City of York Council going £6m over budget (From York Press)

"CITY leaders in York face missing their budget by £6 million this year as they try to make sweeping savings"

Sweeping savings? Does this mean that, after all those litter bins that Calamity James removed, there'll now be LESS street cleaners to clear up the mess?

Why are we spending money on 20mph zones and face-lifts for the city while leaving peoples basic needs to suffer (care cuts) when did people become less important than items , and you now have gone over budget on things we don't NEED! COYC YOU F*****G IDIOTS

If York Council had not doubled it's affordable housing policy target from 25% to 50% in April 2005, many more houses would have been built resulting in more council tax and new homes bonuses. They lost millions of potential revenue to the council and hundreds of millions to York's economy. The Council now have a far worse housing crisis than they could have had, but, blinkered, ideological politics and the setting of an unworkable, greedy, punitive 50% target killed housebuilding in the city.
The current targets are still too high and do not work in York because of York's land values, but, again the Labour run council are too stupid and stubborn to do the right thing - the target needs to be reduced to 10%. This is the only way to unlock the big sites, and any other measures they are considering is just tinkering around the edges. It's time they listened to the experts for a change !

This is just what Labour do, everywhere, locally and nationally whenever they are elected.

Promise anything to get in. Spend on whatever they want when they are in. Pile up a massive amout of debt, then .... Leave another Party with the job of sorting it all out, until people have forgotton what they are like and they get back in again.

Same pattern repeats itself over and over.

Before you all weigh in with body blows to the ruling Labour group, it would be useful to receive advice about the extent to which national Govt. policy has influenced the situation. I'm not an expert...but can anyone else give some factual information?

pedalling paul wrote:
Before you all weigh in with body blows to the ruling Labour group, it would be useful to receive advice about the extent to which national Govt. policy has influenced the situation. I'm not an expert...but can anyone else give some factual information?

I thought you were an expert!...but wait, you got it wrong at the clifton green junction.The left turn filter lane has been reintroduced, and even with the left turn traffic signal not yet working, there was only a very short queue at 11-15am this morning when I passed ON MY BIKE...yes I do ride a bicycle! cars are already allowed to form 2 lanes. Although only short, the extra left turn lane obviously does make a big difference.

Tory cuts from Eric Piggy Pickles are squeezing UK council budgets.....

Let's blame it on the council!

Just like the morbidly obese person who won't stop cramming pizzas in their grill, York City Council refuses to stop spending extorted money.

Unlike the morbidly obese person, there's no gastric bypass equivalent for local government.

Hey, York City Council. Time to put on the big boy pants, man up, and trim all that blubber back to hard muscle.

Stop being weak. Do it now. No excuses.

Bang goes James' hols.

I bet THAT wasn't in their strategic plan!

Torycouncil2013 wrote:
"Figures going before the authority’s cabinet next week show £1.4 million of savings earmarked for 2011/12 – when the council had to cut £21 million – were missed, although it managed to balanceits books."

It only balanced it's books because of the £1m New Homes Bonus from central government to bail it out. Worryingly Calamity James is already planning on blowing all this in his £3.3m slush fund projects this year.

Most residents won't know while moaning about cuts etc in just 18 months he has racked up a MASSIVE £9 MILLION NEW BORROWING on the tax payers credit card

Can anyone tell me what this has bought?

Slush fund projects designed to tidy up a tired looking city which relies on its appearance for its success. As for Tory criticism, ho ho ho. Your party has no plans other than slashing everything which impinges on the poor and the underprivileged. Local authorities are strapped for cash because your party has cut their funding. You have no concept of public benefit, only private wealth.

Theapplesarecoming wrote:
Why are we spending money on 20mph zones and face-lifts for the city while leaving peoples basic needs to suffer (care cuts) when did people become less important than items , and you now have gone over budget on things we don't NEED! COYC YOU F*****G IDIOTS

What don't we need ? What do we need ? Perhaps you might provide a list. One thing on my list would be a government less dedicated to slashing everything which doesn't benefit its well-heeled funders and supporters. Don't just blame the city council, run for office. After all, they are charged with a near impossible task. Volunteer your services, perhaps go out picking litter. Use public transport and walk in the city rather than drive. At the next election for the city council vote Tory. The others have had a go and seem to please no-one. Then we can get rid of the non-essentials. Fairly soon we will be able to pick our way over broken pavements, strewn with litter past empty shops and cafes because the tourists have long since departed, dismayed at the awful appearance of the city created by a council which knew what its priorities were: merely not to spend money and keep council taxes low. What a sterile political and civic vision.

Alf Garnett wrote:

Theapplesarecoming wrote:
Why are we spending money on 20mph zones and face-lifts for the city while leaving peoples basic needs to suffer (care cuts) when did people become less important than items , and you now have gone over budget on things we don't NEED! COYC YOU F*****G IDIOTS

What don't we need ? What do we need ? Perhaps you might provide a list. One thing on my list would be a government less dedicated to slashing everything which doesn't benefit its well-heeled funders and supporters. Don't just blame the city council, run for office. After all, they are charged with a near impossible task. Volunteer your services, perhaps go out picking litter. Use public transport and walk in the city rather than drive. At the next election for the city council vote Tory. The others have had a go and seem to please no-one. Then we can get rid of the non-essentials. Fairly soon we will be able to pick our way over broken pavements, strewn with litter past empty shops and cafes because the tourists have long since departed, dismayed at the awful appearance of the city created by a council which knew what its priorities were: merely not to spend money and keep council taxes low. What a sterile political and civic vision.

It's a bit harder to pick up litter with less bins to put them in nearby

Hardly surprising.
Alexander can't manage his own bank account.
The labour clowns that run the CYC seem more concerned with bikes than budgets.

I thought Selby Council were bad until I read about this lot

Hoofarted wrote:
Tory cuts from Eric Piggy Pickles are squeezing UK council budgets.....

Let's blame it on the council!

Pathetic....just about as poor as your comments on Lynn Jeffries. I think she lifted the lid on all your buffoonish friends on the council. Yes it is the councils fault....other councils are managing.....but Yorks clowns just simply do no appear to have a clue.

Jazzper wrote:

pedalling paul wrote:
Before you all weigh in with body blows to the ruling Labour group, it would be useful to receive advice about the extent to which national Govt. policy has influenced the situation. I'm not an expert...but can anyone else give some factual information?

I thought you were an expert!...but wait, you got it wrong at the clifton green junction.The left turn filter lane has been reintroduced, and even with the left turn traffic signal not yet working, there was only a very short queue at 11-15am this morning when I passed ON MY BIKE...yes I do ride a bicycle! cars are already allowed to form 2 lanes. Although only short, the extra left turn lane obviously does make a big difference.

I'm not an expert on Local Government finance. As for Clifton Green, join me there in a few months during the morning peak, and together we'll see just how far back the traffic is queuing. Bet you my pension fund that it will be as bad as today, if not worse.

I've heard a rumour that Liam Byrne has already been booked to say a few words when Alexander is booted out of office for gross incompetence.

pedalling paul wrote:

Jazzper wrote:

pedalling paul wrote:
Before you all weigh in with body blows to the ruling Labour group, it would be useful to receive advice about the extent to which national Govt. policy has influenced the situation. I'm not an expert...but can anyone else give some factual information?

I thought you were an expert!...but wait, you got it wrong at the clifton green junction.The left turn filter lane has been reintroduced, and even with the left turn traffic signal not yet working, there was only a very short queue at 11-15am this morning when I passed ON MY BIKE...yes I do ride a bicycle! cars are already allowed to form 2 lanes. Although only short, the extra left turn lane obviously does make a big difference.

I'm not an expert on Local Government finance. As for Clifton Green, join me there in a few months during the morning peak, and together we'll see just how far back the traffic is queuing. Bet you my pension fund that it will be as bad as today, if not worse.

Jazzper I'd take up his bet if I was you, simply cos if you're wrong you lose nothing if you win he's broke. There's a lot of us who would call you a hero for that

Woo Hoo'!

Alf Garnett wrote:

Theapplesarecoming wrote:
Why are we spending money on 20mph zones and face-lifts for the city while leaving peoples basic needs to suffer (care cuts) when did people become less important than items , and you now have gone over budget on things we don't NEED! COYC YOU F*****G IDIOTS

What don't we need ? What do we need ? Perhaps you might provide a list. One thing on my list would be a government less dedicated to slashing everything which doesn't benefit its well-heeled funders and supporters. Don't just blame the city council, run for office. After all, they are charged with a near impossible task. Volunteer your services, perhaps go out picking litter. Use public transport and walk in the city rather than drive. At the next election for the city council vote Tory. The others have had a go and seem to please no-one. Then we can get rid of the non-essentials. Fairly soon we will be able to pick our way over broken pavements, strewn with litter past empty shops and cafes because the tourists have long since departed, dismayed at the awful appearance of the city created by a council which knew what its priorities were: merely not to spend money and keep council taxes low. What a sterile political and civic vision.

we elect the people in charge to make these decisions on our behalf, they have a responsibility not to throw money at vanity projects and the like while taking money from the needy,

the people in charge are regulated by us, by what we think and how we vote, therefore my opinion counts as much as anyone else

in what situation can it possibly be ok (morally) to spend money on anything to do with how the city looks instead of caring for the people who needed the care fund that has been cut?

if you cannot give me a good answer then my opinion is very relevant and i dont need to give a full explanation on how the city should be run as the people in charge should be running it the best way possible,

at the moment they are not

Seems like the council's "stupid ideas machine" which looks a lot like a glorified one-arm-bandit, has been playing havoc with the finances!

However, the situation isn't helped because our country bought in to the whole american-led "climate change" debarcle, which has led to increased taxes on councils for the amount of waste an area produces, which thus means added costs that weren't around 10 years ago.

nearlyman wrote:

Hoofarted wrote:
Tory cuts from Eric Piggy Pickles are squeezing UK council budgets.....

Let's blame it on the council!

Pathetic....just about as poor as your comments on Lynn Jeffries. I think she lifted the lid on all your buffoonish friends on the council. Yes it is the councils fault....other councils are managing.....but Yorks clowns just simply do no appear to have a clue.

If one took the time to look further than ones own bigoted viewpoint. You could see that Nationally, councils are all struggling with the stranglehold placed upon them by central government.

I will now, out of kindness lavish you with a link so as to allow you to peruse the National situation, regarding the suffering local residents are experiencing due to Cuts imposed on them via central government.

"Councils to cut services as funding sliced again! STREETS and parks will be left neglected and libraries will be closed as cash-strapped councils face the daunting task of finding further budget reductions following swingeing cuts to local authority funding by Environment Minister Phil Hogan. Mr Hogan has sliced up to 15 per cent off city and county council grants based on the number of people who have paid the household charge in each of the 32 local authority areas.

Councils that are already operating on shoestring budgets must now decide what services are going to be hit by the reduction in funding which was introduced in recent weeks. Local authorities are funded from various Government grants along with income they generate from commercial rates and charges for goods and services.

The Croke Park Agreement rules out cuts to local authority wage bills and leaves areas such as road maintenance, community development and heritage conservation bearing the brunt of the reduction in the budget."

If only it was "Just York" who were struggling to juggle with the savage cuts imposed on them.

If only the citizens of York felt as obsessively deranges as the few on here who rant and rave about the the elected council, then they may not have been elected with a whopping majority.

Ah, if if if ;-)

''Ones own bigoted viewpoint''.....ha ha ...are you Gordon Brown ? You would appear to have the more bigoted viewpoints judging on your previous posts and personal insults. The entire country knows how your friends left the country in such a dire predicament, as Liam Byrne said in his note to his successor, ''There is no money left''. Quite simply they spent beyond their means, oblivious to the impending global situation. You cannot spend money you have not got and with what little there is, your friends have choices on how to spend it, but as usual, they make the wrong decisions and direct their cuts at the vulnerable to create a politically motivated headline.
Perhaps one should remove ones head from ones sanctiminious posterior and smell the buds of ones red roses.

Who is cllr Levene? You wouldn't be suffering from, dare I say it? delusional internet assumptions. Or the dreaded "P" word. Good grief!

There was no money left due to the wait for this... I will spell it out slowly.... and in CAPS...

GLOBAL BANKING CRISIS! Created by your darling Tory W* Bankers.

P.S. Anger isn't healthy. Especially in the current political climate. The future is bright. Come May, the good ship York will remain steered by Captain Alexander. :-)

.......and then came along Fletcher Christian...........
...................

Hoofarted wrote:
Who is cllr Levene? You wouldn't be suffering from, dare I say it? delusional internet assumptions. Or the dreaded "P" word. Good grief! There was no money left due to the wait for this... I will spell it out slowly.... and in CAPS... GLOBAL BANKING CRISIS! Created by your darling Tory W* Bankers. P.S. Anger isn't healthy. Especially in the current political climate. The future is bright. Come May, the good ship York will remain steered by Captain Alexander. :-)

No, you've got it wrong. This is surely wannabe Labour councillor Owain Gardner?. The Press appear no longer to publish his ludicrous letters so he has resorted to this method.

If the facts in the article are correct and complete, then almost all of this budget hole is accounted for by (a) a rise in the social care bill (up £3.67m), and (b) a reduction in income from commercial waste and parking (down £1.3m). Neither of those are things that short-term budget planning can do much about, and therefore party political point-scoring isn't going to get us very far.

Step 1 is to identify why the rise in the social care bill has happened. More people requiring this care moving to York? More existing residents starting to need it? Step 2 is to try to make a sensible prediction as to where this situation is going LONG TERM and then put it to the electorate. Do we want the existing level of social care provision and bigger council tax bills (and fees for paid-for council services) to pay for it, or a reduction in services and bills held steady. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Either we want these services and have to pay for them, or we want to spend our money on something else and the council services have to go.

As for waste and parking, we've had decades of relentless propaganda about how we should recycle more and drive less. That is now what we're doing, with a consequent reduction on the money we spend on waste disposal and motoring. It always amuses me that governments tell us to do less of an activity that they tax, and then feign surprise and ignorance when their tax revenue falls. In particular, the Lib Dems' anti-motorist jihad has been relentless and concentrated particularly in York. It's even on Wikitravel: "If you're thinking about driving in to York - don't!". Surprise surprise - people are getting the message. So if the council want to continue taking money from visitors to the city, they're going to have to come up with another way. A £2 arrival tax payable at the exit gate to the railway station, perhaps?

Guy Fawkes wrote:
If the facts in the article are correct and complete, then almost all of this budget hole is accounted for by (a) a rise in the social care bill (up £3.67m), and (b) a reduction in income from commercial waste and parking (down £1.3m). Neither of those are things that short-term budget planning can do much about, and therefore party political point-scoring isn't going to get us very far.

Step 1 is to identify why the rise in the social care bill has happened. More people requiring this care moving to York? More existing residents starting to need it? Step 2 is to try to make a sensible prediction as to where this situation is going LONG TERM and then put it to the electorate. Do we want the existing level of social care provision and bigger council tax bills (and fees for paid-for council services) to pay for it, or a reduction in services and bills held steady. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Either we want these services and have to pay for them, or we want to spend our money on something else and the council services have to go.

As for waste and parking, we've had decades of relentless propaganda about how we should recycle more and drive less. That is now what we're doing, with a consequent reduction on the money we spend on waste disposal and motoring. It always amuses me that governments tell us to do less of an activity that they tax, and then feign surprise and ignorance when their tax revenue falls. In particular, the Lib Dems' anti-motorist jihad has been relentless and concentrated particularly in York. It's even on Wikitravel: "If you're thinking about driving in to York - don't!". Surprise surprise - people are getting the message. So if the council want to continue taking money from visitors to the city, they're going to have to come up with another way. A £2 arrival tax payable at the exit gate to the railway station, perhaps?

Can I vote for you? Seriously you've got everything right in this post with reason and logic, you'd actually do the smart decisions....

Hoofarted wrote:
Who is cllr Levene? You wouldn't be suffering from, dare I say it? delusional internet assumptions. Or the dreaded "P" word. Good grief!

There was no money left due to the wait for this... I will spell it out slowly.... and in CAPS...

GLOBAL BANKING CRISIS! Created by your darling Tory W* Bankers.

P.S. Anger isn't healthy. Especially in the current political climate. The future is bright. Come May, the good ship York will remain steered by Captain Alexander. :-)

Deluded Labour stooge ? !!!

Scarlet Pimpernel wrote:

Hoofarted wrote:
Who is cllr Levene? You wouldn't be suffering from, dare I say it? delusional internet assumptions. Or the dreaded "P" word. Good grief!

There was no money left due to the wait for this... I will spell it out slowly.... and in CAPS...

GLOBAL BANKING CRISIS! Created by your darling Tory W* Bankers.

P.S. Anger isn't healthy. Especially in the current political climate. The future is bright. Come May, the good ship York will remain steered by Captain Alexander. :-)

Deluded Labour stooge ? !!!

Insults emerge from a lost argument.
Keep it positive and try and be happy :-)

Guy Fawkes wrote:
If the facts in the article are correct and complete, then almost all of this budget hole is accounted for by (a) a rise in the social care bill (up £3.67m), and (b) a reduction in income from commercial waste and parking (down £1.3m). Neither of those are things that short-term budget planning can do much about, and therefore party political point-scoring isn't going to get us very far.

Step 1 is to identify why the rise in the social care bill has happened. More people requiring this care moving to York? More existing residents starting to need it? Step 2 is to try to make a sensible prediction as to where this situation is going LONG TERM and then put it to the electorate. Do we want the existing level of social care provision and bigger council tax bills (and fees for paid-for council services) to pay for it, or a reduction in services and bills held steady. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Either we want these services and have to pay for them, or we want to spend our money on something else and the council services have to go.

As for waste and parking, we've had decades of relentless propaganda about how we should recycle more and drive less. That is now what we're doing, with a consequent reduction on the money we spend on waste disposal and motoring. It always amuses me that governments tell us to do less of an activity that they tax, and then feign surprise and ignorance when their tax revenue falls. In particular, the Lib Dems' anti-motorist jihad has been relentless and concentrated particularly in York. It's even on Wikitravel: "If you're thinking about driving in to York - don't!". Surprise surprise - people are getting the message. So if the council want to continue taking money from visitors to the city, they're going to have to come up with another way. A £2 arrival tax payable at the exit gate to the railway station, perhaps?

Great post Guy, I still say that this council along with many others could be run more efficiently though, leaving enough money to pay for social care etc without cuts to visible services or big tax rises.

Hoofarted wrote:

Scarlet Pimpernel wrote:

Hoofarted wrote:
Who is cllr Levene? You wouldn't be suffering from, dare I say it? delusional internet assumptions. Or the dreaded "P" word. Good grief!

There was no money left due to the wait for this... I will spell it out slowly.... and in CAPS...

GLOBAL BANKING CRISIS! Created by your darling Tory W* Bankers.

P.S. Anger isn't healthy. Especially in the current political climate. The future is bright. Come May, the good ship York will remain steered by Captain Alexander. :-)

Deluded Labour stooge ? !!!

Insults emerge from a lost argument.
Keep it positive and try and be happy :-)

Ceremonial Chief Exec £150,000k+
Directorate leader £200,000k+
Council Limo £60k+
Other assorted wastes of money £Yourguessk+

The face workers shouldn't be axed, the highest earners should. People with enormous salaries and pensions.

The Weeble might argue that you have to pay the salaries to get the people. I would argue that is not necessary or wise in the public sector. There are public sector pay caps in place in other countries.

'Captain Alexander'??? He would have struggled to get the Titanic out of dry dock. He is nothing but a self-aggrandising individualist who is more interested in power but hasn't the brains to wield it (check out his twitter feed - @jmalexander1982 - It's like the ramblings of a spoilt kid with a nasty grievance against society who is determined to make anyone who doesn't do his skulduggery and nefarious bidding pay dearly). Along with his crony buddy Crisp, both 'new' labourites are an utter disgrace to the principles and history of the Labour party and a huge complement to champagne capitalism, the type which has left the country where it is financially.

Well, at least the weather is nice today.

LOLsters & PVM

Money envy is almost as cancerous as Alexander envy.

Beautiful day indeed. Sunshine; Smiling people and a well managed City at last :-)

Good day sunshine dum dee dum

Hoofarted wrote:
Money envy is almost as cancerous as Alexander envy.

Beautiful day indeed. Sunshine; Smiling people and a well managed City at last :-)

Good day sunshine dum dee dum

Nice to know you give a toss James.

Take it from reserves......... After all they managed to find over £40 million to build their fancy new HQ from this bottomless pit in the depths of a recession so why not just keep spending them
I would rather they propped up services and sold the fancy new HQ rather than cut services

meme wrote:
Take it from reserves......... After all they managed to find over £40 million to build their fancy new HQ from this bottomless pit in the depths of a recession so why not just keep spending them
I would rather they propped up services and sold the fancy new HQ rather than cut services

Ah yes but if they've got all their forecasts right, the HQ doesn't cost more than the quote and they can sell all the old offices to developers who'll turn them into hotels, it'll make enough savings in thirty years time to pay for its self just in time for it to need a major refurbishment.

Pete the Brickie says... So they say but I dont believe a word they say about their finances or ability to manage them!!
As for posts that could be lost
Do they still have cycle training managers?
People employed to get old people to walk more?
Lots of part time people who actually get nothing done?
look at every post and if not cruciasl to the city rellocate the monies to crucial services
Stop wasting a million on 20 mph zones
Stop spending on useless cycle 'improvements'

Its funny how all these tory people on here say that York council cant sort out Yorks overspend by borrowing. I see the TORY/ LIB Goverment wait for it, has BORROWED and Extra £20 BILLION POUNDS so far this year. So much for your Tory/ Lib preaching about savings and borrowing.

who are ya wrote:
Its funny how all these tory people on here say that York council cant sort out Yorks overspend by borrowing. I see the TORY/ LIB Goverment wait for it, has BORROWED and Extra £20 BILLION POUNDS so far this year. So much for your Tory/ Lib preaching about savings and borrowing.

It's hilarious isnt it :-) I mean, the irony is, it's the tories that are strangling councils up and down the country with cuts and many of them are suffering due to this.

meme wrote:
Pete the Brickie says... So they say but I dont believe a word they say about their finances or ability to manage them!!
As for posts that could be lost
Do they still have cycle training managers?
People employed to get old people to walk more?
Lots of part time people who actually get nothing done?
look at every post and if not cruciasl to the city rellocate the monies to crucial services
Stop wasting a million on 20 mph zones
Stop spending on useless cycle 'improvements'

Sorry, my earlier post contained sarcasm, I totally agree with you. :)

Hoofarted wrote:
Tory cuts from Eric Piggy Pickles are squeezing UK council budgets.....

Let's blame it on the council!

Spoken like one of the talent vacuums that are running this city.

Don't try lying your way out of the inescapable truth - we are being led by people like Alexander, Crisp and Gunnell that just don't have the intellectual ability to carry out their tasks. They're people of hugely limited ability that have got important positions but have no qualifications to be able to carry out what is required.