Tory crime candidate: No plans to close more police stations

The Conservative candidate for North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has said he does not envisage closing more police stations if elected.

In the first of a series of candidate interviews with the Stray Ferret, Philip Allott said he would take the closure of stations on a case by case basis.

Voters will go to the polls on May 6 to elect a new commissioner. The Liberal Democrats, Labour Party and an independent candidate will also be fielding candidates.

Mr Allott, who lives in Knaresborough, is standing for the Conservative party. He is managing director of PR and marketing agency Allott and Associates Ltd.

No more station closures

Mr Allott said, if elected commissioner, he did not “envisage” closing anymore stations.

In the Harrogate district, Pateley Bridge police station became the latest to be closed in the county in an effort to save money.

The building on King Street has been put up for sale and officers relocated to save £19,000 per year.

It follows other station closures, such as Northallerton, which have been shut to relocate officers with other public sector workers.

Mr Allott said some of the stations had been closed due to a lack of people coming in to report crime. He said the Pateley Bridge station was among those that were underused.

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He added that the money has been used to invest in frontline policing, such as body cameras.

When asked if he intended to stick with the policy to close stations down in order to save money for taxpayers, Mr Allott said: 

“I don’t envisage anymore police stations closing, that has been worked through.

“If there is a special case, then I will do it on a case by case basis. But I think where we are is just about right.”

Harrogate ‘badly hit’ by county lines

In the last six months of 2020, police made 140 arrests related to county lines drugs across the Harrogate district.

Police launched Operation Expedite, based in the town, to deal with drug dealing and the exploitation of vulnerable people.

Mr Allott said Harrogate had been “badly hit” by county lines drugs gangs in recent years.

He said he would extend the automatic number plate recognition system and encourage stop and search “on reasonable grounds” to help the force tackle drug gangs.

Mr Allot said there were “some easy hits” to make on tackling the problem, but added there were longer term issues such as working to help vulnerable young people who may be encouraged into gangs.

He said:

“I’m a realist. The police, fire and crime commissioner on their own and with partners can’t stop the drugs trade.

“It would be fantastic if we could, but we can’t. We can simply control it.

“But what I want to do is to make it so hard for that trade in North Yorkshire.”

North Yorkshire Police in Ripon.

More police presence to tackle Ripon crime

In order to tackle the problems over anti-social behaviour in Ripon, Mr Allott said he wanted to double the number of police officers in the city.

The city has been blighted by crime in recent months with cannabis farms found on an industrial estate and five incidents in one three-hour spree earlier in February, including a robbery, thefts and reports of a man carrying a machete.

Mr Allott said part of the issue was a “lack of visibility” of police officers. He added that there should be a mobile unit patrolling communities, including Ripon.

When asked whether he really believed more police would work when officers had already pledged to tackle the problem in the city, he said the force needed to use the “record number” of resources that it will soon have at its disposal.

He said:

“We’re well on our way to a record number of officers. We’ve definitely got a record number of PCSOs.

“But we’ve got to utilise those people and police have got to have a greater community involvement. Other agencies and organisations need to support the police.”

Dog thefts and keeping women safe on Harrogate’s streets

One area where the Conservative candidate has focused a lot of his campaign is on dog thefts.

Mr Allott believes many frustrated dog owners feel some police forces treat the crime as low priority. He wants to lobby for stronger enforcement on dog thefts.

“There’s a lot of people out there who feel they are not been listened to about their pets. That needs to be addressed.”

He highlighted a survey showing dog thefts increased by 250% last year due to gangs cashing in on the demand for puppies during lockdown.

A Freedom of Information request by the Stray Ferret to North Yorkshire Police showed the number of incidents recorded in the district where a dog had been stolen was nine last year, four in 2019 and four in 2018.

When asked whether violence against women would be a better focus for his campaign, he pointed to £500,000 which has been allocated by government to North Yorkshire to spend on improving female safety.

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Mr Allott said he wanted the money spent on plain clothes police officers and to educate young men on the issue.

As part of his campaign, he has launched a survey to gather views on how the funding should be best spent.

He said:

“The hard knock is the plain clothes police to arrest men who are harassing women. But secondly we need a cultural change.

“The way we are going to do that cultural change is that we are going to educate men to behave better.”

Funding the fire service

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue also falls within the commissioners remit.

The service precept, which funds the fire service, is set by the commissioner’s office.

But, Julia Mulligan, who has held the role since 2012, said recently that the county’s fire service is among the worst funded in the country.

Asked how he would solve that problem, Mr Allott said there would need to be more funding for the service.

He said this could be done through running fire stations more effectively, increasing the precept and lobbying ministers for more funding.

The following candidates so far have announced they are standing for election as commissioner:

The final list of nominations will be published on April 9. The deadline to register to vote in the May elections is April 19. You can register to vote here.

Tomorrow, the Stray Ferret will feature an interview with Liberal Democrat candidate, James Barker.

Harrogate district records 10 further coronavirus cases

The Harrogate district has recorded a further 10 coronavirus cases.

It takes the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 7,507, according to Public Health England statistics.

The district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 44 per 100,000 people. Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average is 46 and the England rate is 55.

Meanwhile, NHS England figures show a death from a patient who tested positive for covid was reported on March 16 at Harrogate District Hospital.

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It takes the total deaths at the hospital since March last year to 177.

Today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that more than half of adults across the UK have had a first dose of a covid vaccine.

In the Harrogate district, 70,138 people have been vaccinated according to NHS England figures.

Union dispute over cost of Harrogate council staff working from home

Union officials have lodged a formal dispute to Harrogate Borough Council over the cost of staff working from home.

Unison said the authority refuses to cover any additional costs incurred by remote working and had been doing so for a full year.

It added that union officials had made “reasonable and legitimate” requests for the borough council to pay a tax free allowance of £6 a week for those who have no choice but to work from home.

But, the council said less than 50% of its staff are working from home and it had ensured that all of them are aware of the tax relief available from HMRC for working from home.

The tax relief offered by the government offers people who have to work from home the chance to claim costs based upon the rate in which they pay tax.

For example, a person who pays 20% basic rate claiming relief on £6 per week would receive £1.20 per week.

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David Houlgate, branch secretary for Unison Harrogate Local Government branch, said the relief from HMRC “does not come close” to covering increased costs of working from home.

He said:

“Staff have incurred increased gas, electric and water bills as a result of working from home and are in effect being asked to subsidise the council in delivering its services. Against this are the savings in these very same utilities that we believe the council is making by way of staff working from home and council sites being closed or sparsely occupied.

“It should be noted that we do not accept any argument that staff are saving on travel costs. This may benefit some but by no means all.

“The dispute also includes an issue around mileage because of a deferral by the council on a decision relating to Unison’s request for the council to change its policy on mileage to reflect the fact that the workplace has now in effect changed by way of staff being forced to work from home. 

“Ordinarily staff who use their own vehicles on council business can claim for mileage when doing so but only from the established workplace. Unison believes that the workplace is no longer the office but is in fact the home.”

In response, a council spokeswoman said:

“In a time when many employers are going out of business, making redundancies or putting staff on furlough we have managed to ensure no one has been put in this position. This has been achieved by being in a relatively strong financial position before the pandemic, redeploying staff to other council services and being extremely cautious with our finances over the last 12-months.

“We have ensured that staff who are working at home as a result of the ongoing global pandemic – which we believe to be less than 50% of all employees – are aware of the HMRC tax relief for additional household costs. This tax relief is backdated for the 2020/21 tax year and equates to £62.40 for the basic tax payer. Any member of staff who believes they have higher costs than £6 a week, can claim via the HMRC.

“A vast proportion of office-based staff are also saving on travel costs, whether public transport or their own vehicles.”

Harrogate county lines drug runner jailed

A Harrogate drug runner linked to the county lines trade has been jailed for 20 months after he was stopped by plain-clothed officers.

Christopher Hollowed, 54, who has a long criminal history, had been dealing heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Harrogate under the auspices of his drug bosses, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Matthew Collins said under-cover officers in an unmarked police car spotted Hollowed and another man approaching each other in the street.

They exchanged, “by way of a short handshake” known as a “hand-off”, a drugs packet.

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The officers approached the two men, but they ran off in separate directions. They recognised Hollowed immediately and caught up with him, seizing cash.

The other named man was detained and officers found two wraps of heroin and crack cocaine on him.

Hollowed’s fingerprints were later found on the drug wraps, suggesting he had sold the drugs to the other man.

Police searched a local block of flats where Hollowed lived as part of a wider investigation into county lines drug-dealing and so-called “cuckooing”, the practice by which drug dealers take over the homes of addicts and use them as bases for their dealing operations.

One such “vulnerable” man, who lived a few flats down from Hollowed, was found in one of the rooms along with Lee Bavin, a county lines dealer.

Bavin was found with several wraps of heroin and crack “similar in type, consistency and amounts” to the ones exchanged in the earlier street “hand-off”, said Mr Collins.

The prosecutor added:

“It’s clear that this means that Mr Hollowed was acting as a runner, moving drugs (from that flat) to the..street.”

In January, Bavin, of Manchester Road, Bradford, was jailed for 21 months for his part in this street-dealing operation and received an extra 43 months consecutively after being convicted of further drug-dealing offences as part of a wider county lines network. He is now serving a total five-year jail sentence.

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Bavin, who had been active since at least 2018, was snared as part of North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Expedite. He was part of a wider network of Bradford-run dealers and drug runners targeting Harrogate and flooding the town with heroin and crack cocaine. He was initially arrested in September 2018 as he travelled in a white Mercedes heading for Harrogate.

Hollowed, of Mount Parade, ultimately admitted two counts of supplying a Class A drug following his arrest on January 9 last year. The court heard he had 105 offences on his record including 10 for drug possession.

Imran Khan, for Hollowed, said his client had an “entrenched” drug addiction dating back over 20 years which had taken a heavy toll on his health.

He claimed that Hollowed was a “vulnerable” man who had been exploited by drug suppliers higher up the chain and had played a lesser role in the dealing operation.

Recorder Alex Menary said that county lines dealing “in this part of North Yorkshire is something of increasing prevalence”.

He added that, “unhappily, the buying and the supply is carried out by known, vulnerable drug users like (Hollowed)”, while the main players “kept their hands clean”.

He told Hollowed:

“In the pre-sentence report you made plain that that is your life now. You were a (drug) runner.

“Anyone who involves themselves in dealing Class A drugs in broad daylight must expect a custodial sentence.”

Hollowed will serve half of the 20-month sentence behind bars before being released on licence.

Highways bosses should not ‘shy away’ from sustainable transport, says council leader

The conservative leader of Harrogate Borough Council leader has said highways officials should not “shy away” from transport measures which “make use of the private car more difficult”.

Speaking before a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee today, Cllr Richard Cooper welcomed measures for more cycle lanes and sustainable transport plans for the town.

Cllr Cooper, who also represents Harrogate central on the county council, told the committee that any opposition to such measures was inevitable.

However, he said the county council, which is the highways authority, should not hide from the public what the measures are intended to do.

He said:

“I think it’s a big job to do in persuading the public that they actually need also to fully get behind the alternative to more roads and congestion.

“That alternative I’m afraid is, and we should not hide it from people, making the use of the private car more difficult. It’s taking away tarmac that is dedicated to private cars and giving it to cyclists, pedestrians and public transport.

“Let’s not shy away from that, that is what we are talking about.”

He added that “there will always be a level of protest” and that council bosses should take those views into account.

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But, Cllr Cooper said the council ultimately had a decision to make which should reflect the authority’s objectives to reduce carbon emissions.

His comments come as North Yorkshire County Council officers will go to detailed consultation on Monday on active travel plans in Harrogate.

The proposals include cycle lanes on Victoria Avenue and on the A59 Maple Close between Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Meanwhile, Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, announced that a controversial plan to make Oatlands Drive one-way would be scrapped.

Instead, the council will consult on proposals for a 20 mile per hour zone on the road.

The county council received £1,011,750 for cycling improvements and outlined three cycle route projects in Harrogate.

Residents welcome decision to drop Oatlands Drive one-way scheme

Residents and councillors have welcomed a move by North Yorkshire County Council to shelve plans for a one-way system on Oatlands Drive.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, confirmed today that the controversial proposal would be scrapped and not included in a detailed consultation from Monday.

It comes as the county council received “overwhelming” opposition after its initial consultation, with 57% of respondents opposed to the plan.

A leaflet campaign was also launched by residents against the scheme which encouraged people to send e-mails to local councillors, media and council officers objecting to the scheme.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access at North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access at North Yorkshire County Council, announced today that the one-way plan would be dropped.

Cllr Mackenzie told the Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee today that a decision was made to drop the plan after a meeting with officers yesterday. He said it became clear that in “most cases” residents were “vehemently opposed” to the proposal.

Anna McIntee, a local resident whose petition calling on the plans to be scrapped attracted more than 1,700 signatures, said she was delighted with the news.

She said:

“I was watching the meeting live and when I heard the news I jumped around and screamed, I am over the moon. It is the right decision.

“This was an absolutely ludicrous idea. However, the fight is not over. We still need to oppose the Station Gateway plans as that would impact a lot of people as well.”

Terry Bramall CBE, who lives on St James Drive, opposed the scheme and was concerned it would lead to extra traffic on his road. He joined a group locally who campaigned against it.
Mr Bramall said:
“I am delighted that it’s been shelved. It was a plan that had not been thought through, particularly with respect to the consequences there would have been on neighbouring estates.
“What we should be seeing is a strategic plan where we have principal thoroughfares that relieve smaller side roads.”

Meanwhile, Cllr John Ennis, who represents Oatlands on the county council, said he had received strong opposition to the plans from residents and that he was “grateful” for the decision to scrap the scheme.

Council bosses will now go to the next stage of consultation on the scheme – which the authority bid £215,000 in government funding for – from Monday. It will include proposals for a 20 mile per hour zone on the road.

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Other measures including improvements to the toucan crossing on York Place, raised speed platforms at crossings at Slingsby Walk and outside St Aidan’s school will also be included.

Traffic filters will also be proposed for St Hilda’s Road and St Winifred’s Road.

However, Kevin Douglas, chair of Harrogate and District Cycle Action, said he was disappointed that the one-way system had not been kept in the plans.

He said a series of measures were required for the road in order to meet carbon reduction targets.

Mr Douglas said:

“I’m very disappointed it’s not gone through. I don’t know if NYCC will now get the funding.

“I hoped they would consult again on the details for the scheme in a second phase.

“The 20 mph zone is positive, but it depends on how they do it. Will they just put a sign up? It would be really helpful if they would put in traffic calming measures.

“It should be a series of measures, not either/or.

“People have objected and I accept that people have different views from our own. But how are we going to meet our carbon reduction targets without making changes?”

Oatlands Drive one-way plans scrapped

North Yorkshire County Council has today dropped controversial plans to make Oatlands Drive in Harrogate one-way.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, told a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee that the authority will not pursue the proposal.

Instead, a 20 mile per hour zone will be included in plans from next week.

The one-way proposal proved controversial, with 57% of respondents to an initial county council consultation opposing the proposal.

Cllr Mackenzie told the committee today:

“We decided, and I hope this committee agrees with that decision, that in the overwhelming view of local residents and that of the local elected member, that we should drop that option.

“Therefore, with effect from next Monday when the detailed consultation starts, we will be presenting a detailed design which does not include one-way working.

“It will include, however, a proposal to make the whole area on Oatlands Drive from York Place to Hookstone Road and all the saints residential area a 20 mile per hour zone in order to slow traffic down and bring about an element of safety for walkers and cyclists.”

Cllr Mackenzie added that the council will also look to improve the toucan crossing on York Place, building platforms at crossings at Slingsby Walk and outside St Aidans school.

Traffic filters will also be proposed for St Hilda’s Road and St Winifred’s Road.

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17 covid cases confirmed in Harrogate district today

A further 17 covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of infections since March to 7,478.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 39 per 100,000 people. The national average is 58, while the North Yorkshire rate is 48.

No further deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

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The number of covid patients at the hospital has fallen to 13 – nine fewer than the 22 last week.

In other covid news today, North Yorkshire’s health bosses have insisted that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and urged people to continue to come forward for their jabs when invited.

It was also announced that more than 188,000 people in North Yorkshire have now received their first coronavirus jab and 13,000 their second.

More than 50,000 of those have been delivered at Harrogate’s mass vaccination centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Those who are currently being called up for their vaccine include over 50s and those with underlying health conditions between 16 and 60-years-old.

Two men fined for travelling to Knaresborough for a McDonald’s

Police have fined two men from Hull for breaching covid restrictions after they travelled to Knaresborough for a McDonald’s.

Officers from North Yorkshire Police said they spotted the men’s car at St James Retail Park at 12.45am on Monday.

The men told police they were out for a drive to get a meal from McDonald’s.

The restaurant is 66 miles from Hessle in Hull where they drove from.

Both were issued with fixed penalty notices for being outside place of living.

Police handed out 102 fines in North Yorkshire for breaching lockdown restrictions in the past week — 12 of them were in Harrogate.

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It takes the total number of fixed penalty notices issued during the third lockdown in North Yorkshire to 1,662.

Superintendent Mike Walker, who leads the county’s covid response, said it was important there was “no let up” in complying with restrictions over the forthcoming four-day Easter weekend.

He said:

“Together with our partner agencies and the people of York and North Yorkshire, it is imperative that we maintain the collective effort to reduce the infection rate as low as possible while the vaccination programme is rolled-out across the population.

“We can all see that better times are on the horizon, that’s why we must keep going and not allow all the hard work and sacrifice to be undone through complacency.”

New base for Harrogate mental health crisis team yet to be found

Health bosses have yet to find a new base for Harrogate’s mental health crisis team, despite conceding that it had to return “at the earliest possible opportunity”.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services for the district, moved the team to The Orchards at Ripon following the closure of the Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Unit in April.

Adult and children crisis teams support people with mental health problems who may otherwise need to go to hospital.

Officials relocated the team, which includes 29 staff, after they were unable to identify alternative accommodation in Harrogate. They said the move was a short-term solution and that work was underway to find a new site.

At a North Yorkshire Health Scrutiny meeting in December, trust managers conceded that the move “cannot be sustained in the long term” and that it had to return “at the earliest possible opportunity”.

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However, the trust has now said it intends to explore requirements for a new site “in the near future”.

Naomi Lonergan, director of operations for North Yorkshire and York at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“We intend to explore our requirements for a new location for our Harrogate mental health crisis services in the near future, which will include discussions with our stakeholders and partners.

“It remains our priority to offer face-to-face contact and see people who need crisis interventions in their homes or as close to home as possible. Although the crisis team has been relocated to Ripon, most people accessing the services can still do so in the Harrogate area.

“We continue to use rooms in the Harrogate community bases to enable face-to-face contact and we are also offering attend anywhere virtual consultations where clinically appropriate.”

Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Wing, which offered specialist inpatient care for people suffering with mental health problems, closed in April.

Inpatient mental health services transferred to York.

North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, which buys medical services for the county, said the transfer of inpatient beds “released £500,000”, which could be invested in community mental health services.

Have you been affected by this change in mental health services? Get in touch at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk