NSPCC concern over North Yorkshire police child protection report

The NSPCC has described a report detailing failings into child protection investigations at North Yorkshire Police as “concerning”.

The highly critical report published this week by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found that the force does not prioritise safeguarding and child protection highly enough.

It said standards of investigation in relation to child protection were poor and arrangements were not “consistently providing either the quality of service or a good enough response”.

The report said in some cases “highly vulnerable” children went missing from children’s homes, but officers would record those incidents as “cause for concern” rather than missing — which meant officers did not look for them.

Now, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said the force should “act quickly” to address the recommendations in the report.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: 

“Protecting children must be of utmost priority for law enforcement agencies, and so it is concerning that HMICFRS found this was not the case for North Yorkshire Police.

“The inspection’s findings included an inconsistent approach by the force to the risk of those suspected of sexually exploiting children and officers not always understanding their primary role was to protect children.

“Putting children at the heart of these investigations is paramount, and it is promising that the force recognises it needs to do more to safeguard children and is committed to providing better outcomes for them. To do this, it is crucial that it acts quickly to implement the Inspectorates recommendations.”

Critical report

The report was particularly critical of the force’s approach to children considered to be at risk.

Inspectors, who conducted the assessment from November 1 to 12 last year, examined 73 cases where children had been at risk. The report said:

“We assessed the force’s child protection practice as good in 13 cases, requiring improvement in 34 cases, and as inadequate in 26 cases. This shows the force needs to do more to give a consistently good service for all children.”

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Another criticism was that the force doesn’t share information with safeguarding partners early enough.

HMIC made a number of recommendations, which included:

Chief constable apology

Following the report’s publication, Lisa Winward, chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, apologised and said the force “fully accepted” the inspector’s findings.

She said:

“It is extremely disappointing that while the Inspectorate found examples of good practice during their inspection in November 2021, they also found a lack of consistency in our treatment of children across the cases that they examined. 

“We fully accept the findings of the Inspectorate and I offer my deepest apologies to any child that we have let down or could have protected more effectively. We haven’t always got it right and we know that is not good enough for the children of North Yorkshire. 

“We have been working at a pace to address the issues that were identified in the Inspectorate’s report. Our plan for improvement in our performance has already been submitted to the Inspectorate. We are tracking our plan and will publicly report on our progress.

“We welcome the recognition by the Inspectorate that our officers and staff, who manage child abuse investigations, are committed and dedicated despite working in difficult circumstances. 

“I can assure all our communities that we absolutely recognise that protecting children is one of the most important things that we do. We are working to ensure that we have the right systems and processes in place to support our officers and staff to protect and safeguard every child.”

Traffic and Travel Alert: North Park Road temporary lights to be in place until Monday

Motorists should expect delays on North Park Road in Harrogate as temporary traffic lights will be in place over the weekend.

The lights, which are in place at the junction with Harcourt Drive, have been put in place as telecommunications company CityFibre carries out work on the street.

It means drivers using North Park Road to get into and out of the town centre should expect delays.

The temporary lights will be in place until April 4, according to North Yorkshire County Council.

The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.

We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.

The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.

Covid booster clinics to resume in Harrogate tomorrow

Spring booster vaccination clinics are set to begin at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground tomorrow.

The centre wound down operations in January following the winter booster campaign.

However, it will now resume clinics after the government announced further booster jabs for those aged 75 and over, care home residents and people with weakened immune systems.

Yorkshire Health Network, which is a federation of 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district, operates the site at the showground.

It will be open from 8.30am until 5.30pm tomorrow (April 1) and will also be accepting appointments for Sunday during the same opening hours.

The Sunday clinic is rearranged from the Saturday opening, which was previously advertised.

Tim Yarrow, operations manager at Yorkshire Health Network, said:

“Anyone who initially had appointments for Saturday needs to come either tomorrow or Sunday at the same time or re-book.”

The clinic will also accept anybody aged over 12 for first, second and booster doses.

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Appointments can be made through the NHS national booking system. Bookings are advised — those who turn up for walk-ins should expect queues.

Meanwhile, Homecare Pharmacy Services will continue to offer walk-in jabs at its site on Chain Lane in Knaresborough.

The Chain Lane Community Hub will be open from 8am until 5.30pm tomorrow and 9am until 4pm on Saturday, April 2.

Pateley Bridge Pharmacy has clinics tomorrow from 9am to 1pm and and on Thursday next week from 9am to 1pm.

Have covid rates peaked?

The move to resume clinics comes after covid infection rates rocketed this month. However, the rate has begun to decline.

Latest government figures show the seven-day average rate of infection in the Harrogate district is now 976 per 100,000 people. It was 1,000 on March 25 after starting the month at 342.

Meanwhile, latest figures show Harrogate District Hospital has 30 patients with covid.

NHS England statistics show 235 people who tested positive for covid have died since March 2020 at Harrogate hospital.

Police spot 222 driving offences in five hours in Harrogate

North Yorkshire Police identified more than 200 driving offences in Harrogate in five hours during a blitz to coincide with new mobile phone legislation.

The force revealed today it undertook the operation between 11am and 4pm on Friday, when the new laws come into force.

Officers from the police’s roads policing group and local neighbourhood policing teams targeted drivers in Harrogate.

Among the offences recorded were speeding and using a mobile phone while driving. It is not known how many resulted in further action.

Mark Hutchings, from the force’s road safety team, said the aim was to reduce deaths and make the roads safer. He added:

“Officers targeted drivers on Friday, the day when the new mobile phone legislation came into effect, in an effort to make sure motorists take note of these important changes and abide by the new law.

“We will continue to undertake targeted activity such as this across the county as part of Operation Boundary – North Yorkshire Police’s dedicated road safety and enforcement operation.

“We’ll be on the look-out for road users across the county who take risks – risks that can, and do, cost lives.”

Police guidance on the new legislation is available here.

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Harrogate council approves sale of Knaresborough flats

Four renovated flats on Knaresborough High Street are to be sold off by Harrogate Borough Council for almost £900,000.

Members of the council’s cabinet agreed to the sale at a meeting last night after the Grade II listed properties were unoccupied for several years before being bought by the council in 2019.

A renovation project also including two retail units has recently been completed and the properties are now on the market.

Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council, said the authority would not make a profit from the £879,900 leasehold sale and that he hoped more vacant properties in Knaresborough town centre would now be brought back into use.

He told last night’s meeting:

“These are a series of properties that have been neglected by the private equity owners for many years.

“The whole area had been dragged down and many residents were aware of this and very disappointed by the state of the high street.

“It is a listed and very complicated building, and has a number of interesting construction aspects which has made it challenging.

“People can now really sense the improvement of the high street and I’m pretty optimistic that we will see other people who own properties in the area join the bandwagon.”

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The flats are individually valued between £189,950 and £295,000.

The council will retain control over the freehold of the flats, as well as the freehold of the two retail units that were part of the refurbishment.

Cllr Swift, who is also cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, added: 

“We have done a lot of work in Knaresborough over the last few years including just up the road at Conyngham Hall with an investment in the tech centre which has been extremely positive.

“And I think we can even do work on Knaresborough House in the future which may be something to keep our eyes on.”

Harrogate marketing agency secures United States clients

Harrogate marketing agency Big Bamboo has announced three new clients in the United States.

The clients, which are based in New York, Texas and Ohio, operate within the insurance, professional services and industrial packaging sectors.

Nicola Stamford, founding director of Big Bamboo Agency, said it was “a huge milestone for us”.

She said:

“We are thrilled to be working with these new businesses, all of which are leading players in their respective industries and have their own set of needs and marketing challenges.”

Events company helps raise £57,000 for Children’s Air Ambulance

Impulse Decisions staff helped to raise £57,000 for the Children's Air Ambulance.

Impulse Decisions staff helped to raise £57,000 for the Children’s Air Ambulance.

Harrogate events company Impulse Decisions has raised more than £57,000 for Children’s Air Ambulance.

Children’s Air Ambulance is a national service which transfers critically ill babies and children from one hospital to another for specialist care.

Impulse Decisions has worked with the charity before and hopes to double its funding this year.

Tom Hesketh, director of hospitality sales at Impulse Decisions, said:

“This has been a great partnership and shows the benefits of our silent auctions, and just how much money they can raise, at no cost to the charity.

“After the last two years it is even more important to continue to support charities like this and in total, we helped charities nationwide raise over £1 million last year.”

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North Yorkshire’s chief constable apologises for child protection failings

North Yorkshire Police has apologised after government inspectors found the force’s standards of investigation for child protection cases were “poor”.

A highly critical report published yesterday by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found that the force does not prioritise safeguarding and child protection highly enough.

It said standards of investigation in relation to child protection were poor and arrangements were not “consistently providing either the quality of service or a good enough response”.

The report said in some cases “highly vulnerable” children went missing from children’s homes, but officers would record those incidents as “cause for concern” rather than missing — which meant officers did not look for them.

Following the publication of the report, Lisa Winward, chief constable at North Yorkshire Police, apologised and said the force “fully accepted” the inspector’s findings.

She said:

“It is extremely disappointing that while the Inspectorate found examples of good practice during their inspection in November 2021, they also found a lack of consistency in our treatment of children across the cases that they examined. 

“We fully accept the findings of the Inspectorate and I offer my deepest apologies to any child that we have let down or could have protected more effectively. We haven’t always got it right and we know that is not good enough for the children of North Yorkshire. 

“We have been working at a pace to address the issues that were identified in the Inspectorate’s report. Our plan for improvement in our performance has already been submitted to the Inspectorate. We are tracking our plan and will publicly report on our progress. 

“We welcome the recognition by the Inspectorate that our officers and staff, who manage child abuse investigations, are committed and dedicated despite working in difficult circumstances. 

“I can assure all our communities that we absolutely recognise that protecting children is one of the most important things that we do. We are working to ensure that we have the right systems and processes in place to support our officers and staff to protect and safeguard every child.”

Critical report

The report was particularly critical of the force’s approach to children considered to be at risk.

Inspectors, who conducted the assessment from November 1 to 12 last year, examined 73 cases where children had been at risk. The report said:

“We assessed the force’s child protection practice as good in 13 cases, requiring improvement in 34 cases, and as inadequate in 26 cases. This shows the force needs to do more to give a consistently good service for all children.”

Read more:

Another criticism was that the force doesn’t share information with safeguarding partners early enough.

HMIC made a number of recommendations, which included:

Zoe Metcalfe, North Yorkshire’s Conservative Police Fire and Crime Commissioner, said the findings of the report were “unacceptable”.

Work on Harrogate Hydro and Knaresborough leisure centre to start next month

Two major projects to renovate Harrogate Hydro and build a new leisure centre in Knaresborough will get underway next month.

Harrogate Borough Council is behind the plans which will cost around £28 million and see the construction works carried out by Bristol-based firm Alliance Leisure.

The Hydro will get an £11.8 million investment, including a two-storey extension of the building, as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be a new diving board structure, fitness suite and refurbished changing areas.

The venue will close on April 8 and the project will be phased to allow for the pool hall area to be brought back into use “as soon as possible in early 2023,” the council said.

It also said it anticipated all of the works will be completed by April 2023.

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Meanwhile, some grounds works are already underway at Fysche Field in Knaresborough where a new £17 million leisure centre complete with a six-lane pool, health spa and fitness studios will be built as a replacement for the existing Knaresborough Pool.

It will be built behind the existing pool which will remain open during the works before being demolished.

The council said the new leisure centre will take 65 weeks to build with completion in July 2023.

After this, the demolition works will take a further 15 weeks with completion in October 2023.

Knaresborough leisure centre

Proposals for the Knaresborough Leisure Centre.

These proposals were approved last month despite concerns over the environmental impact of demolishing a large building to replace it with another.

However, Jonathan Dunk, chief development officer at the council, described the 30-year-old Knaresborough Pool as “at the end of its working life” and said more swimming space was needed for the town’s growing population.

He previously said: 

“We need to renew rather than refurbish the existing facility because it is old and there is inadequate water space.

“We also want to upgrade to make the most of the energy performance of the new building.”

In Ripon, the opening of the city’s new multi-million pound swimming pool was finally celebrated on 2 March after months of costly delays.

The project was nine months overdue and £4 million over budget, and refurbishment works on the adjoining Ripon Leisure Centre are still underway after the discovery of an underground void prompted the need for an investigation.

The investigation by engineering firm Stantec was due to finish earlier this month and a report setting out what reinforcement works will be required will now follow.

Stantec previously suggested there had been a “significant deterioration” of the ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre and that strengthening works could include steelworks, thickened floors and grouting – the same method “successfully” used to stabilise the new pool.

Bid to save ‘at risk’ Harrogate district bowls clubs

Bowls clubs in the Harrogate district have joined forces in an attempt to recover from the covid pandemic.

All 16 clubs that play in the Harrogate league have come together after it became clear that some were at risk of folding.

Dave Rowson, secretary of Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association, which governs the game in the district and coordinates its development, said the organisation had launched a drive to increase participation and retain players.

Mr Rowson said membership in local crown green bowls was declining and some clubs were at risk of going under.

He said:

“Membership of many clubs is declining and of the 16 clubs in the district there are a number forecasting that without an increase in participation they could be at risk of being unable to remain in existence.”

Mr Rowson, who is also secretary of Black Swan Bowling Club on Devonshire Place in Harrogate, pointed to Bilton Working Men’s Club as an example of a club which needed support.

The club currently has 26 bowlers and needs more players to remain viable.

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Paul Gill, who is a member of Bilton Working Men’s Club, said part of the problem was that the sport was regarded as an “old man’s game”.

He added that people also did not know where the bowling greens are situated because they are often behind buildings or hidden.

Mr Gill said:

“They do not know they are there.

“There are a lot of locations and a lot of clubs.”

Grants and strategy

After two years of the covid pandemic, the 16 clubs decided to come up with a strategy to ensure their survival.

As part of that, Mr Rowson secured a £1,500 grant to set up a website for Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association.

The site will enable each club to advertise open days for potential new members. The season runs from April to October so the number of open days is expected to ramp up shortly.

Mr Rowson added:

“The programme will be open to all. Bowls is a sport for everyone irrespective of age or gender. Everyone can compete equally.”

Younger players, parents and people retiring from other sports such as cricket and football will be encouraged to come along.

The association aims to get 600 new participants trying bowls. Mr Rowson added that there was capacity for 13 more eight-person teams in the Harrogate league.

He estimates that the league would need 80 new bowlers for those teams and to cover any player holiday or illness.

The association has also bid to North Yorkshire Sport for up to £5,000 in funding for equipment costs and coaches to help new players.

For more information on how to get involved with your local bowls club, visit the Harrogate Amateur Bowling Association website.

TikTok video on mental health in Harrogate goes viral

A TikTok video of a man raising awareness of mental health in Harrogate town centre has gone viral.

The clip, by Ben Ogden on Cambridge Street, shows him standing with a sign saying: “If you’ve struggled with mental health, let’s talk”.

Mr Ogden is well known on TikTok for his videos talking to people on the street about mental health and has posted clips in Leeds and Skipton.

In Harrogate, he speaks with a woman, who is off camera, about her struggles with mental health.

Mr Ogden says in the video:

“We’re just trying to raise awareness for mental health and to let people know it’s alright to talk about it and it should be a normal conversation.”

@itsbenogden

It’s okay to talk 💬 #mentalhealthmatters #friends

♬ last chance – 🤍

The video has racked up 429,000 views on TikTok and has more than 21,000 likes and 200 comments.

Mr Ogden, who has nearly 50,000 followers on the social media platform, also published a video outside Sainsbury’s on Cambridge Street with a sign that reads: “If you’re missing your mum this Mother’s Day, let’s talk”.

The clip clocked up 465,000 views.

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The video becomes the latest TikTok in the Harrogate district to go viral this year.

In January, a Russian TikToker racked up a million views with a video of Knaresborough that she described as “a place in England so beautiful I can’t believe it’s real”.

In the same month, a bizarre video by DJ Zach Sabri, better known online as SUAT, showed the TikToker being told by National Trust staff that he cannot film at Brimham Rocks.