Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter, Author at The Stray Ferret

North Yorkshire Police taking three times longer than expected to answer 101 calls

North Yorkshire Police is taking three times longer than expected to answer non-emergency 101 calls this month, according to officers.

Lindsey Butterfield, assistant chief constable at North Yorkshire Police, told a police commissioner public accountability meeting yesterday that the force was experiencing a high number of 101 calls to its control room.

In the last six days, it had received on average 95 non-emergency calls per day, she said.

North Yorkshire Police’s target is to answer the majority of 101 calls in two minutes.

Ms Butterfield said so far this month the force was averaging seven minutes and 13 seconds to answer non-emergency calls. She added:

“We know that is absolutely not where we want to be as a service.”

Philip Allott, North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, approved emergency funding of £70,000 for the force to put an overtime plan in place in order to improve the speed of response to calls.

Mr Allott told the Stray Ferret he expected the response time to 101 to improve in the coming months following the easing of restrictions and after improvements to the service were made.

He said:

“It’s making it so that people get a good service. I recognise that 101 and 999 is front of business and people need to get through.

“The police admit that it is not where it needs to be and they are reporting back to me on a weekly basis.”

Police also hope that new trainee call handlers will be available by next month to help ease pressure on resources.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the force received 470 emergency calls in a single 24-hour period — the most it has ever handled.

Part of the increase is thought to be down to York Races and the ending of covid restrictions.

North Yorkshire Police currently expects to deal with 9,000 999 calls this month.

In June, police received a a total of 35,490 non-emergency, emergency and front desk calls, which was also a record.

At the time, officers said the increase was thought to be down to the easing of lockdown restrictions and an increase in incidents.

Ms Butterfield said:

“We have continued to see excessive demand in terms of calls for service into the control room. It is unprecedented and it is on a national level, although it is having a significant impact on North Yorkshire.”

Harrogate district records 31 covid cases as rate drops dramatically

The Harrogate district has recorded 31 covid cases in the last 24 hours as infection rates continue to decline sharply.

It is the joint lowest daily figure since June 20, when 15 infections were recorded.

According to the latest seven-day figures, the district has an average of 348 covid cases per 100,000 people. It was as high as 534 just nine days ago.

The North Yorkshire rate stands at 376 and the England average is 373.

Harrogate District Hospital has not recorded a covid-related death in three-and-a-half months.

It means the covid death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

Latest Public Health England figures show that the hospital is treating three covid patients.

Elsewhere, 122,555 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 103,213 have had a second dose.

Harrogate’s first Lidl set to be given go-ahead

A plan to open Harrogate’s first Lidl supermarket looks set to be given the green light.

Harrogate Borough Council officers have recommended the proposal for Knaresborough Road is approved at a planning committee meeting on Tuesday next week.

If councillors ratify this, it would pave the way for the store to be built on the former Lookers car dealership site.

The multi-million pound proposal includes a 1,263 square metre sales area, an in-store bakery, customer toilets and 94 parking spaces.

It would open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

Lidl has also submitted plans for a new store in Ripon.

The German supermarket chain has lodged proposals for a store at St Michael’s Retail Park in the city.

Earlier this month, the application won the support of Ripon City Council.

Cllr Andrew Williams, leader of the city council, said:

“It will bring 40 new jobs, increase choice for Ripon’s residents and also serve our growing population, with the new homes that we have coming on stream.”

Robert Jenrick: Two councils for North Yorkshire would have been risky

Two councils to serve North Yorkshire would have been too risky and was not “credible” geographically, according to the government.

In a letter to council chief executives across the county and York, Paul Roswell, head of governance and reform at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, explained why the secretary of state chose a single council.

The move to an east/west model, which was tabled by the seven district council leaders including Harrogate, would have seen the county split into two unitary councils.

The letter said that Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick found that the proposal posed “significant risks of disruption for some major services” during the transition period.

He also found that it would cause “longer-term risks around the lack of alignment with other key public sector partners”.

Among the risks were the break-up of North Yorkshire’s children’s services, which are rated outstanding by Ofsted, and “longer-term sustainability” of adult social care.

However, Mr Jenrick recognised that there was good local support for the model, including town and parish councils and business organisations.

He also noted that the authorities would bring £32.5 million per year in financial benefits to the area.

But, the letter said:

“The secretary of state was also aware that the department’s analysts confirmed that in their view the risks of this option would be greater than for the single unitary, although this proposal would produce savings, improve value for money and improve the financial sustainability of local government in the area.”

It added:

“The secretary of state also considered that the two-unitary proposal could not be judged to meet the credible geography criterion.

“He noted that the populations of the councils in the proposal are within the range of population size set out in the invitation, however the areas would not appear to be based on local identity for either area.”

By comparison, Mr Jenrick found that the single authority could be “easily understood” by residents and retained local identity.

“He [Mr Jenrick] noted that the population of the council is just over the range of population size set out in the invitation, but has an established local identity as referred to in the criterion.”

“Not a good day for democracy”

In response to the decision last week, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said he was disappointed with the announcement.

Cllr Cooper, who backed an east/west model, said the government’s decision “flies in the face” of its own criteria.

Meanwhile, Cllr Steve Siddons, Labour leader of Scarborough Borough Council, the move to a single council was “not a good day for democracy”.

He added that the council, which will cover 618,000 residents and cost up to £38 million to set up, was a “dog’s breakfast”.

The plans are now subject to Parliamentary approval later in the year.

Mr Jenrick said the government aimed to have the new unitary council up and running by April 2023.

Another 78 covid cases in Harrogate district as rates drop

The Harrogate district reported 78 covid cases yesterday, according to Public Health England figures.

The reporting of government statistics for July 24 were delayed due to problems with processing data.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has dropped to 485 cases per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 525 and the England rate is 498.

Figures on the number of covid deaths at Harrogate District Hospital will be reported on Monday. Data is no longer published on a weekend.

But, the hospital has so far gone more than three months without reporting a death from a patient who tested positive for covid.

Latest NHS England figures show that the covid death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

So far, 122,325 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 102,626 have had a second dose.

Devolution: A seismic week for Harrogate and North Yorkshire

This week has been seismic for local government and politics in Harrogate as the council learned its fate over the government’s devolution agenda.

Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for local government, confirmed that the borough council will be abolished and replaced with one authority for the entire of North Yorkshire.

It’s the first time since 1974 that such a shake-up of the system of local authorities and governance in North Yorkshire has been made.

The decision has left politicians and council officials either elated or disappointed – all though wondering what is to come.

It has also raised more questions than answers. For instance, what happens to the borough council’s potential £46.8 million investment in Harrogate Convention Centre?

Another is the future for staff at the borough council and where the decision leaves them and their jobs.

Much of those who were on the frontline of the devolution debate made their feelings clear this week.

Here’s what they thought of the landmark decision.

“A dog’s breakfast”

As the saying goes, history is written by the winners.

But that did not stop those in the east/west camp making their feelings known.

Perhaps the most vocal was Cllr Steve Siddons, Labour leader of Scarborough Borough Council, who described the single unitary authority as a “dog’s breakfast”.

He went onto say:

“I am extremely disappointed with this announcement.

“The government appears to have ignored their own criteria and advice and have approved a single countywide unitary that is bigger than any other in the country and far bigger than their recommended maximum size.

“It also leaves York as a unitary much smaller than the government’s minimum size recommendation.

“My prediction is that York will inevitably be swallowed up by this mega county. A dog’s breakfast springs to mind.”

Cllr Steve Siddons, leader of Scarborough Borough Council.

Conservative Craven District Council leader, Cllr Richard Foster, was equally as disappointed.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he raised concerns over the future of staff and how councils will now respond to the covid pandemic.

He said:

“The single council model was always the front runner but my biggest annoyance is that this has been a desktop exercise by the government who have not been to North Yorkshire to see the area on the ground.

“To decide the local government future for over 500,000 people in that way is disappointing to say the least.

“We have also always said this is the wrong time to be doing this. We have now got to deal with reorganisation whilst also somehow finding time to deal with our response to the pandemic.

“This will take up a huge amount of officer time when we should be moving forward and getting Craven’s recovery going.”

On the winning side of things, Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of the county council, appeared magnanimous and called for councils to work together.

Perhaps the most relieved was Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat leader of City of York Council, whose authority would have been swallowed up by the east/west model.

He described the decision as a “huge vote of confidence for York”.

Protecting jobs

Aside from the changes in services, political make-up and council capital projects, the landmark decision strikes at the heart of peoples’ jobs.

Thousands of council staff face uncertainty over where their futures will be in two years time.

Among those to react to the announcement were union officials.

Wendy Nichols, secretary of the Unison North Yorkshire branch, said the key focus now should be on protecting jobs and minimising disruption to public services.

She added:

“Council workers have been on the frontline in the response to covid – delivering essential public services in the toughest of conditions. Reorganisation was the last thing that they needed.

“But the key now is to see that jobs are protected and vital services maintained.

“We have clear tests that we will judge the reorganisation by. We hope that it meets them.”

Unanswered questions

While it is clear that North Yorkshire will have a new council by April 2023 and the current two-tier local authority system will no longer exist, questions are left over current projects.

Wallace Sampson, chief executive of the borough council, said in a statement on Friday that the authority was committed to its projects, such as the overhaul of leisure services.

Major assets, such as Harrogate Convention Centre, will fall under the new authority’s control. One of Harrogate Borough Council’s last acts could be to spend £46.8 million on refurbishing the convention centre.

Visit Harrogate and the future of district’s new office building at Knapping Mount still need to be addressed.

Mr Sampson declined an interview with the Stray Ferret in which he would been asked far more questions – in the coming months the call for answers to those questions will only get louder.

Longlands Common ‘can be an example to others’, says secretary

A community woodland in Harrogate can be an “example to others”, says the secretary of Longlands Common.

Chris Kitson, secretary of project, said the move to buy the land showed that people do not want any relief road built on the greenbelt and that the idea can be replicated elsewhere.

Longlands Common Ltd, a community benefit society founded in February 2020, held an open day for members and an annual general meeting today where a board was elected and the first tree planting ceremony was held.

It was the first time that the committee had been able to meet with its supporters since the start of the covid pandemic.

Around 3,000 people bought shares in the land. An appeal raised £375,000 to purchase 30 acres of land near Nidderdale Greenway and protect it from development.

Mr Kitson told the Stray Ferret after the meeting that he hoped the project will be an example for others and would be a “turning point” in attitudes towards nature.

He said:

“This is the people of Harrogate saying: ‘we don’t want a road through here ever’.

“This is the greenbelt. This is the only sort of wildlife corridor in the area and the wildlife depend on it.

“It’s an act of utter recklessness to think that they can just put a road through it and continue to get away with this development and devastation of wildlife and the environment.

“Hopefully today is a turning point in our outlook and thinking. Hopefully we can be an example to others.

“We as people who want a decent planet for our children to live on can do it now. We can do it ourselves, we don’t have to wait around for people in high office.”

He described meeting members who had supported the project as a “beacon of hope”.

Mr Kitson added:

“People have parted with their hard earned money to create something like this.

“This is now our land.”

The future of Long Lands Common, once earmarked for a relief road, finally looks secure for wildlife.

It is first and foremost a nature reserve but the goal is for the public to enjoy it too

Delight as Harrogate Parkrun returns after more than a year away

Runners were left delighted this morning as the Harrogate Parkrun returned after more than a year away.

Parkrun, which has events held across the country, fell victim to the covid pandemic in March 2020.

It left runners without the free weekly 5k run on a Saturday morning for 16 months.

The event has seen numerous false starts in returning, including a delay last month after the government pushed back the lifting of remaining covid restrictions until July 19.

But, parkrun returned this morning with hundreds turning out on the Stray to take part.

Walkers, joggers and runners all turned out for the long-awaited comeback.

Ted Welton, event director volunteer at Harrogate Park Run.

Ted Welton, event director volunteer at Harrogate Park Run, told the Stray Ferret that he was delighted to have the run back.

He said:

“It’s just amazing. We had so many false starts where we thought we were going to come back and it didn’t.

“Now feels like the right time. Outdoor exercise is probably the safest thing people can be doing. We have put in a load of mitigation measures so people are staying apart.

“It’s just awesome to be back.”

Fans barred from Harrogate Town match vs Sunderland due to safety fears

Harrogate Town’s pre-season friendly against Sunderland today will be played behind closed doors after county council safety officials raised concerns.

Just 24 hours before the match, the club said it received a letter from North Yorkshire County Council‘s safety advisory group informing them of issues which “made them uneasy”. No further details were revealed.

About 800 Sunderland fans were believed to have been due to travel south for the match at the EnviroVent Stadium

There are just two weeks to go until Town’s first match of the season at home to Rochdale.

It’s another blow for Town supporters, who last week were denied the chance of watching their side play against Premier League Newcastle United’s first team after a covid outbreak forced Magpies manager Steve Bruce to send an under-23s team instead.

Town said supporters who bought a ticket for the Sunderland game would receive a full refund.

A Harrogate Town statement said:

“At just after 2pm on Friday 23rd July the club received a letter from North Yorkshire County Council safety advisory group who had identified a number of issues that made them uneasy about the match going ahead with a crowd.

“We are working with the SAG to address the points they have raised for future fixtures.

“All supporters who purchased a ticket for the fixture will receive a full refund.

“The fixture will be available to watch live free of charge via Sunderland AFC’s official website.

“Anyone who had already purchased a stream at £10 via live.harrogatetownafc.com will be refunded.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused”

A Sunderland AFC statement said:

“SAFC understands that supporters will be extremely disappointed by this news and its last-minute nature, with many fans incurring considerable personal expense to put travel plans in place.

“We share this disappointment and will work closely with HTFC to ensure that all ticket holders receive a full refund as soon as possible.

“Following today’s update stating that supporters would no longer be permitted to attend the fixture, SAFC has taken the decision to stream the fixture on the SAFSee platform free of charge.

Supporters who have already purchased a streaming pass will also receive a full refund.”

County council officials said the club submitted a risk assessment and stewarding plan on Friday morning following safety concerns raised after the Rotherham United game on Wednesday night.

However, the authority said the assessment and plan was “unfortunately not sufficient”. It added that “discussions continue to see what can be done to find a safe solution looking ahead”.

Among the issues that needed to be addressed were medical support, stewarding and spectator safety, according to the council.

Matt O’Neill, assistant director for growth, planning and trading standards at NYCC, said:

“Together with partner agencies in the Safety Advisory Group we have pulled out all the stops to try to support the club to deal with a range of safety measures that had to be addressed to enable the match to go ahead.

“Safety standards are put in place to protect the spectators and ensure a safe match by the Sports Ground Safety Association (an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) and, as the public would expect, they must be met.

“We recognise that this will be disappointing for the fans who were looking forward to the friendly match against Sunderland AFC, especially after such a difficult last season due to covid restrictions. However, the safety of everyone entering the facility must come first.”

Harrogate district reports another 73 covid cases

The Harrogate district has reported a further 73 covid cases, according to Public Health England figures.

However, no covid-related deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital in more than three months.

NHS England figures show that the covid death toll at the hospital since March 2020 remains at 179.

Meanwhile, the number of covid patients in North Yorkshire hospitals has increased by 40 per cent in the past week — but just three are in Harrogate.

Elsewhere, the district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen.

The district’s average currently stands at 508 cases per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire rate is 567 and the England average is 528.

So far, 122,287 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 102,539 have had a second dose.

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“Not a good day for democracy”

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“A dog’s breakfast”

Protecting jobs

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Unanswered questions

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