HUMAN rights campaigners in York have called on the council to halt plans to permanently ban blue badge holders from the city centre - and urged them to rebuild trust with the disabled community. York Human Rights City Network spoke out yesterday after a City of York Council Labour motion on improving access to the city centre for disabled people was amended by Green Party councillor Andy D’Agorne - with Labour councillors saying the amendments meant the motion had “lost anything of any substance”. The motion had called for extra benches, mobility scooter parking bays and better pavements. Labour voted against its own motion on Thursday night - but the altered motion was approved by a majority vote.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated issues of inequality and discrimination in the city, a new report says. The research - by the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) at the University of York and the York Human Rights City Network – also highlights the importance of local government, resilience and creativity. The report calls on the City of York Council to make tackling poverty and inequality its priority, ensuring that there is a coherent strategy across all relevant agencies in the city in order to recover after the pandemic. The digital divide and digital literacy were a significant cause of increased inequalities, and need to be tackled as part of this strategy.