North Yorkshire fire service improving, say inspectors

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is making “significant steps” after requiring improvement, say inspectors.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services inspected the service in spring 2022 for effectiveness and efficiency.

They rated it as “requires improvement” for effectiveness and “inadequate” for its efficiency in keeping people safe and secure from fire and other risk.

However, following a visit in September this year, inspectors said the service was now making progress.

In a report published today, Michelle Skeer, His Majesty’s Inspector of Fire Services, said there was evidence that the service had improved.

She said:

“I am pleased to see the significant steps that the service has taken in response to the causes of concern we issued. 

“The strengthened working relationships between the enabling services have helped to change the working culture and improve staff understanding of the benefits that the collaboration can provide. 

“We saw evidence that showed the improvements made are sustainable and that they will continue to be monitored at a senior level.”

The Stray Ferret has approached North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for comment but not yet had a response.

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The move comes as North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel raised concern last week that the service’s response times had increased.

A meeting of the panel was told that people had to wait for an average of 13 minutes and nine seconds for firefighters to respond to incidents.

This compared with 11 minutes and 37 seconds the year before.

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, described the figure as “worrying”.

However, Zoe Metcalfe, Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said the service had been working “at pace to make considerable progress”.

Harrogate Bus Company introduces two-for-one travel on Fridays

The Harrogate Bus Company is introducing a two-for-one travel deal on Fridays as part of a campaign to persuade motorists to cut emissions.

The scheme, which begins in two days, enables two people to travel using a Harrogate one-day ticket costing £5.70

The bus company said today it was supporting the charity Zero Carbon Harrogate’s car-free Friday initiative, which relaunches on Friday this week.

Zero Carbon Harrogate is inviting motorists to sign up online to a pledge to leave their cars at home at least one day a week.

Paul Turner, commercial director of the Harrogate Bus Company, which plans to convert its entire Harrogate fleet to zero-emission electric power next year, said:

“As well as the benefit to our local environment, choosing the bus makes sense in lots more ways – it’s a lot less stressful than driving, and with a full day’s travel anywhere for two people travelling together within Harrogate, Knaresborough, Wetherby and as far as Harewood and Ripley on the 36 at only £5.70 on Car Free Fridays, it’s a lot cheaper than driving into town and paying for parking.”

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Cars make up an estimated 49 per cent of total emissions in the Harrogate district – a percentage that remained almost static over the 10 years prior to the pandemic, while emissions produced by generating power for homes fell by 26.5 per cent over the same period.

Jemima Parker, chair of Zero Carbon Harrogate, said:

“We all know congestion has returned to Harrogate’s roads following the pandemic – and cars are one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions in our town.

“That’s why we are bringing back our Car Free Fridays campaign, and inviting drivers to sign a pledge to leave the car at home. Doing so will improve air quality for everyone, while walking to the bus stop can also boost our own physical and mental health.”

The deal is available on all Harrogate Bus Company services in and around Harrogate and Knaresborough, plus routes 7 and 8 as far as Wetherby, and the 36 north as far as Ripley and south as far as Harewood.

North Yorkshire councillors set for 10% pay rise

Councillors in North Yorkshire are set to vote on whether to give themselves a £1,500 pay increase.

North Yorkshire Council‘s independent remuneration panel has recommended the 90 elected councillors’ annual basic allowance is increased from £15,500 to £17,000.

The 10% uplift, along with other increases for councillors with special responsibility allowances, will mean council tax payers have to foot an extra £145,000 each year.

North Yorkshire councillors are already among the highest paid in the country. A report by the four-person independent remuneration panel lists them as the fourth-best rewarded in a table of 18 local authorities. If councillors accept the proposed increase, only councillors in the table from Leeds and Birmingham will receive higher basic allowances.

Panel chair Keith Trotter said the increased workload caused by the creation of North Yorkshire Council, inflation and the cost of living as reasons for the recommendation.

Mr Trotter said:

“Councillors volunteer for their roles. They are not employees and are not paid at a commercial rate for their time. However, the allowances should not be set at a level which acts as a disincentive to conscientious performance of duties, or which does not reflect the considerable time commitment required for the role.

“Setting a fair and proportionate basic allowance and special responsibility allowance that reflects the workload of councillors in the newly established council has been a complex task.

“The allowances paid in similar local authorities have been reviewed and inflation, cost of living pressures and public sector pay rises have also been taken into account, as have submissions from councillors themselves about their current and future workload.”

The proposed £1,500 increase in the annual basic allowance from £15,500 to £17,000 will result in an increase in the total annual amount paid of £135,000.

The proposed two per cent increase in the special responsibility allowances paid, with the exception of sessional payments to chairs of the licensing sub-committees, will result in an increase in the total annual amount paid of £10,514.

Mr Trotter said:

“I acknowledge that in absolute terms this may be seen as an increase in payments to councillors, but it is important to note that the increased burden upon councillors as work previously undertaken by 319 councillors is now undertaken by 90.

“This increase is also in the context of savings of £714,621 made in 2023/24 and in being 0.01 per cent of the overall council budget of £1.4 billion.”

‘Allowances should not be a barrier’

Carl Les

North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative executive will consider the panel’s proposals on November 7 before the full council votes on whether to accept them on November 15.

Council leader, Cllr Carl Les, whose special responsibility budget for leading the local authority looks set to rise from £39,654 to £40,447, said:

“The level at which allowances are set should not be a barrier that could prevent anyone from standing as a councillor, regardless of such things as age, personal circumstances and employment.

“It will be up to each councillor to decide, at the full council meeting in November, whether to take all, some or none of the proposed allowances.”

North Yorkshire Council was created on April 1 to replace the eight county, borough and district councils in the biggest reorganisation of local government in the county since 1974.

Councillors volunteer for their roles so they are not officially paid but receive an annual basic allowance, which according to the panel compensates for their time and “conscientious fulfilment of duties”.

 

County-wide zone has damaged taxi businesses, says Ripon councillor

Some taxi drivers have seen their businesses damaged due to the implementation of a single hackney carriage zone for North Yorkshire, according to a councillor.

Cllr Barbara Brodigan, Liberal Democrat councillor for Ripon Ure Bank and Spa, delivered a 238-strong petition to North Yorkshire Council’s ruling Conservative executive this morning that protests against the abolition of the previous seven zones which covered each former district council area.

The changes came into effect on April 1 and means drivers can now operate across the county, rather than being limited to areas such as the former Harrogate district.

But Cllr Brodigan said it had resulted in drivers flooding into urban areas such as Harrogate while rural villages and market towns had been left without taxis.

As part of the petition, residents were surveyed on the impact of the new single zone. Cllr Brodigan claimed one person was overcharged by £20 because a taxi driver got lost and that vulnerable residents are “wary” of drivers they don’t recognise.

Cllr Brodigan said:

“In Harrogate they are having to find extra spaces due to the influx of taxis. Over supply of taxis in hotspots are leaving rural and market towns empty.”

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Despite the single zone already being operational, a report that went before the executive said there had been a mistake in relation to the abolition of the previous seven hackney carriage zones.

Councillors were asked in the report to retrospectively confirm the abolition of the zones again to provide “emphatic clarity to its position”.

However, Ripon-based Richard Fieldman, who represented 70 hackney cab drivers, urged councillors to delay the decision as legal advice he received suggested the decision should be made during a full meeting of the council and not by its executive.

Mr Fieldman said: 

“There’s a straightforward statutory process and North Yorkshire Council failed to follow this process.

“On behalf of those I speak for I ask you not to compound an already bad position by passing an illegal position but instead refer the matter to full council for full consideration.”

In response, Cllr Greg White and the council’s chief legal officer Barry Khan both said they were satisfied that the executive had the right to make the decision.

The executive then voted unanimously to confirm the abolition of the seven zones and to create the single county-wide zone.

Call for answers over North Yorkshire fire service rising response times

Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have called for answers over rising response times at North Yorkshire’s fire service.

A meeting of North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime panel last week was told that people had to wait for an average of 13 minutes and nine seconds for firefighters to respond to incidents.

This compared with 11 minutes and 37 seconds the year before.

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, described the figures as “worrying”.

He called on Zoe Metcalfe, Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, to explain the rise in the service’s response times.

Mr Gordon said:

“Local residents I speak to are deeply worried. According to the latest figures, people in the areas covered by the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had to wait an average of 13 minutes and nine seconds for firefighters to respond to incidents. This is an increase from 11 minutes and 37 seconds the previous year. It’s clear that something is amiss, and the people of North Yorkshire deserve to know why their safety is being put at risk.

“One cannot help but wonder if these rising response times are a direct result of budget cuts or resource allocation decisions. It’s essential that Commissioner Metcalfe provides a transparent and comprehensive explanation for these delays.

“If budget constraints or ill-advised resource changes are indeed contributing to slower response times, it is imperative that corrective actions are taken immediately to ensure the safety of our community.”

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The move comes as Ms Metcalfe said North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue was “improving” despite the rising response times.

The Conservative commissioner said the service had been working “at pace to make considerable progress” over the eight recommendations linked to concerns highlighted by government inspectors.

Inspectors rated the fire service as “inadequate” and “requires improvement” last year.

Rural locations

A spokesperson for the commissioner’s office said the increase in response times was a national trend and North Yorkshire’s rural nature “significantly impacts our average response times, due to the travel time required to reach them from their nearest fire station”. They added many station are crewed by on-call firefighters who travel from work or home to attend incidents.

The spokesperson added:

“Last year, due to extremely hot weather, the service attended a large number of fires involving farms and farm vehicles, often located in the more rural areas of the county, meaning longer travel times on slower country roads. These will naturally have impacted on our average response times for last year.”

Ms Metcalfe said the fire service “rigorously analyses and interrogates its response times to all incidents”. She added:

“The service has provided a comprehensive explanation for the change in average response times, and assurances that the increase is not attributable to resource decisions, but to the increase in primary fires taking place in rural locations which require longer travel times.

“The time it takes the service to respond to fires in dwellings is particularly important since these incidents can pose a greater risk to life. The average response time to these types of emergency incidents has continued to be far quicker at 9 minutes 29 seconds, just three seconds slower than other ‘predominantly rural’ services.”

Area manager Damian Henderson, director of service improvement and assurance said:

“I would like to offer reassurance that we always attend incidents as quickly as possible and as part of our response principles we look at primary fires we attend where the average response times are above the average for predominantly rural services.

“This allows us to make proposals for improvement, where we can. We are also increasing our prevention and protection work in our more rural areas. Following the large number of farm related fires we have already undertaken work with the farming community including the production of a farm safety leaflet.”

Met Office issues four-day rain warning for Harrogate district

A weather warning covering four days has been issued for the Harrogate district as Storm Babet approaches.

The storm is forecast to bring wet and windy weather across the UK from Wednesday. Eastern Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Pennines are likely to be worst affected.

A Met Office weather warning for rain is in place in the Harrogate district from 9pm on Wednesday to 6am on Saturday.

Although gusts of over 60 mph are expected in Scotland, the Met Office isn’t currently forecasting anything higher than just above 30mph locally. But plenty of rain is due, especially on Friday.

The Met Office, which has issued a less severe yellow weather warning, said there was a “small chance” of some homes and businesses flooding and has warned of difficult driving conditions.

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Leeds Bradford Airport announces £100m terminal regeneration plan

Leeds Bradford Airport has announced a £100 million plan to regenerate its sole terminal.

The project will see a 9,500 sq. metre, three-storey extension to the existing terminal, alongside a significant refurbishment of the current terminal building.

It will also create additional aircraft stands, more seating, faster security, new shops and eateries, and a larger baggage reclaim area and immigration hall, as well as improved access for passengers with restricted mobility.

The project would help the airport decarbonise its operations and meet its net zero ambitions with the installation of new heating, lighting and machinery, including new baggage belts.

Vincent Hodder, chief executive of Leeds Bradford Airport, said: 

“This announcement marks the beginning of a new era for Leeds Bradford Airport.

“This investment will give us the infrastructure needed to deliver an outstanding customer experience, support the growth of our airline partners, enhance connectivity for business, investment and trade and provide the airport that Leeds, Bradford and Yorkshire have been waiting for.

“LBA is a key asset for our region and our community, our investment enhances and supports broader investments underway in Leeds and Bradford creating new jobs, new opportunities and shared benefits for our community.”

Inside the new Leeds Bradford Airport terminal.

Inside the new Leeds Bradford Airport terminal.

The airport has appointed Belfast-based Farrans Construction to deliver the first phase of the project, which will see the terminal extended.

LBA estimates that the scheme has the potential to create 1,500 new direct jobs at the airport and 4,000 new indirect jobs, as well as contribute a total of £940 million to the local economy.

Work will start on the terminal in autumn this year and is expected to be compete in 2026.

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Stray Views: Dog attack victim says Harrogate owners need to control their pets

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.

Nearly daily the news reports serious dog attacks and fatalities. Almost dying because of a dog attack myself, I know how serious the dog problem in the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens could be. I was about seven years of age, just playing in the street with friends when I was attacked by a Spaniel, a neighbour’s family pet.

In my experience, most dog owners are responsible by always keeping their dogs under close control and removing their dog deposits. Most days, dogs running wild and even out of sight of their owners can be seen in these locations. Poo bags are being left on the ground or hanging in trees which is a health risk and another sign of irresponsible dog ownership. This is bad enough, but my main concern is lack of effective control of their dogs by some owners which could result in a serious incident with life changing consequences. I have owned dogs myself in the past and I know how attached owners are to their dogs. I am sure most owners feel their dogs are harmless and they would never attack anyone. The owners of the dog which attacked me, said the same thing.

I am asking all dog owners to consider what I have said and to keep their dogs under close control, in their sight at all times and to remove their dog deposits. I would like to thank the council’s dog warden who has been very helpful in recent years with dog problems in the Pinewoods and Valley Gardens. Having said that, as the council must accept some responsibility for the safety of visitors to these areas, I am calling on them to take note of this very real threat and to take action to prevent irresponsible dog owners.

Lyndon Wallace, Harrogate

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Bog Lanes closure

Would be interested to find out from the council/NYCC whether the road will be one way or two way when it reopens. Looking at the finished junction to the new housing estate, any vehicle wishing to turn left as they exit the new development on to Bogs Lane is going to find it impossible. 

I can only presume that the final decision when its announced will be a permanent closure to through traffic. Personally, I think a closure would be the best outcome. 

The increasing numbers of pedestrians and cyclists using the road, and the width of the roadway, necessitate its permanent closure on health and safety grounds alone. But is this yet another case of public bodies reluctant to make a decision?

Stephen Huxley, Harrogate

North Yorkshire fire service ‘improving’ despite rising response times, says commissioner

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has said the county’s fire service is improving despite rising response times.

Conservative commissioner Zoe Metcalfe said the service had been working “at pace to make considerable progress” over the eight recommendations linked to concerns highlighted by government inspectors.

Inspectors rated the fire service as “inadequate” and “requires improvement” last year.

Ms Metcalfe told a meeting of North Yorkshire and York’s police, fire and crime panel that following two further inspections to assess progress this year, “initial feedback has been positive” and that the inspectorate was set to publish its findings next week.

She added that areas identified for improvement were on track for completion and the remaining causes of concern were being prioritised.

Ms Metcalfe said following the introduction of a new risk and resource model for the service, “a targeted approach to prevention activities” had been undertaken in the Huntington area, where a controversial move to change the staffing of the station from full-time to on-call is being completed.

However, York councillor Danny Myers told the meeting that according to the latest figures the service had the slowest response time in the country last year.

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In the areas covered by the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, people had to wait for an average of 13 minutes and nine seconds for firefighters to respond to incidents.

This includes time spent on the phone reporting the incident, the crew’s preparation and their journey time.

The response time was up on 11 minutes and 37 seconds the year before.

He told the commissioner: 

“It is a serious concern. The direction of travel is not good.”

Cllr Myers said while Huntington was losing its full-time crew and moving to an on-call station it remained unclear what the impact on response times would be.

He added council tax payers in York paid out more than was spent on the fire and rescue service in the city due to the cost of providing the service across the vast rural expanse of North Yorkshire.

Mrs Metcalfe replied that last year she had consulted widely over the risk and resource model and that she had provided information to the panel in “a very full and transparent way”.

Chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson said “it was very easy to get misled by attendance times” as the North Yorkshire was the country’s largest county, spanning some 2,608 square miles.

He said while the service for Devon and Somerset covered a slightly larger area and had 84 fire stations, North Yorkshire had just 38.

Mr Dyson said he agreed that attendance times were important, but they did not take into account fire engines getting stuck behind tractors on rural roads or that on-call firefighters had to travel to the station before travelling to the emergency.

He said the service was working on “prevention protection” for the most vulnerable.

The chief fire officer added if he had millions of pounds extra he would put them into prevention and protection rather than responses, as he would be “faithfully filing every member of the public by not protecting them”.

Council to bid for government funding to progress Harrogate social housing schemes

North Yorkshire Council is set to bid for government funding to progress five social housing schemes in the Harrogate district.

The authority is set to apply for a grant from Homes England to help fund the projects, which include new build houses and conversion of a former Robert Street homeless hostel.

In a report due before senior councillors on Tuesday, council officers said the move would help to meet “huge demand” for social rented housing in Harrogate.

Currently, the council has 2,196 households on its housing waiting list in Harrogate alone.

Vicky Young, the council’s housing policy and strategy officer, said in her report:

“The tenure of the new build units will be social rent. 

“There is huge demand for social rented accommodation in the Harrogate locality, with 2,196 households currently registered on the Harrogate waiting list.”

Among the projects in the councils bid include new build homes on Poplar Grove and Gascoigne Crescent in Harrogate, Springfield Drive in Boroughbridge and Kingsway in Huby.

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Each of the homes are estimated to cost £375,000 to construct.

Meanwhile, the council also estimates that a plan to convert Cavendish House on Harrogate’s Robert Street into six flats would cost £400,000.

The former homeless hostel will be converted into a shared ownership property.

Councillors approved the conversion of the hostel in September. At the time, the council said in a report that the property would help to deliver “much needed affordable housing”.

It said:

“The building has been empty since November 2021. As such, it has a negative impact on residential amenity and increasingly risks attracting anti-social behaviour.

“The development proposals will deliver much needed affordable accommodation in a redundant building and a highly sustainable location, complying full with national and local planning policy guidance.”

The bid to Homes England would help towards 30% of the total cost of the five schemes.

According to the report, the projects would cost £1.9 million to build.

Senior councillors will discuss the bid at a council executive meeting on October 17.