A Harrogate district taxi driver has criticised new taxi fare and licence fees planned for North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire County Council unveiled the new charges as part of its new licensing policy for cabs under the upcoming North Yorkshire Council.
It will see the fixed start fee for a district cabbie increase from £3.60 to £4.00.
However, the night time and Christmas tariffs would remain fixed at £5.40 and £7.20.
Meanwhile, the council is also proposing increasing licence fees for new drivers from the current Harrogate rate of £319 for one-year to £350.
It is also planning a renewal fee increase from £249 to £280 – a hike of 12.5%.
The proposed table of tariffs are due to go before a county council executive tomorrow.
Richard Fieldman, who runs a taxi firm in Ripon, said the new tariffs would not help those who work night shifts.
He criticised the policy and added that the licence fees increase of 12.5% was “far too much”.
Mr Fieldman said:
“They have put their hand in a lottery bag and thrown it in.”
Read more:
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The move comes as North Yorkshire County Council will introduce a single hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy from the spring.
The existing seven district councils, including Harrogate, currently have their own hackney carriage and private hire licensing policies. However, under the new policy, drivers will be able to operate in any area of the county.
Cllr Derek Bastiman, executive councillor for open to business, said:
Business Breakfast: Knaresborough fire and security company merges with national firm“The proposed licence fees ensure we can provide the administration of vehicle and operators’ licences, carry out essential inspections of vehicles so that passengers can continue to travel safely and maintain hackney carriage stands, as well as the enforcement of the licences, without creating an additional cost to the taxpayer.
“With the launch of a single local licensing authority for North Yorkshire, the proposed fees also ensures hackney carriage and private hire licence holders and taxi operators across the county are treated equally, and will hopefully encourage them to continue to invest in and maintain high-quality and safe vehicles.
“The setting of taxi fares is also a statutory duty for the licensing authority and our aim is to strike a balance between setting a fare that is acceptable to the customer and to the taxi driver, and not create confusion by varied fares in the licensed area.
“The proposed fares are the maximum hackney carriage drivers can charge. They can of course charge a lower fare, should they wish to do so.”
It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The third in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is a lunch event on March 30 from 12.30pm.
Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
A Knaresborough fire and security company has merged with a national compliance firm.
Logic Fire and Security, which is based on Manse Lane, has joined Compliance Group Ltd.
The Milton Keynes company specialises in providing businesses with safety and regulatory compliance services.
Compliance said the merger would help to add planning, upgrading, and maintaining existing fire and security equipment for clients as well as designing new systems for expansion and refurbishment to its services.
Piotr Nowosad, CEO of Compliance Group said:
“We are delighted to have Logic Fire and Security join us at such a key stage of significant growth, helping us significantly strengthen and broaden our services in fire safety and protection around the country.”
Sean McPartland, managing director of Logic, Fire and Security said:
“It is a really exciting time for both our businesses, and we look forward to being part of Compliance Group, delivering high-quality services beyond fire and security to our clients whilst keeping our long-established company family values.”
Prosperis celebrates 20th birthday
A Knaresborough-based financial advisors has celebrated its 20th birthday.
Staff celebrating Prosperis’ 20th birthday.
This past week, Prosperis marked the milestone with a party at its offices on St James’ Business Park.
The celebration was attended by Niall Gunn, managing director, Paul Meehan, chairman, and staff.
The company was recently the main sponsor the inaugural Stray Ferret Business Awards, which saw nearly 400 guests attend the Pavilions of Harrogate for the ceremony.
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Harrogate Grammar School appoints student leadership team
Harrogate Grammar School has appointed a new student leadership team.
Tess Eastaugh and Zach Southworth have been appointed head students of the Student Leadership Team, while Hannah Barclay, Sam Featherstone, Alice Lashua, Theo Levine, Adam Mir and Amy Robson have all been appointed as deputies.
The head students have a wide remit to represent over 2000 students, to chair the senate and report back to the senior leaders in the school.
Meanwhile, the deputies run the school council across the year groups.
The whole team will support school events, whilst also promoting the recruitment of new students and meeting with other Head Students from across the Red Kite Learning Trust.
Ben Twitchin, director of the school’s sixth form, said:
“Candidates wrote a letter of application and then recorded a short piece to camera, which was played to whole school for all students to cast their vote.
“Successful students then presented to the school’s Senate, and from the final eight students were interviewed to become part of our Student Leadership Team, with Tess and Zach as our Head Students and the other six as a key team of Deputies.”
Zach Southworth, head student, said:
“Being appointed Head Student is the culmination of a dream for me as I was inspired by a previous Head Student when I joined year 7 in 2017. I now have the responsibility, with the rest of the team, to work with all the staff, and students to continue to enhance the experience of students at our school.”
Neil Renton, headteacher at the grammar school, added:
“We are fortunate to have such a strong group of student leaders at our school”
“This team will build on the fantastic work of our previous student leaders who have made such a positive contribution to school life.
“We know that they will be positive role models and fine ambassadors for our school within the wider community.”
Pictured above: Front left to right: Zach Southworth and Tess Eastaugh Middle left to right: Adam Mir, Amy Robson, Alice Lashua and Hannah Barclay Back left to right: Theo Levine and Sam Featherstone.
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Explained: What happens to Harrogate taxis after devolution?
A new council is set to take over in the Harrogate district in three weeks’ time.
Both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council will make way for North Yorkshire Council on April 1.
Under the new council, how taxi drivers operate and how they are licensed will change.
In this article, we will explain how taxis are currently licensed and what will change from April this year.
Who currently licences taxis?
Currently, Harrogate Borough Council licences taxi drivers within the district.
Those drivers who wish to operate a taxi in the borough must be licensed by the council.
Once they have a licence, they can drive their vehicle and operate anywhere in the district.
Similarly, the borough council is responsible for licensing wheelchair accessible cabs.
Who sets the fares?
As well as issuing licences, the borough council also sets the fares and fees for drivers.
The council reviews fares for taxis annually.
What will happen from April?
From April, the new North Yorkshire Council will implement a single taxi zone across the county.
The existing seven district councils, including Harrogate, currently have their own hackney carriage and private hire licensing policies.
However, under the new policy, drivers will be able to operate in any area of North Yorkshire.
The plan has proved controversial with local cabbies, who described it as a “disaster”.
They argue that the move would lead to taxis crowding out busier areas and leave rural communities without a service.
What about fares?
The council is currently considering how to set fares for taxis under its single zone policy.
A proposal over fares for North Yorkshire cabs is expected to go before councillors on Tuesday (March 21).
Read more:
- Explained: Who will make planning decisions in Harrogate district after devolution?
- Explained: What happens to bin collections in Harrogate after devolution?
Harrogate’s Archie Gray signs professional deal with Leeds United
Archie Gray has signed his first professional deal with Leeds United.
Gray, who turned 17 last Sunday, agreed the two-and-a-half year deal with the club until the summer of 2025.
The midfielder is yet to make his debut for the club, but was named as an unused substitute for the Whites five times in the Premier League last season.
Gray completed his GCSEs at St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate last year.
He is also great-nephew of Leeds legend, and Kirkby Overblow resident, Eddie Gray.
In a statement following Gray’s signing, Leeds United said:
“Everyone at Leeds United would like to congratulate Archie on signing his first professional deal and we look forward to his future progress.”
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North Yorkshire Police officers sacked after racist WhatsApp messages
Two North Yorkshire Police officers have been dismissed after sending racist text messages between each other.
Detective constable Danielle Kirby and police constable James Mills were alleged to have breached the force’s standards of professional behaviour.
Both were dismissed following a gross misconduct hearing at the force’s headquarters in Northallerton.
The pair exchanged WhatsApp messages which were found to be racist between December 2018 and March 2019.
Mabs Hussain, deputy chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, said:
“The racist language and sentiments contained in the series of WhatsApp messages are repulsive.
“It has no place in society, let alone from people who have sworn an oath to uphold the highest standards of fairness, integrity and respect to all people.
“The evidence in this case was damning, and it is only right that the panel upheld the gross misconduct and the officers have been dismissed from North Yorkshire Police.”
Gerry Sydenham, who chaired the panel, said:
“The messages exchanged by former PC Mills and former DC Kirby contained appalling racist comments which were egregious in nature and content.
“The corrosive effect of such racist gross misconduct upon public confidence in policing cannot be understated.
“It is intolerable and devastating to the good work of other police officers who try daily to build the public’s trust and confidence in policing.
“Both officers undermined the public’s trust and the trust of their police force in themselves in a grave and shocking manner, causing very significant and potentially lasting damage to public confidence in policing.”
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Harrogate cabbie criticises council after taxi licensing meeting
A Harrogate district taxi driver has criticised North Yorkshire County Council over a licensing policy following a meeting with a senior councillor.
Cabbies from Harrogate, Ripon and the GMB Union met with Conservative councillor Derek Bastiman, executive councillor for open to business, over the new single zone policy in North Yorkshire yesterday.
Under the plan, the new North Yorkshire Council will create a single licensing policy for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles in the entire county.
It will mean drivers in Harrogate can operate anywhere in North Yorkshire, whereas they are currently restricted to the Harrogate district.
After the proposal was announced, drivers predicted it would cause “chaos” and called for a meeting with the council over the policy.
Following the meeting with Cllr Bastiman, drivers criticised the council over the continuing with the proposal.
Richard Fieldman, who has run his taxi company for 28 years in Ripon, told the Stray Ferret that he felt the council “did not know what it was doing”.
He said:
“The top and bottom of it is they have not got a clue what they are doing. I have said before, this is going to cause destruction for the trade.”
Read more:
- Angry Harrogate district cabbies fear ruin under new system
- Taxi licensing changes will cause ‘chaos’, says Ripon cabbie
- New council plans single taxi licensing for North Yorkshire
Mr Fieldman added that some drivers would lose out under the new system.
He said cabbies raised concern over the policy and potential new fees and fare with Cllr Bastiman.
However, Mr Fieldman said he felt that the trade was “fighting a losing battle”, but that added they would continue to oppose the changes until the new system begins next month.
In response, Cllr Bastiman told the Stray Ferret:
Concern over North Yorkshire Police’s ability to keep people safe, say inspectors“I can confirm that the meeting was very cordial.
“Driver’s comments were taken away with an assurance that following a meeting that I will arrange with the relevant officers hopefully next week, a full response will be provided to the representative from the GMBU who offered to circulate to those operators present at the meeting.
“Those present were happy with this proposal.”
Inspectors have raised concern over North Yorkshire Police’s ability to keep people safe and reduce crime.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services undertook an inspection of the force in October 2022 for its effectiveness and efficiency.
The report, published today, rated the police as inadequate in good use of its resources.
Meanwhile, the force was rated as requires improvement for responding to the public, investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people and developing a positive workplace.
However, it was assessed as adequate for preventing crime and managing offenders. It was rated as good for treatment of the public.
Concern over police performance
In his report, Roy Wilsher, inspector of constabulary, raised concern over how the force kept people safe and reduced crime.
In particular, he said senior leaders did not have enough oversight of human resources and IT or of the “impact that failures in these areas have had on policing services”.
Mr Wilsher said the force did not have enough trained detectives and pointed out there was “only a limited plan to address this”.
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He added that the force should improve the speed with which it answers and responds to emergency and priority calls.
The speed of responding to 999 calls was criticised.
However, Mr Wilsher said that North Yorkshire Police worked well with other organisations to safeguard vulnerable people.
He said:
“I have concerns about the performance of North Yorkshire Police in keeping people safe and reducing crime. In particular, I have serious concerns about its strategic planning and organisational management.
“Senior leaders in the force need to ensure they have effective oversight of its enabling services, such as IT and HR functions. Failures in these areas impact the service the force provides.
“North Yorkshire Police also needs to improve the speed with which it answers and responds to emergency calls. The force is well below the national standard, with only 41.9 percent of 999 calls being answered within 10 seconds.
“However, we did find that the force works well with partner organisations to safeguard vulnerable people. We found good examples of the force working with other organisations to divert young people away from offending and to reduce the vulnerability of people who may become victims of crime.
“Although I have concerns about corporate processes, I am pleased that the force has accepted our findings and is engaging with us and other partner organisations to ensure improvements are made. I remain in regular contact with the chief constable and will monitor the force’s progress towards addressing the cause of concern and areas of improvement I have established.”
In response, Lisa Winward, chief constable at North Yorkshire Police, said the force had recently approved a £1.8 million investment in its force control room to help tackle call response times.
She said:
“The report highlights a number of areas that the force delivers well but also reports on a significant number of areas that require improvement. A number of these relate to the corporate capacity and capability of the organisation linked to workforce planning, governance, performance management, financial planning, and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our shared enabling services.
“They told us that while the right actions might be taking place on the ground by our people, they were not able to find sufficient evidence of how this was directed and overseen through our governance structure.
“The inspectors told us that every single person they spoke to was committed, fully engaged in their work and doing a really good job in difficult circumstances. They told us that our people take pride in being part of North Yorkshire Police and that there is a strong sense of belonging in the force.
“Since we received the hot debrief from HMICFRS in October 2022, we have been working at a pace to address the issues that they have raised so we can focus on our core responsibilities to the public.
“The Organisational Improvement Plan that we have put in place focuses on achieving the standards required to deliver a good service to our communities. The force has been through a significant period of change since our last inspection in 2018, and in particular to our corporate services where our inadequate grading has been identified. We are investing heavily to make these changes.”
Commissioner ‘more than disappointed’
Zoe Metcalfe
Meanwhile, Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said she expected to see “immediate change” in police response to call times after approving a £1.8 million investment in the force control room.
She added that she was “more than disappointed” with other findings in the inspector’s report.
She said:
Blanket 20mph limit across south Harrogate ‘urgently needed’“I’m more than disappointed with other findings in the report and I’m sure members of the public will be too. It’s unacceptable that North Yorkshire Police requires improvement in multiple areas, in particular its strategic planning, organisational management and value for money – clearly more needs to be done and is being done as I continue to hold the chief constable to account. Our police force needs to do significantly better.
“I’m confident that the chief constable is overseeing significant transformation work within North Yorkshire Police to improve these outcomes, and that since October 2022 has implemented a trusted organisational improvement plan that can be effective at pace.”
A blanket 20mph speed limit across the south side of Harrogate is “urgently needed”, a councillor has said.
The proposal would see all streets between York Place and the southern edge of Harrogate limited to 20mph.
The petition has been set up by parents Hazel Peacock and Vicki Evans, who founded the Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign. They say it is vital to ensure children can travel to and from school in safety.
The pair presented the case to councillors on Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency area committee yesterday.
Ms Peacock told councillors that the group wanted “safer streets for the community” and pointed out that the petition had already reached 700 signatures.
She said:
“Maximum speed limits of 20 miles per hour have been delivered in other rural and urban areas of Yorkshire and the UK including Calderdale, Cornwall, Oxford, Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders and London with positive effects.”
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She highlighted recent crashes on Beechwood Grove and on Yew Tree Lane, where two teenagers from Rossett School were seriously injured and required hospital treatment.
In the wake of the incident on February 2, headteachers from almost every primary and secondary school in the area met at Harrogate Grammar School to urge representatives of North Yorkshire County Council to take action.
During the meeting, Cllr John Mann, who represents Oatlands and Pannal, said he backed the proposal and described it as being “urgently needed”.
He said:
“I support the Oatlands road safety petition.
“I have written to the head of highways and the cabinet member for highways saying that I support the petition.
“I have also called for Yew Tree Lane, Green Lane, Hookstone Road and Beechwood Grove to have 20mph speed limits.
“In my view, as a member for the area, this change is urgently needed to improve road safety and reduce air pollution.”
Melissa Burnham, area highways manager for the county council, said the authority was meeting with the group to discuss the proposals.
Next week, the group is due to meet again – this time at St Aidan’s Church of England High School – and will be joined by a caseworker for Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as the county council’s transport lead, Cllr Keane Duncan, and local councillors whose divisions are affected.
The meeting of more than 30 people will follow a walk around the Pannal Ash area led by the parents, for councillors and school representatives to discuss the issues.
Business Breakfast: Swinton Estate announces staff promotionsIt’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The third in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is a lunch event on March 30 from 12.30pm.
Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
The Swinton Estate in Masham has announced a raft of staff promotions
Kevin Sansom, John Lawrence and Jordan McPhillips will be taking on new roles as Samuel’s Restaurant manager, head concierge and assistant financial controller respectively.
Meanwhile, Louise Dermott and Helen Pritchard have been promoted to spa guest services manager and therapist trainer within the country club and spa team.
The estate has also hired Nicolay Araujo as Terrace Restaurant manager.
Swinton Estate said on its Facebook page:
“A huge thank you to all the team for their continued hard work and the important part they play in our Swinton family.”
Government minister visits Harrogate Bus Company
Buses minister Richard Holden (second left) at Harrogate Bus Station with (from left) Transdev operations director Vitto Pizzuti; Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones; Transdev commercial manager Matt Burley; and network manager Alex Spencer.
The government’s buses minister paid a visit to Harrogate Bus Company this past week.
Richard Holden visited the firm’s training centre in Starbeck where he spoke with trainee drivers, before visiting the bus station in Harrogate town centre.
The minister also met younger colleagues starting out in the bus industry, as well as older recruits taking up bus driving as a change of career.
Accompanied by Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, the minister then attended the operator’s headquarters with operations director Vitto Pizzuti, training manager Dale French and commercial manager Matt Burley.
Mr Pizzuti said:
“We’re delighted to have welcomed the buses minister, who saw for himself the lengths we go to during wintry weather to keep our buses on the road serving our customers.
“The minister was also impressed to learn of the success of our government-supported £2 price drop, which has helped us to attract record numbers of motorists to leave their car keys at home and choose the bus instead.”
Mr Holden said:
“Having invested more than £2 billion to support bus services since the pandemic, it’s fantastic to see so many people using the bus here in Harrogate.
“Our £2 bus fare cap is helping to turbocharge the return of passengers, and we will continue to work hard with local authorities and operators like the Harrogate Bus Company to get even more people to hop back onto the bus.”
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