North Yorkshire Council looks set to increase rents on social housing in Harrogate by 7% from April.

The authority is set to inherit 3,893 social houses when Harrogate Borough Council is abolished in under three months’ time.

Senior councillors agreed to recommend the rent increase at a meeting yesterday.

It will see the average weekly rent in Harrogate increase from £85.22 to £91.18.

Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for housing on the council, told councillors that the increase was difficult to propose.

He said:

“I, with a very heavy heart, have to recommend to you all that we increase our rents by the maximum allowed by government this year, which is capped at 7%.”

The number of social homes which North Yorkshire Council will inherit.

Cllr Myers added that the authority needed the income to balance the books of its housing revenue account.

He added that the council also had an ambition to improve its social housing stock in the future.

Cllr Myers said:

“We have a commitment to our tenants and we understand the pressures on them and all residents of North Yorkshire.

“But we have a commitment that is very long term to provide social, fair and decent housing to our residents as a stockholding authority.”

£2 million deficit

The council will inherit a mixture of houses, flats, hostels and shared ownership properties.

According to a council report, the combination of the Harrogate, Richmondshire and Selby housing stock is set to leave the authority with an in-year deficit of £2 million.

As a result, the council has agreed to increase rents by the maximum allowed by government from April 1.

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The proposal also includes a 2% increase on shared ownership property rents, which is in line with the lease agreements at those homes.

In his report, Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the council, pointed out that that a third of the rent paid by social housing tenants is covered by housing benefit.

He said:

“The vast majority of HRA income comes from the rent that is charged to tenants. It should be noted that approximately one third of this income is paid for via housing benefit, rather than directly by tenants. 

“In addition, some tenants will be in receipt of Universal Credit, which will include an element designed to cover rental payments, but this cannot be quantified.”

The recommendation to increase social housing rent by 7% will go to the authority’s full council for a final decision.

The Stray Ferret Business Awards will be held on March 9 at the Pavilions of Harrogate. The event will be a celebratory night with prize draw and afterparty.

Richard Flinton, the chief executive of the new North Yorkshire Council is the guest speaker. Early bird ticket prices are available until February 9 and available to buy here. Bring your team, network and have fun. 

Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate has been named specialist retailer of the year at the Food and Travel Reader Awards.

The awards, which were founded in 2012, were held at the Royal Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall.

Bettys was nominated in the category alongside Berry Bros & Rudd, Cheeses of Muswell Hill, HG Walter, Cockburns of Leith and The Umbrella Project.

Simon Eyles, Bettys managing director, said: 

“Bettys is delighted to have scooped this prestigious award, and we want to say a huge thank you to all the Food & Travel readers and the Bettys customers who voted for us.

“It’s a very proud moment for us to have our shops, whether in our Yorkshire branches or online, honoured by our customers in this way.”

Last call for EU funded workplace support scheme

Mike Sweeting, human resources officer at Aldwark Manor.

A Knaresborough non-profit has made a final call for small businesses to take advantage of a workplace support scheme.

The Thriving at Work programme is led by Better Connect and aims to help firms create an inclusive workplace, in particular for staff who are neurodiverse, disabled, or experiencing mental health challenges.

The support, which is EU funded, is aimed at businesses across the Harrogate district and North Yorkshire.

The programme includes:

• Inclusive workplace support: one-to-one business support to help create an inclusive workplace, covering policies and procedures, recruitment, culture and values, staff training, quality marks and more.
• Diversity training: webinars and training courses relevant to creating inclusive workplaces.
• Workplace support: one-to-one coaching and support for employees who identify as neurodiverse, disabled, or experienced mental health challenges.

Mike Sweeting, human resources officer at Aldwark Manor which undertook the scheme, said:

“We’re very much on a journey of development, looking specifically at retaining our team, attracting the best new talent into the business, and ensuring we cultivate a great working environment where we show commitment to the development of our team.”

As the UK is no longer a member of the European Union, businesses must sign up by March 31, to take advantage of Thriving at Work’s fully funded inclusive workplace support, which will be delivered by June 30, 2023.

For more information, visit the Better Connect website here.

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Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee has approved a sixth housing development in the Kingsley area after a heated debate today.

The committee was split 6-6 on whether to accept 30 new homes at Kingsley Farm. It meant Rebecca Burnett, the chair of the committee, had the casting vote in favour.

It means more than 600 properties will be built in the Kingsley ward, where residents have already expressed exasperation at the scale of development and lack of supporting infrastructure.

Most of today’s debate centred on access to the site even though council case officer Kate Broadbank said the meeting should focus on the general principle of development. Access, she said, would be debated at the later reserved matters application for ironing out the details.

Ms Broadbank said there would be access roads to the development from Kingsley Road and Hawthorn Place. Creating the access road on Kingsley Road would, she said, require the removal of a stone wall and a ‘small number of trees’, which she said would be replaced.

Cllr Chris Aldred speaking today

Cllr Chris Aldred, a Liberal Democrat who represents the area on North Yorkshire County Council, said the new access road on Kingsley Road would go through an orchard and mean there would be five junctions in the space of 150 yards.

He called for the decision to be deferred, adding:

“There’s no planning necessity for this site now. We have enough houses in Harrogate already. We can work on this slowly but surely.”

A local resident, Matt Hodgson, told the committee “access remains crucial at this stage when discussing the suitability of the site”.

‘We have listened’

Speaking on behalf of the applicant Quarters Kingsley Ltd, David Williams said it was a small local developer working alongside the landowner, who has owned the site for 100 years.

Mr Williams said it was a former chicken farm that had become an “overgrown wasteland” that had “no purpose”

David Williams speaking at the meeting

He said the applicants had already agreed to reduce the number of home from 49 to 30, adding:

“We have listened. We are doing everything we can to make a positive contribution to the area.”

Doctors and dentists

Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Harrogate Hookstone asked if there would be any increased provision for doctors and dentists in the area.

Ms Broadbank said ‘there will be a contribution’ through the section 106 agreement which developers sign to pay for infrastructure associated with their schemes but where it was allocated would be a matter for the NHS.

Read more:

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• Kingsley residents call for halt to new housing decisions

All six councillors in favour of the scheme were Conservatives. Three Liberal Democrats, two Conservatives and one Independent opposed the recommendation to approve the principle of development on the land.

After the scheme was approved, Cllr Burnett berated Cllr Marsh for saying ‘shameful’.

“Can we have less bickering from the committee? I don’t think we need to hear ‘shameful’ shouted out when we have taken a democratic vote from all members of the committee.

“When things don’t go your way I don’t feel it’s acceptable for you to do that.”

Harrogate Synagogue has received a new holocaust memorial to display for present and future generations.

The building on St Mary’s Walk is one of 150 synagogues, Jewish secondary schools, youth groups and communal organisations in the UK to have been sent legacy boards by the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

The boards, which were distributed as part of Friday’s Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, are intended to serve as a continuing reminder of Nazi atrocities.

Arek Hersh, a survivor of the holocaust and a member of Harrogate Synagogue, said:

“I am delighted that Harrogate shul, together with all synagogues and communal organisations, supports the legacy board where it is prominently displayed in the shul hall.

“It is important that all members and visitors see it clearly so the Holocaust is never forgotten.”

Shul is the Yiddish term for synagogue.

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The boards are being displayed prominently by each recipient as a visible and continuing symbolic reminder of “our responsibility to pass on this legacy from generation to generation” and to observe Holocaust Memorial Day,

Board of deputies president Marie van der Zyl said:

“The holocaust is our greatest tragedy. The legacy board project is crucial to ensure that the memory of the holocaust is observed in every synagogue and communal organisation throughout the country.”

Photo (from left): deputy for Harrogate Hebrew Congregation Alan Sanders, Arek Hersh with his wife Jean, Roma Cohen (vice president/chair of Harrogate Hebrew Congregation) and Bernard Cohen (president of Harrogate Hebrew Congregation) standing in front of the legacy board at Harrogate Synagogue.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a suspected cocaine dealer from Harrogate.

Yasin Hussain, 30, of Leadhall Crescent, failed to appear before Harrogate Magistrates Court on November 3, 2022, charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply a class A drug.

He is also wanted by West Yorkshire Police after he failed to appear at court for motoring offences.

North Yorkshire Police has appealed to the public for any information on his whereabouts.

A police statement added:

“Extensive police enquiries are ongoing to trace Hussain in both the Harrogate and Leeds area, including Harehills, Gipton, Roundhay and Armley where he is known to have links.

“Checks are taking place with the Border Force as it is known he travelled outside the UK in recent months before returning.

“Officers are also continuing to liaise with Hussain’s solicitor with a request to hand himself in.

“Anyone with information about Hussain’s whereabouts or possible sightings of him, please make an online report via the North Yorkshire Police website or call 101, option 1, and speak to the force control room.

“If you would prefer to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

“Please quote reference number 12220195320 when providing details.”

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Mr Renton said Department for Education guidance stated schools should prioritise students taking exams and therefore pupils in years 11 and 13 would attend school as normal and either have lessons when teachers were not striking or undertake private study.

Other schools set for ‘unavoidable impact’

Harrogate Grammar School is part of Red Kite Learning Trust, which also manages Oatlands Junior School, Coppice Valley Primary School, Rossett Acre Primary School, Western Primary School in the Harrogate district.

Richard Sheriff

Red Kite chief executive Richard Sheriff sent a letter alongside Mr Renton’s saying “a very significant number of our teachers” are members of the NEU and “sadly it is unavoidable that this will have an impact on the provision we offer across our schools on the strike days”. He added:

“The impact will vary considerably from school to school, depending on the number of staff who are members of the union concerned and who decide to support the action.

“Red Kite Learning Trust is the employer for all our teachers and staff in schools, and we have received some information from the National Education Union (NEU) about how many members are in each of our schools. This information does not give us the full picture, however, as we do not know which teachers will choose to actually be on strike on the days concerned. Headteachers/principals will therefore have to cope with a high degree of uncertainty, as they plan for the strike days.”

He added:

North Yorkshire Council will have enough reserves to ride out another national event such as soaring inflation, a senior council official has said.

Gary Fielding, corporate director for strategic resources at the authority, said the council has planned for a “one-off use” of its reserves to cover a £30 million shortfall for the upcoming financial year.

The council is facing pressures from inflation, rising cost of utilities and taking on structural deficits from other district councils.

Around £18 million from the districts will be taken on by North Yorkshire Council, plus a further £12 million for an in-year shortfall.

As part of the budget plans, the county council will dip into its reserves to cover the financial blackhole.

Despite the use of reserves, Mr Fielding said he felt the council would still be in a good position to withstand another national event, such as a pandemic or soaring inflation rates.

He said:

“I think we are well placed to ride out the issues in the coming years.

“I would describe these times as unprecedented and that is after two years of covid.”

Part of the council’s shortfall is down to energy costs and pay awards.

Energy bills for North Yorkshire’s current eight councils stood at about £6 million in 2021/22, rising to £15.5 million for the current financial year.

They are predicted to rise to £31 million for the forthcoming financial year from April 1.

Meanwhile, inflationary pressures, including pay awards, previously accounted for an increase of about £19 million a year across the eight North Yorkshire councils.

However, the dramatic rise in inflation to more than 10% a year has seen £66 million having to be allocated to next year’s proposed budget to cope with the increase.

Mr Fielding pointed out that other councils were serving section 114 notices – a measure taken in dire financial circumstances.

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Thurrock Council, Slough Borough Council and Croydon Council have all issued such notices, which effectively declare the authority as bankrupt and ban any further spending.

However, Mr Fielding said he felt confident the council was not in that position.

He told senior councillors this morning:

“I am confident that we are not that organisation and will not be that organisation.”

‘Heavy heart’ over council tax hike

Senior councillors this morning recommended a 4.99% increase in council tax for the entirety of North Yorkshire.

The proposal, which would see a band D rate of £1,759.96 for the year, will go to councillors at the authority’s full council meeting for a final decision.

Cllr Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the county council, said it was “with a heavy heart” that the authority had to propose an increase.

He said:

“As we sit here today I can see no alternative to that 4.99% increase.

“Every one per cent that we take off that equates to a loss of funding of £4.1 million year on year.”

The council is proposing the sum in order to meet costs for providing public services across the county.

It has also decided that council tax rates will be harmonised for the next two years – meaning taxpayers will pay the same sum across the county.

A campaign group has submitted an application to have the Stray in Harrogate registered as common land.

The Open Spaces Society (OSS) said registration could bring more protection for the Stray, requiring additional permission to hold events outside the existing restrictions.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, OSS case officer Hugh Craddock said it would make it more difficult to hold events that did not comply with the 1985 Stray Act, such as the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, which saw heavy rain and large crowds leave West Park Stray in need of extensive repairs.

He said:

“Our view is that, once registered, the protections afforded to common land generally would apply to the Stray as well.

“There would be an additional layer of consent which would have to be obtained for such events. That’s not to say it would be impossible, but there would be another layer of protection.”

The Stray Act 1985 appointed Harrogate Borough Council to guard it and residents’ freedom to use it. When the new North Yorkshire Council comes into effect in April, it will take on that responsibility.

Among the restrictions under the act are a limit on the amount of space that can be used for events, and their duration. No more than 8.5 acres can be used for a maximum of 35 days per year.

A consultation was held in 2016 to extend the amount of time the Stray could be used for events, but the council said there was not public support for the proposal.

The OSS said it is trying to reverse a decision made in November 1966 to exclude the Stray from registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965. It has applied to North Yorkshire County Council to register the 200-acre parkland as common land.

Mr Craddock said:

“The decision in the 1960s to keep the Stray off the registers was understandable but misguided.

“Only a quarter of one per cent of registered common land was exempted from registration, and exemption proved to be both misleading and unhelpful.

“The Stray has always been common land, and ought to be registered as common land.”

Once the application has been validated by the county council, Mr Craddock said the process of determining whether to register the Stray as common land is likely to take between six and 18 months.

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The OSS said the move would help to resolve some “inconsistencies” in the area of the Stray defined by different acts of Parliament in 1770, 1893 and 1985.

Mr Craddock referred to a small patch of grass adjacent to Harrogate District Hospital which used to be part of the gardens belonging to a house on the site of the hospital. Although it appeared to be part of the Stray, it was not officially Stray land.

In 2020, that land was identified as part of a ‘land exchange’ for a piece of verge alongside Otley Road which was part of the Stray. The Stray land was set to be adjusted as part of the cycle route being created by North Yorkshire County Council which required loss of the verge.

The OSS said officially recognising the Stray as common land could only further ensure its protection.

Commons registration officer Frances Kerner, who made the application on behalf of the society, added:

“Registration can only reinforce the protection already afforded to the Stray under the Harrogate Stray Act 1985.  The land will also become protected under the Commons Act 2006.

“And registration will ensure that those who buy and sell land adjacent to the common are always notified of its protected status.

“We look forward to the council advertising the application in due course.”

Union members at Harrogate Borough Council have escalated their opposition to plans to transfer them to a new employer from April.

Five members of staff, working in the information and internal audit services department, were told they would be transferring to shared services group Veritau rather than the new North Yorkshire Council from April.

Now, Unison said it has involved its regional Yorkshire and Humberside office in the dispute after both HBC and NYCC refused to take responsibility for the decision.

Harrogate branch secretary Dave Houlgate said:

“Following the lodging of our dispute last week, which will be heard on Thursday, the borough council has come back to us to say that it was not their decision but that of North Yorkshire County Council using its transition/implementation powers.

“We have asked for some more detail around this but the upshot is that no one seems to want to take any responsibility for the decision.

“That cannot be right. This is incredibly stressful for staff who all along have had an expectation they would transfer to North Yorkshire Council.

“This late change is unfair and is unacceptable.”

The new chief executive of North Yorkshire Council has already said decisions about where staff will transfer to will be made by HBC.

Mr Houlgate said HBC had previously given reassurance to staff that they would not be transferring to Veritau, a shared service group owned by local authorities across Yorkshire and the north east.

He added:

“We can reveal that in August last year, following concerns raised by Unison, the staff were reassured by the borough council that they would be transferring to North Yorkshire Council on April 1, 2023. It remains our belief that the decision is ultimately with the borough council and that the council should stand by what it has previously told its staff.

“Understandably we are pursuing this with both councils, seeking clarity around decision-making, accountability, oversight and where the duty to engage with staff and Unison actually rests.”

Mr Houlgate said Unison would take the dispute to HBC’s human resources committee and had already tabled a question for its overview and scrutiny commission, which is set to meet on February 6 to discuss local government reorganisation.

Unison said it is unable to raise the issue at a full council meeting because HBC is not holding one until March, which will be too late.

The Stray Ferret has contacted Harrogate Borough Council for a response.

The authority previously said audit services for the new authority will be provided by Veritau and that staff had been kept informed throughout the process.

It said staff will transfer on their existing terms and conditions, and will be offered the option of moving to Veritau’s terms.

Read more:

• Unison raises dispute with Harrogate council after five staff told they won’t transfer to new council
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Harrogate Borough Council has estimated its energy bills are set to cost £1.2 million above budget by the end of the financial year.

In a quarter three financial report due before councillors next week, Gillian Morland, service finance manager, said the authority has an estimated overall overspend of £1.4 million.

The overspend is largely due to soaring utility costs and a higher than expected staff pay award. It budgeted for a 2.5% pay increase but the actual increase was 6.7%.

In her quarter two update in October, Ms Morland forecast the council faced a “sizeable overspend” by the end of the financial year.

She told councillors:

“As things stand we are looking at a sizeable overspend this year.

“We are hoping overspend will come down but we do have sufficient funds to cover it.”

Read more:

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But the economic situation remains difficult, mainly due to rising energy bills.

In quarter three, an overspend of £170,000 is predicted in housing and property, an increase of £121,000 from quarter two. The report explains:

“There is now a forecast overspend on homelessness of £112,000. This is primarily down to an overspend on B&B accommodation.

“There is a forecast £51,000 overspend on street lighting primarily due to energy costs and street nameplates.”

Parks and environmental services is forecasting an overspend of £739,000, largely due to temporary staff costs.

Harrogate Convention Centre is forecasting a net overspend of £264,000 — the reasons are exempt from the public and media.

But a £166,000 underspend is expected in legal and governance and underspends are also forecast in ICT and organisational development and Improvement.

Support from government

The report comes after senior county councillors warned that soaring energy costs meant local authorities needed support from government.

Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for growth, culture, leisure, sport and housing at North Yorkshire County Council, told a meeting in September:

“You can imagine that the extra costs in heating schools, leisure facilities and other council buildings are going to be enormous.

“And it is unlikely that there will be any ability to recoup that cost from residents. Indeed, it would be wrong to, given the economic circumstances that our residents are facing.

“We are going to need help from central government if we are not going to cut back on essential services.”