The ball is now rolling for a shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire.

Last week, Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, began the process by inviting councils to submit plans for a new-look local authority model.

It would see the current two-tier system, which is made up of North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, scrapped and replaced with either one or two unitary authorities.

The process also opens the door for an elected mayor.

Former local government minister, Simon Clarke, made reorganisation a requirement ahead of any devolution bid.

Read more:

• Government invites North Yorkshire councils to submit restructure plans
• Lib Dems call for ‘secret devolution report’ to be published

However, the government has yet to publish its white paper outlining plans for further devolution in England. The paper is expected to be revealed next year.

Following Mr Jenrick’s invitation, Cllr Keane Duncan, leader of Ryedale District Council, tweeted that it was “game on”.

The district councils and the county council have different views on how the new structure should look.

The county council wants a single council alongside the City of York; the district councils want two councils — one in the east and another in the west.

But how does the process work and when will we see a new local government system in the county?

What next?

Now both camps have been invited to submit plans, the government will choose its preferred option and consult with the public, councils and other public bodies on that model.

The government has asked for outline plans to be submitted by November 9, with a full proposal no later than December 9.

Once the minister has received all the responses, he will decide whether to set up a new authority. This would require legislation.

Councils would not get a vote on the new authority – the process would be handled by Parliament.

The government has said it intends to establish any unitary council plan by April 2023.

Harrogate’s new covid testing site will have the capacity to test up to 320 people a day, officials revealed today.

The full-time site in the Dragon Road car park is set to open next week and will operate seven days a week from 8am until 8pm.

Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, told a North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum press briefing today the site will have the capacity to test eight people at once.

She added the site would be able to conduct between 280 and 320 tests per day.

Read more:

• Permanent covid testing site to open in Harrogate next week
• ‘Very few’ covid infections in North Yorkshire pubs

People will be able to turn up on foot, unlike at the mobile testing centres. However, tests must still be booked in advance.

The forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle the pandemic, successfully made the case for permanent testing sites in Harrogate and Scarborough to the Department of Health and Social Care.

The Stray Ferret asked the DHSC how much the site cost to build but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Latest Public Health England figures show a further 27 cases were confirmed in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours. It takes the total amount of cases since the start of the pandemic to 1,500.

A total of 137 cases were confirmed across North Yorkshire today.

The Harrogate district has the highest weekly case rate of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire, with 116 per 100,000 people up to October 10.

North Yorkshire was placed in the lowest category of the government’s new three tier local lockdown system this week.

Pubs and restaurants have been responsible for hardly any covid outbreaks in North Yorkshire, according to the county’s public health director.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant said there had been “very few instances” of coronavirus spreading between customers in the hospitality sector.

He also said schools and workplaces had been responsible for few transmissions. The main source of spread, he said, was households.

Speaking today at a press briefing of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle emergencies, Dr Sargeant said:

“We have had very, very few instances of pubs where there has been outbreaks and spread to customers. It has largely been staff members that we have picked up.

“The predominant spread in North Yorkshire is between households.

“Our school heads and the teams supporting them have done a brilliant job of keeping schools safe from spread of covid. We are in contact with our care homes on a daily basis.”

Read more:

• Permanent covid testing site to open in Harrogate next week
• Harrogate Nightingale hospital put on standby

Harrogate has the highest weekly rate of infection of the seven districts in North Yorkshire, with 116 cases per 100,000 people. It also has the highest cumulative number of cases, which stands at 1,473, mainly because of its size.

Dr Sargeant said this could partly be due to the district’s high number of care homes.

North Yorkshire is currently classed in the lowest of the three tiers that were introduced this week, which means it continues to follow only national measures, such as the rule of six and 10pm curfew.

But neighbouring West Yorkshire is in the second tier, which bans different households mixing and socialising indoors.

This has led to fears some people may decide to cross the border into North Yorkshire if pub closures are imposed in West Yorkshire.

Superintendent Mike Walker, gold command for North Yorkshire Police’s response to covid, said the force would be prepared to police those coming into the county.

He said:

“We will just have to see what the impact is of other areas being in the higher tiers and what impact it will have on us.

“It is the minority who decide to throw caution to the wind and breach those restrictions. Absolutely, we will be ready to deal with those individuals.”

Some northern mayors, such as Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, have criticised the government for a lack of consultation.

But Richard Webb, director of adult care at the county council, said it had been well consulted by the UK government:

“We are in constant conversation with different arms of government and there is no one single point of government.

“I can only speak from our own experience. We have been involved in discussions all along the way and that feels quite productive and helpful. We are in a national emergency so things will move at quite a quick pace and in that situation you can’t necessarily consult with everyone.”

North Yorkshire County Council is to open a consultation on revised plans for children’s health services, which face cuts.

The council’s executive agreed yesterday that the consultation on its healthy child programme, which supports 130,000 young people aged 0-19 in the county and their families, will begin on October 26.

As part of national cuts to public health funding, the authority now needs to save £750,000 over three years on the service.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at the council, told the meeting:

“In an ideal world with adequate funding we would not have to make radical changes to our services.

“What we are proposing here for the healthy child programme is part and parcel of a whole series of service transformations that we have had to do across all public health services in response to cuts to the public health grant.

“We have prioritised the 0 to 5 years old elements. We think that is really key for children and families with a new child.”

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• Harrogate hospital unveils LGBTQ+ rainbow crossings
• School services in North Yorkshire face cuts

Councillors will consider the plans again after the 10-week consultation ends.

A report prepared for the executive meeting said:

“The proposed programme will not be able to provide the level of service that it currently provides to school aged children. Some services provided in school settings will stop, including hearing and vision screening for children aged 4-5 years and sexual health services drop-ins in schools.”

Currently children receive five in-person check-ups to the age of five. Under the new proposals three of these could be done virtually.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, which delivers the programme in partnership with the council, would be awarded a 10-year contract if the plans go ahead.

Harrogate councillor Geoff Webber, who is the opposition Liberal Democrats leader on the council, criticised government cuts for forcing the council to reduce its services. 

He said:

“It is disgraceful the government have chosen this time to reduce public health spending in North Yorkshire by £4 million over the next few years.

“I am sure that members of all parties will support the effort to maintain the healthy child service and we look forward to seeing the result of the public consultation.”

A further 37 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,473.

Meanwhile, 147 cases have been confirmed across North Yorkshire. The weekly rate for the county stands at 106 per 100,000 people, according to NHS Digital.

Read more:

• Permanent coronavirus testing site to open in Harrogate next week
• Harrogate Nightingale hospital put on standby

The Harrogate district now has the highest weekly case rate in North Yorkshire, with 116 per 100,000 people in the week to October 10.

Yesterday, the district and wider county was placed under the lowest category of the government’s new three tier lockdown system.

It means the district continues to follow national restrictions, including the rule of six and 10pm curfew, but  no additional measures have been imposed.

Harrogate has been spared further restrictions with the news that it has been placed in the lowest category in the government’s new three-tier local lockdown system.

It means the district will continue to follow national measures, such as the rule of six, but will face no additional local restrictions.

Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative MP for Malton and Thirsk, confirmed this afternoon that North Yorkshire would be in the medium alert level of the new tier system.

Good news that we’re still in Medium Alert level (lowest) so current rules still apply in North Yorkshire, so, for example, can still go to a pub/restaurant in a group of 6 from up to 6 different households

— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) October 12, 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new tier system earlier today, which will see millions of people in the north of England affected from 5pm on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson said:

“It is the narrow path we have to tread between the social and economic costs of a full lockdown and the massive human and indeed economic cost of an uncontained epidemic.

“I must warn the House the weeks and months ahead will continue to be difficult and will test the mettle of this country. I have no doubt at all that together we will succeed.”

According to figures released by North Yorkshire County Council today the Harrogate district has the highest rate of coronavirus cases of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire.

Currently, the Harrogate district has a seven-day coronavirus rate of 117 per 100,000 people and a total of 1,437 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Read more:

• Harrogate bars warn further measures could ‘finish us off’
• Harrogate to get permanent Covid testing site

The government is set to announce tougher lockdown restrictions today for millions of people in northern England — but to what extent the Harrogate district will be affected remains unclear.

Pub closures and a ban on travel outside of restriction zones are on the cards for swathes of the north, as part of a new three-tier lockdown system.

While metro mayors Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Andy Burnham in Manchester are threatening to rebel against the initiative, leaders in North Yorkshire have so far kept quiet.

The Stray Ferret today asked Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council whether the government had consulted them on the tier system, if they knew which tier the district was likely to be allocated and whether they agreed with it.

The borough council referred us to the county council, which had not replied by the time of publication.

Rising infection rates

Harrogate has a covid rate of 127.5 per 100,000 people. The figure for North Yorkshire as a whole is 101.9, according to NHS Digital.

Harrogate’s infection level is rated as high but nevertheless is well below the 689.1 figure for Nottingham or 578.7 in Liverpool.

Craven has the highest case rate in the county at 166 per 100,000. Ryedale stands at 102, Richmondshire at 109 and both Scarborough and Selby at 91.

The number of cases in the Harrogate district has increased sharply since the start of September. A further 42 cases were confirmed yesterday, taking the overall number to 1,412.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director at NHS England, said this morning the Harrogate Nightingale hospital will be asked to “mobilise to be ready to accept patients if necessary”.

Read more:

• Harrogate bars warn further measures could ‘finish us off’
• Harrogate to get permanent Covid testing site

Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre, Kings Road, has been asked to be ready to accept patients.

The Harrogate district relies heavily on hospitality trade and local businesses have been vocal about the impact of any further restrictions, and warned that Harrogate falling into the highest tier would “finish them off”.

Martin Greenhow, managing director of Mojo bars, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are currently sat on a precipice and we are going to fall. Things are so bad now, more measures would be inconsequential – we may even be better off closed. It is that dire. But we don’t want to close because we want to keep our staff in employment.”

Closure would be ‘disaster’

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park Hotel and Spa and chair of the Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Association, said if areas such as Leeds and Newcastle were locked down then it would have an impact on the district.

He said:

The government has invited councils in North Yorkshire to submit plans for a shake-up of local government in the county, which would see Harrogate Borough Council and other district authorities scrapped.

Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, invited leaders from North Yorkshire County Council and the seven districts to submit plans today.

It comes as ministers made it a requirement back in July that district councils and county council were abolished in favour of unitary councils before any devolution bid could be lodged.

The government said any unitary council plan would aim to be established by April 2023.

Read More: 

• Lib Dems call for secret North Yorkshire devolution report to be published
• “No worse time for devolution” say District Council leaders

County council bosses have already outlined plans for a single council for North Yorkshire alongside the City of York, while the districts have proposed two councils in the east and west of the county.

Both proposals would mean Harrogate Borough Council would no longer exist.

Now, council leaders will be able to submit the plans to government who will then consult with the public on a preferred option after each model has been considered.

Mr Jenrick said restructuring local government would help to save money and improve services.

He said:

“Councils in Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Somerset are already working on developing their locally-led unitary proposals and I am now giving them the opportunity to submit them for consideration.

“Where there is local support, changing the structure of local government can offer better value for money and improved services for residents. We have always been clear that any restructuring of local government must continue to be locally-led and will not involve top-down solutions from government.”

The decision comes as Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, had written to Mr Jenrick urging for clarity on the future of devolution.

Meanwhile, district leaders had called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay any devolution policy amid the coronavirus crisis.

A further 35 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,337. The weekly case rate for the district stands at 120.6 per 100,000 population.

Meanwhile, county-wide a further 92 cases were confirmed, taking the total infections in North Yorkshire to 4,753.

It comes as North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of agencies that tackle emergencies, warned the county is at a “tipping point” amid increased cases earlier this week.

Read more:

• Harrogate to get permanent Covid testing site
• Harrogate Borough Council gets £58,000 for covid enforcement

Officials from the resilience forum expect Craven to be added to the government’s watchlist today after the district’s weekly case rate stands at 152.3.

Scarborough and Selby were added to the watchlist last month as “areas of concern”, but officials said the case rates in both districts have since decreased.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, urged people to stick to the rules in order to keep cases down this weekend.

He said:

“I know that many people are making a concerted effort and I am grateful for their sacrifices but unfortunately not everyone is sticking to the guidance that we know makes the difference.

“This is not about blaming or finger wagging. This is about fighting the virus, supporting our businesses, keeping our schools open and saving lives. I want to be very clear that while many people experience minor symptoms, for some residents who become infected they will sadly not recover. We will see more lives lost and I appeal again for everyone to show real restraint to help avoid that.

“This weekend people may be tempted to get together or meet at pubs and other places in larger groups to socialise. covid-19 thrives on a crowd and is easily transmitted when your guard is down. Please play your part and protect your friends and family.”

A task group designed to come up with a solution for care home visits met for the first time this week amid county-wide restrictions.

North Yorkshire County Council restricted visits to care homes throughout October following an increase in coronavirus cases.

It comes as 12 homes in the Harrogate district have so far reported outbreaks of coronavirus since the start of the second wave of infections.

The group, which is made up of care home managers, residents, family members and dementia experts, met online for the first time and said a flexible approach with risk assessments for individual people was needed.

Read more:

• Harrogate care home adopts door tech to save lives
• Harrogate care homes urged to end routine visits in October

Richard Webb, director of adult care at the county council, had promised that the restrictions would be reviewed at the end of the month.

He said the meeting was positive and that the group wanted to find solutions for visiting.

Mr Webb said:

“This was a really positive meeting and members of the task group welcomed the opportunity to tell their personal stories of the hardship and impact in terms of people’s mental well-being of stopping visits.

“Everybody at that meeting also acknowledged the challenges of protecting residents from covid but showed great focus on finding solutions to enable visits if at all possible beyond October.

“My own preference is for regular covid testing for designated visitors. However, given the current capacity issues with the national testing programme, it is difficult to guarantee this approach will be practicable at the present time.”

The authority said that care homes are still encouraged to allow window visits for residents so that relatives can still see their loved ones.

Homes are also being urged to use telephones and other technology to allow residents to contact relatives.