Government ‘should compensate’ for Nightingale extension

Government should compensate for a loss of business at Harrogate Convention Centre due to the Nightingale Hospital extension, say opposition councillors.

Pat Marsh, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on Harrogate Borough Council, said the hospital was needed but added that the government should offer support for the impact of having the convention centre out of action for longer.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced £3 billion worth of funding to maintain the Nightingale Hospitals across the country until the end of March.

NHS England will be given the money in preparation for a potential second wave of covid-19 this winter.

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But Cllr Marsh said the conference centre “underpins” Harrogate’s economy and the government should be made aware of its economic impact.

She said:

“We do need the hospital as a fallback. But I think we need the government to give us some compensation to filter down to those businesses that are going to be left high and dry.

“The government needs to know what impact it is having. It needs to step up to the plate.”

Earlier this year, local businesses raised fears about the impact of having the convention centre unable to host events for at least a year.

Harrogate Borough Council said it is still discussing with NHS Yorkshire and Humber over what role the Nightingale at the convention centre will play.

The prime minister has confirmed that money has been set aside to keep the Nightingale hospitals available until 2021. We continue our discussions with NHS Yorkshire and Humber about what role @HgtConventions will play, but nothing has yet been decided. pic.twitter.com/e6Z4njx8Vl

— Harrogate Borough Council (@Harrogatebc) July 17, 2020

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, has been contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.

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.

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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Lancashire Stray contractors referred to as ‘local suppliers’

New documents show that Harrogate Borough Council referred to contractors tasked with restoring the Stray as a “local supplier”, despite being based in Lancashire.

Borough council officials awarded Glendale Services the contract for the Stray back in April – seven months after the UCI World Cycling Championships.

As revealed by the Stray Ferret in May, the contract, worth an estimated £40,926.29, was handed to the company under “urgent circumstances”.

Now, local Liberal Democrat councillors have criticised the council for “denying the opportunity” to local firms to tender for the work.

A previously exempt document before the council’s cabinet member for environment on May 29 stated that the authority had “engaged with a local supplier” to carry out the works.

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Glendale Services, which is based 65 miles away in Chorley, began work on site which was met with fierce criticism from local suppliers. At the time, Mark Smith, managing director of local contractor HACS, said he was “disgusted” with the decision.

Geoff Webber, Liberal Democrat councillor on North Yorkshire County Council, said he was disappointed that the contract did not go out to tender:

He said:

“The report now shows that they accepted the recommendation to award the contract to Glendale on the basis that it was a ‘local supplier’.

“I find it incredible that Chorley, only eight miles north of Wigan, is considered to be local. So much for supporting local businesses.”

The Stray starts to turn green

Grass has started to show on West Park Stray since the reseeding work.

Glendale has carried out groundworks elsewhere in Yorkshire, including at Kirklees College in Huddersfield.

But senior councillors have insisted that the company has offices in the county.

Cllr Andrew Paraskos, cabinet member for environment at the authority, told a full council meeting last week that the council had to bring in a contractor because the authority did not have the equipment to do it in-house.

“We always had to bring in outside contractors to do it.

“The drainage was done by a company out at Green Hammerton way and the other contractors do have local offices

“The rumours that we contracted it out to outside bodies, even though one of them has a head office in Lancashire, they do have a local office in the district.”

It comes as the council expects the overall works to the Stray to cost  £129,971:

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI, has agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray.

Harrogate domestic abuse charity sees cases double

A Harrogate based domestic abuse charity is preparing for an increase of survivors following lockdown. Its CEO says the abuse can happen “closer than you think”.

New Beginnings works with female survivors of domestic abuse around Harrogate. It currently supports 10 women but those numbers of expected to double over the next three months.

Since lockdown, the charity has had to increase its support to a 24/7 Whatsapp group chat, welfare checks and 1:1 video and phone calls. This service has increased by approximately 700% as it is now supporting twice the number of women it was and on a more constant basis.

Over lockdown any plans for women that were housed in refuge centres or waiting for a house had to be put on pause. New Beginnings come in once the women are resettled into houses, its support continues for as long as the woman needs.

Lindsay Oliver, CEO of New Beginnings, said:

“There is a misconception amongst many individuals that despite recent coverage of the realities of domestic abuse that is doesn’t happen around here, with 1 in 3 women within their lifetime suffering domestic abuse, believe me it’s closer than you think!

“We’ve been told by IDAS that there’s a major backlog that will come through following this so we are getting prepared with more volunteers.

A collage of workshops offered by the charity New Beginnings.

The charity also offers a variety of support including workshops to improve emotional intelligence and fresh food parcels.

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Two survivors of domestic abuse, both remaining anonymous, who are being helped by the charity, said:
“I’ve found being a part of the group and still able to have sessions so to speak via group chat and phone calls a great help and still having the support and speaking freely knowing that it’s still private and confidential and I’m not alone.”
Another women said:
“When I moved to Harrogate from an abusive relationship they helped me regain my confidence and myself control, they are such lovely and kind people. They help me and give me so much and I’m so happy to be apart of the group.”

Lindsay added:

“We have continued throughout with welfare checks and catch ups with our clients. We’re currently relying on community support as our funding streams have been delayed. The women mostly want to be able to see the woods for the tree and to put their life back together.”

If you need help or support then you can access the charity via their facebook page @New Beginnings.

To support the charity, click here.

Harrogate indoor play centre in fluffy Downing Street demo

The owner of a Harrogate indoor play centre has demanded the government gives her business the green light to reopen.

Lisa Mee runs Kidzplay Harrogate, which has been closed since the start of the coronavirus lockdown.

She has made every effort to make her play centre safe for children to return but indoor play centres are one of a few industries in England still closed.

Today is the 120 day point since the closure. To mark the occasion Lisa travelled down to Westminster to demonstrate and to Downing Street to hand in a petition.

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Nearly 20,000 people have signed the “Rescue Indoor Play” petition which claims that the government has overlooked children in its decisions.

Standing just outside Downing Street Lisa Mee told The Stray Ferret:

“Children between one and five years old are low risk when it comes to coronavirus. But when we keep them in isolation they are high risk for social and emotional development. A one-year-old came to the centre recently. They have spent half of their life with their parents and nobody else and they really struggled meeting other people, I fear for their future.”

Today is the 120 day point since the closure.

Lisa Mee also fears for the future of her business. With no concrete date of when she can reopen Kidzplay she could potentially have to pay some big bills going forward.

She managed to get a government loan but with the furlough scheme coming to an end she faces a £30,000 bill for her 30 staff. Without further help, Lisa may need to make some tough decisions.

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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Harrogate charity for vulnerable predicts more calls for help

Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) is preparing for an increase of calls for help from people after coronavirus.

Requests to the charity for food bank and supermarket vouchers have already increased. It says help for practical jobs could also increase as people struggle financially.

From April to June it has supported over 500 families and individuals. Over lockdown it provided a variety of help including dropping off books and puzzles to those isolating and moving beds for covid patients returning from hospital.

The charity was initially “overwhelmed” at the beginning of the pandemic but it was able to recruit over 200 volunteers to help it as demand increased.

Lizzie Hughes, Project Development Worker, said that as lockdown eases people will still need their help:

“Whilst we are receiving fewer urgent requests for support and emergency food shopping now, we are still carrying out on average around 120 tasks every week for people in Harrogate and Ripon. A number of people are struggling financially and we’re seeing a lot more people needing to access the food banks or asking us to apply for supermarket vouchers for them.

“Physical and mental health may prevent some local residents from being able to fully participate in community life for some time to come. We also anticipate an increase in demand for practical help with jobs that have built up during lockdown and need arising from economic hardship exacerbated by the virus.”

A volunteer from HELP takes their pony to meet an isolating couple to cheer them up.

Gill, a HELP volunteer, took her pony Maple for a socially distant walk round the houses of some of HELP’s isolating clients to cheer them up.

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The organisation offers a support network for those in need of help across Harrogate and Ripon. Over lockdown HELP has been working with the most vulnerable to assist them in any way they need.

Lizzie added:

“From April to June, we supported an additional 501 families and individuals, carried out 822 shopping trips and 112 people received befriending phone calls. We appreciate that doing someone’s shopping isn’t going to be the answer to all their problems so we have been making welfare calls to all our clients offering them additional support.”

 

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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North Rigton residents stage last ditch attempt to fight ‘nightmare’ build

Residents in North Rigton say they will continue to fight council plans to build more homes on their street.

The battle started in 2006 when Harrogate Borough Council planned to demolish all of the garages in Brackenwell Lane for more homes.

Harvey Alexander, chairman of the North Righton Community Association, said they managed to get the council to partially back down then.

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They argued that the space in front of the garages is the only turning point and the grass there is also where kids play.

Years later Harvey says the council has broken its promise to leave the area alone. He fears that, if the development went ahead, it would also create a “nightmare parking” situation.

“You can see how crowded the street is at 6.30pm and it gets worse later on. It’s going to be a parking nightmare. The council are going against the promise they made back in 2006, it is frustrating. This would cause chaos, there are plenty of other places to build homes. We don’t have the amenities.”

Harvey Alexander standing next to the garages

Six garages could be demolished for development.

The council has proposed to demolish the six-car garage to erect two dwellings on Brackenwell Lane, losing ten car parking spaces in total.

Currently, there is no date for the council to make its decision on the development. The Stray Ferret approached Harrogate Borough Council for a comment but did not receive a reply.

Out-of-work benefit claims fall slightly in Harrogate district

The latest figures for people claiming out-of-work benefits show a slight drop in unemployment levels in the Harrogate district.

In June there were 3,740 people claiming out-of-work benefits, down slightly from 3,990 in May.

The figures were published today by the Office for National Statistics and are accurate up to June 11. They reveal that 3.9% of the district’s population were claiming out-of-work benefits, a decrease from 4.5% in May.

Of those, 2,135 were men and 1,605 were women.

Harrogate is below the UK figure of 6.3% for people claiming the benefits, which includes Job Seekers’ Allowance and Universal Credit. The ONS said that the labour market has stabilised but the long-term outlook remains uncertain.

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Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said:

“As the pandemic took hold, the labour market weakened markedly, but that rate of decline slowed into June, though this is before recent reports of job losses.”

In his summer statement, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that from August to January, any company that hires an apprentice aged 16 to 24 will receive £2,000 from the government, while those that hire apprentices over 25 will be paid £1,500.

The announcement was welcomed by the principle of Harrogate College, who told The Stray Ferret that it will boost jobs in the district.