No freebies for York Labour Councillor

 At least one member of the Labour Cabinet is apparently now showing restraint in accepting hospitality.

According to the Councils web site serial party goer Cllr Crisp hasn’t received any hospitality since October 2013.

In the same period Council Leader has declared 23 instances of hospitality

The Deputy Leader Cllr Simpson Laing has accepted a similar number of freebies including two meals from John Lewis. She makes no declaration for foreign travel although it had previously been reported that the British Council was picked up the tab for her trips to Strasbourg.

With dozens of Tour de France VIP tickets having been available recently, residents will be keeping a close eye on declarations made by both Councillors and officers over the next few days.

At the other end of the scale Cllr “two jobs” Williams has not received any hospitality at all during the 3 years that he has been a Councillor. Probably doesn’t have time, given that as well as being a Cabinet member, he tries to hold down a full time job and is also a magistrate.

Senior Officers also now publish a list of expenses that they receive from the Council. The May list can be found on their web site and is unexceptionable part from one air flight costing over £300.

The Council hasn’t published details of Councillors travel expense claims since March.

Kings Square launch

Council house rent arrears in York

Council house rent arrears in York click for source document

Council house rent arrears in York click for source document

The increasingly ubiquitous Cllr Burton has taken to the York Press today to tell us that rent arrears have increased since the abolition of the spare room subsidy (bedroom tax).

Sadly for him that simply isn’t true.

 

The actual figures can be found on the Councils web site (click graphic).

They show that, with the improvement on the economy, fewer tenants are now in arrears than was the case 3 years ago.

In total 1017 tenants were affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy.

The government awarded the York Council £88,730.96 to offset any hardship that may have been caused by the change to benefit arrangements.

The total amount of discretionary housing payment spent on ‘removal of the spare room subsidy’ cases this financial year is £42,344.74.

154 tenants received payments.

NB. The Labour Council recently arbitrarily removed 2400 people from the housing waiting list.

 

Council frozen into inactivity on Lendal Bridge failings

We are still receiving a large number of adverse comments from visitors who have been caught out by the ANPR cameras on Lendal Bridge

A selection is reproduced below.

Democracy2

None of the Cabinet Councillors responsible is prepared to respond publicly to the criticisms and the local media increasingly adopt a supine approach to Labour’s excesses.

The Press haven’t even published the footfall figures, which were released last week, and which showed a 12% drop in the number of visitors in the City since the traffic restrictions were introduced.

Disillusion with the local democratic system is resulting in residents shunning the Councils activities.

-The annual “democracy week” attracted low attendances.

– Few residents attend the new ward forums

– The much vaunted (and expensive) web casting of Cabinet meetings attracts a tiny audience

– While the so called “housing week” events attracted in the main only officials and Labour members.

The Councils procession from the Guildhall to its new offices attracted City wide derision.

So it does raise the question of what residents can do, in a democracy, if their views are totally ignored by an inflexible Council leadership?

In the end, the answer will be to ensure that it never happens again.

Reintroduction of the “so called” committee system where decisions are take (at meetings open to the public) by all party groups, looks increasingly attractive.

Cabinet/Executive members have no delegated authority to act under such a system.

We will see if this option finds its way into the party manifestos for the local elections in 2015.

Sadly other options for reinvigorating the democratic system in the City (annual elections and smaller wards) have so far been rejected by the Boundary Commission

In the meantime those who have suffered through the bad planning of new traffic restrictions, who are appalled at the profligate expenditure of the Council, who oppose the ridiculous plan to increase the City’s size by 25% over the next 15 years, who fear the impact that new de-icing schedules will have on safety or who reject the idea that 20 mph is the right speed limit for all urban roads, should continue to make their views known to local Labour Councillors.

There is evidence that’s some of them are now beginning to question the style and content of the Alexander leadership.

Only 18 months to the next Council election. For some businesses though they will come too late.

Recent feedback includes these comments
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Media and Labour Councillor in geography failure

Westview Close

Westview Close

Yorkshire Post and York Press readers will today be wondering why a Westfield Labour Councillor was given a platform to sound off about a housing development which he obviously thought was in his ward.

As we reported several weeks ago, a planning Inspector has overturned a Council decision and has allowed a small 8 home development to be built on Westview Close.

Westview Close is actually located in the Rural West ward, adjacent to the Civil Service Sports field.

It is about 1 mile away from the Westfield Ward.

"daffy" moment for Labour

“daffy” moment for Labour

It appears that the media have provoked “local” Westfield ward Councillor Dafydd Williams to condemn the decision amidst a confused diatribe about the need to establish a “Green Belt” boundary.

We have news for him. There is a Green Belt boundary and it is protected by the government.

All that has changed over the last year, is that Labour have proposed taking greenfield sites, like the Civil Service Sports field, out of the Green Belt.

Council service satisfaction levels down as £1.4 million now allocated to pay for Tour De France start,

Public satisfaction with the way that the Labour Council is performing is dropping according to the authorities own figures.

Around 4000 residents responded to a Council survey. The percentage satisfied with the way that the Council runs things dropped from 63% to 54% in just 12 months.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge


The results need to be viewed with caution given the volatility of public opinion – and the likely sample bias on a post back survey – but other polls tell a similar story.

The Council could have taken the opportunity to test public opinion on a range of controversial issues such as:

• The proposed cuts to the number of roads being gritted this winter and the planned removal of self help salt bins.

• It’s plans to expand the size of the City by 25% over the next 15 years

• Changes to bus services and its refusal to publish reliability figures

• The bungled changes to refuse collection arrangements.

• Secret “behind closed doors” decision making.

• The introduction of wide area 20 mph speed limits

• The Lendal Bridge and Coppergate traffic restrictions.

Without these figures the Council may find it difficult to understand why its reputation is suffering.

Meanwhile Labour are now admitting that York taxpayers face an enormous £1.4 million bill for hosting the second day start of the Tour De France.

That is over and above the money being taken from existing budgets such as highways resurfacing.

Put in context, the annual repayment costs on the money borrowed to fund this one day event will be over £100,000 or enough to sustain existing winter maintenance (de-icing) standards for the next 20 years.

It is probably not surprising that residents weren’t given the opportunity to comment, in the Council’s survey, on this priority.

Labour fall to 5th place in Acomb poll

Broken rose

Results of a door to door survey in the Hamilton Drive part of Acomb have seen Labour fall to their lowest ever level of support.

Asked which party they would support if there were a Council election tomorrow, only 3% said they would vote Labour.

The Conservatives and UKIP were vying for second place behind the Liberal Democrats who were favored by 40%

The poor Labour showing is put down to problems with the introduction of new waste collection arrangements and threats to reduce the amount of ice clearance undertaken in the neighbourhood.

200 homes in the area were visited by surveyors.

Awkward decision by GMB Trades Union for York Labour Leader

Broken rose

The announcement that the GMB is to cut its donation to the Labour party by 90% is slightly awkward for York Council Leader James Alexander.

He is a member of the GMB

The GMB will cuts its annual donation from £1.25 million to £150,000.

As well as bankrolling the Labours local election campaign in 2011, Unions continue to play a part in the activities of York Labour Councillors.

16 of the present 25 York Labour Councillors declare Trades Union membership on the Councils register of interests.

All but 4 admitted on their election expenses returns, submitted in 2011, that their manifesto costs had been at least partly paid for by UNISON.

When an increase in (paid) time off to pursue Trades Union activities was discussed at a Council meeting in June 2011, five Labour members declared an interest as a result of their Trades Union sponsorship.

NB. Councillors are no longer required to declare non prejudicial interests, at Council meetings, which are contained on the register of Interests.

Full list of Labour Councillors Trades Union links click here