An ambition to create a devolved mayoral combined authority for North Yorkshire and York has reached a milestone as the local authorities pursuing it launched their first joint decision-making body.

In a turn of events that highlighted geographic and transport issues a combined authority for the vast area will face, the inaugural meeting of North Yorkshire and City of York Council’s joint devolution committee started more than half an hour late due to committee members travelling to central York being delayed on public transport.

With two of the leading executive members from each councils and being co-chaired by the councils’ leaders, the committee bears a close resemblance to the proposed mayoral combined authority executive.

However, it also includes non-voting members, such as the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the chair of the local enterprise partnership.

The meeting heard the committee was being launched despite the public having yet to decide having a mayoral combined authority as part of the proposed devolution deal is acceptable, with a consultation under way.

North Yorkshire’s monitoring officer Barry Khan told members: 

“This is in no way trying to pre-determine or pre-judge that process.

“If the councils agree to submit a proposal for a mayoral combined authority then this committee can transform into a shadow combined authority to set up that arrangement.”

Nevertheless, James Farrar, the enterprise partnership’s chief officer, told he meeting the councils needed to start taking joint decisions or face losing nearly £20 million of funding the government had agreed to give under the proposed devolution deal.

Mr Farrar said: 

“The rules are very stringent and inflexible.”

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He said the government had set a deadline of March 2025 to complete two major projects it was funding.

The schemes include £7 million to enable the area to drive green economic growth, creating the country’s first carbon negative region, and £12.7 million to support the building of new homes on brownfield land.

He said with a potential date of creating the combined authority in December next year it left a very tight timescale to complete the projects, leading councillors to approve a move to invite firms to submit interest in potential schemes this month.

Mr Farrar said even if devolution was not progressed the authorities would have created a pipeline to challenge for “increasingly competitive” funding from government.

City of York Council leader Cllr Keith Aspden issued an appeal for as many residents and businesses as possible to respond to the consultation ahead of its December 16 deadline.

The meeting was told the committee would “exercise executive functions”, but its remit could be widened to “a joint committee that exercises both council and executive functions”.

The county council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said he was hopeful the consultation would come back in favour of creating a mayoral combined authority.

He added: 

“It’s a first step and of course we have been very keen to say to people that devolution is an iterative process.

“I really welcome the fact that the brownfield fund also covers the rural areas, not just urban areas, and also that we are getting some help with net zero activities because that is highly topical at the moment.”

Windows around the Oatlands area of Harrogate will be lit up to tell a festive tale a week before Christmas.

Families are being invited to tour the streets and follow the story of Robin Red Breast on his mission from Santa, to gather his friends together and cook a Christmas meal to feed the community.

It is being organised by Oatlands Community Group and will, fittingly, raise funds for A Seat At My Table, a series of community meals it serves each year to 40 local people who would otherwise eat alone.

The Christmas meal will be held at Oatlands Community Centre on Sunday, December 18, and the Christmas trail takes place that afternoon from 4pm to 6pm.

Organiser Vic Smith-Dunn said:

“While the trail is completely free, we are hopeful that if people enjoy the trail they will consider making a donation to our fundraising efforts to keep Oatlands Community Centre running.

“The community centre depends heavily on fundraising to generate an income to ensure that it can remain open and an asset to our community.”

The Christmas window trail has been held every year since 2016 when Oatlands Community Group was established. There are nine windows decorated on a route that takes in Mount Street, Cromwell Road, Hookstone Avenue, Beech Road and Leeds Road.

One of the Oatlands window displays and some of the knitted robins to be given to children.

On returning to the community centre, participants can enjoy hotdogs, popcorn, cakes, mulled wine and hot chocolate served by volunteers.

There will also be an opportunity to meet Father Christmas and each child will be given a robin knitted by a member of the Oatlands community.

Anyone who would like to take part is asked to register on the event’s website to ensure there are enough knitted robins to go around.

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Mrs Smith-Dunn said any donations received would go back into running the community centre and putting on events to support people in the area.

She also appealed for volunteers to help organise the events, including the four community meals which range from afternoon teas in the summer to a Christmas meal with a quiz and other entertainment.

She added:

“There is no charge for residents to attend these events which makes it accessible to everyone who attends. We’re able to do this with the support of local independence like KD fruiterers and Verity Frearsons who generously donate.

“The community centre is the home of Oatlands Community Group and the myLifePool social enterprise, without access to this valuable community space, community initiatives like A Seat At My Table would not be able to deliver community out reach.

“It would be fantastic if this Christmas, Harrogate people would come along and enjoy this community event and in turn support the sustainability of Oatlands Community Centre.”

While this year’s Christmas meal is fully booked, anyone interested in future community meals can call Oatlands Community Group on 07596 838508. To make a donation to the group, visit its website.

John Chadwick

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Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

Eight holiday clubs, which are free for those receiving benefits-related free school meals during term-time, will operate in the Harrogate district over Christmas.

The clubs provide food and activities for pupils during the holidays and are available to all children but free for families whose children receive free school meals.

North Yorkshire County Council invests more than £135,000 in its holiday club programme, known as FEAST. During the summer holidays, 12,000 children in the county took part in the initiative, which included activities ranging from sports and forest camps to dance and drama workshops.

The FEAST programme aims to tackle the financial strain school holidays have on family finances amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Activities in the Harrogate district run from December 19 to January 2.

King James School in Knaresborough is among those taking part. Its ‘Dopeamin programme’ helps young people take care of their wellbeing and develop a positive mind-set through fitness, nutrition and other techniques.

Here is the calendar for the upcoming clubs across Harrogate district:

• 19th December, 8am-5pm: Dopeamin at King James High School, Knaresborough
• 19th December – 22nd December, 8am-5pm: Total Sports Limited at Rossett Sports Centre, Harrogate
• 19th December – 23rd December, 8am-5:30pm: Total Sports Limited at St John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate
• 21st December – 23rd December, 8:30am-12:30pm: Mini Athletics Superstar Holiday Camp at Harrogate High School
• 21st December, 9:30am-1:30pm: Awesome Eats Christmas Party at Jennyfield Styan Wellbeing Hub, Harrogate
• 27th December, 9am-5pm: Zen Feast Club at Zen Sensory, Kettlesing
• 2nd January, 9:30am-1:30pm: Dopeamin at King James High School, Knaresborough

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The FEAST programme is run by North Yorkshire Together, a partnership between North Yorkshire Youth, North Yorkshire Sport and Rural Arts.

The programme is also funded by the Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food programme.

North Yorkshire County Council leader, Cllr Carl Les said:

“We are delighted at the number of organisations who have come forward to provide a varied programme of holiday clubs and activities. The funding ensures children on free school meals receive at least one nutritious meal while they attend the activities.

“The holiday club programme has been running for just over two years in North Yorkshire and has quickly expanded to include a very varied selection of activities focusing on sports, arts and wellbeing right across the county.”

More information regarding the holiday clubs can be found on the FEAST programme website.

Public control of North Yorkshire’s bus network is not a “realistic answer” to the system’s current woes, says the county’s transport chief.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport at North Yorkshire County Council, said such a move would be too expensive for the authority to take on.

It comes as officials at the county council have warned passengers that some services may be scrapped if not enough people use them.

Cllr Duncan told an executive meeting that bringing the network under public authority ownership – often referred to as franchising –  would lead to “20 to 30 thousands pounds of subsidy” per passenger every year.

He said:

“I think that no matter what political party you may come from in North Yorkshire County Council and beyond, or whatever political persuasion you might be, you’re looking at those figures at potentially subsiding per passenger per year at ten, twenty, thirty thousand pounds and it just doesn’t stack up.

“The case is not there. We know we have got some unique times in North Yorkshire and we have got to work through those. It is potentially more difficult than just ‘lets have public authority control’, that is not going to be a realistic answer to the problems we face.”

Local control is ‘better value’

Matthew Topham, of the Better Buses for North Yorkshire campaign group, said that bringing the county’s network under local control was “common sense”.

Mr Topham said a franchising model – which Transport for London and Greater Manchester operate under – would be better value for passengers.

He said:

“Far from being “unrealistic,” taking buses into local control is the only common sense answer. It’s better value. It’s popular. It unlocks unique powers to improve services.

“Findings from London show franchising is a more efficient use of public money. In Jersey, it helped the council add routes while cutting costs by £800,000 a year. Imagine if we had it here!

“Polls show over two-thirds of the public back local control. Experts from the Countryside Charity CPRE, levelling up think tank IPPR North, and even the UN agree: local control is the way forward.

“If the mountainous areas of France or Switzerland all find it cheaper to coordinate services through local control, we can trust that North Yorkshire will too.”

The network’s woes come as seven months ago the government rejected North Yorkshire County Council’s bid for a £116m share of Boris Johnson’s high-profile Bus Back Better initiative, saying the local authority’s plans lacked ambition.

Since then, local politicians have raised concern over the future of services in their area.

Read more:

• North Yorkshire transport boss warns bus network faces ‘really grave situation’
• 80 bus services in North Yorkshire under threat, says Harrogate district MP

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate, said he feared up to 80 services could be under threat across the county.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat councillor for Pateley Bridge, Andrew Murday, said residents of his division faced having just two services a day to Harrogate.

He said:

“We just have to do something about bus services, and encourage more people onto buses. We need to know how we are going to go about discouraging people from driving and encouraging people on to buses, so bus services can thrive.”

A faulty storage heater caused a fire at a business in Pannal today.

A member of staff dialled 999 when they noticed smoke at the commercial premises on Station Road.

Firefighters from Harrogate and Knaresborough were summoned to the scene at 8.43am and entered the building wearing breathing apparatus.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log says they discovered a “small fire to a storage heater”, adding:

“Firecrews extinguished the heater, which had developed an electrical fault, and cleared the premises of smoke with a positive pressure ventilation fan.”

The fire, at the unnamed business, was the first of two incidents in the Harrogate district today.

At two minutes past midday, fire crews from Boroughbridge and Knaresborough were called to the A1 southbound near Boroughbridge to deal with a car fire.

A Vauxhall Zafira had caught fire following an engine fault. Firefighters using breathing apparatus dealt with the incident.

The incident log adds:

“Occupants had left scene, believed to have been picked up by another vehicle prior to arrival of emergency services.”

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Officials at North Yorkshire County Council have raised major concerns about social care funding reforms, including that it could leave the local authority needing to find tens of millions of pounds every year.

A report to a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s care scrutiny committee on Tuesday states the new system, in which an £86,000 cap could be introduced on resident’s care costs, would mean recruiting more staff in a sector already facing a recruitment crisis.

While the government has delayed the scheme to help make expected reductions of over £30bn a year in spending, Whitehall officials this week told county council bosses charging reform was still government policy and had only been delayed until October 2025.

The scrutiny meeting also comes just days after Healthwatch North Yorkshire called for immediate and significant action to deal with the growing social care crisis and underlined concerns for the future of services in the county.

Its chief officer, Ashley Green, said: 

“Despite the hard work and commitment from those delivering care and who commission services, the significant lack of qualified and available staff is having a devastating impact on the provision of care for those people who most need it most.”

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The council report states the significant increase in the number of social care and financial assessments required with the new system would mean an increase in staffing, which it says would have been difficult to recruit.

North Yorkshire had been due to be part of a “trailblazer” project from January, along with four other authorities around the country, to implement the policies and test the system before it was rolled out further.

The report adds its calculations, echoed by other councils, showed a significant potential gap between funding from the government and costs, running into tens of millions of pounds on an annual basis.

It said: 

“We made it clear that any final decision on our participation in the Trailblazer project was dependent on central government recognising and filling the funding gap, or at least underwriting any excess costs.”

Outlining the an array of measures the council had launched to ease pressure on the NHS and social care services, the authority’s executive member for adult social care, Cllr Michael Harrison, said: 

”We are reliant on the government to champion reform of the sector.”

He said challenges the council faced included increases in hospital discharges, high occupancy in residential care settings resulting in low availability, continuing low availability in the home care sector and an increase in requests to the authority for financial support from social care providers.

He said: 

“We are operating waiting lists for social care in a way that we probably wouldn’t have done pre-pandemic.”

Cllr Harrison said positive interventions by the authority had led to some reductions in waiting times, and over the past few months included 41 “hardship” payments, costing £1.8 million, to care providers, compared to just four a year ago.

He said the authority had prevented numerous struggling care homes from closing by dispatching its quality improvement team and through improvements in recruitment, including attracting care workers from overseas and promoting apprenticeships and increasing pay for frontline staff.

This article is sponsored by Enchantica’s.

One of my happiest memories as a child was visiting Father Christmas every year.

We always went to Victoria House – later called Sunwin House – on the site of what is now the Everyman Cinema building.

The visit began with a ride through the stars on a sleigh that really moved, followed by a walk through a winter wonderland to Santa’s grotto.

It felt truly magical – and it’s an experience I’m keen to recreate for my own children as they grow up.

Of course, the sleigh ride and Sunwin House are long gone, but when we heard about the Elf Training Workshop organised by Enchantica’s, I thought it might just offer some of that magical feeling I’d loved as a child.

From the moment we arrived at the Cedar Court Hotel, it did. We were greeted by elves who, through the power of QR codes on our e-tickets, were able to greet each child by name. They said to each other:

“Look, it’s Poppy! She’s the one we’ve been waiting for!”

The look of amazement on the children’s faces was lovely to see.

We walked through to the elf village where, on long picnic tables, we were invited to make paper chains ready to decorate the village. Hot chocolates, soft drinks and even beers were flowing, with sweet treats also on offer.

The elves flitted from table to table, chatting to the children about their creations. Adding to the magic, they also knew a little about each child:

“Lily, you’ve been learning to swim this year, haven’t you? You’ve been doing so well with your lessons. Will you keep trying your best next year?”

Paper chains complete, we were shown through to the elf workshop. It was at the end of a snow-covered pathway, lined with glowing, elf-sized windows, lanterns and wintry scenes.

The path opened out into a classic fairytale setting: fireplace, Christmas tree, toys, stockings, and hundreds of fairy lights. It’s hard to believe that, in the summer, this tipi was serving afternoon teas and cocktails.

Within a few minutes, the show was under way. Chief Elf Tinsel encouraged participation in songs and other activities, even bringing up a few children to help with parts of the show.

The most thrilling part was the arrival of Father Christmas. Without wishing to spoil the surprise, let’s just say he entered in traditional fashion, and took up his spot on the throne by the fire to join in the fun.

The children were all enthralled by the whole thing – even my 19-month-old paid attention throughout the half-hour experience, clapping at the right moments and peering around to see Santa.

Once the show was over, we were brought up in family groups to meet Father Christmas and have our photos taken. Each child received a wooden token to exchange for a toy from the elves.

These were good quality gifts and just right for the ages of the recipients. A cuddly snowman delighted my toddler, while her four-year-old brother has been playing with his snap cards from the moment he unwrapped them.

On the way out, we posed in Santa’s sleigh for photos, observing the snow-dusted Christmas trees and footprints on the ground.

It was this attention to detail that made it work so well. From the quality of the costumes to their engagement with the children, the team of elves kept everything running smoothly and were utterly convincing throughout.

The setting was as luxurious and twinkly as you could wish Santa’s workshop to be, and Santa and Chief Elf Tinsel put on a captivating show that worked for all ages – including a few witty asides for the grown-ups.

I came away with that magical feeling I remembered from my own childhood, seeing the excitement and wonder on my children’s faces. It’s the kind of experience I can imagine becoming an annual tradition for our family.

Can we sign up for next year yet?

• The Father Christmas Experience is recommended for children aged up to seven. Tickets are £11.50 for adults and £15.50 for children (£14.50 and £19.50 on Christmas Eve). There are showings for children with special educational needs on Sunday, December 4 and Sunday, December 11. Click here for details.
• For children aged seven and over, the Codebreaker’s Christmas offers an escape room-style experience where children train at spy school to help Santa on a secret mission. Tickets are £15.50 per person and shows run on Fridays December 2 and 9, and Wednesday, December 21. Click here for more information or to book tickets.

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• Santa’s Chief Elf Tinsel invites good boys and girls to be fellow elves in Harrogate Christmas show

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky meets a Ukrainian family who have relied on its support this year. Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help. 

“We thought we would come here for a year, then we would go back to Ukraine. Now… I don’t know.” 

Andre and Irina left their home near Kyiv after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They arrived in Knaresborough with their two daughters – then aged three and 11 months – in late May. 

With few possessions and no income they were directed towards Resurrected Bites. Andre said: 

“Before September, I was looking for work. In September I started a course at Harrogate College in electrical engineering.  

“I have a university degree in electrical engineering. I had a good job. UK wiring systems are different, so the course means I will be able to get a job here.” 

Both he and Irina, who has been a full-time mum since their children were born, have also been learning English as a second language. 

Their eldest daughter, now four, is enrolled in a local pre-school and is becoming more settled every day. Her younger sister will, hopefully, sign up after she turns two next year. 

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• Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal 2022: Help ensure nobody goes hungry this Christmas
• Where would you turn if you couldn’t afford to feed your family?

The family have been living in rooms at a local pub, arranged through the government’s Ukraine programme, but this was only for six months. They have recently been forced to find a new home in order to continue receiving support from the programme for the next six months. 

He said: 

“After this time, we will have to pay rent. I have no job and I will only be able to find a job after my course ends in July.  

“How will I pay for our accommodation until then?” 

Not only have the family been supported by Resurrected Bites, they have also become part of the community at Gracious Street Methodist Church, practising their Christian faith and getting to know others in the area.  

Andre has begun volunteering in the community grocery on his day off college, giving back support to the organisation that has helped his family. 

They are permitted to stay here for three years and to find jobs, but those three years don’t count towards any future citizenship application. That would require a further five years in the UK. 

The future remains uncertain for them in so many ways. Returning to Ukraine would not be simple either: the population of the capital city is less than half what it used to be and Andre said it took many years to rebuild after the devastation of the Second World War. 

Some of Andre’s family members are now living elsewhere in the UK, but Irina’s parents are still in Ukraine. She said: 

“They are OK, but very afraid. It’s a very hard life for them.” 

The family still see Ukraine as their home, but at the moment it would be impossible to return. Andre added: 

“There’s no electricity – only for a few hours a day. Russian forces destroyed the electricity station. There’s no water. 

“It’s winter in Ukraine and it’s freezing. I don’t know how many people will die, because the freeze is very dangerous.” 

They are just one example of the Ukrainian refugees living in the Harrogate district who are being supported by Resurrected Bites.  

The organisation is a lifeline to people who have fled the war and are trying to build a new life for themselves in the Harrogate district. 

Like Andre, many are retraining and hoping to find employment – but the ticking clock of the government’s year-long support hangs over them all. 

In the meantime, organisations like Resurrected Bites are ensuring none of them go without food this winter. 

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas. 

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it. 

Click here to contribute now. Thank you. 

Harrogate traffic cop TC Craig Taylor has been a police officer for 20 years – 16 of which have been policing Yorkshire’s roads.

In that time, he’s stopped drug drivers, pursued motorists speeding and been at crime scenes where a drink-driver has killed someone.

These days, he’s on Harrogate’s roads making sure that cars are abiding by the speed limit.

On a cold, crisp Tuesday afternoon, the Stray Ferret joined TC Taylor on a patrol to see what he faces on a daily basis.

‘No one sets out to have a collision’

“I don’t think people set out to have a collision,” TC Taylor says as we head down Leeds Road in his BMW.

He says that drink and drug driving is what the force is particularly looking out for at Christmas.

While he has come across 16 years worth of incidents involving drivers under the influence of drink and drugs, he says none set out to do anyone harm.

“No one that I have ever come across ever thinks ‘that’s what I’m going to do today’.

“But they ruin their own lives and other people’s lives.”

TC Taylor first started by patrolling Bradford and Leeds before moving to police the roads in Harrogate.

TC Taylor, who has been a roads police offer for 16 years.

While the metropolitan cities of neighbouring West Yorkshire may seem a different world for policing, he says there is not much difference.

This week North Yorkshire Police launched its  “save a life, call it in” campaign, which urges people to call out drivers who appear to be under the influence on the county’s roads.

Amid the plea to the public, TC Taylor says there is not much difference between finding drink drivers in the centre of Harrogate to out on rural roads where they “feel safer” driving home.

“It’s a broad mix.

“Obviously you’ve got more chance [of catching drink drivers] where it’s more densely populated and where you’ve got more drinking establishments.

“But you could have the same person thinking ‘I’ll drive home, it’s only a couple of miles up the road’.”

While some cases of drink driving are stopped before an accident happens, TC Taylor has experience of incidents which don’t end so well.

Read more:

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• Police plea to call out drink drivers amid increasing Harrogate district incidents

As we pull over on Leeds Road to carry out a speed check, he talks about a crash where a businesswoman killed two pensioners while under the influence of drink.

The woman had been out on a Christmas party, where she had got drunk and decided to drive home.

As she drove home, she turned onto a main road and crashed into a parked car where the two pensioners were unloading their shopping. Both were killed.

“That’s one that always sticks in my mind.”

TC Taylor carrying out a speed check on Leeds Road, Harrogate.

Last year, police arrested 137 people during their December campaign for drink or drug driving in North Yorkshire.

From the 137 arrests, 120 were men and 17 were women. 72 people of the 137 were charged with an offence. A total of 25 of the arrests were made following a crash. 

TC Taylor points out that when it comes to a fatal crash, there is always an underlining factor involved.

“Sometimes it can just be an accident. You can slip on some diesel on the road, but that’s few and far between.

“Generally speaking if you’ve got 100 cars that drive down this road, 99 of those cars will go on the same road and the same path.

“But the one car that doesn’t and ends up running into a tree and ends up fatal, that’s normally because there’s another factor involved.”

‘We will prosecute if we have to’

Armed with his speed gun and fluorescent jacket, he starts to point at oncoming drivers down Leeds Road – which he says is a common area for speeding in the town.

Most drivers spot TC Taylor in the distance and begin to temper their speed.

He pulls over a woman who was going too fast and orders her to take a breathalyser. She passes and is given words of advice before being sent on her way.

TC Taylor says that it is not the case that every driver needs to be prosecuted.

“We will prosecute people if we have to, but it’s about education as well.”