WE HEAR daily of how the council is trying to make savings due to the massive cuts in budgets.

Council tax is due to rise yet again for York residents and some councils are looking at taxing those on benefits who have previously been exempt. In view of this, are student households going to face council tax payments?

And by that, I don’t mean the students themselves, who already have a massive burden looming ahead. I mean the landlords, who change average family houses into multi-occupancy residencies.

These properties generate quite a lot of waste yet seem to remain exempt from any council tax charges. A single OAP with an empty bin is only given a 25 per cent discount. Landlords and/or agents of student houses need to take some social responsibility and make a contribution to the costs. Does this seem unreasonable when the poorest in society are having to pay?

Mrs R Metcalfe, Fulford, York.


• I SEE that the council is determined to go ahead and leave the parks unlocked at night; I don’t understand how this will save money. Are people specially employed to lock and unlock each day and, if so, are they to be sacked?

Presumably, gardeners will still be employed; can they not unlock when they start work and lock up when they leave?

During the summer months it would be desirable to continue to keep open into the evening; would it not be possible to give an hour’s overtime/flexi-time to someone to lock up before dark?

There must be many council employees living near every park. The cost would be much less than putting right the damage and theft cause by the undesirables, drinkers and drug-takers who will undoubtedly take over during the night if the parks are left open.

Colin Richardson, Hobgate, York.


• AT SOME point in the dim and distant past, our towns and cities entrusted vital local services, such as street-cleaning, libraries, social care and refuse collection, to local councils.

City of York Council, like many others across the UK, is now desperately trying to maintain these services against a backdrop of government cuts to local authority budgets of around 30 per cent.

At its budget briefing last week, York council leaders warned that some services would have to go, yet, at the same time, plan to increase minimum pay for all council employees to the new ‘Living Wage’ level of £7.45/hr.

While a laudable aim, is it fair that many residents employed in the private sector, who in many cases are not getting pay increases, have to accept cutbacks in local services to fund this increase?

The council also claims to have reduced management costs by 40 per cent, but this is not supported by their public accounts.

The number of council employees earning more than £50,000 per year has reduced by only one in 2011/12, from 50 to 49, and the remuneration costs for the six senior executives have increased slightly from £723,000 to £733,000 per annum.

Those responsible must focus on cutting the costs of delivering services rather than cutting the services.

Kevin Hollinrake, Managing director, Hunters Property Group Ltd.