d.
To request officers obtain the
necessary permissions to extend the current temporary footstreet
arrangements, which are due to expire in September 2021 so that the
127 of businesses currently operating street cafes can continue to
operate in the interim and so that all available options are then
presented to Executive in November to consider the future operation
of the footstreets. This will include extending the
additional blue badge parking provision that has already been
provided.
e.
To note the number of mitigations
(found in paragraph 40 and Annex 1) enacted since the approval of
the Temporary TRO to help support Blue Badge Holder access to the
city centre.
Reason: This will allow Executive to consider future
arrangements of the footstreets extensions together with further
improvements to accessibility in the city centre. The
extension of the temporary orders will allow the current
arrangements initiated in response to the Governments COVID 19
guidance and Pavement Café License legislation to continue
until Executive have been able to formally consider the statutory
consultation and feedback on the further mitigation
options.
f.
To approve the extension of the
Temporary TRO for continued one way operation of Coppergate with
contraflow cycle lane until 19 December 2021 pending consultation
on the potential changes to the arrangements including removal of
the restrictions and to approve the removal of the current
pedestrian barriers from the southern footway
immediately.
Reason: This will allow Executive/Executive Member to
consider the results of engagement with stakeholders prior to
making a decision in line with recent directions from the
Department for Transport. Pedestrian barriers are no longer
considered necessary at this location with the removal of social
distancing restrictions.
g.
To request officers to continue the
engagement with disabled people’s advocacy groups and to
engage with the Human Rights and Equalities Board on the emerging
ideas from the summer’s strategic review of city centre
access and parking and any additional suggestions for improving
access in the city centre from the statutory
consultation.
Reason: To ensure we work to improve access to the city
centre for all.
h.
To note that reports will be brought
to November 2021 Executive on the future operation of the
footstreets, My City Centre, Review of Access and Parking and the
Future Funding of Dial a Ride.
Reason: This also allows the Executive to consider the
decision on the future operation of the footstreets in light of the
My City Centre and the Strategic Review of Access in
full.
i.
To consult and engage with a
scrutiny on the future operation of the footstreets, accessibility
of the city centre and the surrounding constraints before November
Executive meeting.
Reason: To ensure that consideration is given to all
ongoing constraints and opportunities regarding the extension of
city centre footstreets.
j.
To approve the implementation of
additional dropped kerbs within the city centre footstreets around
pavement cafes as mitigation by prioritising these locations as
part of the LTP programme.
Reason: to mitigate the impact of the continued presence
of café licences on mobility aid access where some premises
may not now be accessible without considerable detours.
k.
To allocate £20k from the
Covid Recovery contingency to support York Wheels/Dial and Ride and
Shopmobility to promote their services to potential
users.
Reason: In recognition of the critical role they have
played and will continue to play in the recovery of the city
centre.
Background
5.
Executive has received monthly
reports since May 2020 to provide updates on activities in response
to Covid-19 and plans for recovery and renewal. Following the
updates to the Council Plan 2019-2023 at May’s Executive, the
ongoing activities required to respond to Covid-19 are included
within the council plan. For this reason, the context of Covid
response is now considered to be part of our ongoing operating
context. Unless there is a specific need, decisions in respect of
Covid response will be made through normal decision-making routes
appropriate to the relevant functions of the council.
6.
It remains absolutely clear that the
impact of the pandemic will continue to influence much of the
council’s work for years to come. The response of the city
has been incredible, across all sectors and communities, and York
should be proud of how it has responded so far. The challenge
remains but there is every reason to be optimistic that the city
will continue to respond strongly with kindness, compassion and
resilience.
7.
The last 19 months have seen the
greatest level of disruption to people’s lives since the
Second World War. The need to isolate, to reduce contact and the
potential for transmission, has impacted on everyone as
individuals, as communities, organisations and businesses. The
council has also had to adapt almost every aspect of service
delivery to continue to support residents’ lives. The
following data relates to the position in July 2021.
8.
A fundamental role of the Council is
to support the Public Health response to health emergencies.
Throughout the pandemic, the council’s Public Health team,
supported by a wide range of colleagues, have co-ordinated the
city-wide pandemic response from a public health perspective. At
the beginning of the pandemic, this involved sourcing and
distributing PPE and sanitiser from around the world, advising on
its use, arranging local testing, developing local trace and
contact arrangements and advising on the safe reopening of services
and city activities. Any one of these activities would be
challenging, but the combination of requirements upon the team,
themselves having to work in different ways to avoid infection, has
been extraordinarily difficult and required a huge level of ongoing
commitment and resilience. Working closely as part of a network
with NHS, police and other emergency response organisations, in
liaison with the Local Resilience Forum, council teams have
successfully co-ordinated activity through the multiple stages of
the pandemic, supporting a cohesive city-wide
response.
9.
From the early stages of lockdown,
it was clear that it was essential that communities were supported
to ensure everyone, including the most vulnerable residents, had
the essentials they needed. Our Communities teams, along with staff
redeployed form other areas, established a network of hubs to
ensure that people had food and medication, and had contact with
people to ensure ongoing support. This was especially important for
Extremely Clinically Vulnerable people needing to shield. Following
an appeal for volunteers, thousands of residents came forward to
support their neighbours, helping to deliver much needed support
and supplies. A helpline was created to ensure people needing help
could get in touch, Feedback from residents suggested that knowing
there were people around who could provide assistance gave a
significant sense of reassurance and reduced the feeling of
isolation.
10. Supporting vulnerable adults and older people
also presented a huge set of challenges. Early in the pandemic,
adult social care teams worked rapidly with colleagues in the acute
sector ensure people who could be moved out of hospital were found
suitable support, freeing up bed space for the predicted rises in
patients hospitalised with Covid. This required quickly setting up
new processes and arrangements which considered the different range
of risks presented within the pandemic. Because of the risks of
infection, the capacity with the care sector had to be carefully
managed to reduce onward transmission. The care sector itself was
immediately put under extreme pressure with staff being impacted by
the infection, reducing operational capacity just as demand was
rising.
11. The ongoing impact across adult social care
continues to be felt with increased demand across many areas of the
service. Social care teams are continuing to work flat out to
respond to this increase in demand, with support being provided
from other council teams as far as possible.
12.
Ensuring that all residents
are safe from harm remains one of the key responsibilities of the
council, no matter what context we’re working within. The
council’s Children’s Services have been on an
improvement journey, and despite the significant challenges of the
pandemic, have continued to develop practice which further supports
the safety of all children. Through the necessary changes to
operational activities during Covid, multiple opportunities for
more flexible and agile working practices have been identified. The
effective working of the safeguarding partnership has recently been
described by the independent scrutineer in her contribution to the
Safeguarding Partnership Annual report, providing assurance
“that the Partnership is running as it should, that people
remain committed to making it work and to do so
successfully”.
13.
Supporting schools and Early
Years settings to operate safely within the national advice has
been a huge undertaking. Teams have supported getting testing set
up in schools and advised on social distancing measures alongside
how best to ensure educational provision is continued, whether
virtually or face to face. With constantly changing national
guidance, often received very late, the need to working within and
between schools has been significant, helped by the strong
partnership already in place within York’s educational
system. The universities and colleges have faced many challenges,
in keeping students safe whilst their studies continue, requiring
the Education teams alongside public health colleagues to support
tailored testing and vaccination programmes for the different
institutions.
14. The need to get almost the entire council
workforce working in a completely different way created significant
challenges for all our back office functions. Providing ongoing
support to front line services was essential. Many staff were
redeployed to support critical functions, whilst moving to remote
working processes. A huge information and data need was supported
by Business Intelligence, underpinning test and trace and
vaccination programmes, as well as epidemiological information to
support the councils overall response. Communications officers have
provided a vast array of information across multiple channels to
keep residents and partner organisations as informed as possible.
Democratic services colleagues set up processes to allow remote
meetings to happen and continue democratic decision-making, also
delivering the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Elections in May
2021.
15. Officer delivered the processing of thousands of
applications for business support and individual funding, described
in more detail below. Trading standards colleagues took on new
responsibilities around ensuring Covid-compliance of businesses in
the city, in parallel with changed requirements related to Brexit
for Environmental Health functions.
16. The above provides only a brief sample of the
many examples of changed working within the council. The
council’s role to support wellbeing of residents has been at
the fore, working alongside NHS colleagues on the frontline of
treating and protecting people. The partnership working between the
council and NHS has been absolutely essential. Through the
necessity of Covid response, greater understanding of the pressures
across all organisations has developed and will support the ongoing
work to create local health and care systems which are more closely
aligned.
17. Residents, volunteers, key workers, council
officers and those working across all sectors of the city have all
pulled together to support people in need, allowing critical
functions to operate in the most challenging situations. Colleagues
in the NHS have continued to go above and beyond to save lives and
support wellbeing alongside our own public health and social care
teams. Our frontline officers have ensured the city has remained a
safe place for people to live, visit and work, and our back office
functions have faced unprecedented demands to process support for
businesses and residents and keep the council operating. Of course,
at the same time as these pressures, staff as individuals have
faced the same challenges as everyone, supporting their own
families, dealing with isolation and uncertainty, and trying to
live in a different way.
18. Not only should the city be proud of its
response, but it should also recognise the strength of the
collective efforts and partnership working which has underpinned
that response. It was a clear illustration of how different sectors
and groups can work alongside each other, delivering outcomes which
make the most significant differences to people’s
lives.
19. At the heart of all these efforts has been a
focus on the wellbeing of York’s residents. As the city
continues to face the challenges the pandemic brings, this focus
must remain, to ensure we build back better and stronger as a city,
for all our residents.
20.
The council is working with
city partners to identify appropriate ways of thanking and
recognising the work of all those across the city who have
supported York’s residents through the pandemic.
Latest Outbreak Update
21.
The latest validated rate of
new Covid cases per 100,000 of population for the period 4.8.21 to
10.8.21 in York was 327.9 (692 cases). The national and regional
averages at this date were 306.1 and 381.6 respectively (using data
published on Gov.uk on 15.8.21).
22.
As at 15.8.21 a total of
149,922 CYC residents have had the first dose of the vaccine.
This represents 84.1% of the estimated adult (16+) population of
York (ONS 2020)
23.
As at 15.8.21 a total of
124,465 CYC residents have had both doses of the vaccine.
This represents 69.8% of the estimated adult (16+) population of
York (ONS 2020). Since the last update, 16 and 17 years olds are
now eligible for vaccines, so the estimated 16+ population of York
is now being used as the denominator, instead of the 18+
population.
Recovery Updates
Financial Inclusion
24.Throughout the pandemic, the council’s
priority has been to support the wellbeing of residents.
Recognising the financial pressures which have emerged for many
residents, the council has put in place a number of measures to
support those most in need.
25.
The council provides a broad
range of welfare support to residents through the York Financial
Assistance Scheme, Council Tax Support (CTS) and Discretionary
Housing Payments (DHP). The breadth of this support was increased
across 2020 to help residents during the Covid-19
pandemic.
26.In April 2020, emergency decisions were taken to
allocate an additional
£1m of
support which is administered and managed through the York
Financial Assistance Scheme, within which the criteria was widened
to include all residents finding themselves in financial hardship
during the pandemic. The widened fund saw contributions to pay for
the Free School Meals (FSM) vouchers during the October 2020 half
term holiday, community hubs, mobile phones and internet, and
community awards for items such as white goods, furniture and
carpets. £839k was spend in 2020/2021.
27.
The council also supplemented
the Winter Support Grant to provide £547k to support
residents with food and utilities, and essential digital
connections.
28.
£340k
of isolation grants were processed, alongside Council Tax Support
for 13,078 residents during 2020/2021.
29.
A full
report on the council’s financial inclusion work can be found
here:https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=6228
Supporting York’s businesses
30.
To support residents, the
Council has also taken measures to support businesses and ensure
the continuity of jobs within the city as far as possible. Prior to
the Covid pandemic, York’s economy had been performing
strongly, with steady jobs growth, productivity as measured by GVA
per-hour-worked well above levels elsewhere in the region, and the
prospect of further growth driven by progress on the key York
Central development. There were some concerns around the global
changes being seen in high street economies and their impacts on
York’s city centre, but vacancy levels were amongst the
lowest in the country and the visitor economy was growing strongly,
with a raft of new hotels and attractions in the
planning.
31. As the pandemic broke, with the first UK cases
seen in a York hotel, we rapidly assessed the risks to the York
economy, identifying 30,700 jobs and
£1.1bn GVA in high risk
industries, representing 25% of jobs and 17% of GVA. In particular
we considered that “retail of non-essential items (were)
at considerable risk, especially in stores rather than
online… accommodation and food services (at) significant
risk…arts entertainment and leisure like to be an early
impact”. Beyond the consumer economy, we identified risks
for commercial landlords, disruption in the education sector and
significant impacts on public transport and construction. All of
these risks proved to be accurate, however the potential impacts on
jobs and productivity have been mitigated by the provision of
grants and other support. These are summarised below.
32. In recent years, York’s economic
development resource had become fragmented, with public-funded
staff spread across CYC, Make it York and the Universities and
Colleges, and multiple strong private sector networks such as the
Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and York
BID. With such a broad range of impacts across sectors, it was
clear that we needed a strong coordinated response, and early
efforts were therefore focussed on drawing all of these partners
together to share intelligence on the emerging impacts, increase
direct communication with businesses, and work together to develop
our local policy response. This partnership approach has endured,
leading to a reconfiguration of the CYC/MIY resources into one team
and continued joint working with Higher York partners and the
business networks which is now driving our longer- term economic
strategy.
33.Within a week of the first lockdown at the end
of March 2020, Councillors had committed £1.14m of CYC funds
to supporting small and micro businesses which were beyond the
scope of Government grant support. We provided free FSB membership
to over 600 businesses, giving access to a wide range of free
helplines and practical support, and made available grants of up to
£1,000 to small and micro businesses through our Micro Grants
scheme. Independent evaluation has shown that these commitments
supported 1,114 enterprises, saved around 300 businesses from
failing and protected the income of over 500 households across
York. The approach also provided new insight into the importance of
small and micro businesses for the York economy, and the wide range
of sectors and industries in which such enterprises operate. This
too is now informing our future plans for the city.
34. Government provided over £100m in support
to York businesses through various grant rounds, rates relief and
loans. The grants and rates relief were administered locally and
our Rates team worked tirelessly to channel funds as quickly as
possible to over 3,500 businesses across the city. York was
consistently in the top 5% of Local Authorities in terms of volume
and speed of distribution of grants. As the pandemic developed and
more grants were provided, our approach of passing funds on rapidly
and targeting discretionary funds at those excluded from the main
funds has shown to have been very effective. Many businesses across
the UK are still complaining that they have had little help,
however in York the majority of businesses have been assisted with
grants. It is worth noting that York is the UK city that has
seen the smallest rise in unemployment, as measured by Centre for
Cities. This has been no accident, and reflects the principles we
have developed through the pandemic of supporting those most in
need, recognising the value of small employers and self-
employment, and of working with business organisations such as the
FSB, Indie York and the Institute of Directors to inform delivery
on the ground.
35. In July 2020, the Executive agreed a 1 year
strategy to provide business support, help with skills and
employment, and to make adaptations to the city centre public realm
and transport arrangements to help our businesses trade. These
measures have helped the city centre to provide a warm and safe
welcome to residents and visitors, with the effectiveness of our
support shown in measures of footfall and spending which put York
among the best performing cities. We have seen both a reengagement
by York’s residents with our city centre and huge interest,
when allowed by covid restrictions, by visitors. York is
consistently named as one of the top UK staycation locations, with
our hotels and attractions reporting strong performance this
summer. Our independent shops, championed by Indie York, are also
trading well, with a good mix of local people and visitors as their
customers.
36.
Beyond the city centre
economy, our business engagement has helped track the progress of
businesses across the full breadth of the York economy. A series of
roundtables across a dozen different industrial sectors has helped
channel support into financial and legal services, manufacturing,
food and drink, creative and cultural businesses, the bio- economy
and foundation services. These many groups have helped to develop
our emerging Skills and Employment strategy and will play an
important role in shaping our economic strategy. They have also
helped us to maintain a broad understanding of the impacts of the
pandemic lockdown beyond those most visible in our city
centre. In recent months, as we have begun the final phase of
grant distribution, we have been able to focus on those still
impacted by the lockdown such as language schools, performance and
event venues, community halls, and those dependent on international
travel.
37.
Through our effective use of
the previous allocations of discretionary funding from the
Government’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), we have now
received an additional tranche of £1.4m of funds. This must,
in part, fund £400k of existing commitments to support
adaptations in Parliament Street and Exhibition Square, to provide
help for events and festivals as they re-emerge from the pandemic,
and to back trader-led initiatives across the city. The extension
of Step 4 to 19 July added 28 days of additional restrictions for a
wide range of businesses. In consultation with Executive Members,
it was agreed to make further payments to businesses still impacted
to provide a further 28 days of support at existing levels at a
total cost of approximately £145k.
38.
The Council unanimously
passed a motion in support of “Protecting Live Music
Space” in December 2019, recognising that a thriving,
vibrant, diverse and responsibly managed early-evening, evening and
night-time offer is a crucial part of the city’s economy, and
calling for York Music Venues Network to be established and
supported.
At its March 2020 meeting, Executive recognised the importance of
York’s live music venues as an integral part of the
city’s cultural offer and agreed to a range of measures
including a commitment to work closely with the York Music Venues
Network to assist in supporting and developing this crucial part of
the city’s night-time economy.
39.Clearly, music venues have been significantly
impacted by the pandemic. In discussions with the York Music Venues
Network, it has become clear that, while venues have been receiving
grant funds through the Arts Council, support is now diminishing
and local venues are facing a very challenging financial period.
They are still only able to open with restricted audience numbers
and are reliant on the live music industry returning to previous
touring patterns and levels over the coming year. To ensure that
venues can survive, it is proposed to make a further £100k
available to them to meet ongoing costs while there is a shortfall
in income and to help them reopen and reengage with audiences.
Applications would be sought from individual venues, looking to
extend the support previously provided by the Arts Council through
the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund and using the same
criteria (see Arts
Council website),
without the restrictions on infrastructure and buildings. Beyond
individual venue support, some funding would also be made available
to YMVN to support activities which would help venues to reengage
with audiences and attract people back to live music. Allocations
from this fund would be delegated to the Assistant Director
(Customer and Communities), in consultation with the Executive
Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities.
40.
There remains a commitment to
provide £500k for a business support scheme enabling small
and micro businesses to relaunch and refresh with help from within
the York business community. Our proposal would enable businesses
to think through the key issues they face before accessing local
specialist resource to begin implementing these changes. It is our
intention that the advice and support received by micro and small
businesses accessing the voucher scheme is locally-based (City of
York local authority area) to encourage more business-to-business
activity in York, keeping spend local and raising awareness of what
professional business support services exist locally.
41.
The scheme would seek to
match businesses looking to further develop their products and
services with local firms able to help with advice and
expertise. For example, a landscaping company might need help
with developing its marketing, financial planning and
recruitment. The voucher scheme would help them define what
help they need, put them in touch with a range of local providers,
and then pay for the support they have chosen. All those
involved would benefit – the landscaping firm through the
advice and help it received, and the specialist advisors through
the voucher payments.
42.
ARG funding must be spent by
local authorities by the end of March 2022 and therefore it is
important that the Council’s business voucher scheme gets
underway during the early autumn to ensure delivery. The scheme
will be managed by the Council’s Economic Growth team,
however to ensure maximum take-up in the city’s small
business community and provide the temporary resources essential to
ensure the scheme can deliver quickly, it is proposed to utilise
10% of the budget allocation to procure private sector support for
process design, eligibility checks, quality assurance on each
business services provider, and a diagnostic for businesses to
effectively identify their support needs.
43.Delivery of a York-based business support
voucher scheme continues City of York Council’s innovative
approach to business support, and builds upon the success of the
Council’s Micro Business Grants Scheme which saw grants of up
to £1,000 provided to 1,114 small, micro and one-person
businesses during the early stages of the pandemic. Findings from
an independent evaluation of the Micro Grants Scheme demonstrated
that a little investment in small enterprises can go a long way,
with the pay-off for some being beyond expectation with businesses
winning lucrative contracts, gaining international customers,
entering a new world of technology and shifting their whole
business model to deal in the virtual, rather than the physical.
The evaluation also identified further areas of support required by
businesses to improve their competitiveness – access to
finance; sales; PR and marketing; business planning; health and
wellbeing; leadership and management; skills support and digital
and ICT. These support areas will be targeted through the
Council’s voucher scheme.
44.
With eligible businesses
receiving a business support voucher up to the value of
£1,000 to spend on eligible support services, at least 450
businesses will be supported by the Council’s voucher scheme,
with many more York businesses benefitting due to the take up of
their services. Project outputs will be evaluated following the
completion of the voucher scheme, with an update provided back to
the Council’s Executive.
45.
These proposals can be summarised as
follows:
|
Additional ARG Allocation
|
1,405,725
|
|
Less: Existing commitments
|
(400,000)
|
|
Additional restart payments
|
(145,000)
|
|
Remaining funds
|
860,725
|
|
Voucher scheme
|
500,000
|
|
Music Venues
|
100,000
|
|
To allocate
|
260,725
|
46.The remaining £260k provides something of
a buffer should there be further restrictions on the economy, or
should the provision of these amounts bring forward other
businesses which are facing particular challenges. It could also be
used to supplement any of the existing commitments outlined above,
should further funds be needed. The deadline for spend is 31 March
2022, and a final allocation will be brought to Executive at the
end of 2021 to ensure that all of the ARG funds are utilised as any
unspent funds will be clawed back byGovernment.
47.
Executive is asked to agree
to allocation of:
·
£500k to the business voucher
support scheme
·
£100k to support York’s
music venues
City Centre Access
48.
In light of the Covid 19
pandemic, it has also been necessary to make some changes to access
arrangements within the city centre. When the pandemic hit, in
order to allow social distancing, it was necessary to reduce access
for vehicles into the city centre to allow pedestrians and people
using mobility aids to use the road space as well as pavements. The
city’s street space has also been used to create outside
space for restaurants and cafés, with the extension of
café licenses, supporting local businesses and city centre
economy, as part of the city’s continued recovery from the
pandemic. These decisions have been made in the context of
the Council’s duty to protect public spaces, promote the
economic viability of the city centre, reduce carbon emissions and
ensure accessibility under the Equalities Act.
49.
A range of temporary
restrictions are coming to an end and it is necessary to consider
the extension of these arrangements in line with Government policy
to ensure the continuity of safe city centre activities. Extensive
consultation is ongoing with city centre users, particularly
disabled people, to ensure that the subsequent arrangements for the
longer term (beyond these temporary measures) are as accessible as
possible for everyone, whilst recognising the best methods to
support York’s economy and ensure the city centre is
safe.
50.In
response to the COVID Pandemic and to support recovery on 8th June
and 6th July through an officer decision, the Council
established a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order to remove the blue
badge exemption from Blake Street, St. Helen’s Square,
Lendal, Goodramgate, Deangate and College Green, Church Street,
King’s Square and Colliergate. Changes were also made
at Castlegate and Fossgate to create space for social distancing,
outdoor queuing and café licenses. Coppergate was made
one way to create additional space for pedestrians.
51.Simplified
Pavement Café licenses were introduced by the Government to
support the economic recovery of hospitality industry in response
to Covid and were due to expire on 30/09/2021.
52.The Government recently
announced that the Simplified Pavement Café Licences will
continue for another year until 30/09/2022 to continue to aid the
economic recovery and any future COVID restrictions that may be
required.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jenrick-confirms-extension-of-pavement-licences-to-help-high-streets-recover
53.The
Council also extended the hours of operation of the footstreets to
8pm to further facilitate these café licenses and support
local businesses.
54.Our
approach to creating new spaces for businesses to trade, whilst
maintaining social distancing has been crucial to ensuring that
York’s city centre food and drink sector remains as
profitable as possible in light of the various Covid-19
restrictions imposed by Government to limit infection rates. By
providing a safe and welcoming environment for residents and
visitors to enjoy York’s nationally-renowned hospitality
offer, in addition to the Council’s direct economic response,
we have supported city centre businesses to survive the pandemic
and ensure that the local economy and in turn local service
delivery is protected. Businesses are now able to enjoy the
benefits of an increase in city centre footfall and visitor spend
above pre-pandemic levels according to data provided by Centre for
Cities’ High Streets Recovery Tracker.
55.The
introduction of the Temporary TRO has been well received by the
local business community, due to the difficulties posed by the
pandemic, particularly in creating new space for businesses to
trade, whilst maintaining social distancing. The move was
supported by the Retail Forum, York BID and other organisations in
the city, and a total of 129 pavement licences have been awarded,
of which 113 licences are located within the footstreets area
(including Castlegate) and in Fossgate.
56. Recognising
the impact on city centre access, the temporary TRO was accompanied
by a number of mitigations to help support blue badge holders
affected by the TRO. These included:
a.
The restriction for
blue badge holders on the section of Goodramgate from Monk Bar up
to and including Deangate and College Green was terminated by
Executive in November 2020 as this was one of the primary issues
raised by those affected. This was advertised and promoted to
blue badge holders who would once again be able to park here and
promote the space on St Andrewgate.
b.
16 new dedicated
parking spaces for Blue Badge Holders created as close as possible
to the footstreet area, with capacity for seven vehicles on
Duncombe Place, two on St Saviourgate, five on Dundas Street, and
two on Carmelite Street.
c.
40 Disabled parking
spaces were created at Monk Bar along with a free taxi shuttle for
Blue Badge Holders. Following feedback the taxi was removed
and the number of additional spaces reduced by 30.
d.
4 additional Blue
Badge Spaces were created at Bootham Row Car Park.
57.Our
understanding of the impact of the footstreets changes, potential
mitigation measures and the wider issues of accessibility in York
city centre has been built through extensive engagement with blue
badge holders, disabled people and advocacy groups, as well as
other stakeholder groups like cyclists, delivery drivers/riders,
taxi drivers, and city centre businesses. 3 citywide surveys have
been issued, online and via the Our City publication. A survey
aimed specifically at disabled residents was completed by 427
residents last summer. 169 disabled residents have completed the
access questions in this summer’s My City Centre survey,
whilst the Our Big Conversation survey has been completed by 165
disabled residents.
58.Each
stage of the consultation process has been complemented by online
workshops, with 30 disabled residents and allies or advocates
attending workshops in the run up to last November’s
decision. A similar number have attended facilitated workshops and
insight meetings this summer, with two workshops covering cycling
groups, two specific to accessible streets, one about the
Shopmobility services, one for taxi associations and one for
delivery drivers and couriers. In addition, consultants Martin
Higgett Associates hosted accessible routes audit workshops, one on
site in the city centre and another online.
59.In
November 2020 the Executive gave approval to start the statutory
consultation process for considering the future operation of the
footstreets. In this further mitigations were considered.
Through this further mitigations to improve the level of Blue Badge
Parking amenity were considered in the following
locations:
a.
Junction of Blake
Street/Duncombe Place
b.
Duncombe Place
Horse Drawn Carriage Bay
c.
St
Andrewgate
d.
St Andrew’s
Place
e.
Deangate
f.
Stonebow, outside
Calvert’s Carpets
g.
St Denys
Road
h.
Cumberland Street,
adjacent to the Grand Opera House
i.
Lord Mayor’s
Walk
j.
St Leonard’s
Place, outside De Grey Rooms
60.This
list was approved for consultation with the exception of St
Andrew’s Place recognising the objections
received.
61.A
map contained at Annex A shows the footstreets, the changes already
made and those that have been consulted upon.
62.Business
which are granted café licenses are often located between
dropped crossings, so in order to enable disabled access in such
streets a recommendation is included to increase the number of
dropped crossings based on a footstreets tour with the Thomas
Pocklington Trust and members of the Highway regulations
team. Funding for additional dropped crossings can be
accommodated within the Transport Capital Programme budget. The
existing Local Transport Plan budget includes an allocation for
minor pedestrian schemes including dropped crossings. It is
proposed to increase the allocation to allow the provision of
additional dropped crossings in the footstreets to improve
accessibility. The LTP programme is delivered on an over-programmed
basis to account of the complexity of the delivery of some
transport schemes and the multi-year funding stream. The impact on
the delivery of other schemes in the Capital Programme will be
reviewed to take account of the additional funding for improving
accessible access in the city centre and the delivery programme
adjusted where necessary in the next monitoring report. The Access
Fund also includes an allocation for improvements for walking
routes in the city centre.
63.The
consultation has a planned second phase to explore how access to
the city centre can be further improved for the disabled
residents. However, a clear issue that has emerged through
the consultation so far is that some of the disability residents
are not aware of the services offered by Shopmobility and Dial a
Ride. Further promotion of Shopmobility and Dial a
Ride. Therefore we propose to work with the organisations to
promote these services and improve the service offer. It is
recommended that a sum of £20k from the Covid contingency is
set aside to support this work which may be direct provision to the
services or the council undertaking direct promotion.
64.The
November Executive will further consider other possible mitigations
and access improvements, such as, changes to the footstreet hours
of operation, potential improvements to bus stops, improvements to
pavements on routes to and from key car parks, rest stops and other
measures.
65.
The
Government are reviewing the duties placed on local authorities for
the prevention of terrorism. The Council has a city wide
partnership, with permanent hostile vehicle mitigation measures as
one of their key projects. Following advice from the Police’s
Counter Terrorism Command Unit, this year’s Christmas Markets
would see the Hostile Vehicle Mitigation Measures placed at the end
of the footstreets. Each Christmas the Footstreet hours are
extended for the Christmas Market period to 8pm on Thursday to
Saturday under a TRO. The decision in November to determine
the future operation of the footstreets will allow the project team
to develop proposals for the location of permanent hostile vehicle
mitigation measures for future years once work is
completed.
66.
The
statutory consultation on the future operation of the footstreets,
which includes the consultation on further additional mitigations
as detailed above has just closed. However, there is not sufficient
time for the results of the consultation to be properly considered
and decisions made before the temporary traffic regulation orders
expire in September.
67.Due
to the above and the recent announcement from Government on
café license extensions, a decision is required to
temporarily extend the existing traffic regulation orders to
continue the facilitation of the pavement cafes to continue and
allow a decision on the future operation of the footstreets to be
made in November.
68.Officers
are also recommending a further series of workshops with disabled
community advocacy groups to additionally include the Human Rights
Equality Board to explore the issues that arose during the formal
consultation before a recommendation is made Executive on the
future operation of the footstreets and the necessary improvements
to accessing the city centre.
69.Following
a request from the Executive before the future operation of the
footstreets are considered in full, a Commissioned Scrutiny by
Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee on
the future operation of the footstreets and accessibility is
recommended.
Outlook for the future
70.As outlined above, the city’s response to
Covid has been strong. There is growing confidence that the city
can recover strongly, however, this does not mean that there are
not challenges ahead.
71. Recent epidemiological reports highlight the
possibility of further levels of infection. A report to the
Outbreak Management Advisory Board provides further detail.
(https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s150961/4.%20COVID%20mod
elling%20paper%20for%20OMAB%20july%2021.pdf)
72.Whilst the link between infection and serious
illness is decreasing with the rollout of vaccines, there will
remain a proportion of the population who remain vulnerable. By the
targeted end of the vaccination programme, a significant proportion
of the population will have more protection. However:
a.
some will still not be eligible
(under 16)
b.
some will be eligible but not taking
up their vaccine (Cabinet Office assumptions are for 95% uptake in
over 50s, and 90% uptake in over 18-50s)
c.
some may not have full protection
from second doses against the Delta variant (PHE data suggests
Pfizer is 96% effective and AZ 92% effective against
hospitalisation and death from the Delta variant)
73. This leaves potentially up to a third of our
population still not fully protected. The harms to this population
are mitigated by the fact that they are likely to be younger and
less vulnerable to consequences of COVID infection, and vaccine
effectiveness against severe illness and death is likely to be
higher than it is against infection. However, Long COVID /
post-COVID syndrome can be a severe debilitating health condition,
not always related to strength/effects of symptoms during the acute
phase, and is reported to have affected up to 2 million people in
England. In CYC so far, 18 members of staff have taken an average
of 50 days off work due to Long COVID.
74.Additionally, this does not take into account
the role immunity due to past infection plays in this, with an rate
of past infection in the UK estimated at 15.6% and evidence that
immunity due to infection could last as long as a year.
75.It is entirely plausible, however, that a surge
in cases in the remaining at- risk population may occur similar to
the size and scale of previous waves, although higher levels of
immunity may produce a 'herd' effect that would slow down the speed
at which this moves through the population.
76.
Other risks also apply,
beside the infection rate:
a.
The impacts of Long-Covid
b.
The impacts on
Mental Health Services, with demand significantly
increased.
c.
The additional demand for social
care services for both children and adults.
d.
Significantly increased attendance
at A&E
e.
High demand for primary care
services
f.
Influenza and winter planning -
rates of flu were very low in the last winter; this puts us at risk
of a higher number of cases this coming winter due to lack of
residual immunity (passive and active).
77.It is clear that pressures upon services will
continue for some time, and as a city it is important that there is
collective working to manage demand as much as possible.
78.From an economic point of view, there is
cautious optimism about the longer term recovery in York. The city
centre has recovered strongly, with footfall back up at
pre-pandemic levels and spend also high. This is also reflected in
out of town retail settings, and the hotel sector and visitor
economy are also reporting strong performance and forward
bookings.
79.
Interest in York as place to
do business remains high with several indigenous businesses looking
to expand in the city and a number of enquiries received from
businesses keen to establish a presence locally. There is also
strong demand for industrial space outside the city centre, with
speculative builds coming onto the market quickly snapped
up.
80.
Key challenges are being
reported in recruiting staff at a range of levels, with the most
significant short term shortages being seen in skilled and
semi-skilled roles, particularly in customer-facing sectors such as
hospitality, retail and social care. Further information on the
council’s response can be found here: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/documents/s151322/Quarterly%20Economic
%20Update%20July%202021_ver.2%20Final.pdf
Council Plan
81. Covid-19 will continue to have an impact across
the delivery of all Council Plan outcomes. The updated Council Plan
recognises these impacts and identifies the actions required to
achieve the outcomes of the plan in light of a revised operating
context for the council.
Implications
-
Financial – The allocations from the Additional
Restrictions Grant (ARG) of £600k can be funded from within
the overall ARG allocation provided to CYC.
The additional support to Dial and
Ride and Shopmobility Services totalling £20k is proposed to
be funded from the Covid 19 recovery fund. Budget Council approved
a £2.5m revenue budget as a Covid 19 recovery fund to support
the council deal with challenges that arise from the Covid 19
pandemic. In the report there were identified projects totalling
£650k leaving £1,850k available. Releasing £20k
for this support reduced funding available to £1,810k.
Members will be aware that as part of the Performance and Finance
Monitoring Report elsewhere on the Agenda the council is facing a
significant overspend and therefore future releases from this fund
need to carefully considered.
The cost of additional dropped
crossings will be accommodated within the council’s Local
Transport Plan allocation.
-
Human Resources
– No specific impacts
identified.
-
One Planet Council /
Equalities – A
principle of recovery is to ensure climate change is considered in
decisions taken. The economic recovery plans recognise and respond
to the unequal impact of coronavirus and the risk of increasing
levels of inequality as a result. Annex B is the Equalities
Impact Assessment that covers the Transport & Place response to
COVID and covered the extension of the pedestrianised footstreets
to include Lendal, Blake Street, St Helen’s Square,
Goodramgate (between Deangate and Low Petergate), Church Street and
Colliergate to provide additional pedestrian capacity. Annex
C is the Equalities Impact Assessment and relates to the ongoing
extension of the city centre footstreets in response to Covid-19
that were initially introduced through Economic recovery strategy
(COVID-19): Transport and Place Strategy. The Equalities
Impact Assessments will need to be reviewed for November’s
decision on the future operation of the footstreets.
-
Legal –
The Council has powers under the
Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to make Traffic Regulation Orders
and Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (“TTRO”).
A TTRO can remain in force for up to 18 months and therefore
extending the TTRO to 19 December 2021 is permitted under the
legislation. In making the decision to extend the duration of
the TTRO the Council has considered the criteria within Section 122
of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and in particular the duty
to make decisions to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe
movement of vehicular and other traffic (including
pedestrians)
The Public Sector
Equality Duty
Under Section 149 of the
Equality Act 2010 a public authority must in the exercise of its
functions have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination,
harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited
conduct; advance equality of opportunity between persons who
share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not
share it and foster good relations between persons who share a
relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
This is known as the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
Statutory guidance
issued in May 2020 reiterates that the Public Sector Equality Duty
continues to apply as Councils make changes (permanent and
temporary) to their road networks in response to Covid-19, and the
needs of disabled people and those with other protected
characteristics must be considered. A fair and proportionate
balance has to be found between the needs of people with protected
characteristics and the interests of the community as a whole. Case
law has held that achieving such a balance is not a breach of the
PSED and that there is no prescriptive way to evidence due regard.
The measures taken by the Council by making and extending a TTRO
are those considered necessary to achieve the objective of helping
to limit the spread of Coronavirus and are therefore considered to
be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
The report details how
the Council is considering and mitigating, where possible, any
disproportionate impacts of the highway changes on people with
protected characteristics and meeting its Public Sector Equality
Duty, particularly in relation to disabled people.
-
Crime and Disorder
– No specific
impactsidentified.
-
Information Technology
– No specific
impactsidentified.
Risk Management
82.
There remain significant
areas of risk in responding to this crisis across all areas of
recovery. The highest priority continues to be the health and
wellbeing of residents and all planning and decisions will be taken
with this in mind.
Contact Details
Authors:
Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
