York Council easing out of budget crisis?

Good progress in improving some services

The York Council showed a small budget surplus during the last financial year. As a result, its reserves will increase from £6.8m to £7.3m. In addition, prudent use of its contingency fund will see its 2017/18 provision increase to £1,049k.

This represents a marked improvement on the performance of the Council when it was under Labour control between 2011 and 2015.

The Council has also published selective performance stats.

These claim to show good progress with only delayed discharges from hospital sounding a negative note.

But is everything as rosy as may seem?

The Council’s Executive does not receive exception reports. Such reports would highlight failing performance at street level (which the Council claims is its primary focus)

Selective performance stats published by Council

A survey being undertaken in the Westfield ward by local Councillors presents a slightly different picture.

Westfield Councillors survey results at June 2017

Although respondents say that they are satisfied with most local public services there are exceptions.

The biggest failings (in sub-urban areas) are;

Poor road and footpath maintenance
Parking provision and
Litter/poop scoop bin provision

The Council provides more detailed information on line (see www.yorkopendata.org under the “performance scorecards” section)

But several of the scorecards have still not been updated for the 2016/17 year.

Other elements of performance are not publicly monitored.

These include the progress made with locally budgeted Ward Committee schemes some of which – although funded – have been in a lengthening waiting list for over 2 years.

Better progress on genuine local concerns would enhance the Councils claim that its priority is indeed the provision of good quality basic services.

On Line performance stats need updating

York parking account reveals £4.8 million surplus

Draft accounts published by the City of York Council for 2016/17 reveal that the Authority made a substantial surplus on its car parking activities.

Out of a total income of £7.3 million, nearly £5.5 million came from charges levied at off street car parks.

Residents parking schemes brought in £806,000 and penalty charges £600,000 while on-street machines took £466,000. The balance came from coach parks.

The Council spent over £1.3 million on its off street car parks with £1.2 million apportioned to enforcement and administration.

This meant that a surplus of over £4.7 million accrued.

Legally the Council must reinvest any parking profits in transport.

Most of the surplus was spent on highway maintenance (£4 million) and subsidised bus services (£670,000) The rest went on community transport and shopmobility.

Some drivers may wonder why more has not been invested in resurfacing Council car parks, several of which are now in very poor condition.

The inaccurate “on line” parking space availability map has also been a source of criticism.

‘Take control of your money’ urges new York partnership

York residents can take control of their money for free ahead of changes to benefit payments in the summer, thanks to City of York Council teaming up with South Yorkshire Credit Union Ltd.

Council tenants, private tenants or mortgage holders are welcome to take advantage of the scheme which aims to help people budget, pay essential bills and manage any type of debt or multiple debts.

No-one using the services needs to be an existing customer of the credit union, but is encouraged to open a savings account with a minimum £1 balance to help manage their income and outgoings and so avoid any unnecessary debt.

Anyone wanting help to repay debt will be given tailored advice which could include consolidating any repayments into a single, more manageable account at a lower, fixed interest rate, rather than having to resort to unregulated lenders or loan sharks.

With changes to Universal Credit payments due from July 2017, new applicants could face a delay in payments for six to eight weeks. This new service will help prepare for any predicted shortfalls in income and ensure every day necessities like fuel, mortgage or rent payments are paid for regularly.

The scheme is already tried and trusted by a number of social landlords in the region and some City of York Council tenants are using it too.

The credit union operates on co-operative principles and offers savings and loan products authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.

Cllr Carol Runciman, executive member with responsibility for financial inclusion at City of York Council, said: “This is a really worthwhile service to residents to help them regain or maintain control of their finances and give access to safer and regulated loans – a much better alternative to doorstep lenders.”
(more…)

York Council Tax bills on their way

D4NT09 Council Tax bill 2013/2014 for property dwelling band F with 25% discount for sole adult resident

The Council has started this week to issue its Council Tax demands for 2017/18. In total council tax will rise by 3.7%.

Residents have the option to spread the cost of their bill over 12 months rather than 10 months by request to council.tax@york.gov.uk

To make it simpler for residents to access a range of council services and report changes for council tax and benefits, they can create their own online account at: www.york.gov.uk/myaccount

At a click of a button they can also pay their council tax online, let the council know if they’re moving house, are claiming sole occupancy discount and student discount.

They can also request a copy of their bill, set up a payment plan if they’re in arrears and set up a Direct Debit.

In addition to this, council tax bills can also be sent by email. It’s free, fast, environmentally friendly and secure. Anyone without internet access can continue to call the customer service centre or visit staff at West Offices.

Included in the council tax information are details about financial support from the December 2015 floods. The council has been helping residents whose homes were affected with government payments and council tax exemptions. The deadline for claiming this financial support, if they haven’t already done so, is before 31 May 2017 by request to council.tax@york.gov.uk

The council’s gross expenditure for 2017/18 is £376.006m (380.391m in 2016/17) the amount raised though council tax in 2017/18 will be £81.630m (£77.072m in 2016/17) plus £703k (£667k in 2016/17) from parishes.

For more information about council tax visit www.york.gov.uk/counciltax

Another big York Council contract let in behind closed doors decision

£1 million plus contract for social care started on 1^st February 2017 – authorised last week

In April 2016, the York Council considered a major shake-up in its housing support programme. The service had been costing York taxpayers over £2.5 million a year.

The users of this support programmes short term services include the homeless, young people at risk (16-25 year olds including care leavers and teenage parents) offenders, mental health, substance misuse and domestic violence.

Long term services support residents with permanent needs including older people; learning disabilities and mental health.

A report to the Council’s Executive last April said,

“The approach is one of “co-design” with the Council setting some minimum requirements but requesting providers to submit proposals that identify the added value that can be provided and setting out a five-year vision for service delivery which will further enhance provision across the City”

It was expected the the new approach would save taxpayers around £750,000 a year. The new approach anticipated an increase in activity by volunteers.

At about the same time the government announced a cap on the total amount of housing benefit payable to social housing tenants. At the time this was expected to impact heavily on supported accommodation services like hostels.

The 2016 report said,

“There is however apprehension amongst providers and partners regarding the significant service change that will take place and any resulting reductions in capacity. Some customers have also expressed anxiety over potential change of providers but this will not be known until after the outcome of the proposed “tender” exercise”.

The services put out to tender were Community Wellbeing and Support Services for:

Adults (including Mental Health, Homeless, substance misuse, offenders and Young People)
Older Persons
Young People – Supported Lodgings

The expected total cost of providing these services was £1.27 million (a saving of £750,000)

It had been anticipated that the contract would be awarded in September 2016 with implementation from 1^st February 2017.

It appears that the contracts have only recently been authorised although they were implemented at the beginning of the month. (There is a suspicion that the responsible Council official actually agreed the contract in December).

Papers were published on the Council’s web site on Friday but reveal very little either about the cost of the new contracts or their specifications (i.e. targets, outcomes).

September 2017 specification promise

There will be a suspicion that these have only been made public as an afterthought and were possibly prompted by last week’s revelations about previous contract failures.

The three contacts awarded were:

So, substantial contracts have been let apparently without the involvement of the responsible Councillors, with no visibility of the “vision”, the number of tenders received haven’t been reported, nor has the value of the individual contracts or the expected outcome specification/targets.

Some further explanations are needed we think!

*Bizarrely the report claims that the specification for this service will not be agreed until “Sept 2017”

York Council budget – 3.7% Council Tax increase

More for road and footpath resurfacing

The York Council has revealed its budget for 2017/18. Taxpayers face an increase of around £14 a year in their bill for local public services.

The proposals include a welcome increase in the amount that will be spent resurfacing local roads and footpaths. An additional £1 million a year will be invested although the Council will borrow money to fund the improvement. The increase returns investment to the levels last seen in 2011 (after which a Labour administration slashed road maintenance budgets).

The coalition led authority say that they have heeded views of residents who responded to a consultation on the budget. Residents gave the highest priority for improvements to road maintenance (in line the last survey undertaken in the Westfield Ward) as well as care for the elderly. An extra £1.8 million will be spent on social care.

The government is reducing the grant that they pay to the City by £6.3 million.

Cuts of £8.9m have been identified with around 40 job losses forecast.

Figures release by the Council today reveal that

The failure to negotiate a new park and ride contract will cost taxpayers £666,000
£230,000 is needed to address increase waste disposal costs
£345,000 will fund more changes to the emerging Local Plan
Parking charges will rise by around 5%

As many motorists have not reclaimed the fines that they were entitled to, following the Lendal Bridge/Coppergate fiasco in 2013, the money allocated for refunds will be allocate to other transport schemes including road repairs. Ironically some is earmarked for a cycle hire scheme (despite such schemes having failed when tried previously in the City)

Council house rents will be reduced by 1% in line with central government instructions. Despite this, a year end surplus of £24 million on the housing account is forecast.

The average York Council taxpayer will pay around £1540 a year for local services when Police and Fire costs are added in.

The Council’s capital budget reveals a large increase in expenditure on Museums. A £18 million upgrade project for the Castle museum is getting start-up funding as a way of making it more self-sufficient in the future.

Overall the Council will increase its capital budget by £36 million.

£1,7 million is being spent on replacing concrete lampposts and £1.77 million on the City Walls.

Budget consultation

York Council (click to access)

The York Council is asking residents whether they would like to see Council Tax increased by 1.99%, charges increased or fewer services provided

In its “on line” survey, the Council then asks whether an additional 1%, 2% or 3% increase in tax – to fund social care (elderly and disabled services) – would be acceptable?

There is then a list of services which residents are asked to prioritise. Usually residents say that they want all the services to be sustained. However, there may be a move to invest more in street cleaning, crime prevention and road maintenance this year.

There is room for a comments section but no mention of the high levels of debt charges (interest payments) being born by taxpayers nor any option to cut back on capital programmes like the Guildhall development or the new Monks Cross swimming pool..

The Council’s final budget will be set in February, so leading Councillors will already have decided what the budget strategy is.

Launching a “consultation” a couple of days before Christmas will seem to be an afterthought to many residents.

Police – click to access

The Police and Crime Commissioners survey takes a similar line. A short explanatory leaflet is available but it says little about crime levels (which are increasing in parts of York)

Residents are offered the choice of a tax freeze, a 1.99% increase and – subject to a formal referendum – an increase above 2%.

No spending options are offered and there is no opportunity to highlight areas of concern on policing.

So pretty much going through the motions of public consultation it seems

NB. The results of the last PCC survey – on policing plans – which was undertaken in the autumn, have yet to be published

Council to spend £800,000 on rapid chargers for electric vehicles

Many transport investment projects – due to be completed in the last financial year – will now be slipped into the current year.

A council report says that “This high level of underspend was due to delays in progressing some of the larger schemes in the programme; additional DfT funding being received too late in the year to deliver the schemes; and delivery of some schemes under budget”.

In total over £8 million will be spent.

Traffic lights will be modernised

£1.6 million of this will go on public transport mainly involving bus stop improvements and modifications to reduce emissions.
£3.6 million will be spent on traffic management including £1.2 million on easing problems on the A19 near Fulford, £800,000 on “rapid vehicle chargers” and over £400,000 on renewing traffic signals
£1.2 million will be spent on pedestrian and cycle schemes with the largest proportion of this going on a new cycle/pedestrian crossing next to Scarborough Bridge
£300,000 is allocated to safety schemes including improvements near Hob Moor School (changes to signing & lining), at the Kingsway West/Tudor Road junction and at the Cornlands Road/Gale Lane junction

Following a successful bid to the Government’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles, the council has been awarded £800k funding for the installation of rapid charger hubs around the outer ring road and city centre areas over the next two years. The Council will also complete the installation of electric vehicle rapid charging points at ten businesses in York.

Council report lacks transparency!

The Council says that the conversion of tour buses to electric drive was not progressed in 2015/16 due to delays in appointing a contractor to carry out the work. It is proposed to add the £476k grant to the 2016/17 programme to allow the conversion work to be progressed.

Existing “cycle network” click to access

Although funding has been allocated for the installation of electronic “next bus” real time information screens at sub-urban bus stops it is unclear whether the busy stops in Acomb will finally get the facility.

A full list of the scheme due to be completed this year can be seen by clicking here.

Separately the Council is trying to sort out where it goes next with improvements to the cycle network. The Council currently has 141 separate cycles schemes in the pipeline for implementation.

We think this is too many and that they should concentrate resources on providing direct, off road, links on routes with the highest commuter demand. They are taking a step towards that approach at a meeting next week.

Under a newly prioritised list the most urgent schemes are now judged to be:

University Road/Field Lane (near University),
Monkgate roundabout,
York University internal links (Heslington East)
Tower Gardens access gates &
a cross City centre route (e.g. High Petergate / Low Petergate / Colliergate / Fossgate / Walmgate)

Extensions of the expensive orbital cycle path around the A1237 – controversially started near Monks Cross – will now have a low priority.

Council house account makes huge £4.3 million surplus in York

The Housing Revenue Account was budgeted to make a surplus of £2,624k in 2015/16.

A report to a meeting taking place today says the estimates were badly wrong

“There has been an overspend of £639k on repairs and maintenance, mainly due to the use of sub-contractors for high value repairs to resolve damp issues at a number of properties.

Mixed views from tenants on housing services in York

This was offset by a number of underspends in

general maintenance (£72k),
the painting programme (£150k)
decoration allowances (£49k) plus
£178k on utilities,
£436k from delays in capital schemes that are funded from revenue,
£248k lower than budgeted cost of capital,
£107k of additional interest income and
£257k from lower than budgeted levels of arrears and bad debts.

This resulted in an overall surplus of £4,344k and therefore an underspend of £1,720k”.

Tenants area likely to be unhappy.

There have been complaints about poor maintenance standards on some amenity and garage areas while requests for improved car parking provision on many estates are taking an excessive time to process.

The Council needs to tackle these issues quickly now that it has the funds available

Garage areas are neglected in many estates

York Council debts creeping up

The latest figures published this week show that the total Council debt stands at £319 million.

Borrowing May 2016

It is forecast to peak at £350 million in 2017 with new commitments like the Community Stadium, the York Central development and Guildhall office project all set to add to the overall debt.

Other projects like the so called community hub being constructed at Burnholme and the rest of the elderly person’s accommodation building programme could also add to the debt burden.

The figures mean that, in 2017, every Council taxpayer will pay £36 in interest charges on the borrowing.

The Council has been criticised for failing to get expenditure – and borrowing – under control with a string of recent decisions adding to the burden being placed on taxpayers.

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