York businesses asked for feedback on Public Protection services

City of York Council is asking businesses which use or would like to use its Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing services, how they’d like to see them develop.

Click to take part

Click to take part

These Public Protection services deliver a number of the council’s regulatory duties which include hygiene inspections of restaurants, take-aways and other food premises, as well as ensuring that health and safety requirements are met, and that businesses comply with pollution control measures.

Trading Standards are part of these services; its work ensures that businesses trade fairly with consumers and the products they supply are safe, while Licensing services address the controlled sale of alcohol, and issue street trading, taxi and a variety of animal licenses.

The survey asks questions about the speed of teams’ response times and invites any other feedback on the service from enforcement, business advice and support services.
Businesses are asked to respond to the survey before 31 December 2015.

The survey is at https://www.york.gov.uk/consultations and scroll to Public Protection Review. Also at this link is a survey asking businesses questions on working with the council.

A survey on making York a more “business friendly Council” closes on 20th November. Click here to take part

Residents say “No” to Tour de Yorkshire subsidy

Highway surfaces also criticised in latest resident’s survey results

A survey of 10,000 homes in west York has produced a interesting insight into residents views.

Results March 2015

Asked whether the York Council should use £150,000 of taxpayer’s money to subsidise the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race scheduled for 3rd May, 63% opposed the idea.

This will be a blow to the Councils “Cabinet” who approved expenditure of £250,000 on the event, before deciding to take half of the subsidy from business rate income.

Most criticised public service was highway maintenance. 78% said that road and footpath surfaces were unsatisfactory. This is a major rebuff for the Labour/Green Council budget for next year which will see £300,000 cut from maintenance expenditure.

70% of respondents thought that the Knights Rugby team should be able to play at the new Community Stadium. Talks on accommodating the Knights needs are rumbling on with little sign of differences being resolved quickly. Relationships deteriorated a couple of months ago when Council officials launched a public attack on the rugby clubs owner. The future of the Community Stadium is due to be debated at a meeting scheduled for 27th March.

Opinion was more divided on other issues with 53% undecided about whether the standard of healthcare in the city was satisfactory.

Have your say on the future of Adult Social Care

York residents are being invited to have their say on the future of Adult Social Care in the city this month.

City of York Council clams it is “committed to helping York’s residents live independent and fulfilling lives based on choices that are important to them. The authority already knows that where residents need care and support in older age, they want these delivering in their own homes or in a community setting. They also want improved signposting, advice and guidance, and for the agencies involved in health and adult social care to join up more and provide greater awareness of the local support and facilities available to residents”.

“To build on this, the council is carrying out a quick five minute survey to understand what is important to those who are currently accessing adult social care, and those who may potentially need to access care and support in the future. The authority is also keen to hear from Carers and those in the voluntary sector.

The results of the consultation will be used to shape services (jargon) for the future, as part of the council’s Rewiring Public Services (jargon) Programme.

In Adult Social Care, the council’s rewiring (jargon)  programme is seeking to address some of the inherent failings of, and pressures on, the existing national model for adults’ care including a lack of clarity and understanding of the system by customers, an ageing population and people living longer with disease and disability.

Acomb care village site - project 3 years behind schedule

Acomb care village site – project 3 years behind schedule

Following engagement with residents, staff, elected members and partners, the council is looking at a number of different ways it can achieve the outcomes that local people want -relying less on hospital-based care and care homes, with more care delivered in resident’s homes and in their local neighbourhood -within the budget available”.

The consultation is available at www.rewiringyork.com

Sad really that the Council is making it so difficult for residents to react to their programme of cuts in public service provision.

Language, setting up separate web sites, failure to issue timely notices of meetings….. all adds up to confusion for many.

NB. Following on from our story about the Councils clumsy consultation processes and use of jargon we understand that later today (Thursday 12 February) between 2pm and 2:30pm, “Sally Burns, director of Communities & Neighbourhoods, will be answering people’s questions about proposed changes to Place-Based Services (jargon) in a live streamed Q&A session broadcast on YouTube and www.york.gov.uk/webcasts “

The Council are encouraging everyone to put forward their burning questions either before or during the event by email at rewiringyork@york.gov.uk or on Twitter using the #RewiringYork hashtag.

Tenant satisfaction with Council estates in York tumbles

Dog fouling, lack of parking, rubbish and litter top concerns

Most York Council tenants continue to be satisfied with the quality of their home and the repairs and maintenance service.

Estates increasingly neglected

Estates increasingly neglected

However many remain dissatisfied with the opportunities available to influence management decisions.

And only 44% were satisfied with the final outcome of complaints that they had made.

However, the most significant result to be revealed, by the Councils annual survey of tenant’s views, comes on satisfaction levels with conditions on local estates.

The satisfaction level is down by 5%.

This comes as little surprise with many estates beginning to look neglected.

Weed growth, potholed bitmac, damaged verges and neglected communal areas all add up to an increasingly depressing environment.

The report on the survey results was taken to another behind closed doors meeting last week.
Behind closed doors logo

The report  candidly admits,

“Customers have delivered a clear message that their estate services require attention. As well as a decrease in those very satisfied or fairly satisfied, there has a 5% increase in those very dissatisfied or fairly dissatisfied (10% 2012: 15% 2013)”.

The Labour Councillor with responsibility for Housing (Simpson Laing) failed to order any action which might stop the decline.

Tenant satisfaction results click to enlarge

Tenant satisfaction results click to enlarge

 

 

Lowfield Care Village delays rapped by residents.

Artists impression of new "care village"

Artists impression of new “care village”

Survey results highlight a lack of communication by Council

A door to door survey undertaken in the Lowfields and Tudor Road area over the last few weeks has found growing dissatisfaction with York Council consultation arrangements.

Residents say that they have heard little from the Council about the delays to the retirement village which was to have been built on the former Lowfields school site.

Originally expected open last year, work on the village has yet to start as the Council struggles to find partners and funding for the project.

A few weeks ago one section of the Council proposed building on all of the school playing field – the original intention had been to restrict building to the school ”footprint”.

The enlarged proposal was opposed by planners but concerns remain that the idea might be revived.

63% of respondent to the survey though that part of Lowfields playing field could be retained as a nature reserve. 29% opposed the idea while 8% were undecided.

Respondents also said:

  • The development should be aimed at providing homes for older people
  • Part of the playing fields should be retained as community amenity space
  • The playing fields should not be built on and should be secured after nightfall (There has been no casual access to the site for over 3 years).

Litter top complaint in Cornlands Road area poll

Overgrown traffic islands on Gale Lane

Overgrown traffic islands on Gale Lane

42% of residents have named the control of litter and detritus as the public service most in need of improvement in the Cornlands Road area. 

Just over 200 responses have so far been analysed for the area bordered by Gale Lane and Tennent Road.

The door to door suvey was undertaken during May.

Residents also listed other services needing improvement

Better ice clearance 37%
More off street parking 32%
Improve drainage 29%
Tidier verges 27%
Improve lighting 24%
Other 5%

In addition 38% said dog fouling was a problem in their street.

20% had had difficulty contacting the Council to report an issue. Housing repairs was the service mentioned most often

Large numbers want to see more off street car parking provided in Tennent Road, Thoresby Road and St Stephens Road.

Litter on snickets

Litter on snickets

The most requested activity suggested for the nearby Energise leisure centre was for school aged youths closely followed by events aimed at pensioners.

Asked how long it had been since they saw a police officer or PCSO in their street, responses varied from a few days to over a year. Asked how they would like the Police to keep in touch by far the most popular medium was leaflets.

This was followed by visits, telephone calls and meetings.

Finally residents gave their verdict on some topical issues.

The York Council should take up the governments grant offer and freeze Council Tax levels Agree 89%
Disagree 0%
Unde 11%
I support the deployment of more “number plate recognition cameras” in York  (A Labour Council plan which could lead to local motorists paying an additional £150,000 in fines) Agree 25%
Disagree 50%
Unde 25%
The Minster Badge residents discount parking scheme should be retained Agree 85%
Disagree 1%
Unde 13%
The Council should spend more on improving sub-urban and residential areas even if this means spending less on paving projects in the City centre Agree 75%
Disagree 6%
Unde 19%

Over 70 individual issues were raised with local LibDem representatives on the doorstep.. These issues are now being taken up with the responsible authorities

 

The Chapelfields survey 2014

Preliminary results are available for this year’s public opinion survey which has been undertaken in the Chapelfields area.

Damaged verges a source of complaint

Damaged verges a source of complaint

Over 500 homes have been visited during the last couple of weeks.

The biggest complaint from residents was the lack of car parking space. Many verges have been damaged over the winter.

Asked what the York Councils should do to remedy the problem. most thought that more lay-bys should be provided.

1. Provide lay-bys

25%

2. Provide a new programme of dropped kerbs/verge crossovers

22%

3. Provide matrix style verge protection

20%

4. Provide off street parking in front of blocks of flats

19%

5. Bitmac vulnerable verges

12%

6. Leave things as they are

1%

Residents were also asked when they last saw a PCSOs or Police officer patrolling the estate. Here the results were disappointing with very few saying that they had seen an officer during the last 2 months.

This is much lower than was recorded 4 years ago.

Asked how they would like the Police to stay in contact, residents gave the following preference order.

1. Leaflets
2. Facebook
3. Meetings
4. Text
5. Telephone
6. Visits
7. Twitter

Residents were keen to see additional events provided at the local community centre. Those most mentioned were – in order –

  1. Youth Activities (primary school age)
  1. Youth Activities (secondary school age)
  1. Pre-school provision

46% said that dog fouling is a problem in their street, while 19%  had found it difficult to contact the Council to raise issues.

14% had found that the higher income tax thresholds introduced by the Coalition government had directly helped them.

Finally residents were asked to give their verdict on several controversial issues. Their responses were:

1. The York Council should take up the governments grant offer and freeze Council Tax levels Agree 79%
Disagree 7%
Unde 15%
2. I support the deployment of more “number plate recognition cameras” in York (a Labour Council plan which could lead to local motorists paying an additional £150,000 a year in fines). Agree 23%
Disagree 57%
Unde 20%
3. The Minster badge residents discount parking scheme should be retained Agree 85%
Disagree 1%
Unde 13%
4. The Council should spend more improving sub-urban and residential areas even if this means spending less on paving projects in the City centre Agree 80%
Disagree 7%
Unde 13%

The survey will be carried out in other parts of the Westfield Ward over forthcoming weeks.

Updated results will be published on this web site periodically

Latest City centre shopper numbers – Lendal Bridge trial could go on and on and on

The Council has issued the latest City centre footfall figures.

The figures show more people visited Parliament Street during December and January this winter than in the equivalent period 12 months ago.

increase-footfall-retail

However compared to 2012, numbers are down by 9%.

The decline in shopper numbers is likely to have been influenced by the Councils decision to impose substantial car parking charge increases.

It appears that the “free” car parking day on Saturday did not produce the hoped for increases in footfall.

The numbers monitored on Saturday (1st Feb 2014) was 31,974 compared to the busiest Saturdays in the two previous years when 37,137 (2nd Feb 13) and 40,951 (28th Jan 12) people respectively were recorded on Parliament Street.

The full figures can be found here.

Meanwhile the Council leaflet, issued to residents, which talked about “Reinvigorating York” has been branded as misleading.

Claims made in the leaflet that, post the Lendal Bridge closure, “bus reliability had improved” are in conflict with the Councils own published monitoring reports.

The 4 month monitoring report (another is now due covering the period to the end of January) shows that changes to bus journey times have been insignificant although the majority are taking longer to complete their journeys.

One (the number 7 Park and Ride link to the Designer centre) showed an increase in delays of over 3 minutes during December.

The leaflet hints that the Councils Leadership does not intend to suspend the closure at the end of the 6 month trial on 28th February.

Rather, they are now intending to prolong the ”trial” until they analyse the monitoring data which has been produced.  The Council have declined to say how long this backroom analysis will take.

Meanwhile the latest survey results continue to show 79% opposed to the Lendal Bridge closure, 7% support it while 14% remain undecided.

92% say that traffic congestion in the City is getting worse.

The number of PCNs issued on Lendal Bridge and in Coppergate had reached 53,420 by the end of last year according to official figures published on the Councils web site.