Harrogate hospital introduces yellow socks for fall victims

Harrogate District Hospital has started issuing yellow socks to victims of falls.

The scheme, which has been introduced by other hospitals, allows staff and visitors to identify patients who require extra assistance with their mobility.

Under the scheme, if a Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust patient is admitted having previously fallen, they will be automatically given a pair of non-slip yellow socks.

Katie Butterworth, falls specialist and corporate nurse at the trust, said:

“The bright colour of the socks let both staff and visitors know that a patient who is wearing them may need assistance when walking and could be a potential fall risk.

“We would like all staff to see (yellow socks), think (extra assistance) and then act (review falls risk assessment).”

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Liz Truss breezes into Harrogate on campaign trail

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss breezed into Harrogate today as part of her campaign to be the next Prime Minister.

Local Conservative Party members paid £10 to take part in an Ask Liz event at a private house on the Duchy estate. Attendees didn’t receive the address until this morning.

Those who arrived early made the most of the sunshine by sitting on a wall in front of the property, many dressed in their finest attire.

One woman said Ms Truss had “come across very well” at a recent hustings in Leeds, another said she was there to “see what she’s got to say”.

And there were mutterings that there was no support from MPs in the district, including Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones and Skipton and Ripon MP  Julian Smith. Both are backing rival leadership candidate Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Instead Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet and Rothwell, hosted Ms Truss’s visit. He could be seen with other prominent members of the party waiting at the large black metal gates to greet Ms Truss.

Graham Swift

Graham Swift thanks people for attending.

Harrogate Borough Council deputy leader Graham Swift, who the house is believed to belong to, was also spotted at the event.

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Stickers and signs emblazoned with the words ‘In Liz we Truss’ and ‘Liz for Leader’ were given out to visitors, as they were directed to a garden at the back of the house.

The press weren’t invited to attend, however the Stray Ferret captured a video of Ms Truss arriving in a black Range Rover, before she was whisked into the property by security, which included the Metropolitan Police.

Although the event was billed for 90 minutes, Ms Truss left after about 30 minutes and then made a fleeting visit to Harrogate town centre.

Liz Truss leaving the venue with her security entourage.

After a walk up Montpellier Parade, she was shown the sights of the Stray and the town’s war memorial, which was surrounded by people enjoying the 25 degree heat.

From there, the leadership hopeful headed into Bettys Tea Rooms armed with her entourage, before swiftly leaving to head down Parliament Street.

Liz Truss

Passing the queue at Bettys. Pic: The Stray Ferret

With that she was gone on to the next leg of her campaign to defeat Sunak when party members vote to choose the next leader.

The result of the race to replace Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5.

Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre

Ouseburn councillor Arnold Warneken has welcomed today’s announcement that plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse have been scrapped.

The government planned to create a reception centre at the former airfield, which is close to villages in the Harrogate district including Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.

The airfield is also just nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.

But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said today he had withdrawn the offer to the Home Office for the site.

Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, said withdrawing the offer was the “right thing to do”. He said:

“It was an ill-thought plan that caused distress and sleepless nights for residents. The consequences would have been huge.”

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Cllr Warneken said the episode revealed was a concerning lack of consultation by the government.

He said he suspected the reason was because a consultation “would have provided a different answer to the one they wanted to hear” but nevertheless this was not the right way to proceed.

Linton on Ouse Action Group, which was set up to campaign against the Home Office’s plan, welcomed the news.

Group member Kelly Kirby said it was “absolutely delighted” but also concerned that the same scheme could be dropped on another community soon.

She said action group members has spent “tens of thousands of hours” opposing the scheme.

By no means a victory but some movement. We will continue to hold @ukhomeoffice to account for their failings in processing and their hostile treatment of asylum seekers. It is by no means over.

— Linton on Ouse Action Group (@LintonAction) August 9, 2022

Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, also welcomed the news that Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak had no plans to revive the Linton scheme.

Wonderful News! @RishiSunak Sunak pledges to axe 'inappropriate' Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre plan @LintonAction https://t.co/O0EwPCc3QS

— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) August 9, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temperatures to soar to 30 degrees – but no weather warning for Harrogate district

Temperatures are set to soar close to 30 degrees in the next few days — but today’s extreme heat warning does not include the Harrogate district.

The Met Office has issued a four-day amber extreme heat warning for much of southern and central England from Thursday.

The warning, which predicts temperatures of up to 35C, extends north as far as Leeds.

Although the Harrogate district is not included, it is still set to be very warm for the rest of the week.

The Met office is forecasting temperatures of 29 degrees centigrade in Boroughbridge tomorrow, with the rest of the district a degree or two cooler.

Temperatures are not expected to fall until Monday to Tuesday next week when there could be thunderstorms.

Many farmers are praying for rain.

Yorkshire Water said today average stocks in its reservoirs were 51% last week, which is around 20% less than usual for this time of year.

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1556941086316236800

 

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Liz Truss set to speak to Conservatives in Harrogate tomorrow

Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss will visit Harrogate tomorrow as she continues to tout for votes from the party’s membership.

The foreign secretary will speak to local members at an undisclosed venue at lunchtime in what is being described by organisers as “an informal gathering in a central Harrogate location”.

Tickets have been sold in advance by Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Party, with even those booked to attend not being told the location of the event until tomorrow morning. Organisers have cited “security reasons” for the secrecy.

Last month, Ms Truss’s opponent, Rishi Sunak, spoke to party members at an event at the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham.

Attendees included Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, who has declared his support for Mr Sunak. Some of those present told the Stray Ferret there was a “warm” reception for the candidate, and that many present were already predisposed to him.

Great to welcome @RishiSunak to a packed @BlackSheepBeer in #masham today. Excellent feedback from @conservatives members across North Yorkshire #Ready4Rishi pic.twitter.com/aCY9s3gZy2

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) July 24, 2022

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has also given his backing to the former chancellor.

Nigel Adams, whose Selby and Ainsty constituency covers the Harrogate district’s southern and eastern rural areas, has not declared his allegiance. A close ally of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he has said he will stand down at the next election.

Ms Truss and Mr Sunak are the final two left in a long-running race to lead the party and become the next Prime Minister.

Ballot papers have now been issued to party members, with the winner of the contest set to be announced on Monday, September 5.

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Stray Views: Who benefits from Maltkiln?

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Who benefits from the Maltkiln development? 

Will our local councils come clean and explain to us why they are proceeding with Maltkiln after refusing, right up to the High Court, the development of Flaxby with the following consequences:

Can they tell us who are the beneficiaries of this decision?

Dr Terry Bramall CBE, Harrogate

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Chain Lane/York Road junction, Knaresborough

Having read Mr Payne’s letter regarding this junction and the poor signage, I was compelled to write. I asked North Yorkshire County Council why the temporary right turn sign suddenly appeared. This makes life difficult for residents on The Paddock trying to get home from Wetherby Road. The diversion down Manse Lane is nothing short of dangerous!

I have waited patiently for weeks for a reply…still waiting. I also contacted our Town representatives….they are also still waiting for a reply.

Is this the service we can expect when we all come under North Yorkshire Council. It makes me shudder!

Please Highways, can I have an answer?

Regards

Jayne Jackson, Knaresborough 

Opening Beech Grove wont solve anything

Dennis Richards says the Beech Grove scheme has made Victoria Road more dangerous because of speeding traffic.

Beech Grove Low Traffic Neighbourhood hasn’t made drivers go faster on Victoria Road but it has meant there are more of them. That is going to be tackled by making the junction with Otley Road one way only.

Drivers will be able to enter Victoria Road but not exit onto Otley Road.

Opening up Beech Grove to through traffic won’t solve anything but will make the road much less pleasant for residents and no longer a safe oasis for cyclists.

Malcolm Margolis , Harrogate District Cycle Action 

District girls’ football teams see rise in enquiries following Lionesses’ win

Enquiries to join girls’ footballs teams in the Harrogate district have surged following the Lionesses’ historic Euro 2022 victory.

The impact of the team’s success have been felt across the area, with coaches and players labelling England’s success as “inspiring”.

And it is hoped the win will now open doors for young girls in the future.

Rachel Daly’s pathway to the Lionesses began at Killinghall Nomads.

Rachel Daly (centre) with girls from Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club and their manager David Terzza (right).

Ms Daly played and trained in a boys’ team, but the club now teams for both girls and boys.

The club also runs non-competitive weekly Wildcats sessions at Killinghall Moor. They allow girls, aged five to 11,to try out playing football before committing to a team.

David Terzza, Killinghall Nomads girls’ football manager, who was a coach when Rachel Daly played at the club, said:

“On Monday night I ran a session and there were six new girls who signed up straight away.

“We have up to about 32 girls who take part in the Wildcats sessions, which cost £3 and are run by qualified FA coaches. I give out information about clubs in the area. We hope they come to our club at Killinghall, but that’s not always the case.”

Chris Fahy,  Boroughbridge Juniors Football Club’s chairman and coach, said England’s success was “massively important” for girls’ football.

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A year ago he applied for tickets to the Euro 2022 final — and it paid off as 70 members of the club got to see the Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday.

Boroughbridge girls at the Euro 2022 final at Wembley.

He said:

“I’ve been doing girls’ football for eight years and at the moment we’ve got three teams – a small group aged from five upwards. I’m hoping what happened on Sunday will have an impact. We had a couple of enquiries just on Monday from people wanting to join.

“It’s good for the future. The publicity has been absolutely fantastic. There has been so much build-up and media attention.”

Mike Collier, women and girls football lead at Scotton Scorchers Junior Football Club, said the club was “so proud and emotional” about what it means for the Lionesses to win the Euros.

He said:

“It’s not just the winning but also the way they have gone about doing it.

“They are role models and superstars and yet still ordinary people in touch with their fans.

“This isn’t overnight success though and it’s great that the current players have given credit to everyone who has gone before them, including recognition for their grassroots clubs, reminding everyone that every England player started their football journey there.

“We hope the game continues to grow and become securely established so that players really can have football careers, but it’s also really important to remain accessible, relatable and likeable.”

Scotton Scorchers is the club of footy-mad Tess Dolan, eight, who was gifted tickets by the BBC after she was filmed dancing to the unofficial anthem Sweet Caroline following last Tuesday’s semi-final victory.

Scotton Scorchers under 14s girls team on a charity fun run last year.

The youngster stole the nation’s heart again when she was interviewed on TV before the victorious final on Sunday.

Mr Collier said:

“We have had many of our players at the games and are proud of all our girls, with good luck messages on social media and local radio etc.

“But also our little dancing superstar Tess, who summed up the nation’s great joy with her celebrations at the semi-final and went on to join the BBC on match day in the studio and lift the trophy too!

“We  have over 150 girls and women playing football, we are all inclusive, and it’s about fun and friendship, respect, health and wellbeing. We also have some fantastic players and teams competing at the highest levels in the county. Our Women’s team  trained recently with the Lionesses!”

Strayside Sunday: Is the £540m Devolution Deal good enough?

Strayside Sunday is our political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

This week my former colleague Greg Clark, then Director of Policy for the Conservatives, now Secretary of State for the tongue-twisting Levelling Up, Communities and Local Government signed-off and handed down North Yorkshire & York’s much anticipated devolution settlement.  The 32-page document awarded the area £540m over the next 30 years, along with devolved powers to help the region develop the skills, housing, and transport infrastructure it needs.  Whether this represents, as the government claims, “a once-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural area,” remains to be seen.

What we do know is that the money comes with the promise that we’ll get a Combined Authority, likely next year, with an elected Mayor to follow in 2024.  This must be a good thing, with the shining examples of Tees Valley’s Ben Houchen and the West Midland’s Andy Street demonstrating the positive leadership possibilities an elected Mayor can bring.  Both have used the special powers of the office to create special purpose Mayoral Development Corporations to buy land and assets to drive local economic regeneration and employment, to great effect.  Houchen famously returned Teeside Airport to public ownership and, just this week, Street announced Birmingham as the new home for a large portion of the BBC’s production capabilities, testament to investments made in vital property infrastructure. Tracy Brabin, West Yorkshire’s elected Mayor, still relatively new in post, is yet to find her feet.

Whether or not North Yorkshire’s Mayor is a success will rest on strength of personality and imagination. Will they have the vision, communication skills and drive to push the limits of their newfound powers and make the most of them?  Let’s hope so.  They’ll need to be more persuasive than North Yorkshire Council’s representatives who made the bid for devolution.  Last week’s settlement was significantly less than the “ask”.  £750m over 25 years had been requested, versus the £540m over 30 years received.  Net, the new Mayor will have £18m per year to spend on their agenda, rather than the £25m per year hoped for.  The bid also hoped for £47m to redevelop the much-maligned Harrogate Convention Centre.  Much to Harrogate Borough Council Leader Richard Cooper’s disappointment this was turned down flat – with Westminster civil servants giving a “very strong steer” it would not be funded and should not be part of the devolution settlement.  The money for that will now have to be found from other means, with an application to Boris Johnson’s Levelling Up Fund in the works.  The Convention Centre’s future remains uncertain, not least because with the coming change in Conservative Party leadership there is no guarantee that existing spending commitments will hold.

And that’s part of the problem here.  £540m sounds like a big sum but, in truth we can’t be certain it represents new money.  We have little idea how it fits with the existing local government grant and public spending commitments.  What we do know is that it seems certain that tax cuts will be on the government’s agenda following the change of Prime Minister.  That, plus the most ominous macro-economic climate in a generation (recession, soaring inflation and rising interest rates) means that coming downward pressure on public spending seems locked in.  Whoever becomes Mayor of North Yorkshire and York will have their work cut out for them.

The same of course is true for the new Prime Minister.  It now seems likely (if polls are to be believed) that Liz Truss will win comfortably the Tory Party leadership contest and assume office.  Assuming I get a non-hacked voting paper from the Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservative Association I’ll be putting a cross next to Rishi Sunak’s name.  If Liz Truss does win it will be another example of the maxim that “he who wields the dagger never yields the prize”, Sunak having led with Sajid Javed the avalanche of ministerial resignations that finally put paid to Boris Johnson.

For the life of me I can’t see the logic of the aggressive tax cuts that Liz Truss proposes.  To paraphrase Maurice Saatchi’s famous “Labour isn’t working” political advertising slogan from the 1980’s, an argument can be made that “Britain isn’t working.”  The NHS has moved beyond perpetual ‘crisis’ and is now in real trouble, with waiting lists soaring for everything from cancer treatment to mental health treatment, nary an ambulance in sight when you need one and chronic staff shortages.  It takes an age to get a passport and, when you do, the airports are carnage.  The DVLA can’t get a driver’s license organised for love nor money and with a series of national train strikes and 7-hour queues to take a ferry to France, travelling in this country is becoming a Kafka-esque challenge. Planes, trains, and automobiles indeed.  I haven’t even mentioned the disaster that is immigration policy and our handling of the small boats influx on our shores.  Reform may well be part of the answer but setting all these right needs real money and competent grip.  Economists who support Ms. Truss’ plan to tax cut our way to economic growth to fund all this are thin on the ground.  Like North Yorkshire’s coming new elected Mayor, Ms. Truss’ real task is to find imaginative policy solutions to our problems, from skills to housing, from transport to health and then find a way to run them properly.  And that takes public money, gobs of it.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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Missing Boroughbridge teen found

A Boroughbridge woman who failed to return home on Friday night has been found.

North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal for help finding the woman after she went missing.

It issued photos and a description and asked people to get in touch with details of possible sightings.

Police said yesterday the girl had been found.

Consequently this article has been updated to conceal the women’s identity.

The new top local politician in the Harrogate district

The local political landscape is being utterly transformed.

A new unitary authority is coming; eight existing councils, including Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, are going.

A devolution deal this week paved the way for a countywide mayor and the creation of a combined authority overseeing £540 million.

It’s not just the institutions changing. So too are the politicians.

Richard Cooper and Graham Swift, the long-serving Conservative leader and deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, will step down when it is abolished next year.

Don Mackenzie, the Conservative councillor previously in charge of transport at North Yorkshire County Council, did not seek re-election in the local elections on May 5.

Since then a new man has emerged as the most senior local politician and although he too is a Conservative he is a somewhat different beast.

As executive member for health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, Michael Harrison is the only person from the Harrogate district sitting on what is effectively the 10-person cabinet making key decisions on spending in the county.

Cllr Harrison (far right), sitting on the county council’s cabinet.

Cllr Harrison’s portfolio is responsible for more than half of the county council’s £380 million annual budget. But most people aren’t interested in social care until they need it, so his role attracts far less attention than the transport brief Keane Duncan inherited from Don Mackenzie, even though the sums are higher.

Cllr Harrison, who lives at Killinghall Moor, is far from unhappy about his low profile. He says:

“I enjoy contributing in an executive capacity. Adult social care is a complex area — you are dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in society.

“I feel I have a lot to offer there. It’s completely different to being the local face of the council.”

From Killinghall to Northallerton

Born in Sunderland, and with the accent to prove it, Cllr Harrison, 52, moved to the Harrogate district in the mid-1990s with his job at Lloyds Banking Group. He still works for the bank in risk management.

He joined Killinghall Parish Council in 2002, was elected to Harrogate Borough Council in 2004 and nine years later was also voted on to North Yorkshire County Council.

While some of his Conservative colleagues fell by the wayside at May’s local election, he received a commanding 54% share of the vote to ensure he will represent Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate on the county council and its successor, the new North Yorkshire Council, until at least 2027.

Many people think councillors are full time professionals, but most combine politics with full-time jobs. Each county councillor receives a basic allowance of £10,316. Executive members, like Cllr Harrison, also receive special responsibility allowances of £15,939.

North Yorkshire County Council's offices in Northallerton.

County Hall in Northallerton, home of North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Harrison often takes his laptop to County Hall in Northallerton to work on his day job between meetings. Juggling the two isn’t easy, but he says:

“I think it’s important that councillors are drawn from society itself. It wouldn’t be healthy if only retired people could do it. But it is difficult to do it alongside a full-time job. You need the support of your family and employer.”

Pragmatism over politics

Although he’s a lifelong Conservative, Cllr Harrison does not come across as overtly political. He doesn’t name any political heroes and claims not to be ambitious.

“I’ve never had any particular political ambitions. I get a lot out of delivering quietly behind the scenes. I adopt a pragmatic approach to problems.”

He is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, saying he wants someone who can “reintroduce honesty and integrity into central government”.

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County Hall in Northallerton operates like Whitehall in London. The politically elected executive members set the direction of travel and professional civil servants carry out the day-to-day work.

Cllr Harrison seems more comfortable talking about the nuts and bolts of North Yorkshire politics rather than banging the drum for the Tories.

He says the new unitary authority will deliver services more efficiently than the current two-tier system by removing bureaucracy and will also end confusion over which council does what. But he admits there are challenges:

“Can the new council demonstrate it understands local needs? Tensions will be there within the district. The key is to understand priorities in each area.”

He says some services, such as gritting and waste disposal, are best handled centrally in Northallerton, but other services, such as leisure and tourism, require a more local focus.

Unusually for a leading Conservative, he’s a member of the banking union Accord and talks warmly about it. He says:

“Unions have a key role to play in representing employees.”

He also has rheumatoid arthritis, which he says is under control. Typically, he doesn’t make a fuss about it and is soon talking about social care again. He seems happy with it this way:

“Prior to getting into local government I said to people ‘I’m not into politics’. I’m more interested in delivering services for residents and hopefully being a common sense voice around the table.”