The leader of Harrogate council has pledged that the borough will help house Afghan refugees who are fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover.
Conservative Cllr Richard Cooper said the refugees are “in need of and deserve our assistance” as he pledged his support to a new government scheme to welcome up to 20,000 Afghans over the next few years.
His pledge comes after the council offered resettlement to 19 Afghans in June under a similar scheme which targeted former translators and others who worked for the UK military during the two decades that it has been fighting in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Cooper said this was the “right, humane and just thing to do”.
He said:
“Back in June, Harrogate Borough Council pledged to take its fair share of the quota of Afghan interpreters who were seeking relocation to this country.
“We not only did that – we pledged to take more than our quota and we have done so.
“The government will now be coming forward with a new scheme for relocating Afghan refugees and on behalf of the council I want to make that pledge again that we will not only take our quota that the government suggests, but we will take more.
“Harrogate is a welcoming, tolerant and diverse place and these people are in need of our assistance and deserve our assistance.”
In June, senior Harrogate borough councillors agreed to offer resettlement to 19 Afghans, which amounts to four families.
The Harrogate district has previously taken part in other resettlement programmes, including welcoming 13 Syrian families between 2016 and 2017.
Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at the council, said the families are not only offered a place to live, but also given opportunities to go to school, learn English and find employment.
He added that the authority would be prepared to resettle more families if it was required to do so.
Meanwhile, eight families are expected to be resettled across North Yorkshire under the same scheme.
Nationally, more than 3,000 Afghans are expected to be allowed to settle in the UK, joining 1,300 who have already done so.
Social care at ‘tipping point’ as staff shortages deepen with 1,000 vacanciesSocial care in North Yorkshire is facing an imminent staffing crisis health officials have warned after they revealed a worrying drop in the number of people coming forward for vacant jobs.
Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said the sector is facing “unrelenting” pressures and that it had reached “tipping point” over recent weeks with a 70 per cent drop in applications for 1,000 jobs currently vacant.
He said the NHS has also not escaped the staffing problems which existed before the pandemic but have only been exacerbated by the virus outbreak.
Mr Webb told a meeting of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today:
“We have seen a real tipping point over the last four to six weeks, particularly as the wider economy has reopened.
“What we are seeing is fierce competition between care services, hospitality, retail and other sectors for people to fill jobs.
“We have about 1,000 vacancies in social care across North Yorkshire – that’s not just us, that’s the 500 organisations that provide care in the county – and we have seen a 70 per cent drop in applications for those jobs in the last few weeks.
“In North Yorkshire, we are as well placed as anywhere to deal with some of these pressures, but they are pretty unrelenting and they are probably the most significant I have seen in a quarter of a century working in social care and the NHS.”
Nationally, social care looks after around 400,000 people in care and nursing homes – three times the number in NHS hospital beds.
There are also around 640,000 people receiving care in their own homes.
Independent Care Group (ICG), a non-profit organisation which provides services in North Yorkshire and York, has raised concerns that as these numbers continue to rise, there may soon not be enough staff to care for the elderly and most vulnerable in society.
Mike Padgham, ICG chairman, said in a statement:
“We are approaching a crisis point where there simply won’t be enough people to go out and provide care to people at home and to those living in care and nursing homes.
“Care providers are facing a daily battle to cover home calls and care home shifts and it can’t go on.”
Mr Padgham is also calling on the government for short-term help and to also accelerate its long-delayed plans to overhaul the social care sector which ministers have pledged to publish by the end of the year.
A specific tax to help find the extra billions needed in funding and directing more cash straight to care homes are all ideas which have previously been brought to table, but these have never come to fruition.
Speaking at today’s meeting, Mr Webb said the reforms would not be a quick fix to the problems the sector is facing and that the county council would continue stepping up its support for care providers.
He said:
“I’m pleased that the government is looking at how it can reform social care, but that will take probably three to five years – it is not going to be an instant solution.
“That is why we have continued to put additional funding into social care while we have been giving so much other support to individual care providers.”
The county council is also urging people to consider careers in social care as part of its Make Care Matter campaign.
Pilot panel to help victims of slavery and exploitation in North YorkshireA new panel is to be set up to support for victims of trafficking and exploitation in North Yorkshire.
The pilot project involves the creation of a new local panel which will make decisions on protecting and supporting adult and child victims.
The panel has powers to create specialised support, which may include protection from their traffickers or other criminals, accommodation, access to legal advice and emotional and practical help. Previously, these decisions were made by the Home Office.
The Harrogate area has had a long standing problem of gangs using vulnerable children to move drugs over county borders and sell them in the town. The children or vulnerable adults are recruited with gifts or money and then locked into the criminal network through the use of violence, intimidation, debt and grooming.
There have also been cases of modern slavery in the district. In September last year six workers were rescued from a take-away in Ripon after residents raised concerns about their living conditions.
The new twelve month panel will be run by North Yorkshire County Council and the City of York Council with input from other organisations including NHS bodies and North Yorkshire Police.
Jess Markwart, manager for multiple vulnerabilities with North Yorkshire County Council said:
“Many people may be surprised to learn that modern slavery affects North Yorkshire, as well as the rest of the UK, but sadly, that is the case.
“The creation of this panel gives us powers locally to make decisions on keeping victims safe and removing them from the criminals’ control. The local agencies involved with the panel will have local knowledge and context and will be well placed to put in place the best possible support to keep people safe and protected from traumatic circumstances.”
Rose Howley, head of assessment and targeted intervention with the City of York Council’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) said:
“The new, multi-agency panel enables decisions to be made quickly and effectively on keeping child victims safe from exploitation and serious criminal activity.
“It also means we can draw on a range of services and expertise in the county to put in place the right kind of support; whether that’s legal advice, help with safe accommodation or emotional support.”
Possible signs that a child is experiencing a form of harm, such as exploitation, include a change in behaviour, such as becoming unusually withdrawn, secretive behaviour, having more money, clothes or other items they usually couldn’t afford, or being seen in places they shouldn’t be during school hours or normal term-time.
Seventy new covid cases in Harrogate districtThere have been 70 new positive coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours, according to statistics from Public Health England.
It brings the total number of covid cases in the district to 12,192 since the pandemic began with 179 deaths.
The seven day case rate (per 100,000 population now stands at 266.1 in the Harrogate district – slightly higher than the North Yorkshire average of 261.5.
The England average seven day case rate is now higher than any district in North Yorkshire at 305.1
Seventy three year old woman admits role in Harrogate cannabis farms
A 73 year old former Harrogate guest house owner has admitted her part in cannabis farms worth half a million pounds.
Yoko Banks offered three of her properties to an Albanian gang to grow cannabis with yields of up to £475,000 if sold on the street, Leeds Crown Court heard.
The London-based gang set up three cannabis farms at Banks’s properties on Alexandra Road, Woodlands Road and Somerset Road.
The pensioner and six Albanian men were arrested in September last year when police swooped on three properties on the same day and stopped a van with cannabis inside. The vehicle was thought to be heading for London or the South-East.
Banks, of Scargill Road, was charged with three counts of being concerned in the supply of cannabis on or before September 27 but initially denied the offences. Her trial was due to start this week but on Monday she changed her plea to guilty on all three charges.
The six Albanian men – Kujtim Brahaj, 50, Indrit Brahaj, 27, Visar Sellaj, 33, Bledar Elezaj, 36, Andi Kokaj, 23, and Erblin Elezaj, 33 – had already admitted various charges in relation to the six-figure drug enterprise.
Prosecutor Martin Bosomworth said it was the Crown’s case that Sellaj and another named man, who was never arrested, were the ringleaders of the mega-money cannabis plot and that Banks, who had been targeted by the gang for her properties, was not actively involved in the growing of the plants, although she had played a “significant”, advisory role.
Her potential profit was said to be limited or “capped”, based on her role as “facilitator” by allowing her premises to be used for the illicit practice.
Each of the seven defendants, including Banks, will be sentenced on Friday.
Mr Bosomworth said that Banks’s role was to “let out these properties knowing what they were used for”.
Banks had a “body of evidence” stacked against her, not least “(telephone) conversations at length” with the unnamed man thought to be the “leading light or middle man in all this”.
Benjamin Whittingham, for Banks, said her involvement in the drug plot was “indirect” and amounted to “facilitating”.
She had previous convictions for health-and-safety offences through her work but nothing drug-related.
The former guest-house owner, who owned “multiple” properties and was said to have numerous bank accounts, had been letting properties to people on benefits.
She had been on bail since her arrest partly for her own safety as it was feared she might be blamed by the gang for the loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of drugs.
Indrit Brahaj, of Whitings Road, Barnet; Kokaj, from London but of no fixed address; Sellaj, of Newnham Road, London; and Erblin Elezaj, also from London but of no fixed abode, all admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis and possessing a Class B drug with intent to supply.
Kujtim Brahaj, of Wellington Road, Enfield, and Bledar Elezaj, from London but of no fixed address, each admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis.
Indrit Brahaj was said to be the gang’s driver, making deliveries such as fertilisers to the cannabis factory.
Judge Tom Bayliss QC told Banks:
“You have pleaded guilty to various serious offences but I’m not going to consider sentence until Thursday.”
Each of the six Albanian men had been remanded in custody since their arrest and will remain locked up until they learn their fates later this week.
Forty five new covid cases in Harrogate districtForty five people in the Harrogate district have tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, according to data from Public Health England.
In the past 7 days Central Harrogate has seen the highest number of cases at 39 followed by Ouseburn, Hammerton and Tockwith and Ripon South and East with 29.
It brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began to 11,724.
The seven day case rate (per 100,000 population) is 277.9 in Harrogate, which is lower than the England average of 291.5 but above the North Yorkshire average of 262.3 (latest data up to August 5).
Harrogate District Hospital has not reported a covid-related death in nearly four months. The last time a death was recorded was on April 11. The total number of people who have died of the virus in the district stands at 179.
Sixty four new positive covid cases in Harrogate districtThere have been sixty four new covid cases in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours.
It brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus to 11,377 since the pandemic began.
Data from Public Health England also showed that a total of 228,781 people in the district have had covid vaccines — 123,120 have received one dose, 105,661 have been double jabbed.
The seven-day case rate per 100,000 population now stands at 246.8 (latest data July 31) in the Harrogate district.
This is below the North Yorkshire average of 251.9 and the England average which is 282.6.
Staffing a major challenge says new Harrogate leisure company boss
The new manager of the council-controlled company that has taken over leisure centres in the Harrogate district says staffing is a challenge.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mark Tweedie, the company’s new managing director, said although a number of these vacant roles would be filled in the coming weeks, staffing was still one of the most immediate challenges it faced.
He said:
“We have got a recruitment issue and that is something which is consistent right across the country.
“In leisure and hospitality, where people have been hit hard by lockdown closures and uncertainties around jobs, many people have got off and tried new jobs.
“We have got to convince people there are still strong careers in the leisure industry and attract people to come back.”
The company also faces a longer term challenge. Under local government reorganisation, all council services will come under the control of a new unitary authority serving the whole of North Yorkshire by April 2023 when the current two-tier system will be scrapped.
Like Harrogate, some other councils including Selby and Scarborough already have a system of leisure services being run by external companies.
But ultimately it will be for the new North Yorkshire council to decide whether these arrangements should continue beyond 2023 or if a county-wide approach is to be taken.
If all leisure services are brought in-house under the new authority, the road ahead for Brimhams Active will be an uncertain one. it could mean Brimhams Active is scrapped just a few years after launching.
Mr Tweedie said:
“With all these uncertainties on the horizon, all I can do and all I am doing as managing director is thinking how can I make Brimhams the best it can be so whenever any decisions are made we are in the mix.
“We are already collaborating with all of the other leisure operators around the region to look where we can form partnerships and work together.
“All we want to do is make sure we are best placed and the council has done that with the local authority controlled company (LACC).
“They have really done what is in the best interests of Harrogate.”
The council has spent less than £300,000 on setting up Brimhams Active which is now running 12 leisure venues in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge.
Some decisions over how services are run will be made exclusively by a board of seven directors made up of councillors and council staff.
This includes councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who said she was pleased that the launch of the company showed a commitment to keeping services running.
She said:
“Because leisure is not a statutory service and is expensive to deliver, the council could close all facilities or some of them to save money, in these difficult times, as some councils have done.
“At least having a LACC in place means there is commitment to deliver leisure facilities to the people of the district.
“Covid is and has been an issue for everyone. Hopefully now we are able to start to open everything up and with the launch of the LACC we will see a new future for the delivery of leisure service.”
Mr Tweedie added:
Vandals seriously damage Stray cherry trees again“Although we have launched the company, it will not be an instant change which people are going to see within 24 hours. This is a new strategy and website to make a commitment to where we are going.
“There is going to progressive change in the next one to three years to make the service a high performing offering.”
Eight cherry trees on the Stray has been vandalised over the weekend.
Some of the trees line the footpath known as Cherry Tree Walk, opposite the Kwik Fit garage, where branches have been deliberately broken or snapped off.
Vandalism to the trees has become a persistent problem with regular incidents over the past year.
In October last year, local police officer, Sgt Paul Cording tweeted about a number of trees “destroyed and killed” on York Place Stray.
Last summer there were reports of vandalism affecting young trees when local police officers were attempting to crack down on large groups congregating illegally on the Stray.
“What a sad and sorry sight to see these beautiful trees subjected to mindless vandalism once again.
Many have been planted in memory of loved ones and many for victims of the thalidomide tragedy. In every case love and consideration has gone into the planting of these trees which bring so much pleasure to so many In Harrogate and beyond.
As I said only recently when another tree was vandalised, this is utterly appalling and disgraceful behaviour. There is no polite way of describing the perpetrators of these abysmal acts. Devastating in every way and for everyone. Despicable behaviour, just despicable.”
A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said its parks team would assess the damage to the trees and remove broken branches.
Liberal Democrats win Knaresborough ward by-election
The Liberal Democrats have won the Knaresborough Scriven Park by-election.
Just before midnight the results of the count at the Knaresborough Community Centre were announced with Hannah Gostlow taking the ward from the Conservatives in a decisive victory:
Hannah Gostlow, Liberal Democrats – 635
Jaqui Renton, Conservative – 384
Sharon-Theresa Calvert, Labour Party – 91
Harvey Alexander, UKIP – 11
Hannah Gostlow’s victory means there are now 30 Conservatives, 8 Liberal Democrats, and 2 independent councillors on Harrogate Borough Council.
The election was held following the resignation of Conservative councillor Samantha Mearns, who last month announced she had stepped down due to family reasons.
Mrs Mearns won the ward in 2018 with 457 votes with the Liberal Democrats polling 441 votes.