Major Ripon employer Wolseley celebrates 50 years in city today

One of Ripon’s biggest employers is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary today.

Wolseley UK, which supplies building materials, is holding a family open day to coincide with the reopening of its head office.

The company, which employs more than 320 people in the city, is set to welcome all employees back today after its offices underwent a £500,000 refurbishment.

Face painting, a coconut shy and a performance from the Ripon City band will take place.

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Mayor of Ripon, Eamon Parkin, will cut the ribbon on the grand reopening.

Danny Bryan, employee engagement officer at Wolseley, said:

“Naturally, we’re incredibly excited about this step forward for our business, and it is sure to have a profound, positive impact on the local community worth shouting about.”

The company began life in Ripon in 1971 as The Wolseley Hughes Group.

It was based on Boroughbridge Road, where it remains to this day, and was made up of three companies OBC, Yorkshire Heating Supplies and Granville Controls.

In 1985, the company expanded its site and by 1996 was known as Wolseley Centres.

Parent company Ferguson sold Wolseley UK to a private equity firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, for £308m in January.

Harrogate district reports 82 covid infections

The Harrogate district has reported another 82 covid infections, according to today’s Pubic Health England figures.

The district’s weekly infection rate now stands at 322 per 100,000 people, which is above the North Yorkshire rate of 296 and the England average of 291.

According to the latest figures, Harrogate District Hospital is treating 11 patients for covid.

The hospital has not recorded any covid deaths in the last 24 hours, according to NHS England statistics. However, two people have recently died at the hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

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Those two deaths followed a four-month period at the hospital when it did not record any coronavirus deaths.

It means the number of people at the hospital who have died from covid since March 2020 stands at 181.

Elsewhere, 124,608 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 114,696 have had a second dose.

Former Harrogate Advertiser editor set to be given freedom of the borough

The former editor of the Harrogate Advertiser looks set to be made an honorary freeman of the borough.

Harrogate Borough Council will next week consider giving the title, which was last given in in 2012, to Jean MacQuarrie.

The accolade recognises people of distinction and “in the opinion of the council rendered eminent services to the district”.

The last time the council bestowed the freedom of the borough was in 2012 when former chairman and chief executive of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, Jonathan Wild, was given the title.

There were calls this summer for Harrogate district resident Gareth Southgate, the England manager, to receive it.

Ms MacQuarrie retired this year after 41 years in local journalism. She was appointed editor of the Harrogate Advertiser in 1988.

She was also involved in local organisations, including Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Harrogate Theatre and the Army Foundation College.

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In a report due before the council’s general purposes committee next week, the authority said Ms MacQuarrie “worked hard to promote and support the town and district during her 33 years as editor”.

If approved, an extraordinary council meeting will be called to confer the title on Ms MacQuarrie.

She will be invited to the meeting to sign the Roll of Honorary Freemen following the council’s approval.

 

Ripon to get two CCTV cameras after ‘mini crime wave’

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner has pledged to pay for two CCTV cameras in Ripon following a “mini crime wave”.

The two cameras are set to cost £10,000 each, but Philip Allott, the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner, has said his office will foot the bill.

It follows a spate of anti-social behaviour in the city, including an alleged knifepoint robbery of a teenage boy Bondgate last month. A 17-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man were later charged and remanded in custody.

Mr Allott told a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council‘s Skipton and Ripon Area Constituency Committee today that his office was willing to pay for the extra cameras, but warned that other measures would have to be taken to bring down crime.

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He told councillors that police already had resources to investigate and apprehend offenders and that other measures to take kids off the streets were needed.

Mr Allott said:

“In Ripon where there has been a mini crime wave, primarily thanks to four families where the perpetrators have been held on remand pending court appearances. We need to work with partners.

“I can make sure the police have resources and indeed in Ripon they have, to investigate and apprehend offenders but we need to look at diversion stuff we can do.

“The city council yesterday evening is keen to get not one but two extra cameras from the borough council. We will fund that and the cost is £10,000 each.

“But somebody has to do that application to my office, I cannot do that application alone.

“Equally, we do need councillors in particular to help in terms of local partnerships and safety hubs to help us with the diversion stuff that we can provide to take kids off the streets.”

Harrogate district to resettle three more Afghan families

The leader of Harrogate Borough Council has said Afghan refugees are “settling in well” in the district and that three more families are on the way.

The district has so far welcomed four families under a government scheme targeted at Afghans who worked for the UK military and are fleeing the country because they are under serious threat from the Taliban.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, council leader Richard Cooper said: 

“Four families have arrived under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), one in Knaresborough and three in Harrogate. They are settling in well.

“We have been asked to accommodate three more families under ARAP. ”

British troops left Afghanistan over the weekend, bringing an end to the UK’s 20-year military involvement in the country, which is now under the control of the Taliban.

Taliban leaders have pledged not to allow Afghanistan to become a base for terrorists who could threaten the West.

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But questions are already being asked about how they will govern the country, and what this will mean for women, human rights, and political freedoms.

There are also questions over what will happen to Afghans who are eligible to come to the UK but have been left behind in the evacuation programme.

Speaking on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he couldn’t give a “definitive” figure for how many of those remained in the country.

Government pledge to resettle 20,000 refugees

Under another scheme for refugees, the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), the government has pledged to take in up to 20,000 refugees over the coming years, with a focus on women and children, as well as religious and other minorities.

The scheme is still being developed and local councils which have pledged their support are now awaiting information on how they can help.

Cllr Cooper previously said Harrogate would take in “more than our quota” of refugees who are “in need of and deserve our assistance”.

He has now added: 

“The details of the long-term Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme have not been released by the government.

“When they are, we will work with North Yorkshire County Council and Migration Yorkshire on the programme.”

Another 88 covid cases in Harrogate district as hospitalisations rise

A further 88 covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures – and the number of hospital patients has increased.

The district’s seven-day covid rate now stands at 322 cases per 100,000 people, slightly above the North Yorkshire average of 308 and the England rate of 301.

It also emerged today that the number of covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital has risen despite the overall number of people needing treatment across the county falling.

As of yesterday, there were 126 covid-positive patients in North Yorkshire’s hospitals, which is down five on this time last week.

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There are 20 patients in intensive care, an increase of one in the last seven days.

In an update to North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today, Amanda Bloor, the accountable officer for the North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said that the number of patients at Harrogate District Hospital was up one to 11.

She said: 

“While there has been an overall reduction across our hospitals there has been a slight increase of covid-positive patients in Harrogate and a larger increase in Scarborough.

“This is an important reminder that some people are still becoming unwell and needing hospital treatment. Due to infection control requirements when treating covid patients it does mean that hospitals are able to do less other activity while the numbers remain significant.

“As schools and colleges go back in September this may also have an impact on infection rates so it is important that we all continue to take sensible precautions to protect ourselves and those around us.”

Elsewhere, 124,187 people have received a first covid vaccine in the Harrogate district and 114,258 have had a second dose.

North Yorkshire Police not answering half of 999 calls on time

Half of 999 calls to North Yorkshire Police were not answered on time last month, according to the force’s own figures.

The force’s control room received 9,572 emergency calls — the highest ever number for the month of August.

However, 50 per cent of those were not answered within the 10 second target set nationally.

Half of calls met the target and 45 per cent were answered within five seconds, according to police.

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Deputy chief constable Phil Cain told a North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner accountability meeting yesterday that on average the force answered 999 calls within 22 seconds last month.

He said:

“We want to get a lot better at that.

“The challenge for us is balancing against the volume increase of three nines we are receiving since the easing of lockdown restrictions versus some of the staffing challenges we have got in the control room.”

DCC Cain said police were creating long and medium term plans, which include using technology and additional staff, to improve response times.

Overtime plan

The move comes as the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner, Philip Allott, approved £69,000 worth of funding in July for the force to create an overtime plan and hire six more call handlers for busier times.

An additional £70,000 was set aside should more funding be required until the end of October.

A decision notice on the commissioner’s website said:

“The requirement for this available funding will be reviewed at the end of October and the commissioner expects to see proposals brought forward through the next round of budget setting to ensure the longer-term sustainability of the force control room.”

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

North Yorkshire health officials urge 16 and 17-year-olds to get jab

Teenagers aged 16 and 17 in North Yorkshire are being urged to get vaccinated against covid “as soon as possible” ahead of the return to school and college next week.

Those who fall into this age group were first offered a vaccine dose last month, but unlike others no second jab is being scheduled.

The government set a target of offering everyone aged 16 and 17 their first dose or the chance to book one by August 23, and Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, said they should now take up the opportunity “as soon as possible”.

Speaking at a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a collaboration of agencies fighting covid, today, she said: 

“The key message does remain the same for everyone across the county who is eligible for a vaccine to come forward. It is still the best form of protection.

“If you are 16 or 17 years of age, please come forward and get vaccinated as soon as possible – and ideally before you go back to school.”

Her plea coincides with NHS England beginning to draw up plans for a possible extension of the vaccination programme to all 12 to 15-year-olds.

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However, experts on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the government, have yet to make a final decision on whether it should go ahead – and there are national reports that they may opt against it because of fears it could disrupt the programme of boosters for older people.

School bubble groups scrapped

School distancing rules, ‘bubble’ groups and staggered starts have now been scrapped, although ventilation measures and extra hygiene precautions will still be in place.

All secondary pupils are also being urged to get tested either at school or in the community before term starts. After that, pupils will be encouraged to carry on with the twice-weekly testing regime in order to keep cases under control.

Ms Wallace said it was “massively” important that pupils now made a return to school.

She added: 

“All schools and colleges are advised to keep continuing with regular hand washing, cleaning regimes and keeping spaces well ventilated.

“And of course, we will give support from a local public health perspective to any school or college if they see a spike in cases.”

Approval for 420 solar panels to be installed at Harrogate Hydro

Harrogate Borough Council has given approval for 420 solar panels to be installed on the town’s Hydro leisure centre.

The move is part of a wider decarbonisation initiative, which could also see 1,000 solar panels installed at Harrogate Convention Centre.

Council officials said in planning documents that the panels will help to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions at the ageing facility, which replaced the old Coppice Valley pool when it opened in 1999.

It added that the scheme could reduced the council’s annual Co2 emissions by 577 tonnes.

The council successfully bid this year for funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy‘s public sector decarbonisation scheme, which will help fund the panels.

The bid saw the council granted £2.4 million for projects at the Hydro and convention centre.

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A total of £1.8 million will be spent at The Hydro to install the solar panels as well as replace gas boilers with air source heat pumps and put in place new energy monitoring and control systems.

Kathryn Daly, head of place-shaping and economic growth at the council, previously said:

“We have ambitious plans to ensure our own operations and buildings will be clean, efficient and have a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

“This government funding provides a significant step to allow us to achieve this.”

MPs watch: Afghanistan, football freebies and food banks

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In August, parliament was in recess for the summer. However, MPs were recalled to the House of Commons due to the escalating situation in Afghanistan.

However, none of our district MPs contributed to the debate on August 18.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found on Mr Jones:

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

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Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural parts of Harrogate.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams: