A public health boss has underlined the importance of investing taxpayers’ money into funding stopping smoking services after being told it appeared “a bit pointless” spending funds trying to change the habits of tobacco addicts.

Richard Webb, North Yorkshire Council’s director of health and adult services, said while there was a legitimate debate over how funding and investment for stopping smoking was targeted, a proportion of those who continued to smoke were people the authority was asked to be particularly aware of.

He was speaking at a meeting of the council’s leaders after an officer’s report showed how significantly fewer people were recorded as having successfully quit smoking for at least four weeks last year than since at least 2019.

The report stated smokers setting a quit date had fallen largely due to dealing with the harder-to-quit cohort of smokers as we reduce our prevalence down year-on-year, and also following the withdrawal of Varenicline, one of the most popular stop-smoking medications.

The council’s Living Well Smokefree scheme would be increasing staff capacity, using government Smokefree generation funding, the report stated, while also using e-cigarette starter kits as part of a swap-to-stop scheme.

A National Institute for Health and Care Research study last year stated there were about 70,000 smokers in North Yorkshire, with higher rates in areas of greater deprivation, and above national average rates of smoking during pregnancy.

It found the council’s post-covid hybrid approach to providing stopping smoking support, with both face-to-face and phone coaching, had the best quit outcomes and highlighted how providing face-to-face support cost about £700 due to room hire and staff travel costs.

The council’s scrutiny of health committee chair, councillor Andrew Lee, told the executive meeting the council appeared to have “tackled the medium to low-hanging fruit” in recent years.

He questioned whether the resources the authority was pumping into its stop smoking programme “could be used in a different way, deployed elsewhere where there is more need for assistance in other public health areas”.

The question follows the council transforming its public health programmes, such as support for overweight children, in recent years due to decreasing government funding.

Cllr Lee said:

“There seems to be a persistent rump which we can’t get below. If we can’t get below a certain level it would seem a bit pointless to continue banging on. There will always be some people who are smokers.

“We have a service that will help them to stop, but I think perhaps it should be looked at.”

Mr Webb replied there had been a significant shift in attitudes towards smoking, and the issue centred as much on vaping as smoking following “a change in behaviour”.

He said the authority was focusing efforts on “people who are more difficult to reach and less likely to give up smoking with the easier interventions”, such as people with other addictions and those with mental health issues.

Mr Webb added:

“We are not actually over-spending on targeting those groups of population.

“Smoking is still the number one killer from a public health point of view, the number one cause of cancer. It is an area where we still have to have a focus. We are reviewing how we should focus that money.”

He said a review of the stopping smoking service had been paused for the general election, but whatever the outcome of the vote on July 4, he suspected there would be a renewed focus on anti-smoking.

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Senior Conservative councillors met today to approve spending a further £2 million on pumping grout into a void underneath Ripon Leisure Centre.

It’s hoped the works will stabilise the ground so the leisure centre can be refurbished.

But it will take the total amount of money spent on the works to £8.5m with no guarantee that it will succeed.

Ripon is susceptible to voids and sinkholes because it lies on a layer of water-soluble rock called gypsum.

Ripon’s Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre opened in March 2022 but whilst the pool is in use, plans for a gym at the existing leisure centre on the same site were delayed after the void was discovered.

Instead, a temporary gym was erected in the site’s car park costing £300,000.

The council’s executive met in Northallerton this morning to rubber-stamp the additional spend on ground stabilisation works.

There was no discussion about the move other than Tory council leader Carl Les asking his executive to “yet again” approve more money being spent on the leisure centre works. It was voted for unanimously by councillors.

As of last month, there has been almost 3,000 tonnes of grout pumped into the void.

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Retired chartered engineer Stanley Mackintosh campaigned against the site being used for the leisure centre due to the gypsum issues.

A decision to build on the site was taken by Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished last year to make way for the new unitary authority.

Mr Mackintosh told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the ground stabilisation works has become a literal example of a “sunk cost fallacy” for the council.

Speaking earlier this month, North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers said:  

“It is disappointing that the overall project is now estimated at £8.5million but we believe Ripon deserves good quality leisure facilities.

“If we had decided not to proceed with the stabilisation works and looked to move the leisure centre side of the operation to another area, we would have had the pool and leisure centre in separate locations which is not only more costly for us to operate, but also not the best option for customers either.”

You’d be hard pressed to find a parliamentary constituency in the north of England less traditionally Labour than Harrogate and Knaresborough.

The party has never finished higher than third at a general election, polled just 9.6% in 2019 and even finished fourth behind UKIP in 2015.

But the landscape has changed: nationally, the party is riding high in the polls and Labour’s David Skaith was elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire this month. Is Harrogate and Knaresborough, however, a bridge too far?

The party unveiled Conrad Whitcroft as its candidate hours before Rishi Sunak announced the general election would be held on July 4.

Labour has designated Harrogate and Knaresborough a non-battleground seat, meaning it won’t be deploying too many resources. Don’t expect to see Keir Starmer posing for photos outside Bettys.

Mr Whitcroft is aware of the rumours. He jokes:

“I’ve been told I’m a paper candidate so many times I can actually hear myself rustle.”

But he insists he isn’t making up the numbers:

“I am a candidate on the ballot paper so of course I’m in it to win it. It would be foolish of me to run and not want to win and I will absolutely be trying my hardest to convince the people of Harrogate and Knaresborough to have a Labour MP.”

The Lib Dems claim it is a two-horse race between them and the Conservatives. Even some Labour supporters are thinking of voting tactically for Lib Dem candidate Tom Gordon as the best way to oust Conservative Andrew Jones.

But Mr Whitcroft says the area would be better served by him rather than Mr Gordon as MP:

“Labour, I hope, will be the next party of government. It’s not just about getting the Tories out. The question now is what is going to come next. Having a candidate from the party of government would be a key advantage.”

Local priorities

Mr Whitcroft began campaigning for the Labour Party aged 16 in his native Northampton. He moved to York to study politics at university and has remained there since. He is now a propositional development manager at insurance firm Aviva.

He was elected as a City of York councillor last year and will be just 25 years old on polling day. He was too young to vote for or against Brexit but says he would have opted to remain.

There has been an influx of twenty-something politicians of various political colours since the start of last year. The Lib Dems selected Mr Gordon as its candidate; Labour’s Keir Mather won the Selby and Ainsty by-election and Conservative councillor Keane Duncan overseas highways on North Yorkshire Council.

Mr Whitcroft says many people of his generation were politicised by the seriousness of covid, adding:

“It’s important to have young people represented in politics. I think it’s improved markedly over the past few years.”

Mr Whitcroft with party supporters.

A member of Harrogate-born Mr Skaith’s mayoral campaign team, he applied to be a Labour parliamentary candidate anywhere in North Yorkshire. Two weeks ago he was told to expect to be chosen for Harrogate and Knaresborough, subject to confirmation from the party’s governing National Executive Committee.

He was formally adopted in front of 30 or 40 party members at St Robert’s Club in Harrogate on Tuesday night last week.

Mr Whitcroft cites cleaning the River Nidd, hospital waiting lists, congestion, potholes and establishing a municipal bus service as priority issues. What about the Harrogate Station Gateway?

He says he supports the emphasis on active travel “but the implementation has been really poor”, which he says is symptomatic of “Conservative-run incompetence” in local government.

He enthusiastically backs Mr Starmer’s plans to build 1.5 million houses over the course of the next parliament:

“I think that’s a cracking idea and I hope to buy one. I’m a member of Generation Rent. By the time my dad was my age he had bought his first house. It doesn’t feel like even people in higher income brackets in my age group have a hope.”

He talks about this being the start of building up Labour locally:

“When the Harrogate Town Council is properly formed we will have a campaign machine in place so we can start winning Labour councillors once more.”

But short-term, is the idea of Labour winning in Harrogate and Knaresborough fanciful?

“David (Skaith) proves that’s wrong. Harrogate and Knaresborough is now under a Labour combined authority. I don’t think anyone could ever have imagined saying that.

“Labour is definitely the party that is going to be able to bring the best opportunities in Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

He insists he is the man to do it and says his City of York council victory in Fishergate over a long-standing Green councillor “proves I can win”.

“People have written me off before and have written me off at their peril. Don’t let my youth make you think otherwise. I’m definitely capable of being a candidate people of Harrogate and Knaresborough can be proud of and I’ll be doing my absolute best to be their MP.”

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North Yorkshire Council is facing calls to explain the reasons behind the “shocking” 76% rise in expulsions.

An officer’s report to a meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s executive on Tuesday (May 28) has revealed the latest available figures – for the academic year ending last July – saw 95 children permanently excluded from mainstream schools, an increase from 54 from the previous year.

The report states the trend has continued into the current academic year and that there were also 1,607 more suspensions in the year to the end of March, an increase of 34%.

The authority’s executive member for education, Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, has been approached for comment.

When asked what was behind the increase, council officers did not directly respond, instead stating “persistent and general disruptive behaviour is the primary reason for exclusions in North Yorkshire accounting for over half of all exclusions”.

However, teaching unions have stated schools have insufficient resources to support pupils and earlier this year it emerged schools across North Yorkshire had forecast they are likely to face a collective annual deficit of more than £11m in just over two years.

Officers said the financial challenges were partly due to the high costs of providing education across a vast rural area not being being properly recognised by the government.

According to the latest Department for Education data, England and Wales saw the largest number of suspensions on record for one term last spring.

The Association of School and College Leaders says mental health issues, unmet special educational needs, disengagement with the curriculum and family issues are behind the national trend.

An Ofsted study published last year found 42 per cent of teachers had noted a decrease in behavior standards since the pandemic, partly due to a lack of “socialisation”.

Nevertheless, research by IBB Law published in March found exclusion rates for the five years to 2022 to be markedly higher in Yorkshire and the North-East than anywhere else in the country.

In 2019 the authority unveiled detailed plans to support a sea change in the way children at risk of exclusion were handled, described by the authority as a “preventative and inclusive culture”.

When asked if its strategies to reduce the number of children being excluded were working, a council spokesman said:

“Data relating to exclusions in North Yorkshire is similar to or below national levels. Preventative work is underway and is resulting in a number of children successfully remaining in schools.”

Former teacher and North Yorkshire Council’s children and families scrutiny committee chair, Councillor Barbara Brodigan, said she wanted to know how deeply the council was investigating the reasons behind the “shocking” exclusions rise.

Cllr Brodigan, who used to work with children at risk of exclusion and those who had been excluded, said changes the council introduced in 2019 “had not had any impact at all”.

She said:

“Is it linked to Ofsted inspections? Schools have been known to suspend children prior to an inspection because they don’t want disruptive children in the school.

“When I used to ask permanently excluded young people why they didn’t engage at school it was often due to the curriculum offer and how it was delivered.

“Locality boards are working with head teachers to develop creative alternative solutions. Schools hands are tied with the curriculum, but not how it is delivered. These children need extra support.”

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A former working men’s club in Harrogate is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

The Oatlands is bucking a decades-long nationwide trend that has seen many other similar clubs decline or close.

It has managed not just to survive but to thrive, with membership numbers topping pre-pandemic levels – and rising.

Founded on November 1, 1889, the club has earned its place as a vibrant part of the community through an ability to adapt with the changing times, and a proactive approach to investing in its facilities.

An ethos of inclusivity and a warm welcome has helped, too. Visit The Oatlands on any given day and you’ll find a mix of members. There are the older regulars who drop in for a drink and a chat at the same time every day. The cricket and football teams enjoying a post-match pint. Mums and kids popping in after school pick-up, and dog walkers stopping by for refreshment. Clubs and groups gathering for their weekly sessions.

It’s what the club is all about, said Lucy Hague, the secretary on the 11-strong committee.

“A lot of it is about our community using it. We are here: Come and use us. It’s great when we get new faces – we are really welcoming.”

Changing times

Oatlands Mount Working Men’s Club in 1967.

Across the UK, there has been an estimated 75 per cent drop in the number of working men’s clubs during the last half century. In Harrogate, the National Reserve Club closed in 2021, while High Harrogate WMC shut in February this year.

But instead of declining, The Oatlands’ membership is growing. From 888 members at the end of 2020, by the end of 2023 there were 1,158. Thirty joined last month alone. And members don’t just come from the local community. Some are from the other side of town and even as far as Leeds.

It’s a diverse membership, too, with men and women of all ages taking advantage of the bargain £10 annual fee. Many have life membership, automatically bestowed after 25 years. One has been a member since 1956.

A name change has been successful in enticing more people through the door. Originally called Oatlands Mount Working Men’s Club, a rebrand in 2019 aimed to dispel the ‘cloth cap image’ and reflect a more modern, diverse and welcoming ethos.

Other clubs in Harrogate have since followed suit, with Bilton ditching the reference in 2022 and Starbeck becoming Forest Club last year. Nationally, around 60 per cent of the clubs still in existence have changed their name.

Lucy, whose late father Ron Hague joined the club aged 16 and served as president in the 1990s, said:

“I remember when I was little, women weren’t allowed in here. Now we are getting a lot more ladies than we ever used to. Our vice president and bar manager are women. There is much better representation than in the past. Kids and dogs are also welcome. It’s a very mixed community.”

“It’s about our community using it”

The Oatlands committee: Gordon Selby, Lucy Hague, Brian Rhodes, Lesley Watson, Ivor Stainton, George Elmes, Rob Jackson, Mark Bowers, Simon Williams and David Dorsey. Absent, Andrew Milestone

The club’s facilities are varied. There’s a lounge, snug and bar area, where live sports matches are regularly televised. A large function room hosts special events such as comedy nights and live music, and can be hired by members free of charge for private celebrations.

On the first floor are two snooker tables, darts, a table tennis room and a meeting room. There’s even a beer garden, where summer barbecues and other outdoor events are held.

Led by members’ suggestions, the committee organises a range of activities, from children’s Halloween discos to charity fundraisers, quiz nights, and coach trips to the coast or the Christmas markets. Lucy said:

“A lot of what we do is about our community using us. There’s always been an issue with clubs like ours getting young people to join but we get all ages here. Young people come to use the pool and snooker tables. We recently held a Beyonce and Rhianna music night, and a lot of young girls came.”

Everyone at the club cares about it and wants to see it do well. The committee works hard to create a hub for the whole community, re-investing money to improve facilities and infrastructure. Over the last couple of years around £65,000 has been spent on refurbishing the toilets, revamping the outdoor space and improving accessibility, among other things. A redesign of the bar is up next.

Even the beer is good: For the second consecutive year, The Oatlands was this month named Club of the Year by the Harrogate & Ripon branch of Camra, the Campaign for Real Ale.

Bar manager Kate Shutt and assistant Elena Watson receive the Camra award from a branch representative.

In November members will be marking the club’s anniversary with a live band, comedy night and a buffet. Lucy said:

“We were worried during covid that things might take a turn for the worse but we’re doing better now than pre-pandemic. We are thriving, and it’s something to celebrate.”

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