The Council has now published responses to questions tabled at the last Council meeting. One disappointment came when the Council Leader revealed that he currently knows of no regeneration projects that the Council could help to fund and which would assist the Acomb Front Street area.

Question: “What proportion of retail and office space is currently empty in each of the City’s sub-urban wards and how does this compare to the City Centre? How much of the “Innovation & Delivery Fund” and the “Economic Infrastructure Fund” does the Cabinet Leader intend to allocate to regeneration initiatives in sub-urban employment centres such as Acomb Front Street?”

Leaders answer: “Whilst this data is not held at ward level, we know that 5.56% of retail units, and 25.26% of office units, by number, are vacant in areas outside the city centre, in comparison to 5.20% and 28.00% respectively for the city centre. I would welcome any financially justifiable ideas which contribute to economic growth from all areas of the city”.

The same meeting also turned down a request for formal Council support for the “Acomb Alive” project

York police are offering a free cycle marking service to help stop thieves getting away with expensive gifts this Christmas.

Officers from York West Safer Neighbourhood Team will be at York Racecourse for two days helping people to mark their bikes and register on the immobilise database.

Members of the public can meet the police on County Stand Road between 9am and 7pm on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 December 2012 to have their cycles marked as part of the ongoing anti-bike theft campaign – Operation Spoke.

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Just hours after its Leader said “In light of these ongoing government funding reductions, all of our services are now under consideration” the City of York Council is calling on any George/Georgia/Georgina Hudson’s to contact the council “to receive a special invitation to the official re-opening of the George Hudson boardroom on Saturday 26 January 2013 at 12 noon”.

Numbers for the event will be limited to 120, and guests will need to make their own way to York, but will be offered refreshments and a chance to see displays which trace the history of the station’s development into a modern open plan council HQ and customer centre.

The event is taking place during the annual Residents Festival weekend of 26/27 January 2013 when West Offices will be opened for public previews.

A quick check though the electoral register reveals that there are no George Hudson’s currently resident in York.

However these fancying a quick bite could follow the example of Kirk Douglas’ friends! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q

These days though you will have to follow an electronic protocol by emailing IamGeorgeHudson@york.gov.uk

York’s Health and Wellbeing Board has begun a new level of consultation on the Health and Wellbeing Strategy it is developing with partners in the city.

The Board are inviting people who use health and wellbeing services, community groups and representatives, staff and partner organisations to comment on the draft Health and Wellbeing Strategy to ensure that, it reflects people’s views and suggestions and that it includes the principles and actions that are most important to improving health and wellbeing the city ofr the next three years.
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Six burglary suspects have been arrested in the last 24 hours in connection with separate incidents in the Thirsk and York areas.

Two men were arrested in the early hours of this morning (20 December 2012) on suspicion of burglary in York. One man, aged 32 of no fixed address. and another aged 25 from York, were arrested shortly after a burglary was reported by a householder in Wellington Street at around 3am this morning (20 December 2012).

Officers were deployed to the scene of the burglary minutes after it was reported and dog handlers conducted a search of the area. They located the two suspects and a number of discarded items in the street, including a laptop and personal items. It is believed some of the items were stolen during another burglary which had not yet been reported to the police.

Both men remain in police custody for questioning.

In a separate incident in York, officers stopped a white transit van on Ostman Road just after 12am (20 December 2012). After police officers conducted a search of the vehicle, they arrested both occupants, two 23-year-old men from York, on suspicion of theft, burglary and possessing an offensive weapon. Both men have been questioned by police officers and released on bail while enquiries continue.

But police ask residents to remain vigilant and take basic steps to protect their property.

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The amount that central government pays the York council to provide public services will be reduced by 1.1% for the next financial year. This is significantly lower than the national average reduction (1.7%). It compares with a 2.5% reduction in North Yorkshire and a 2.3% reduction in Leeds.

The reduction is offset by increased grants for education. York does well out of the revised pupil premium allocations which will help to address poverty concerns in the City.

In addition the City will benefit from additional income for the provision of additional homes (the new homes bonus)

At least 50% of any increase in Business Rates income will also be retained in the City.

As reported yesterday, extra money is also being provided for road repairs.

The new funding system means that 70% of expenditure in City’s like York will be locally funded meaning that the Council has more control over the financial strategy of the City.

However, the present Labour Council has been heavily criticised for prioritising “vanity” projects like the proposed “arts barge” while substantially increasing the amount that the local authority is borrowing.

It is the repayment on this additional debt that could prove to be a millstone around the necks of successive generations living in the City.
The government has also announced that funding will be available for the next two years to freeze Council Tax levels. The Council in York spurned a similar offer last February introducing a 2.9% Council Tax increase. It remains to be seen whether the prospect of funding for 2 years will prompt a different reaction. If not residents face a 2% increase in Council Tax in April 2013 and a further hike a year later.

The Council have also turned down government grant payments which would have seen any reduction in Council Tax benefit entitlement, for the less well off, limited to 8%.

http://tinyurl.com/Grant-comparisons
http://tinyurl.com/York-grant
http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/1314/plainenglishguide.pdf

Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have given schools in York a £3.6 million Christmas present.

The cash is the Pupil Premium funding, which targets extra money to schools depending on the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds they have.

Local schools to benefit include:

• Westfield Primary Community School £167,400

• Hob Moor Community Primary School £109,800

• York High School £271,800 (the largest allocation in the City)

The Pupil Premium covers any primary or secondary school pupil that has been registered for Free School Meals in the past six years. For 2013/14, the Premium will be worth £1.65bn, or £900 per pupil, in total.

The Pupil Premium is a major Liberal Democrat priority that is being delivered by the Coalition Government. The Pupil Premium was one of four policy priorities that the Liberal Democrats put on the front page of their 2010 General Election manifesto. The others were: raising the point at which you start paying Income Tax to £10,000 to give people on low and middle incomes a £700 tax cut; creating jobs by making Britain greener; and measures to clean up politics. The Pupil Premium was one of the key measures argued for by Liberal Democrats during the Coalition negotiations. By 2015, it will be worth a total of £2.5bn a year to schools in England.

Direct schools grants in the City are also being increased from £106M to £110M.

Further information can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/Pupil-premium-2013

The complete list of allocations to York schools is:
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The Council are now claiming in a media release that housing and benefits advice session at Foxwood Community Centre (Wednesdays) and Chapelfields (Thursday) will continue.

The statement comes only 3 weeks after the closure of the services was announced following a private meeting involving the Corporate Services Cabinet member see http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=3722

The decision made was that “face to face” service was to be withdrawn and a “telephone hot line” substituted.

The decision was criticised by disability campaigners who pointed out that’s such facilities were unsuitable for deaf people.

However a media release issued today http://www.york.gov.uk/news/latestNews/PR3148 claims that the sessions are to continue.

We understand that an agreement over the installation of telephone contact lines at the community buildings has proved to be problematic and that Council staff will continue to visit the Foxwood and Chapelfields centres.

Advice sessions at the Acomb Explore library have already been discontinued.

An additional service at Westfield Junior School (Childrens centre) on Askham Lane is promised for the new year.

“The housing sessions are for residents – including those who are also council tenants – to talk to estate managers about matters including anti-social behaviour, estate improvements as well as the council’s housing services. No appointments are needed: people can simply drop in every Monday between 1-4pm from 7th January 2013”.

“The finance sessions are for all, in partnership with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). They give people weekly opportunities to meet money experts locally to discuss welfare benefits, money management, dealing with debt and returning to work. For an appointment on Fridays between 9.30am-12:30pm with the CAB Family Money Advice at Westfield Childrens’ Centre, ring the CAB on 01904 683 908”.

The coalition government has acted to address the declining quality of roads and footpaths in York.

Problems have been increasing since the Labour controlled Council, announced a £2.6 million reduction in the highways maintenance budget (56%) in February 2012.

Now the City will get a boost of nearly £500,000 over the next 2 years. See http://tinyurl.com/York-highways-grant

The funding will not return investment levels to those seen when the LibDems were in control of the York Council but it should help to address the deterioration evident on some roads.

The roads that will benefit are not yet known and eyes will be turned to the Councils own resurfacing budget which may still be subject to further cuts.

People living in social housing who have a spare bedroom will find any housing benefit claim reduced by about £40 to £80 a month next April under welfare reforms.

Those who are overcrowded, on the other hand, will be able to move to a larger property without any additional financial burden.

The change affects all social housing in the City.

The York Council has now admitted in response to a Freedom of Information request that it will not know who might be affected by the change until February. They are awaiting a “software” upgrade.
This would make it virtually impossible for tenants to relocate to smaller property by the deadline.

The government says the “under-occupancy” penalty will protect taxpayers from having to pay for a two or three-bedroom house for a single person

The change will mean that anyone in social housing – which includes both housing association and council housing – with a spare bedroom will lose 14% of their housing benefit or 25% if they have two spare rooms.

Although there are some one bedroomed properties available in York there is growing concern that some individual tenants are still not aware of the change that is in the pipeline.

Families on the housing waiting list may also have to wait longer before they can move into one of the larger properties which may be freed up by the change.