No council tax money used to repair roads reveals county council

North Yorkshire County Council has revealed it does not use any council tax revenue on road repairs, despite it being among residents’ top concerns.

The authority’s highways executive member, conservative councillor Keane Duncan, highlighted the decision to focus its spending on other areas after hearing further complaints about the parlous state of roads from elected community representatives.

The authority has recognised for more than a decade that it faces a road repairs backlog running into hundreds of millions of pounds and has responded by prioritising routes.

In response to recent complaints, cllr Duncan has started a tour of the county’s 89 electoral divisions.

Ripon councillor Andrew Williams said cllr Duncan should invite North Yorkshire’s MPs to join him on his “state of the roads tour”.

He said:

“Pressure needs to be borne at government level as well to increase the settlement the county.”

Cllr Williams said some of the savings identified in local government reorganisation should be used for the repair of roads, which was residents’ number one complaint.

He added it would be of concern to residents that none of the council tax they paid was being used for highways maintenance:

“I think they equate the council tax they are paying and the state of the roads.

“I think if we are identifying £67m of savings across the county, some of those need to be invested in our highway network. ”

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Scarborough councillor Tony Randerson said he had spent years pressing the council for some roads to be resurfaced, but ones in certain areas, such as Scarborough and Selby, appeared to be lower on the priority list to those in the Harrogate and Knaresborough.

He said:

“Becoming a unitary authority is not going to be good for places like Scarborough and Selby, and Eastfield particularly, because it is difficult enough now to get the necessary services. What’s it going to be like when it becomes ruled through Northallerton?”

The authority’s highways executive member, Councillor Keane Duncan, said during the recent election campaigns, residents’ road maintenance concerns had been among the leading issues raised on the doorstep.

He said:

“We have a network of 8,500km of surfaced road. Very roughly, with the budget we’ve got we can treat 300km annually, through a combination of surface dressing, resurfacing and reconstruction.”

Cllr Duncan said the government road repairs settlement for the county had been fixed at £40m for the next three years by the Department of Transport.

 “We currently do not supplement or support that £40m settlement with local council taxpayer money. None of the council taxpayers to North Yorkshire County Council goes into that road maintenance.

“Clearly, £40m this year will not deliver the same as what £40m would deliver in future years, so what I am trying to do is to ascertain – and obviously we have a very difficult financial climate – what we can do to get the same bang for our buck in future years. as this year, and exploring those opportunities.”

 

North Yorkshire Police reveals scores of detective vacancies

The chief constable of North Yorkshire Police has revealed it has vacancies for about a third of detectives it needs.

Lisa Winward, chief constable of the force, said while police had acted at speed in recent months to correct failures identified in an inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, it had scores of vacant detective posts.

The inspectors concluded investigations, including those involving missing children and child sexual exploitation, were being handed to inexperienced officers who lacked support.

The inspectors found the force needed to improve speaking to children, recording their behaviour and demeanour, listening to their concerns and views, and using that information to make decisions about their welfare.

Ms Winward highlighted the force’s significant staffing issues to a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and  Crime Panel after commissioner Zoe Metcalfe was asked if she was reassured enough skilled officers were undertaking investigations.

Mrs Metcalfe replied that she definitely was, before adding there was “gaps in resourcing for North Yorkshire Police”.

She said:

“Every effort is being done to address that and make sure all the police officers have the skills they need.”

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Ms Winward, who has led the force since 2018, said the question was “really relevant”, before adding “we don’t have enough resources”.

The chief constable added the force was doing everything it could to speed up the process of people becoming detectives and was opening up new routes to recruit graduates and those solely interested in becoming an investigator.

Efforts to turn around staffing shortages include the force looking at becoming one of the first non-Metropolitan forces to introduce direct entry for detectives from next year, as it had been proven to be an effective means of attracting the right people into policing.

Ms Winward said a third of the force’s total capacity of detectives still needed to be recruited.

She said:

“That’s about 40 posts for detectives across the force.”

The meeting was told the force had introduced a policy to ensure investigations could no longer be handed to someone lacking the requisite skills.

The chief constable said the force had taken the findings of the inspection “extremely seriously”, particularly as “protecting children in our communities is the most important thing we can do as a police service”.

Selby councillor and former police officer Tim Grogan said he had been disturbed to learn the force’s officers had “been taught by emails and internet distant learning packages”.

The meeting heard all officers received face to face training as well as interactive lessons.

After City of York Council leader Councillor Keith Aspden asked the commissioner if she was assured the service was now listening to the views of children, Mrs Metcalfe replied: 

“Absolutely, 100%. They really are taking account of children’s views. They are the centre and they need to be listened to.”

Bus services ‘facing potential cliff-edge’

Bus services in a county that failed to secure any money to improve services in the government’s high-profile Bus Back Better scheme are now facing “a potential cliff-edge”, North Yorkshire’s transport boss has warned.

In a statement to a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council next Wednesday, Cllr Keane Duncan said the authority was aware several of the county’s commercial routes were facing “significant pressures”, due to the loss of government subsidies in three months.

The warning from the Conservative-led council’s executive member for highways and transportation comes ahead of bus services across the country having to introduce a £2 price cap on local and regional journeys from October.

It also comes just three months after it emerged the authority’s £116 million Bus Back Better bid had been rejected in its entirety by the government, which claimed the bid had lacked “sufficient ambition”.

As winning the grant had been crucial for elements of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, the authority expressed dismay at the decision.

Even ahead of the decision in March, members of the authority’s executive had underlined the need for bus services for the county’s rural communities, which dwindled following significant austerity cutbacks.

Cllr Duncan said the council had launched a review of the passenger service network across the county to understand which could become threatened in the coming months.

He said:

“The end of the Commercial Bus Services Support Grant provided by central government in October presents a potential cliff-edge in terms of the future profitability of routes our residents rely upon.”

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He said the review would enable him to assess potential support the council could provide “to keep as many of our vital services running as possible”.

The authority’s opposition leader, Councillor Bryn Griffiths, said concerns had been mounting for the viability of some bus services as they appeared to have reached a tipping point.

Coun Griffiths said by giving one-off grants for specific projects limited to certain places the government was failing to provide the resources needed to improve access to public transport across England’s largest county.

He said:

“It’s an appalling situation. We lose out in the north of England in rural areas because the government doesn’t recognise the issues.

“Places like Bilsdale have no bus services on Sundays because the county council cannot afford to subsidise them, so people can’t get to hospitals to visit their loved ones. Cutting services even further is just ridiculous.

“It’s a vicious circle. You get fewer services, so it gets less and less attractive for people to use.”

 

North Yorkshire devolution deal announcement ‘imminent’

A devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York looks set to be announced by the government in just over a week.

There were fears recent ministerial resignations and sackings could have derailed the process.

But details of the deal are now expected to be revealed before the summer Parliamentary recess starts on July 21.

It follows almost 20 months of negotiations between North Yorkshire and York council leaders and officers, government ministers and Whitehall officials.

The deal could potentially unlock around £2.4 billion of investment over 30 years.

It would be targeted on improving economic prosperity, creating more affordable housing and lead to the area becoming England’s first carbon negative economy.

Every first and second tier council in the area, except Hambleton, put forward some ‘asks’ to the government in December 2020 about what they’d like in a devolution deal.

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Concerns were raised that following Michael Gove being fired from his role as the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary by Boris Johnson, it would mean the new minister, Greg Clark, would want to spend time fully digesting the complex deal before signing it off.

Political commentators have highlighted how during his first stint at the Department for Communities Mr Clark negotiated devolution deals and served as minister for decentralisation, but his economic preference was for city-led growth rather than the levelling-up approach focusing on non-metropolitan Britain.

Following news of his appointment and entering his second stint at the department, Clark tweeted that he had a “duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead”.

We have a duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead. Having been Secretary of State at the Communities department before, I will do my best to provide stability, good governance and accountability to Parliament at this important time.

— Greg Clark (@GregClarkMP) July 7, 2022

When asked if he was confident about a deal remaining on track following Mr Clark’s appointment, North Yorkshire County Council leader Cllr Carl Les said he was optimistic the transfer of power and funding would be in time to form a Mayoral Combined Authority next year, with Mayoral elections in 2024.

He said the negotiations were at a very advanced stage.

Cllr Les said: 

“I do hope this will not derail the negotiations and having worked with Greg Clark before as secretary of state I have every confidence that he will treat this matter with the urgency it requires.

“We are at not only the 11th hour, but at the 59th minute of the 11th hour.”

Cllr Les said he felt the county council and City of York Council had been listened to during the negotiations, which he described as having been “fruitful”.

North Yorkshire County Council finally declares climate emergency

A council which has repeatedly been challenged over the speed and scale of its carbon-cutting actions has made a U-turn to declare a climate change emergency.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive agreed the authority would immediately adopt a climate emergency, following in the footsteps of several hundred British councils.

Senior councillors said the significant change in position by the Conservative administration had followed it listening to the requests of elected members from a number of political groups.

They added that not declaring a climate emergency could prove a distraction from its significant green efforts.

Commitments made by the council include support for the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s ambition to be the UK’s first carbon negative region – carbon neutral by 2034 and carbon negative by 2040.

These ambitions have been endorsed by the leaders of the Councils of York and North Yorkshire in the devolution deal requests submitted to government in December 2020.

An independent commission set up to examine levelling up for rural communities in the county last year found tackling climate change should be a priority, backing other ambitions for North Yorkshire to become a ‘green lung’ and to lead on employment in the green economy and a revolutionary energy transition.

In addition, the authority, which is the region’s largest employer, has sought to change staff work bases to cut commuting emissions and has made a £1m pump-priming fund available to support new carbon cutting projects, with just under half of the fund already allocated.

Harrogate acted in 2019

Nevertheless, neighbouring councils in Leeds, Darlington and York, as well as district and borough councils in North Yorkshire declared a climate emergency in 2019.

At the time North Yorkshire County Council stopped short of doing so, instead committing to producing a carbon reduction plan.

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Since then, and particularly following May’s elections, North Yorkshire council’s leadership has faced increasing numbers of requests from campaigners and councillors to formally declare a climate emergency.

A meeting of the council’s executive heard the authority’s leadership was “absolutely committed” to getting its own carbon emissions in order.

Councillor Greg White, climate change executive member, told the meeting the authority was “keen to affirm how serious we are about tackling climate change” by declaring a climate emergency and pledging to play its full part in cutting carbon emissions.

He said the authority was doing everything possible to reduce its emissions and meet a challenging net zero emissions target it had set for 2030 while protecting key services.

‘Proud that we acted’

The council’s deputy leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd, told the meeting significant carbon cutting progress had been made across the council’s many properties and workforce.

He said:

“It’s often said that actions speak louder than words. Well I think as an authority we can be very proud that we have acted in a very positive way after recognising the climate emergency two or three years ago.”

Following the meeting, Cllr White said the authority had previously been reluctant to declare a climate emergency as it could be viewed as putting words above actions.

He said the council was already undertaking most measures people associated with tackling the climate change emergency.

Decision on North Yorkshire second homes council tax premium delayed

A proposal to double council tax on second homes has been postponed to enable an investigation into whether residents with more than one property could easily swerve paying the extra charge.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive agreed to delay considering a policy to charge a 100% premium on second homes so that the potential £14 million windfall the authority believes it could generate from April 2024 could become part of its budget decisions.

The move is part of the authority’s response to a surge in people following the pandemic buying holiday homes in the tourism destination county, increasing demand for housing and prices so that local families cannot afford to stay in the communities.

The proposal to be ready to levy the extra tax should expected government legislation be approved has been warmly some councillors as a “statement of intent” by the council.

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Some councillors saw it as the authority getting to grips with the escalating issue which has already seen some villages, particularly in the Yorkshire Dales and coastal areas, compared to ghost towns for much of the year.

The council’s officers have highlighted that although uncertainty surrounds possible loopholes in the forthcoming government legislation, a law to apply a 100% premium on second homes was introduced in Wales in 2017/18 which last year was paid on more than 23,000 properties there.

However, critics have claimed the premium could even lead to council tax receipts falling as second home owners could simply transfer the property to being a holiday cottage business or swap the named owner’s details for someone who does not own property.

A meeting of the executive heard given that council tax rates for second homes mirror those of main residences there may also be issues that need resolving with how properties are classified for council tax.

Executive member for finance Cllr Gareth Dadd told the meeting the authority was not “going soft” on the policy before it was adopted, but it wanted certainty that second home owners could not use loopholes, undermining what the authority wanted to achieve.

Nevertheless, the executive did approve following other councils in North Yorkshire in introducing the maximum permitted council tax premiums on empty properties.

Councillors heard the introduction of council tax premiums on empty properties in Ryedale had been successful in bringing properties back into use.

Properties that are left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for two years or more, will have to pay 100% extra council from April, while those with properties that have been empty for 10 years or more, will have to pay three times their main residence council tax bill.

Cllr Yvonne Peacock, who has spearheaded a high-profile campaign to stop the exodus of young families from the Yorkshire Dales, told the meeting she was delighted by the move as run-down empty properties ruined the appearance of villages.

She said: 

“I’m sorry, I have no sympathy. If you cannot afford to do it up then you must put it on the market and let somebody buy it and they can do it up.”

Welcome to Yorkshire successor set for spring launch

A new council-backed tourism body for North Yorkshire is expected to launch by spring next year, despite continuing uncertainty about what its functions will be.

A meeting of local authority leaders in North Yorkshire and York heard council officers’ discussions with regional tourism firms were set to conclude this month, the outcomes of which would shape what type of organisation could be developed and its funding structure.

The meeting was told the development of a proposal for a replacement organisation to Welcome to Yorkshire remained at a very early stage, four months after it was placed in administration following years of financial and reputational issues.

However, council chiefs for York and Harrogate highlighted their areas already had well-established tourism marketing and management services and were looking for a strategic regional body to support.

Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson told the meeting it was important that organisations such as its tourism body, Destination Harrogate, did not lose their identity. He said:

“What we’d be keen to see is some integration with a region-wide body. We feel there are some strong benefits to marketing the Yorkshire region as a whole because it has a strong brand. ”

After the meeting, North Yorkshire County Council leader Councillor Carl Les said:

“What we’re looking at as leaders is more about destination management, not just destination marketing.

“It was always thought to have the proper conversations with people in the industry and the councils that it would take until the autumn before an option could be put before the leaders.”

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While some council leaders say the collapse of Welcome to Yorkshire has seen the loss of potential significant interventions in the tourism economy this year,  some councils have used their own staff to take on tasks previously undertaken by the tourism body.

The meeting heard it remained far from clear what type of publicly-backed tourism organisation was wanted across York and North Yorkshire, let alone Yorkshire as a whole, with different areas seeking a body with different functions.

Complications in deciding the way forward, the meeting heard, included agreeing potential deals with Wensleydale entrepreneur Robin Scott’s Silicone Dales, who bought Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets, including the rights to the Tour de Yorkshire, in April.

North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton said following further discussions between the council and the tourism sector a decision on the new organisation’s structure was scheduled to made before Christmas in the hope that the new tourism body could be launched by April next year.

He described the timescale as being “tight and ambitious”.

The region’s official tourism agency was placed into administration at the start of March after council leaders pulled the plug on public funding after years of reputational and financial problems.

Mr Flinton said while Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets had not been bought by a local government body, there was still “a lot of appetite” amongst councils for a body established to protect tourism, promote the brand of Yorkshire and pick up some of Welcome to Yorkshire’s work.

Second homes council tax premium plan gets mixed reception

A plan to tackle the affordable housing crisis in North Yorkshire by doubling the council tax charge on second homes has received a mixed reception.

North Yorkshire County Council has said the proposal to introduce a 100% council tax premium on all second homes in the county from April 2024 will depend on the government passing legislation in the coming months.

The move would double an average band D council tax charge for second home owners to more than £4,100 in some of the most heavily affected areas of the county.

Announcing the proposal, the authority stated it had potential to generate an annual £14m windfall to fund services and affordable housing schemes, funding for which the North Yorkshire Rural Commission identified as a significant challenge. About £1.5m would come from the Harrogate district.

Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock, whose drive to introduce a council tax premium on second homes was rejected by Richmondshire District Council four years ago, said she was “absolutely delighted” by the county council’s proposal.

She said the premium would bring some rarely used second homes on to the market as “people don’t like paying over the odds for anything”, while the funding it would generate would overcome one of the biggest obstacles to building affordable houses.

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About half of the “windfall” would come from properties in Scarborough district, especially along the coast, and a further large proportion from Richmondshire, which the county council has stated would be shared with all precepting authorities, such as police, rather than ploughed directly back into the most affected areas.

A report to a meeting of the council’s executive, which is considering the proposal on Tuesday, warns that numerous concerns have been raised whether the second homes premium might encourage council tax premium avoidance, with owners transferring properties to holiday lets to qualify for discounted business rates.

Devaluing fears

The proposal has been met with open hostility by some who say it has potential to flood the housing market with properties, devaluing homes and undermining the viability of businesses which depend on second home owners.

County council Independent group leader Councillor Stuart Parsons described the move as “one of the stupidest suggestions the Tories have ever come up with”, adding it would cause more damage than good as there would be “so many loopholes people could dodge out of paying the premium as they wish”.

Restricting the premium to second homes rather than holiday lets would simply lead to the creation of “a multitude of small companies”, he added, to which owners would pay a small nominal fee to themselves to stay at their properties.

Cllr Parsons predicted the authority would see a net loss in council tax as a result and that a levy limited to 100 per cent more council tax would be “pass vaguely unnoticed” by many second homeowners.

Other local politicians have claimed some areas of the county are suffering more due to holiday lets than second homes.

Nevertheless, Councillor John Amsden, chairman of planning in Richmondshire district, said while he welcomed action, the proposed premium would be “a non-starter unless you can pin a property’s ownership down”.

He said:

“It is a step in the right direction, but the problem is now local people cannot afford many of the properties due to a rise in demand, particularly in areas with good broadband connections, after the pandemic.

“Why should we have to suffer depopulation, see our infrastructure like schools and roads dwindle and watch hospitality industry struggle to find staff due to people wanting a second home?”

Parks authority rules out wolves reintroduction to Yorkshire Dales

A nature recovery strategy for the Yorkshire Dales will not lead to wolves and big cats roaming the national park, a meeting has been told, but it will set out to encourage action to help struggling species.

A meeting of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority heard agreeing an ecological plan was important as government and private funding available to farmers and landowners in the Dales was likely to be tied to environmental issues.

However, it also heard that a consensus had yet to be agreed between interest groups on several issues, such as the amount of trees which should be planted in the park.

Senior officers said it would not be possible to reach a resolution over all areas of contention, but as fresh government environmental policies were expected the strategy would not be finalised before June next year.

The strategy is being developed after studies identified how the park has significant areas of 17 different habitats and more than 100 different species that are UK priorities and have been facing national declines.

Yorkshire Dales.

Yorkshire Dales.

It also follows a commitment by interest groups in the park to making “the Yorkshire Dales home to the finest variety of wildlife in England”.

The park’s nationally important wildlife populations include black grouse,  rare plants such as bird’s-eye primrose, globeflower and baneberry, scarce invertebrates such as the northern brown argus butterfly and mammals, such as the red squirrel.

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It is hoped the strategy will help create networks for the park’s abundant wildlife to increase biodiversity in its surrounding areas.

The draft strategy proposes what officers have described as a “relatively modest” increase in the proportion of the park covered by native woodland  from 4.5% to 7% alongside creating nature recovery areas across 15% of the park.

Although both targets have been criticised as insufficently ambitious by some, several members raised concerns over calls to radically change the management of land, and in particular burning of the heather moorland to encourage regrowth and habitats for grouse, following proposals to phase it out.

Environmentalists have cited how a University of Leeds study concluded burning grouse moors degrades peatland habitat, releases climate-altering gases, reduces biodiversity and increases flood risk.

However, Wensleydale farmer Allen Kirkbride told the meeting long heather caused “chaos for square miles” when it caught fire. 

He said: 

“The idea of not burning heather is ludicrous.”

The authority’s outgoing member champion for the environment, Ian McPherson, said it faced a challenge in deciding how much of the national park should be set aside for nature recovery areas.

He said:

“What we are trying to do is get a good balance between the needs of environmentalists, farmers and land managers.”

Mr McPherson said while the possibility of reintroducing some native species to the area was being considered as part of the strategy it would not see “wolves and lynx and so on roaming the Yorkshire Dales”, but instead seek to raise awareness some species were at a low ebb.

Calls for action over ‘overwhelmed’ North Yorkshire children’s mental health services

Children’s community mental health services need a root and branch review, officials in North Yorkshire have said.

North Yorkshire County Council’s director of children and young people’s services Stuart Carlton, said ongoing concerns over a lack of available support had been highlighted to the Department for Education.

It comes amid concerns the strategy to deal with a post-pandemic surge in youngsters requiring support is grossly inadequate.

Mr Carlton said increasing the amount of help for children with mental health issues ranked alongside child exploitation and online safety as the most significant challenges his colleagues were facing.

He was speaking at a meeting of the authority’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee a year after the NHS announced it was rapidly expanding children’s mental health services to offer support teams in schools to almost three million pupils by 2023.

At the time, the NHS said by intervening in mental health issues early it was hoped to prevent problems escalating into serious concerns.

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Earlier this year the committee heard mental health services for children in the county and elsewhere were struggling to cope with an “exponential growth in demand” due to the isolation and upheaval of the pandemic, compounded by factors like pressure experienced by children on social media platforms.

In February, Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust bosses told the scrutiny meeting its community-based mental health team (CAMHS) was treating more than 2,500 children across the county.

They said referrals to its services for issues such as eating disorders had risen from about 100 a month at start of pandemic to more than 300 a month during 2021.

18-month waiting list

Four months on, a youth support worker told the committee the waiting list for CAMHS had risen to 18 months, which was not a sufficiently timely reaction to what children needed.

She said: 

“The biggest challenge we face on the ground is mental health. I cannot overestimate how challenging it is. Pretty much all the young people we work with have some element of mental ill health.”

When asked about a timeframe for getting mental health support teams into schools, Mr Carlton said the authority had told government officials the scheme was too being implemented too slowly and the ambition needed to be to get mental health teams available for all schools.

He added: 

“I just don’t see how that’s going to happen. I have called nationally for a fundamental CAMHS review because it is not working. It needs significant funding and significant review and enacting clearly across the whole of the country.”

Mr Carlton said the authority was providing support to schools through mental heath training while working with North Yorkshire NHS bosses to reassess what was needed from the service and how it could be modernised.

He said there had been promising collaborative work with the NHS, but financing extra support for children would be “very challenging”.

Mr Carlton said:

“We can see through the pandemic increased demand. The services are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed and overstretched and it’s an area of absolute focus.

“Any interaction with a child from a professional is a mental health opportunity. However, we need enough capacity for specialist support when it is required.”