to our businesses. We applied £66m of business rates relief to 4000 accounts in a matter of days, and grant payment values have doubled every day this week.
“Like businesses up and down the country, we’ve had to do this while operating many of our secure systems and customer service operations from staff’s homes and with lower staff levels.
“We’ve developed an emergency grants scheme for the many York businesses who miss out on government support and deferred rent for all our commercial tenants, and have spoken up for business at a national level since this crisis began.
“This helped to secure more support for our 12,000 self-employed people, as well as improvements to the business interruption loan scheme.”
Councillor Andrew Waller, executive member for the Economy and Strategic Planning, said:
“These 3500 businesses are worth around £2bn to York’s economy and create thousands of jobs. We understand that importance of getting this money where it is needed most – into the accounts of our city’s businesses.
“I’ve been talking to businesses and partners, and to the officers faced with designing and delivering a secure and quick distribution of around £114m of government relief to businesses.
“I’ve always assured businesses that we’ll do everything we can to gather pace. This is happening, and will continue until every business has its grant.
“We’re providing a range of support, advice and guidance for businesses, including free advertising across our local media for any businesses still operating.
“For all the support available please visit www.york.gov.uk/BusinessSupport.”
Food
The council says, it “is connecting residents with a wide range needs, from those unable to get an online delivery slot to those who would normally rely on food banks, to food suppliers. Where possible we are supporting local businesses by highlighting those in operation.
This involves a regular check with local suppliers to connect people with the means to pay to the businesses still operating in their area. We use this list to signpost callers who reach us through the COV-19 helpline. We are finding that the information on which businesses operate and their capacity is changing on a daily basis, so printed lists will be out of date very quickly, and for larger print runs before they are distributed.
Those suppliers with confidence in their stocks and delivery arrangements are encouraged to add their listing to the council-sponsored listings at www.yorkmix.com/yorkbiz . This listing is growing daily”.
The list referred to still falls short of requirements.
It is framed as mini adverts which maybe fine for the businesses themselves but not for customers.
It falls short in not providing a comprehensive database – which gives all options for contactless ways of buying and having doorstep deliveries of food and medicines.
Pharmacies and supermarkets are a key part of the supply chain.
Funerals
Changing the way York Crematorium provides cremation services has been a very difficult and sad decision for the City of York Council to make, but necessary in light of public health concerns. We have listened to the advice around increasing numbers of Coronavirus cases in York, regionally and nationally, having yet reached the peak period of infection for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Following further discussions with funeral directors and clergy, we will now be allowing one celebrant or minister to perform a short service, that will be filmed free of any charge.
We have attached our statement and updated FAQs for your information.
Micro-grants for businesses
A £1m City of York Council support fund for small and micro businesses which don’t qualify for government support has now been fully launched, with applications now open.
The City of York Council micro business grants scheme will deliver grants of up to £1000 into 1000 self-employed, micro and small businesses who need it most.
Applications can be made through https://www.york.gov.uk/COVIDMicroGrant and are available to businesses which:
The latest information for business is available at www.york.gov.uk/BusinessSupport.
PPE business ask
We are appealing to the Government for additional personal protective equipment (PPE), and asking local businesses for any spare PPE, so it can be used by the authority’s care workers.
Although the council’s care teams currently have sufficient PPE, stocks nationally are running low, and priority is being given to NHS staff.
All our care workers are following national government guidance on the PPE they need to wear. In a similar way to NHS staff, care staff need to use PPE to keep themselves safe from the risk of infection. The items we need are disposable plastic aprons, gloves, black bags, masks, eye protection goggles, alcohol based hand sanitiser and hard surface wipes.
Anyone who thinks they may have useful PPE is asked to email PPE@york.gov.uk. We thank everyone for their support. In fact a number of businesses have stepped forward already, to whom we are incredibly grateful of what is another demonstration of York’s community spirit.
An update on homelessness
From 23 March we have provided 11 households and 12 single homeless people temporary accommodation. While very few of these cases were connected to coronavirus, as a precaution and with support from local organisations, their accommodation meets social distancing criteria.
All the rough sleepers we are supporting are already known to us. The vast majority have accepted the accommodation which each and every one is being offered. We continue to work hard to persuade them all to come into accommodation and to stay in it while the emergency continues.
We have not yet received any additional Government money relating to homelessness to date, nor have we been told how much York will receive.
Virtual libraries
Thanks to £17K of extra funding from City of York Council, Explore is now able to extend the current range of virtual services to support individuals, families and communities of York during the Coronavirus emergency to help people whilst they stay at home.
The extra funding means Explore can now extend what is on offer:
