Bishop Thornton company chosen for NHS contract

A Bishop Thornton firm has been accredited to work on NHS hospitals across the north of England.

Robinsons Facilities Services, which specialises in commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical repairs and maintenance, won a competitive tender to join the NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC) framework.

It will now supply, repair and service plumbing and heating systems across hospitals including Harrogate, Doncaster, Newcastle and more. It follows the firm’s successful tender last summer to carry out repairs on heating, ventilation and air conditioning on premises owned and managed by Harrogate Borough Council.

Later in 2019, it was also chosen to carry out maintenance for the University of York. Robinsons Facilities Services director Katie Challis, pictured above, said:

“We actually tendered for this specific framework back in December, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed the review process, hence us only finding out now.

“To demonstrate our suitably we had to highlight our experience, skills, quality of work, social value and price. Being accepted on the NOE CPC is a massive boost for the businesses and builds on last year’s successes with Harrogate Borough Council and the University of York.”

Since launching seven years ago, Robinsons has expanded to cover routine and emergency maintenance and repairs to hundreds of commercial and public sites across Yorkshire, with a team of 17 staff.

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WATCH: New York Brass Band brings music to Harrogate streets

An open top bus has brought live music to the streets of Harrogate today.

New York Brass Band was touring the town thanks to a collaboration with Harrogate International Festivals.

The band – which regularly performs around the UK and has played Glastonbury in the past – is known for its engaging style and interactive performances. Its music had shoppers dancing in the streets this morning.

 

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New York Brass Band Harrogate

New York Brass Band by the war memorial

Meanwhile, HIF said its digital material has gained a worldwide following since lockdown began. More than 6,000 hours of podcasts, featuring top musicians, authors  and inspirational speakers, have been listened to by audiences  around the world, including Finland, Australia and New Zealand.

HIFAtHome combines archive recordings with resources for families, giving a virtual festival experience with highlights from previous live events.

HIF chief executive Sharon Canavar said:

“Since our first Festival in 1966, our mission has been to promote the arts – and despite the cancellation of our entire summer programme, 2020 won’t be an exception!

“With HIFAtHome we are able to continue with our goal to deliver the very best in the arts. Instead of simply shutting down, or bemoaning our festival position and lack of income, we have harnessed the creativity and agility we are famed for.

“We have spun on a pin to ensure that we can still create and deliver both with artists and for audiences, and the result has been to bring Harrogate International Festivals to life, digitally. At the click of a mouse button, you can now access new commissions and exciting projects, together with looking back at some of the highlights of the last few years.

“The arts is worldwide and people are craving the arts to help make sense of the world right now.”

HIF is now preparing for four days of music performances and star interviews from Thursday, July 23. It will begin with the announcement of the winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel on the Year – usually the popular opening ceremony to the crime writing festival, which draws authors and fans from around the world.

Struggling businesses ‘need events to be kept in Harrogate’

Business organisations have called for events to be moved to other venues in Harrogate while the convention centre is out of use.

Events and conferences will be able to resume from October 1 under new government guidance, but Harrogate Convention Centre is expected to play host to the NHS Nightingale hospital for another eight months.

It could mean that events scheduled to take place there will move elsewhere – and, once lost, the business may not return in future years. Harrogate BID said it will do all it can to help organisers and venues keep events in the area, to help local businesses survive. Acting chair Sara Ferguson said:

“It goes without saying that this is a blow for Harrogate’s conference and exhibition trade. We now need to do all we can to ensure that whilst the Convention Centre, Royal Hall and exhibition halls are out of commission, those events that are due to take place are offered alternative accommodation within the town, be it in hotels or at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

“Harrogate BID will help in whatever way it can, which could include sponsoring shuttle buses between the town centre and the showground. We are also looking at a calendar of events that will bring people into the town centre on a regular basis.”

Harrogate BID has deep cleaned the town centre and vowed to do all it can to keep events in the local area

The managers of Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate, both on the Great Yorkshire Showground, said they are keen to host events and help local businesses. They said an independent report last year found the venues brought an economic impact of £73.7m to the area. Managing director Heather Parry said:

“Harrogate remains the ideal destination to hold events and our local economy needs events to thrive. This year has clearly been a different picture but we are here, prepared and ready to open safely in October.

“The Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate are both light and airy venues with easy access to outside space and have extensive free car parking, all of which are key to offering safe and accessible spaces.  All profits generated from our venues go towards helping to support the charitable work of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

“We are hoping to support our districts hospitality sector by hosting a wide range of events. In times like these we must all pull together and support each other.”

Similarly, the DoubleTree by Hilton Majestic Hotel – which should this week have hosted marquees as part of the Home & Gift Fair at HCC – said it stands ready to play its part. General manager Andy Barnsdale said:

“Of course the loss of the Convention Centre for the foreseeable future is a disappointment, and it is crucial that we don’t lose any events to other towns and cities.

“Harrogate is one of the most popular destinations for conferences, trade shows and events in the UK. Delegates and organisers love coming to Harrogate and we need to let them know the town is very much open for business.”

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Though Boris Johnson today said £3bn of funding was being arranged to enable the Nightingale hospitals across the country to remain in place until the end of March, Harrogate Borough Council said the contract with the NHS has yet to be finalised. However, Nightingale hospitals around the UK are expected to remain on stand-by in case a second wave of cases overwhelms existing hospitals, and in the meantime will offer additional testing and treatment facilities for other illnesses.

Decline in investment

While business owners who have spoken to The Stray Ferret in recent months have not questioned the value of additional NHS facilities to deal with the Covid pandemic, they have raised concerns about the ability of the town to survive without a major source of income through the year.

Events including the Knitting and Stitching Show, the Country Living Christmas Fair and the Bridal Show bring in thousands of visitors who, as well as visiting the halls, stay in local hotels or guesthouses, eat out in town, and visit local shops.

Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce said the drop in trade could see a decline in investment in the area and even the loss of some businesses with a “hard winter” looming. Chief executive Sandra Doherty said:

“Whilst Harrogate has never completely relied on the conference and exhibition trade, it has been the business which underpins the leisure trade.

“There is the choice and number of bed spaces in Harrogate solely due to the Convention Centre trade, and without it we may well see a decline in investment and perhaps the loss of some of these businesses. The number of places to eat and drink also relies on the influx of large numbers of visitors and delegates during conferences and exhibitions.

“What will happen to these is anybody’s guess as they continue to suffer from the impact of Covid restrictions.

“Harrogate is a town which enjoys popularity and status. I really hope this will help us through what could well be a hard winter for many.”

BREAKING: Harrogate’s Nightingale hospital to remain until March

The NHS Nightingale hospital will remain at Harrogate Convention Centre until next March, the Prime Minister has confirmed.

Additional funding of £3bn has been given to NHS England to maintain the emergency hospitals across the country in case of a second wave of Covid cases this winter.

In a briefing from Downing Street, Boris Johnson said:

“This will allow the NHS to continue to use the extra hospital capacity acquired from the private sector and also to maintain the Nighingale hospitals until the end of March.”

If cases remain at a manageable level for existing hospitals, the Nightingales will continue to offer extra capacity for routine testing and treatment. The Nightingale hospital in Harrogate has been offering CT scanning to non-Covid patients since June 4.

It was set up by armed forces and NHS professionals in just three weeks in spring to offer additional treatment facilities for patients from across Yorkshire and the Humber. Staff were trained on site, staying in local hotels, but no Covid patients were ever admitted and the hospital was eventually put on stand-by.

The NHS was not paying any rent for use of Harrogate Convention Centre under the initial contract. It is not yet clear whether rent will now be payable to Harrogate Borough Council, which owns and runs HCC.

Earlier this year, local businesses raised fears about the impact of having the convention centre unable to host events for at least a year. With the local economy heavily reliant on hospitality trade from public and trade events, many hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes could see a significant drop in their annual turnover as they try to recover from the coronavirus lockdown.

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Hospital discharges two more coronavirus patients

Two more patients have this week been discharged from Harrogate District Hospital after being treated for coronavirus.

It brings the total discharged from the hospital since the start of the outbreak to 141.

#teamHDFT pic.twitter.com/UCiogvjoqm

— Harrogate NHS FT (@HarrogateNHSFT) July 16, 2020

Meanwhile, for the ninth consecutive day, no further deaths have been reported in patients with the virus at the hospital, according to figures released by NHS England today.

They show that 19 more patients, aged between 52 and 91, have died across the country, and all of them had underlying health conditions. It brings the total number of deaths in NHS England hospitals to 29,144.

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Man suffers bleed on brain after Ripon assault

Police are appealing for witnesses to a serious assault in Ripon which left a man with a fractured skull, a bleed on the brain and loss of hearing.

The 21-year-old victim was attacked outside Gianni’s Pizzeria in Westgate between 1am and 1.25am on Saturday, July 11.

Police are keen to speak to a group of three men and a woman who, after the assault, were seen getting into a dark-coloured hatchback car. One of the men is believed to have been wearing a grey Armani jumper.

Anyone with information about the group, or the assault, should contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option two and ask for Lynn Maguire, or email lynn.maguire@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

Alternatively, to report information anonymously, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, quoting North Yorkshire Police reference number 12200117545.

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Bistrot Pierre set to close Harrogate restaurant

Le Bistrot Pierre in Harrogate looks set to be among the first restaurant casualties of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Cheltenham Parade restaurant’s owners filed for administration on Tuesday after struggling to find funding to see them through lockdown.

The business was immediately sold to Bistrot Pierre 1994 Ltd in a pre-pack deal, but the new owners have chosen not to reopen six of the 25 restaurants around the UK, including Harrogate. Administrators have confirmed 123 redundancies, but have not said how many of these will be in Harrogate.

Joint administrator Will Wright said:

“COVID-19 and the prolonged lockdown period has presented large swathes of the casual dining sector with significant funding challenges, and Bistrot Pierre has been far from immune.

“Despite exploring all alternative options, including relief schemes like the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, the directors took the difficult decision to file for the appointment of administrators. We are pleased to have been able to conclude a transaction which preserves the majority of the business and associated jobs, ensuring the chain’s 25-year presence on local high streets can continue.”

Bistrot Pierre is the first restaurant in the Harrogate district to confirm its closure following the coronavirus lockdown. The Yorke Arms at Ramsgill has announced it will not reopen its restaurant, but instead become a country house for private hire.

The Country Living St George Hotel was closed in May after its owners, Shearings, went into administration. Hospitality businesses have told The Stray Ferret their futures could hang in the balance if Harrogate Convention Centre is not reopened this year, bringing much-needed trade for hotels, guesthouses, cafes, restaurants and bars.

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Council defends civic centre costs

Harrogate Borough Council has defended its decision-making on its new civic centre following an investigation by The Stray Ferret.

After our reports were published on Monday morning, Harrogate Borough Council posted a series of tweets in response.

In response to articles published on the Stray Ferret website about the supposed cost of civic centre in #Harrogate, the articles are not accurate. The figures are based on a wide range of assumptions backed up by unnamed experts.

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 13, 2020

As outlined in our reports, in the course of our investigation we contacted and interviewed a number of established, independent estate agents, architects and quantity surveyors. Each gave us their honest opinion based on their expertise but, as they all work in the local area, they asked us not to identify them in our reports.

Land value

The land at civic centre did not cost the council £4.5million. We already owned it, so the cost was £0. Including the assumed value of land when working out the cost of a building is not a methodology we ever used.

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 13, 2020


The Stray Ferret has looked through all the available documents at the time, including the appraisal of the Hornbeam site and others. They sum up the council’s view that none of them was as suitable as Knapping Mount.

Though the council can argue it did not spend any money on the Knapping Mount site because it already owned it, this misses a central point of our investigation. The land was potentially extremely valuable and, if sold, could have brought in sufficient income to buy and build on a cheaper site elsewhere, with resulting savings for taxpayers.

Without having achieved planning permission, the council could never have had a clear value of the land in order to make an informed decision about whether to sell it or build on it.

Other options

It is true that one of the sites we considered was at Hornbeam Park. A full appraisal of this option was put to cabinet and council in October 2014 and rejected as not viable. You can read more at: https://t.co/w0ZnpRLyyB

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 13, 2020


What has never been released, however, is the full detail of those sites, how the costs were calculated and why they were dismissed as less favourable than Knapping Mount. A full report was done by an external consultant – but this has always been kept under wraps.

As outlined in our report, the council referred to areas including Pannal and Beckwith Knowle, but did not specify which sites, or whether they were buying buildings or land to build a new office on.

These details were never part of any public consultation or even discussion. Without this information being made public, local taxpayers are unable to judge whether the council made sensible use of their money.

Final costs

At the moment, we cannot reveal the final cost of the building as we have not agreed a final bill with the developer. It is now in receivership. We are waiting for an update from the official receiver. As soon as the final cost is known to us, it will be made public.

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 13, 2020


The final cost of the build is only part of the picture. We know the contract was agreed at £11.5m and the council views that as the fixed cost. The contractor has argued for more money and only in time will we find out what has to be paid.

But there is more to it than that. The additional value of the land has never been discussed publicly, and nor have the costs of fitting out the building – everything from flooring to light fixtures, IT infrastructure and more. There is no reason why the council cannot release these details now, more than two-and-a-half years after the building was occupied, and we call on them to do so.

Savings

Civic centre represents excellent value for the council tax payer of the district. It saves us around £1million a year compared to running and maintaining the previous network of offices. This is money that was sorely needed to keep our public services running in recent months.

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 13, 2020


The council argues that the civic centre saves £1m per year and we don’t dispute that those savings have been made. However, any money saved was through reducing staff numbers, working on one site instead of five and moving to a modern, efficient building.

All of those savings could have been made with a move to any new office – it did not have to be Knapping Mount. A cheaper site and a cheaper build would have given the same results AND left taxpayers enjoying the benefit of the same savings.

Questions still to be answered

A number of key points in our investigation have still not received a response from HBC.

We found that their choice of a round building – designed to ‘express the nature of democracy’ – made the project more complex and therefore more expensive. The council has not defended this choice.

Nor has it responded to the continuing threat of devolution which could mean the new civic centre is no longer needed, or is too large or even too small for changing requirements in Harrogate in the next few years. These discussions began before the council committed to the new building and are continuing now:, with change expected within two years.

There has been no justification for the need for a town centre office, which dominated HBC’s decision-making process and bumped up the cost of out-of-town options, as it argued it had to retain another central office as a customer service centre.

Finally, the council has still not explained why, when the Knapping Mount site was earmarked for housing, it did not attempt to get planning permission in order to asses the true value of that land before deciding to where to build the new civic centre. Without that, we can never know what the land could have been worth.

Campaign group brands civic centre ‘shocking and ridiculous waste of money’

Harrogate Borough Council’s new civic centre has been branded a ‘vanity project’ by a campaign group focused on the good use of public money.

The comments from the Taxpayers’ Alliance comes after The Stray Ferret investigated the costs and decisions around the civic centre, finding its true cost to taxpayers was £17m.

Having seen the investigation, Harry Fone, grassroots campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said:

“This is an absolutely shocking and ridiculous waste of money. Poor council procurement and planning has cost taxpayers dearly.

“Residents have faced year after year of rate rises. They don’t deserve to see their hard-earned taxes frittered away on council vanity projects.

“It is essential that every penny of public funds delivers maximum possible value. Harrogate council must clean up its act and stop taking ratepayers for a ride.”

Political reaction

Harrogate Liberal Democrat opposition group has also slammed the council’s spending on the project.

Cllr Pat Marsh, who leads the group on Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“Liberal Democrat councillors have opposed this move from the very beginning, arguing that it’s a shocking waste of money and we should be investing in the services that touch people’s daily lives.

“However our opposition was ignored by Conservative councillors who stressed at great length that this would be a £9million project which ‘will pay for itself within five years’. Our residents need to know whether this is still the case, and if not, why not? It is their money and they deserve answers.”

Has Harrogate’s £17m civic centre met its aims?

Despite spending millions, Harrogate Borough Council still faces problems with its new civic centre. 

The amount of parking on offer has been controversial from the outset and results in staff having to park elsewhere – taking up valuable commercial spaces and clogging residential streets. 

While HBC argued its move to the new civic centre would save £1m a year, this would have been true no matter which site the council chose for its new headquarters. 

The building itself has no mayor’s parlour for civic occasions, a choice which was queried by groups including Harrogate Civic Society, leaving nowhere to host visitors.

The council also made the move knowing that changes could lie ahead for local government, with the future shape of local government in North Yorkshire being debated at the time. Now, with HBC having only been in the civic centre for two years, even the existence of district councils is up for debate as North Yorkshire prepares for devolution.

Why is parking a problem? 

From the outset, the amount of parking was controversial.  

As a result, the council is using spaces at the nearby Harrogate Convention Centre as overflow parking. In its plans for using up to 130 of these spaces, HBC acknowledged that it could result in a reduction in the £150,000 annual income from the public using the HCC car park 

When events are held, staff can park free in the Victoria multi-storey car park, using permits issued by HBC.  

While it is unlikely they would all be used at the same time for the full day, there is no limit on how many spaces in the Victoria Car Park can be taken up by council staff. 

Not only does this mean that staff are being given free parking in a prime spot for shoppers who could be supporting local businesses, but it also limits the potential income for the council from parking spaces. 

Harrogate Borough Council's new civic centre car park has 95 spaces

The new civic centre car park has 95 spaces, with 561 staff based there

A report to HBC’s cabinet in November 2014, before building work began at Knapping Mount, rejected the multi-storey car park as an option. It said: 

“The use of Victoria Car Park as a potential location for employee parking has been considered, however feedback suggests that this may not be well utilised by employees due to the facility being more distant from the Knapping Mount site.” 

However, staff are now given passes for that car park when the convention centre is in use. If they do, as predicted, feel it is too far, the only option left to staff who drive is to park on surrounding streets. 

North Yorkshire County Council, which looks after on-street parking, warned during the planning process that it would have to enforce residents’ parking zones if neighbouring streets became congested. It said it would review the situation annually for five years after the new civic centre was occupied, in December 2017. 

The county council told The Stray Ferret it was working with HBC to monitor the situation, but follow-up surveys to its initial report have not been possible during the pandemic and would not give a representative picture of normal working days. Allan McVeigh, NYCC’s head of network strategy, said:

“Harrogate Borough Council is not only obliged to monitor how staff travel to the civic centre and where they park, it has also committed to promoting sustainable travel and encouraging staff, councillors and visitors to reduce their car use.

“The borough council has provided us with a draft monitoring report that contains the results of a travel survey, an update on agreed travel plans as well as a number of initiatives to promote sustainable travel to the civic centre.”

The full report will be published on HBC’s website once finalised.

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What savings have been made?

An ambitious savings target of £1m per year was set by HBC when it planned its new civic centre, which the ruling Conservative party said would mean the £5m spend would pay for itself in five years. 

Screen shot of Conservative leaflet about the new civic centre costs

Taken from a Conservative leaflet distributed in 2014

In its 2019 annual report, HBC said:  

“Savings of £909k from our move to civic centre have been built into the base budget and approved budget for 2019/20.” 

According to the council, this is made up of: 

The same could have been achieved by a move to any modern building. Knapping Mount did not have to be chosen in order to reduce staff numbers and streamline IT.  

A move to any single site would have delivered the same results – so a site and build which cost millions less would have paid for itself much sooner. 

If the new civic centre is no longer needed

When the public consultation over the Knapping Mount proposal was held in 2015, concerns were raised about future changes to local government.  

At the time, Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce said a potential move to a unitary authority in the coming years could mean Harrogate no longer has a council, being replaced by a single authority for the whole county. 

The chamber argued that the decision over a new office should be delayed until the future of local government was clearer. However, HBC’s response at the time was that, should a move to unitary authority be made, a new civic centre would put Harrogate in an ideal position to become its headquarters.  

Harrogate Borough Council's new civic centre

With discussions about unitary authorities and devolution still going on, the council’s civic centre may not be needed in the next few years

Even with that level of uncertainty, HBC chose to spend millions on a new headquarters. Its five offices could have lasted a few more years until the future of local government had been confirmed. 

If it had deemed the move essential at the time, a more traditional building design would have been pragmatic: the council could have extended or sold the building, or even leased part of it to a commercial tenant, if its needs changed. 

As it is, one local expert told The Stray Ferret that the council’s choice of a round building has restricted its adaptability for re-use or sale in future, meaning it is less valuable than it might have been.  

Five years later, the issue of changes to local government is still being debated. North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les told The Stray Ferret last week that discussions are still being held about forming a combined authority for North Yorkshire – and Unison has issued a statement raising concerns about the situation. 

The future of local government in Harrogate is still uncertain – meaning the new civic centre may no longer be required just a few years after it was built.

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