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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

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

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.

Europe bid to extend Kingsway Project

Somewhat belatedly, the York Council has decided to apply for European funding to help revive and extend the successful Kingsway Project which pioneered anti poverty activities in York towards the end of the last decade.

The Council is seeking £1.2 million from Europe with a matching amount likely to come from local resources.

The main neighbourhoods, which might benefit, include the Heworth, Hull Road, Guildhall, and Westfield Wards

The decision was taken today. As usual it was taken behind closed doors and without any meaningful consultation with local residents.

The Kingsway Project was a victim of Labour’s 2011 Council election victory. Shortly after their success they jettisoned Ward Committee budgeting which led to the Westfield area losing £50,000 a year in locally determined investment.

The report (which contains a lot of jargon) can be read here.

Labour’s plan for the Guildhall – Taxpayers face immediate £400,000 bill

York Guildhall

Labour are oppressing ahead with their plan to turn the Guildhall into a “Digital Arts and Media Centre”.

Essentially this will mean constructing small business units.

Initially around £400,000 is being spent appointing additional staff to manage the project and to undertake demolition works on parts of the site. In total £1.4 million has been allocated to the project plus an – as yet unspecified – amount of capital investment (likely to be several millions of pounds)

The Council has still not published even an outline business case indicating how such a development could be paid for and sustained.

There is still a large amount of empty commercial property in the City. There are at the moment, for example, 11 starter units unoccupied at the York Eco Business centre at Clifton

The original intention had been to maintain the Guildhall and adjacent heritage buildings as the political and cultural centre of the City. This would have left space at the new West Offices for commercial use.

This has already been eroded.

A commercial use is taking place in part of the building (John Lewis recruitment) while – ironically – another part of the site is being used by the theatre group which is behind the “Arts Barge” project.

The Council has not revealed how much rent it is receiving for these uses or what the ongoing maintenance and other liabilities are for the largely empty site. Earlier in the year the empty building was reported as costing around £13000 a month to sustain

Most seriously it looks like it will be at least a year before a permanent use is found for the buildings.

In the meantime, part of the site has been mothballed prior to demolition while it seems likely that the rest of this key building will be allowed to quietly rot away.

Guildhall future: fears grow

York Guildhall

Launch of international design competition to influence the future of York’s historic Guildhall and riverside

The Council have provided more details of the “design competition” that they hope will determine the future of the Guildhall when administrative staff leave the building early next year. In a press release they say,

“City of York Council will be launching a competition seeking nationally and internationally renowned architects to submit their design proposals which clearly demonstrate potential future uses for York’s historic Guildhall and riverside complex.

Registered architects are invited to develop their ideas for the Guildhall, the associated office accommodation, river frontage and boat yard, as part of an ‘Open Ideas’ competition, run by The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Entries will be sought from architects putting forward innovative ideas on how the potential of the Guildhall site and riverside could be maximised for the benefit of the city and its residents”.

Labour’s plan has been criticised for failing to guarantee the buildings future as the civic hub of the City and for glossing over the costs of, and timescales involved in undertaking, a major remodelling project. The concern is that the building – will be empty for a long period of time and will become a blot on the streetscape of a very sensitive part of the City Centre.

Risks, delays & cost increases as York Council struggles to manage its commercial portfolio

York Guildhall

Yesterday’s announcement that more than £15 million of infrastructure schemes had been secured in North Yorkshire over the next 18 months – with £300,000 of funding going towards the York Guildhall offices project – will have been welcomed by many.

The money comes from the Government’s “Getting Building Fund” which “aims to boost economic recovery from Covid-19”.

According to a Council spokesman, the funding will now be used “for internal fit-out works” on the business club which will occupy much of the building.

That will come as a surprise to those who thought that the agreed £20.18 million budget included all costs. Indeed, the option approved by the Council in February 2019, specifically identified £300,000 for “fixtures, fittings and furniture”.

Council report 2019. Option 1 was agreed

It seems that the only change is that this expenditure will now be funded from general taxation.

Even with this subsidy, and assuming that all offices and the on site restaurant, are all occupied, York Council taxpayers still face an annual bill of over £500,000.

An Executive meeting which took place last week was told in an update on the Guildhall project that “additional delays have meant that it is presently considered that these additional costs cannot be contained within the agreed contingency”.

The scale of the over expenditure was not revealed.

The Guildhall is not the only commercial portfolio project to come under scrutiny.

Some independent commentators are sceptical about the timing of the Councils £2.8 million acquisition of 25/27 Coney Street. Rent levels are now dropping and with them property valuations in some high streets. Coney Street is struggling more than most.

Meanwhile large numbers of Council owned properties remain empty and unused.

These include Ashbank (empty for 8 years), 29 Castlegate (3 years), Oakhaven (4 years) and Willow House (4 years 6 months).

Willow House stands abandoned with no sign of redevelopment work starting.

We now understand that Willow House – which was advertised for sale with Sanderson Weatherall – has been withdrawn from the market. The Council turned down a £3 million offer for the prime site shortly after it became available.

None of these properties are accommodating anyone.

All are incurring maintenance and security costs for taxpayers, while at the same time attracting no Business Rates or rent income.

At a time when local authorities are on their knees financially, poor resource management is a matter of concern.

Fake news or wishful thinking?

Council publishes new “Our City” newspaper

No doubt the York Council would be criticised if it failed to keep residents informed about what goes on in the City and how the Council spends taxpayers money. Whether spending £10,000 on putting a magazine through everyone’s letterbox represents a prudent use of resources may divide opinion.

The current edition of “Our City” is tidier and therefore more accessible than previous editions. But it fails an important test.

It isn’t objective.

Telling people that things are going well when patently many street level public services in the City are far from that, transforms an information source into a propaganda channel.

There are major problems with keeping the streets tidy and free of weeds. The refuse collection service is now chronically unreliable. Many roads and paths are potholed. Some are dangerously obstructed by trees and hedges. These issues don’t merit a mention in “Our City”.

The Council does praise the hugely expensive community stadium project without telling people precisely when the stadium will come into use. Apparently the IMAX cinema (a plus for the City) will open in December but there is no explanation for the delays that have dogged the future home of York City FC and the York Knights Rugby team.

But the main concern will be the failure to be frank about the risks involved in some of its projects.

The Council is acting as its own housing developer and hopes to build 600 homes in the City over the next few years. It has recruited a significant number of additional staff to do so. It could have used local companies to undertake the work but chose not to. It is a high risk venture but, at the end of the day, in York any new homes will be occupied one way or another.

The same can’t be said about the £20 million Guildhall redevelopment. There is little evidence to suggest that a “business club” is needed in the City and even less that the York Council would be the best organisation to manage one.

The “Our City” article disingenuously talks of the project generating £848,000 a year in rents. It fails to point out that would involve renting out all the available space and that, even then, the income would be barely sufficient to pay the interest payments on the money that the Council intends to borrow to fund the scheme!

Sadly similar mistakes have been made in the past. £12 million was spent on the Barbican concert hall. The Council chose to manage that facility itself despite a complete lack of experience in the field. It later turned out that the hall manager had failed to apply for an entertainments licence for the building and had operated it unlawfully for several months. The Barbican ran at a loss of £800,000 a year and eventually had to be sold on to the private sector.

Whether anyone will come forward to rescue the Guildhall project remains to be seen.

£350,000 Council Tax bill for new tourist signs in York

A Council official has agreed, at another “behind closed doors” meeting, to contribute £350,000 towards the provision of new “wayfinding” signs in the City centre.

The total cost of the project is £700,000 with the York Business Improvement District (BID) contributing half.

The plan has prompted a mixed reaction in the past. The new LibDem led Council administration had been expected to review the proposals, along with other expenditure commitments – like the £20 million Guildhall project – which it inherited in May.

However, that hasn’t happened, with the new administration adopting a very low-profile approach to public service reforms.

The decision notice says, “The February 2019 Budget Council meeting included the following …. this scheme will allow the Council and York BID to proceed with full implementation of a new Wayfinding scheme starting in Spring 2019, following a detailed consultation exercise. Works will include the removal of 60 current heritage fingerposts to reduce street clutter, and installation of 36 new totem signs, 14 fingerpost signs, and 13 wall signs. York BID have committed £350k to the full implementation, which will be matched by the Council as part of this scheme”.

Opinions on the design of the new signs – one of which is located outside the Mansion House – have been mixed with same favouring the more traditional “finger” signs.

However, the main area of contention relates to prioritisation at a time when an increasing number of visitors to the City depend on smartphone features like Google Maps to find their way around.

While Visit York has a good website, there is scope for a more specialised smartphone app.

There are several commercial applications available with some depending on advertising revenue. Currently Visit York doesn’t provide a list of approved Apps that are available. Anyone accessing the iTunes store and entering “York” will be offered only 2 options. One of these is currently unavailable.

Visit York should commission an official real time “walking tour” type guide and promote its use via its web site, social media and at entry points to the City.

Meanwhile, many will take the view that £350,000 might be better invested in ensuring that the City is weed and litter free, and that street furniture like bins and seats are kept in good condition.

The Council should also finally deliver a replacement for the real time car parking space availability signs, and “on line” service, which was lost some 8 years ago.

Such a “clean and seen” campaign must include the main road and rail routes into the City which are so important in forming a visitors “first impression” of York.

York Council HQ scandal

Abandoned York Guildhall dirty and overrun with weeds.

The York Guildhall, a Listed building, is rapidly falling into disrepair. The Council – although still the owners of the building – quit the site in 2013, when they moved to new accommodation at West Offices.

Since then the Guildhall has mostly been unoccupied and was finally abandoned in 2017.

The Council had hoped to turn the building into a “business centre” but outside investment proved to be Impossible to attract. A prospective builder was dropped from the development amidst problems with escalating costs. The last estimates were that the project would cost around £15 – £17 million with all the risk falling on taxpayers.

Council leaders, when meeting in May, promised that a revised business case would be published. They confirmed that the Council would run any business centre complex themselves.

Whether there is a need for a business club is open to question. Traditionally traders in York have themselves formed organisations (guilds) to provide what today would be known as networking opportunities. Hence, we have privately funded meeting halls belonging to the Merchant Taylors and Merchant Adventures while Bedern provides a home for other guilds.

There are more obviously suitable properties available to satisfy business needs.

Stonebow House has announced a business hub while one of the augments put forward for the “Spark” development was that they would satisfy the needs of small businesses.

Even if there is still unmet demand, then there is more obviously flexible accommodation available on Coney Street.

Despite calls for the Council, to explore other less risky options, they said they would press ahead and try to find another builder. Many thought that the Council should have tested the market to see whether private investment could be attracted.

The Council is running out of time. A report in May said that essential repair works to the old building would cost at least £5 million.

With further deterioration now obvious from even a casual inspection, that figure will soon start to climb again.

There is no sign of a new business plan being produced before the end of February. There is no item covering the Guildhall in the Councils 4 month forward plan.

This reinforces views that the project will be “kicked into the long grass” until after the local elections which are scheduled for May.

The coalition Leaders must be beginning to worry that the Guildhall project will turn into their version of the Lendal Bridge folly.

Trees and bushes growing on parapets

Guildhall windows caked with dirt

Stonework stained

Riverbank opposite Guildhall overgrown with weeds

Rust stains on Lendal Bridge

Attempts to attract new businesses to Coney Street but what an image!

No scrutiny of York Community Stadium at key meeting

Project disappears from “to do” list

Every six months a committee at the York Council looks at the progress being made in delivering major projects. A report is being presented on 14^th November to a scrutiny committee which lists all the major projects in the City.

Most of the major plans of the Council are listed.

Schemes listed for consideration at meeting on 14th November

We learn that the plan to improve the northern by pass has a “red alert” attached to it, meaning that progress has stalled. Perhaps more surprisingly we are told that there is now nothing to prevent the Guildhall project from being fully implemented (other perhaps than the small matter of financial prudence).

However there is one major omission from the list.

The £44 million Community Stadium project.

When the committee was last updated in May details of the stadium project were included.

Stadium timetable presented to a scrutiny committee in May

By now builders should have been on site but, of course, the project now faces a “judicial review”.

We think that there are some questions that backbench Councillors would want to ask about this project. There are hundreds of jobs hanging in the balance.

We wonder if there is an even more serious precursor of failure than a “red alert”?

Peer review of York Council published

The York Council has been very coy about its response to the recent “Peer Review”.

Peer review letter click to read

These reviews take place periodically. There have been three in York during the last 3 years although the 2014 review has not been published on the Council’s web site. All are predictable in both tone and content. Gangs of footloose Councillors and officials roam the country offering other Councils (peers) the benefit of their wisdom. Reports always offer some encouragement then fall back on a series of well-worn phrases set to reflect whatever the current central establishment view of local government might be.

We’d all be rich if we had £5 for every review which criticises “salami slicing” of budgets. Actually trying to get economies in all aspects of the Councils services is a perfectly legitimate approach. The alternative is either stopping an activity altogether &/or massive outsourcing (as seen in places like Barnet)

The team of inspectors must have had a field day following the virtual collapse of the Councils administration in 2014.

The grandees in their letter to the Council clearly skirt round the lack of experience in the leadership of the Council (even worse since the report was written in March with the new Tory Leader having only 12 months’ service under his belt & a new Chief Executive only just arriving). The crisis in confidence in the Council owes a lot to a secretive approach which continues under the new administration.

Performance management -actually measuring progress – has been poor while the customer interface has fallen away against a background of over ambitious promises by the IT chiefs. The inspectors are right to say that the Council should have taken bold decisions early in its term of office to deal with controversial issues. Yet the Guildhall project, the ever growing community stadium “add ons” and the risky – from a taxpayers viewpoint – approach to York Central, are all missed opportunities….. & that without the inevitable conflicts which will arise when the new draft Local Plan is published next week.

None of the recommendations are surprising. The “experts” suggest;

Council response click to access

Making visible and public demonstrations of joint leadership
Create Strategic Leadership Team meetings between the Executive and SMT on at least a monthly basis
Provide better clarity of the roles and responsibilities of members and officers
Get on with the senior management review: create officer stability, followed by SMT team building
Don’t lose the opportunity of being a new administration to make the difficult decisions now, and be bold in those decisions!
Focus on action, rather than reaction to immediate issues and events
Develop a positive narrative about the council and what you want to achieve
Consider capacity for corporate planning and performance management linked to a medium term financial strategy
Beyond the social media policy, consider a wider approach to managing vocal minorities, to ensure they do not dominate and distract the council from its business (!)
Develop a tactical plan to raise the profile of the council
This is the third review within 3 years. We expect you to develop – with a sense of urgency – a clear and visible action plan with deliverables, timescales and individual member and officer accountabilities, ready for adoption during early summer 2016

The Council have come up with a response to the criticisms. It has taken them 3 months to do so (the inspectors visited on 9^th March) and they have omitted to involve York residents in building a response.

Residents will expect to see quick and tangible improvements particularly in the areas of transparency and performance management.

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