Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter, Author at The Stray Ferret

Debate over North Yorkshire devolution to ramp up in September

A month of battles over how devolution should look, whether district councils should be scrapped and what benefits a bid would bring to York and North Yorkshire, awaits residents in September.

As the process for grappling back powers from Westminster takes further steps forward, so too does the relentless battle to get each side of the argument out onto the airwaves and in the press.

So far, the battle has been solely on council reorganisation as the districts pitted themselves against the county council and its plan for a single unitary authority.

Ministers set a deadline for proposals from council leaders for a shake-up of local government to be submitted by September.

The latest in the PR war came from outside both camps as the County Council Network released a report which said scrapping upper-tier councils and replacing them with one authority in each area could save £2.94 billion nationally over five years.

But the districts will have their own consultants’ report in the shape of KPMG which could soon be used to bat the claims back.

Ahead of a busy month, both sides will make their case on September 7 when Cllr Carl Les, county council leader, and borough council leader Cllr Richard Cooper, are set to speak at a Harrogate Chamber of Commerce meeting on the topic.

They’ll be joined by chief executives from both authorities – Richard Flinton from the county council and Wallace Sampson of the borough council.

But, while the debate rages on about council reorganisation, others from outside the county and from other organisations have sought to argue for and against the bigger picture.

Arguments on the bigger picture for devolution

Across the county border into the Tees Valley, residents already have devolution and with it an elected mayor, Ben Houchen.

As previously reported, county council leaders routinely cite Mr Houchen and the region as the closest example of what they desire from devolved powers.

Conservative Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen. Picture credit: Thames Valley Combined Authority.

This week, Mr Houchen weighed in on the debate in North Yorkshire and called on the county not to be left behind in wrestling powers back from ministers.

He said:

“North Yorkshire is at a critical crossroads at a key moment. As we recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the need to deliver economic growth, create good quality jobs and boost skills has never been more important. We need to take every opportunity to bridge the economic gap between north and south and provide fairer opportunities for all.

“A strong mayor working across the border with the Tees Valley would undoubtedly help me to make the case for the north and ensure it punches its weight nationally and internationally.

“This all starts, though, with a strong devolution deal and York and North Yorkshire must not miss the moment and risk getting left behind.

“I sincerely hope that councils across York and North Yorkshire will seize this moment and make sure that all proposals for the future local government in the county are given due consideration by the government without delay. The Tees Valley benefitted from its councils coming together and getting its devolution deal over the line while other areas found reasons to disagree, now North Yorkshire has a similar choice.”

Elsewhere, the effect of devolution and what it will mean for those that work in local government has not gone unnoticed.

Unison branches across local government in North Yorkshire have called for a “jobs first” deal which will protect jobs and redundancies, level up pay and conditions and minimise disruption to staff and services.

Wendy Nichols, regional convenor for Unison, said:

“Our members are busy delivering essential public services and supporting the response to the covid-19 emergency. Local government reorganisation is the last thing that they need now.

“However, we are pragmatic and we recognise that the government’s intentions are clear.

“They want a unitary system of local government from April 2022 and our focus across all our local government branches in North Yorkshire will be to secure the best outcome for our members and the communities they serve.”

Harrogate council backs £2bn devolution proposals

Harrogate Borough Council is to press ahead and support a list of devolution proposals, which includes £2 billion worth of spending power for York and North Yorkshire.

The borough council will support the proposals, known as “asks”, after the authority’s overview and scrutiny commission found “no fundamental concerns” with the council leader’s decision to approve the report earlier this month.

It comes as each council needs to approve the asks ahead of a submission to government. North Yorkshire County Council supported the document last month, along with City of York Council and Scarborough District Council.

But Hambleton District Council has voted to defer a decision until the publication of the government’s white paper in the autumn, which leaves uncertainty over when the submission will be made.

Once all councils have agreed, the requests are tabled to government and ministers will produce a formal devolution deal for authorities to vote on.

The “asks” document is intended to start negotiations with government over what the county wants from a devolution deal. It is separate from the proposals for local government reorganisation and how the new authority or authorities would be structured.

More powers over transport, skills, regeneration and energy are included in the submission, as well as a mayoral funding pot worth £750 million over 25 years.

Both Cllr Richard Cooper and chief executive Wallace Sampson, top middle and top left, addressed the committee over the devolution “asks”.

Further funding proposals include a five-year transport settlement worth £250 million, £520 million of devolved funding for fibre connectivity, and a £230 million fund for the new mayor to share between the county’s towns.

Liberal Democrat councillors, including opposition leader Cllr Pat Marsh, said the report was “heavily about York” and there was little in the requests which covered Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

But Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of the council, told the scrutiny meeting today that the document outlined plans which would benefit the wider district.

Abolishing districts “could save £2.94 billion”

Meanwhile, County Councils Network today released a report which said the replacement of two-tier systems with a single unitary authority in areas would save £2.94 billion nationally over five years.

The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers said replacing county and district councils with two unitary authorities in each area would reduce the financial benefit to £1 billion.

It comes as the government has set a requirement that any devolution bid must come with reorganisation of local government.

Cllr David Williams, chairman of the County Councils Network, said:

“The consequences of coronavirus for local government finances, and the need to work quickly to support the economic recovery, means more councils want to look again at how local government is structured in their area.

“This government has already signalled that it wants to see many more unitary councils created and it is important we get it right for our residents – we do not want to look back on this period as a missed opportunity.

“The findings from PwC show there is a compelling financial case for the creation of more unitary counties where councils seek reorganisation. They will provide significant savings to support frontline services and the stability needed to safeguard care services as we continue to mitigate the impact of coronavirus. Crucially, it will create councils of the necessary size to support local economies to recover from the pandemic and drive forward the devolution and levelling up agendas.”

County council approves £8m funding for highways company vehicles

Senior county councillors have approved £8 million worth of funding to purchase vehicles on behalf of the authority’s new highways company.

NY Highways Ltd, which was announced by the authority in June, is set to take over the council’s £40 million highways contract next year.

The new company will maintain the county’s roads and the authority said the new arrangement will give them greater flexibility and control, and will also remove “contractual constraints”.

Now, senior county councillors have approved £8 million worth of of additional funding on top of £2 million already set aside to purchase specialist vehicles.

A report before county councillors said:

“As the project has progressed, further scoping has been undertaken which has resulted in the identification of additional requirements.

“As a result, an additional £8m is requested to allow further orders to be placed on the same basis as the original approval. This will bring the total funding included in the capital plan for the advance purchase of vehicles to £10m.”

The cost is expected to be recharged to NY Highways Ltd once it is in operation, which is expected to be from June 1, 2021.

It comes as Ross Bullerwell has been announced as manager director of NY Highways. The council advertised the post for around £100,000 a year with flexible benefits.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, the executive member for access, welcomed the news of his appointment and said:

“Having our own company gives us greater control and flexibility over our highways service delivery, while removing the contractual constraints that exist with the current arrangements.

“Through more direct accountability for the works on the ground we aim to deliver a ‘right first time’ service with the customer continuing to be at the heart of everything that we do.”

Man cautioned for distributing ‘distressing images’ of Harcourt Drive incident

Police have arrested and cautioned a man in relation to distributing images on social media of an incident on Harcourt Drive near to Harrogate town centre.

One man was taken to hospital for treatment and another was pronounced dead at the incident last Sunday. Multiple police cars, ambulances and an air ambulance were called out to the street at around 7.15pm.

DI Steve Menzies, senior investigating officer at North Yorkshire Police, has since reassured residents that the incident was “tragic and isolated”.

Now, police have said they have arrested and cautioned a 42-year-old man for distributing “distressing images” of the incident.

In a statement, police said:

“We have been made aware that following the incident on Harcourt Drive in Harrogate on Sunday (August 23) distressing images of the incident were shared through social media.

“We would like to reassure the local community that the distributor of these images, a 42-year-old Harrogate man, has been arrested and cautioned.

“Sharing images of this nature will not be condoned under any circumstances and we would strongly urge anyone who is in possession of the images to delete them immediately.”

How Harrogate Borough Council responded to a complaint around Cllr Mearns and Gmund Cars

When Anthony Place put his complaint into Harrogate Borough Council, it went to the authority’s monitoring officer, Jennifer Norton, who assessed whether it was something the council would investigate further.

For councils across the country, including Harrogate Borough Council, the monitoring officer is bound by the code of conduct when it comes to dealing with complaints and its ability to take action against councillors.

What happened in the case of Cllr Samantha Mearns?

In the case of Cllr Samantha Mearns and the complaint from Anthony Place in June 2019, the borough council felt the councillor was “not engaged in council business” so the rules of the code of conduct did not apply.

Read more:

Later that month, the council responded to the complaint regarding Cllr Mearns and said:

“On this occasion, your complaint is in the context of the alleged misappropriation of customers goods/money by a company in which Samantha Mearns and her husband were directly involved.

“Samantha Mearns was not engaged on council business when carrying out any activities associated with the company.

“For this reason, it would not be appropriate for me to refer the matter for investigation under the council’s code of conduct.”

The council then did not take any further action to investigate the complaint.

It was a similar situation with the case of Ernest Butler

More recently, the Stray Ferret reported on parish Cllr Ernest Butler after racial comments he made on social media regarding a white lives matter protest.

A complaint was made to the borough council about his post, but again said it could not take action. The authority again said the councillor should be engaged in business directly related to the council or constituents for it to breach its code.

However, these cases do not necessarily always leave the complainant feeling satisfied.

In the case of Mr Place, he told the Stray Ferret:

“For the life of me, I cannot see how someone conducts themselves in their private life isn’t relevant to how they conduct themselves in public office.”

Council bosses urge ‘sensible decisions’ amid covid costs

County council bosses have called for sensible financial decisions as the authority faces losing more than £11 million in council tax and business rates due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While the authority has taken measures to cover its losses on council tax, early indications show the council faces an overall £3.9 million overspend by the end of the year.

Gary Fielding, director for strategic resources, said the figure was offset by funding from government and underspends in other departments.

But, he told a meeting of senior councillors that he remained concerned by the effect of coronavirus on finances going forward.

Indications from the first three months of the year show that council faces £11.9 million in losses on business rates and council tax due to the pandemic. The authority has made provision for the cost, but said it was an early estimate which would effect next year’s finances.

Other areas of overspend include health and adult social care at £11.2 million, £1.4 in business and environment, £1.7 million on children and young people services, £7.9 million in central services and £11.3 million on corporate miscellaneous.

Health and adult services saw the most financial pressure, said Mr Fielding. This is because the council is expecting to cover the costs of care packages for those discharged from hospital at a cost of £4.8 million and is also forecasting an increase in demand for mental health care.

However, the authority has been supported with underspends in other council departments and offset its losses with £29.5 million worth of government funding.

Mr Fielding reiterated to councillors on the authority’s executive that he was not considering a section 114 notice – a measure taken in dire financial circumstances – but said he remained concerned about covid going forward.

He said:

“To be absolutely clear, we are not in a position where I need to be consider issuing a section 114 notice.

“We are not in that territory. I remain concerned about the impact that covid will have on the recurring position going forward and that’s why we are refreshing our medium term financial strategy and we need to make sure we are are sensible with our spending decisions in the current year.

“We will not need an emergency budget as such as some other councils have carried out. What we need to do is have sensible financial management within the council led by the executive and management board.”

It comes as other councils and public services have seen finances stretched due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Harrogate Borough Council faces an overall shortfall of around £9 million due to coronavirus. It has also seen a significant increase in caseloads for people requiring support for council tax and housing benefit.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has said the county’s police force faces a loss in income of around £1.6 million.

The commissioner’s office said the estimated figure was an “early indication” and included areas such as a loss in speed camera income and no sports events to police.

Boroughbridge man jailed for taking indecent photographs of three-year-old girl

A Boroughbridge man has been jailed for taking indecent photographs of a three-year-old girl and three other offences involving indecent images of children.

Geoffrey Crowther, 72, a self-employed heavy goods driver, was sentenced to 12 months in jail at York Crown Court today (August 26) and was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Mr Crowther previously pleaded guilty to four charges of:

making four indecent images of children in the most serious Category A, between 14 June 2017 and 14 November 2018
making three indecent images of children in Category B during the same period
making 10 indecent images of children in Category C during the same period
taking indecent images of a child in Category C between 30 April 2017 and 14 November 2018 – these relate to first generation images which Crowther took secretly of a three-year-old girl on two different smart phones

North Yorkshire Police’s Online Abuse and Exploitation Team arrested Mr Crowther on November 12, 2018, and carried out a search warrant of his home following intelligence of suspicious website activity linked to him.

Numerous telephones and other devices were seized for examination by the force’s Digital Forensics Unit.

Mr Crowther was then charged on April 1, 2020, and later pleaded guilty at York Crown Court on July 9.

Safeguarding measures have been put in place regarding the youngster whose photograph was taken by Crowther. Police are satisfied there have been no contact offences against the girl.

DC Fiona Saunderson, of the Online Abuse & Exploitation Team, said:

“Geoffrey Crowther did something unthinkable by taking indecent images of a young child. His despicable actions were a grotesque breach of trust which has devastated lives.”

DC Saunderson added:

“Crowther claimed he did not have a sexual interest in children. But when presented with the evidence he admitted to taking indecent photographs of a three-year-old girl.

“Again, he stated he got no sexual gratification from them and that he had deleted the photos immediately.

“Despite his continued denials that he has a sexual interest in children, all the evidence, including his very specific online search history, suggests otherwise.

“Crowther still hasn’t properly explained why he has been taking and making and indecent images of children.”

James Street pedestrianisation ‘timely and appropriate’, says council

County council bosses have said a move to temporarily pedestrianise James Street in Harrogate is “timely and appropriate”.

It comes as the county council lent its support for a temporary pedestrianisation of the street, which could be in place as early as next month, but has faced opposition from some businesses and landlords.

Harrogate Borough Council requested the measure for “social distancing and safety purposes”. The move was then backed by Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access.

But business owners and landlords on the street, including ex-Leeds United star Danny Mills, have since opposed the decision and described it as “damaging”.

Now, Cllr Mackenzie has defended the decision and said that the move is an experiment after the borough council requested a full closure.

He said:

“NYCC is aware of the views expressed by some owners of James Street businesses who are opposed to plans to pedestrianise James Street.

“We wish to remind all business owners that, in response to the request from Harrogate Borough Council for full closure of James Street, the county council has indicated that it is willing to introduce as an experiment a temporary closure of a section of the street between 10am and 4.30pm each day.

“Such closures are being supported by the Department of Transport and are proving popular in various parts of the country both with residents and with local businesses. We believe, therefore, that our proposed trial closure is both timely and appropriate.”

Harrogate Borough Council has also been approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.

It comes as Mr Mills wrote to both county council leader, Carl Les, and borough council leader, Richard Cooper, calling for an urgent rethink of the decision.

Mr Mills, who has lived in Harrogate for 20 years and owns four properties on James Street, described the move as “very damaging” and said businesses needed all the help they can get.

Nick Hubbert is the general manager at Hoopers.

Meanwhile, the general manager at Hoopers, Nick Hubbert, also wrote to the borough council regarding pedestrianisation.

Mr Hubbert told the Stray Ferret that he does not believe that the temporary pedestrianisation of James Street will help businesses and said he based that on years of experience.

He added that he is not against pedestrianisation long term, but he does not think that the middle of a pandemic is the right time to change things.

County council to take over Henshaws home service

North Yorkshire County Council will take over the running of Henshaws’ supported living service from October.

Senior county councillors voted at a meeting of the authority’s executive today to take over the service, which currently has 10 properties in Harrogate with a capacity for 26 people in total.

It comes as county council bosses said they were not confident that handing over the service to another provider would not result in the loss of services and that taking over would “ensure full continuation of services”.

Cllr Michael Harrison, executive member for health and adult services at the county council, said it was important for the authority to remember those people who use the service when deciding to take it over.

He said:

“A key thing here is not to lose sight of the fact that we have got individuals living independent lives and in order to do that they receive support funded by ourselves.

“It is absolutely critical that we do not lose sight of the benefits of a contract like this. Ultimately, on the one hand you could look at pounds and pence but on the other hand this is people being facilitated and supported to live independently.

“It is really important from a council perspective that we make sure that is possible. I think this is a good decision from a continuity of service perspective.

“I think we can also look at what we are providing and the efficiency of doing that so we can deliver service continuity, efficient use of resources and positive recruitment opportunities in the Harrogate area.”

Richard Webb, director of health and adult services, added that transfer of staff over to the county council was subject to approval. If approved, the authority would then begin a recruitment process.

Read more:

Arguments on the bigger picture for devolution

Read more:

Abolishing districts “could save £2.94 billion”

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more:

Read more on this story:

Read more on this story: