A control room monitoring more than 200 CCTV cameras in the Harrogate district has not been manned at times over the last year due to staff shortages.

The control room, run by Harrogate Borough Council, oversees cameras operating 24 hours a day in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough.

Control room staff are able to respond to police reports and track suspicious activity. Police can buy the footage to use as evidence in pursuing crimes.

Julia Stack, community safety and CCTV manager at the council, was asked by Councillor Victoria Oldham at a meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny commission this week whether the room needed to be staffed.

Ms Stack replied the priority was to “man that service for 24 hours a day”, adding:

“I will be honest,. We have had some challenging issues in terms of recruitment within the last 12 months so there have been times when we have been unable to have the staff there but the cameras will be recording.”

Ms Stack added the team was now “almost at full complement of staff”.

Cllr Oldham, a Conservative who represents Washburn, replied:

“I’m aware of two incidents last week when it wasn’t manned and one of them could have been very embarrassing.”

Julia Stack speaking at the meeting

Ms Stack said the service worked closely with police but added:

“There’s always the risk we may be dealing with one location and there may be something happening in another one. That is down unfortunately to consistent funding cuts to the service.”

The long-term future of the service when Harrogate Borough Council is abolished at the end of this month and North Yorkshire Council takes over is unclear.

Scarborough and Northallerton also have CCTV control rooms in the county and Ms Stack the service overall was inconsistent and would be reviewed.

Cllr Windass speaking at the meeting

Councillor Robert Windass, a Conservative who represents Boroughbridge, said Boroughbridge had been “kicked out” of Harrogate Borough Council’s CCTV monitoring system years ago.

Cllr Windass said Boroughbridge Town Council now provided CCTV and, unlike Harrogate Borough Council, did not charge the police for accessing it. He said:

“If the police request footage for any crimes there is absolutely no charge because we consider it a valuable service we should provide and support to the police.”

Cllr Mike Chambers, the Conservative Cabinet member for housing and safer communities, replied:

“I agree it is a service that is valuable to the police. But we have a control room that has staff. If we don’t levy charges as many other departments within this council do then how do we pay for the staff?”

CCTV overlooking Harrogate’s Royal Hall

‘Limited resources’

After the meeting, the Stray Ferret asked Harrogate Borough Council about the control room staff situation and what will happen to the service when the council is abolished in four weeks.

A council spokesperson said:

“Our CCTV control room is in Harrogate and has five operators and one CCTV and business crime operations officer, as well as a small pool of casual staff who work alongside full-time officers, who are responsible for surveillance of cameras covering Knaresborough, Harrogate, Ripon and council buildings.

“They also undertake reviews and produce evidence for the police and other third parties, operate a RadioLink service and support a business crime partnership.

“Like ourselves, North Yorkshire Police have limited resources and even if the control room report an incident to the police, there is no guarantee that they are always in a position to respond straight away. Therefore, we ensure cameras record 24-hours a day, 365 days a year so that our staff can aim to get the best evidence to assist with any incidents.

“Closures are kept to a minimum and shifts are extended with staff work overtime to ensure sufficient support for the CCTV control room.

“In recent months, we have seen a limited number of applicants to the roles available. And once appointed, each post is subject to police vetting which takes times to be thoroughly carried out, followed by a two-month training period.

“However, we can confirm that two new appointments have recently been made.

“From 1 April there will be no change to the service.”

Two former hospital midwives are inviting families who had a baby during the covid pandemic to an event this weekend.

Sue Oxendale and Jane Bamford have set up social enterprise Taking Baby Steps to offer extra support with issues including anxiety during pregnancy, birth trauma, and baby loss.

The pair encountered many parents facing those challenges during their combined 35 years as midwives at Harrogate District Hospital.

Sue said the issues were exacerbated in 2020 and 2021, when many women had to give birth and go through the early days of parenthood with much less support from their families than would usually be possible.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“Becoming a parent now can be really isolating. That can create anxiety in itself.

“When I had my kids, it was all church-based, community centres and coffee mornings. Things like that have become less and less.

“If we can start setting up networks of mums and a dads’ group, it all helps.”

Sue and Jane left their hospital roles last year to set up Taking Baby Steps and were given several grants, including £10,000 from the National Lottery, to fund their work.

They have begun to work with parents looking for more support than is available through the NHS and the funding enable families on low income to access their help.

The pair will also offer support to NHS professionals and students to help them deal with the challenges they may face while supporting patients.

Read more:

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Having trained after her three sons were born, Sue became a specialist bereavement midwife while she was at Harrogate District Hospital. She said:

“I loved my job working on delivery suite, helping couples become parents and bringing new life in to the world, but I was always drawn to improving care for women and their partners who weren’t going home with a baby in their arms.

“I knew we only had one chance to get the care right when looking after families who had suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death or sadly made the painful decision to not continue with the pregnancy if there were complications affecting their baby’s development.”

Meanwhile Jane, along with her husband, experienced her own struggles with infertility and unsuccessful IVF, before adopting two children.

Those experiences influenced her work at the hospital, she said, and led her to take an interest in issues relating to fertility, trauma and anxiety. She said:

“I realised that there were a lot of women who were also struggling with their emotional health and wellbeing in areas such as perinatal anxiety, tokophobia [fear of pregnancy] and birth trauma.

“I also had conversations with couples who had experienced years of fertility treatment and then had become pregnant but felt that there wasn’t a recognition during their pregnancy of the journey and potential trauma they had already been through to get to this point.

“I began doing the appointments that were held at Harrogate Hospital named ‘pregnancy and birth revisited’, where a lady and her partner have the opportunity to return and discuss her birth experience in more detail. During these appointments I also began to appreciate the impact these experiences had on the birth partner also.

“Whilst it may seem obvious that they are affected I saw that they could be experiencing symptoms of trauma, affecting their day to day life.”

Tomorrow’s event will focus particularly on families who have been affected by the covid pandemic.

From giving birth without their chosen birth partners to missing out on the support of wider family and other parents during the baby’s early weeks and months, Sue and Jane believe there has been a significant impact on new parents’ experiences and their feelings about the beginning of their parenthood.

The drop-in session will bring together parents to chat about their experiences and find mutual support.

It takes place tomorrow at Chain Lane Community Hub in Knaresborough, from 9.30am to 11.30am. Tea, coffee and cake will be on offer, and anyone is welcome to call in during that time.

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for snow and ice across parts of the Harrogate district next week.

The yellow warning, lasting throughout Monday and Tuesday, comes as temperatures are predicted to drop below freezing over night.

Issuing the warning, the Met Office said:

“Snow showers are likely to cause some disruption to travel with a small chance of more widespread disruption for some.

“There is a small chance of travel delays on roads with some stranded vehicles and passengers, along with delayed or cancelled rail and air travel. There is a slight chance that some rural communities could become cut off [and] a small chance of injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces.

“There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.”

Rural areas in the north and east of the Harrogate district could see temperatures down to -4C at night, while daytime temperatures are likely to be below 6C.

⚠️ Yellow weather warning issued ⚠️

Snow and ice across parts of Scotland and NE England
Tuesday 0000 – 2359

Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs

Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/jXnNbBPrk4

— Met Office (@metoffice) March 3, 2023

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water has advised residents to lag pipes that might become frozen if exposed to low temperatures, using foam insulation.

Emily Brady from Yorkshire Water said:

“Check for pipes, taps, cisterns, tanks and water meters in unheated areas that might be exposed to the cold. When you’ve found them, cut a piece of lagging to size and clip it on. If you’ve got some cable ties handy, pop a couple on to keep it secure.

“This will also help insulate your hot water system and could save you money on bills. You can also protect your outdoor taps with a tap cover to stop them freezing.

“If you turn your tap on to find no water, you might have a frozen pipe. First, check all exposed pipes for any leaks or bursts, if you can’t see anything then turn the tap on at your kitchen sink and heat the pipe with a hairdryer. Never ever use a naked flame to defrost a pipe.

“If a pipe has burst then turn your water off at the stop tap to minimise damage and water loss.”

Anyone who would be particularly vulnerable during water supply problems can join Yorkshire Water’s priority services register.

The Stray Ferret will have all the news of road conditions, school closures and more if the weather impacts on local services. Keep checking our website and social media channels for the latest updates.

Read more:

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• Storm Otto leaves Ripon building owners counting the cost

The incoming North Yorkshire Council is to bid to government for accreditation to create a new countywide tourism body.

The authority intends to apply to become a Local Visitor Economy Partnership — which will replace Destination Management Organisations following a review by ministers.

The new body would be responsible for promoting tourism in North Yorkshire and attracting events.

David Caulfield, assistant director for tourism and economic development at North Yorkshire Council, said the new organisation would also help to form a “Yorkshire-wide” tourism strategy.

He said:

“There may be four, or five, of these which eventually form a Yorkshire-wide approach. These LVEPs must be strong private/public sector partnerships and will need to follow the new national process to be eligible for any government funding.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us in North Yorkshire to play to our strengths, while maintaining a strong regional identity at the same time. It will also be one of the key aspects of the new council’s economic strategy.

“All of the current destination management organisations across North Yorkshire are already working closely on this project, pooling their knowledge and expertise to ensure we have the strongest possible proposal.”

The council intends to hire consultants at a cost of £20,000 to help support the bid.

Mr Caulfield said this would form a “small part” of the bid, with the majority of the work being carried out in-house.

Questions over Destination Harrogate

The move towards creating a county-wide tourism organisation raises further questions about the future of Destination Harrogate, the current Destination Management Organisation tourism organisation for the district run by Harrogate Borough Council, which is being abolished in four weeks.

Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, told a council meeting last month the government review would likely mean only destination management organisations from cities or large regions will be able to receive funding from central government.

Read more:

• Harrogate council spends £2.2m on new tourism body in first year
• Harrogate council agreed £222,000 in exit packages due to tourism restructure

She suggested Harrogate would have to amalgamate into a wider, yet-to-be created North Yorkshire destination management organisation to qualify for the funding.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last month that Harrogate Borough Council spent £2,224,000 on Destination Harrogate in its first year operating — almost a million pounds more than budgeted.

Borough council chief executive Wallace Sampson told councillors the new authority could look to “identify savings” with Destination Harrogate after it is handed control of the organisation.

He added:

“[Destination Harrogate] is a discretionary service and against the background of a challenging financial environment for the new council, every discretionary service will be subject to financial scrutiny.”

Mr Sampson warned of the possible pitfalls of Destination Harrogate being merged into a county-wide tourism body, which he suggested could dilute the focus on individual places.

He said:

“From a Harrogate point of view we have Destination Harrogate that has a really strong focus on place branding and marketing and that helps to attract visitors. 

“The key question will be — can you retain the focus on individual places in North Yorkshire?  It’s something the new council will have to grapple with.”

Taxi drivers in the Harrogate district have said a new system for regulating hackney carriages will be bad for customers and cause cabbies to go bust.

The current limit of 148 hackney carriages in the district will be abolished when North Yorkshire Council comes into existence on April 1, paving the way for a flood of new drivers.

At the same time, a new single taxi zone allowing drivers to operate countywide rather than stick to their local districts will begin, even though 52% opposed it in a consultation.

Drivers say the single zone will lead to some places being flooded by taxis at busy times while less popular rural areas will struggle to book cars.

They also say ending the cap on the number of hackney carriages means licence plates they paid thousands of pounds for are now effectively worthless.

Supporters of the new system say it incorporates Department for Transport best practice guidance and “any negative impacts tend to level out over time”.

‘Totally destroyed’

The Ripon cabbies in Harrogate this week

Six Ripon hackney carriage drivers, who are supported by colleagues from across the district, met the Stray Ferret this week to express anger at the changes.

Katie Johnstone, of Johnstone Family Hire, said lifting the limit on the number of vehicles would ruin many taxi firms.

She said until now, people like her had paid about £20,000 to buy a plate so they could operate one of only 148 hackney carriages in the Harrogate district.

Ms Johnstone said abolishing the limit meant the plates now had no sell-on value, leaving current plate holders a combined £3 million out of pocket.

She said she took out a five-year bank loan to buy her plate as part of a career change two years ago and “it’s not worth anything now”, adding:

“I’m a single parent — I worked on minimum wage for years. I’ve invested a lot of money to try to better myself and they have totally destroyed it.”

Read more:

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‘The system has worked for 100 years’

Keith Snowden, whose family has operated taxis in Ripon since 1926, said:

“It’s a ludicrous situation. The system has worked for the last 100 years — why change it?”

All the cabbies predicted many private hire drivers will get hackney licences because it would enable them to make more money by picking up customers from ranks whereas they currently have to be booked in advance.

They said this would create hotspots as drivers battled for customers in busy times in the most lucrative areas, and ignored calls from less profitable rural customers.

Anne Smith, of ANB Taxis in Ripon, said:

“Everything we have put into these plates has been completely taken away from us.”

Ms Smith tried to enlist the support of Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, but said he had been “absolutely useless”. Mr Smith did not reply when the Stray Ferret asked for a response.

Paul Dodds, of JPD Taxis, said he feared he and other drivers would have to “pack in” because of the changes.

North Yorkshire Council will replace North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, at the end of the month.

The drivers all said the new system was being introduced for the convenience of the council rather than for drivers because it was easier to manage than the current district-wide system.

Richard Fieldman

The taxi drivers said they would continue to oppose the changes until the new system begins next month.

Ripon cabbie Richard Fieldman criticised North Yorkshire County Council’s defence of the changes:

“They keep relating to Department for Transport best practice guide, but have chosen to leave bits of it out to suit them, ie it states that in areas where licence limits are in place, they should firstly conduct an unmet demand survey to see if there is any latent demand, before proceeding with the policy; they have failed to do that.

“The fact is, they have totally ignored the result of the consultation, which concluded 52% are against it.”

‘A coherent regulatory framework’

Cllr Derek Bastiman

Councillors have approved the transfer of Harrogate Borough Council’s wholly-owned companies to the new North Yorkshire Council next month.

HBC’s Conservative-run cabinet met last night at the Civic Centre to discuss a report written by the council’s head of legal and governance, Jennifer Norton.

The report recommends that leisure company Brimhams Active and housing company Bracewell Homes are passed over to the new council on April 1.

Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished on March 31 after being in existence since 1974.

The next day, a new unitary council for the whole of North Yorkshire will be created to deliver all the services currently delivered by Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

Wholly-owned companies

Brimhams Active launched in August 2020 when it took over control of leisure centres and swimming pools in Harrogate, Starbeck, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

It has overseen major projects such as the redevelopment of the Harrogate Hydro swimming pool and the construction of new facilities in Ripon and Knaresborough.

The new council will add Selby’s leisure services to the Brimhams Active portfolio from September 2024.

This will be whilst it undertakes a £120,000 review of leisure services with the aim of creating a countywide model for delivering leisure and sport by 2027.

Bracewell Homes was set up in 2019 with the aim of turning the council a profit and delivering affordable homes.

It is expecting to deliver 43 homes by the end of 2023/24, which will exceed its target of 40 homes by 2024.

North Yorkshire County Council already has a housing company called Brierley Homes and what will happen to Bracewell inside the new authority is unclear.

‘They’ve done very well for Harrogate’

At last night’s meeting, Conservative council leader Richard Cooper said the two companies have done “very well” for the soon-to-be abolished authority. He said:

“This to me seems very much like a tidying-up exercise, things that we need to do, belt and braces, in order to make sure that the transfer of borough council-owned companies transfers smoothly to the new North Yorkshire Council.

“I hope they will look after them because they’ve done very well for Harrogate Borough Council thanks to the expertise of the officers who have been guiding them.”

Cabinet members Sam Gibbs and Stan Lumley did not take part in the discussion or vote as they sit on the Brimhams Active board.

Shadow minister Alex Sobel has claimed Harrogate District Hospital‘s use of agency staff is a “disgrace” that is harming patient care.

Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds North West and the party’s shadow environment minister, told a Commons debate on the NHS this week a constituent called Marjorie Dunn spent just over seven weeks at the hospital last year.

He added:

“In that time she saw NHS nurses leave the service and she was treated predominantly by agency staff — mistreated, I have to say, by agency staff. It is a disgrace.

“When she was eventually moved to a recovery hub run by Leeds City Council she got excellent treatment there.

“She had broken her pelvis and been told she would never walk again, but it was the council physiotherapist who got her up and walking again. Is it not right that we should be supporting local authorities such as Labour-run Leeds to get such facilities as well as the NHS?”

Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health minister, said Mr Sobel was “absolutely right about the impact of the churn of staff on a ward”, adding:

“It can be quite distressing for patients to see the faces and names change every day and to constantly be explaining once again what their experience in the hospital has been, if indeed the staff have time to stop and talk.”

The Stray Ferret asked Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones if he wished to respond to Mr Sobel’s comments but he did not respond.

‘Workforce challenges’

Asked to respond to Mr Sobel’s comments, a Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said:

“We pride ourselves on providing the best possible standards of care for our patients, wherever that care may be being delivered. On the rare occasions when this has fallen below our expectations or those of our patients, we have procedures in place to identify this and ensure we continuously improve.

“Workforce challenges in the NHS are well documented. As a trust, we monitor recruitment, retention, turnover and staff wellbeing closely and have a bank of the trust’s own nursing staff, who are available to support where we have short- term absence. These staff are familiar with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and our standards of care.

“On occasion, we do need to use the services of agencies to support nursing gaps, however we expect all staff working at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust to provide the same standards of care for our patients, and we will address this if it is found not to be the case.

“Maintaining the health and safety of those people in our care is our main priority and we would like to apologise to anyone who has found that their experience has been below what they would expect. In addition, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust work collaboratively across health and social care to ensure that care and services are delivered to our population in the right place, by the right professionals, which means there are occasions where this is a multi-agency approach to ensure the care be delivered as close to the person’s own home as possible.”

Read more:

• Ambulance workers in Harrogate district on strike again
• ‘Shocking’ lack of NHS dentists in Harrogate and Knaresborough raised in Parliament

A senior police officer has said he expects to see an increase in the use of stop and search in the Harrogate district.

Police have the power to stop and search people if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect they’re carrying illegal drugs, a weapon or stolen property or something that could be used to commit a crime.

In special circumstances, people can be stopped and searched without these ‘reasonable grounds’.

Civil liberties groups have raised concerns the technique is open to abuse, especially at legitimate protests.

At Harrogate Borough Council‘s overview and scrutiny commission this week, Cllr John Mann, a Conservative who represents Pannal asked Rich Ogden, chief inspector at North Yorkshire Police if the force used stop and search to discourage people carrying knives.

Ch Insp Ogden said stop and search “is a really effective operational tool”, adding.

“Where there is an opportunity to search somebody, whether it be under the misuse of drugs act, or for prohibited articles, such as knives, that can be used for criminal damage then we should absolutely encourage that.

“So I expect in this area to see an increase in stop and search but I want to make sure it’s obviously done ethically and appropriately because it is controversial in terms of areas of society who will challenge the police and rightly so — we are accountable for everything we do and that’s why we have to make sure everything is recorded.”

Ch Insp Ogden said local police team meetings regularly reviewed whether the technique was used appropriately and correctly.

He said:

“It’s got to be done properly and it’s always got to be recorded and the member of the public that is subject to that stop and search is always entitled to a copy of their search record.”

Read more:

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It’s time to join the Stray Ferret Business Club. The third in our series of networking events in association with The Coach and Horses in Harrogate is a lunch event on March 30 from 12.30pm.

Don’t miss out on this chance to network with businesses from across the Harrogate district. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.

A Harrogate district plant nursery has trained up 12 potential new managers as part of a company training programme.

Johnsons of Whixley, which is based in Kirk Hammerton, has partnered with BHP Consulting to enrol some of its team onto the leadership scheme.

The programme, designed specifically to meet the commercial nursery’s needs, is part of Johnsons’ long-term commitment to providing opportunities for growth and progression within the horticulture industry.

The company also runs a rising stars programme, which looks to train workers to take on senior roles at the company in the future.

Luke Richardson, sales director at Johnsons of Whixley, said: 

“As the business continues to grow and transitions to the third generation of family ownership, we believe that investing in and developing our management team is more important than ever, and we are committed to providing long-term opportunities for people in the horticulture industry.

“As a company, we have worked closely with BHP board advisor and training provider, Mark Roberts, for four years. Mark is well-versed in our entire operation and perfectly positioned to deliver the training.”

Mark Roberts, training provider and board advisor at BHP Consulting, added: 

“We developed the programme to specifically help support the managers in their current roles. It included practical hints and tips that can be used in their daily business activities, we also had the opportunity to discuss some of the current challenges and develop some new ideas and potential solutions.

“Throughout the sessions, there has been a very high level of engagement from all participants, and it shows the business has a management team in place to support its future growth.”

Harrogate College hosts passive house course

Construction businesses are invited to find out how to create energy efficient buildings as part of a free course at Harrogate College.

Called Passive House for Construction Professionals and Management, the scheme is fully funded by government and lasts for four weeks as part of a one-day a week programme.

It aims to teach professionals about passive houses, which are built to rigorous energy efficient design standards to help them maintain an almost constant temperature.

The course will be run by Leeds-based passive house specialists Pure Haus.

Kevin Pratt, director of Pure Haus, said: 

“Building energy efficient homes and retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient is the future.

“I’m so pleased that Harrogate College has embraced the future of the construction industry and this course is a really exciting project for us to be involved in.

“We’re looking forward to installing a ‘mini pure haus’ at the college, too; it will be a real eye-opener for students and help educate them about how we need to build homes to play our part in tackling climate change.”

Danny Wild, Harrogate College principal, said: 

“Creating more energy efficient buildings, and improving the efficiency of the ones we already have, is an important part of the fight against climate change.

“We are delighted to be partnering with local businesses and community groups to raise awareness of, and offer training in, skills like passive house building and retrofitting.

“It is such practices that we all need to adopt, as organisations and individuals, if we are to make real change, reduce our collective carbon footprint and, of course, save money.”

The course starts on Tuesday, March 7. For more information on the scheme and how to apply, visit the Harrogate College website here.

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Almost 90 per cent of Year 6 pupils in the county have been awarded their first choice of secondary school, North Yorkshire County Council has revealed. 

Since the deadline for applications at the end of October, families across the district have been waiting anxiously to find out whether their child will be able to move up to the school of their choice.

The long wait ended this morning when parents and carers were informed which school their children would have to attend in the autumn. 

A total of 89.84 per cent secured their first preference, with 96.4 per cent of all families in the county who requested a school place receiving an offer from North Yorkshire County Council for one of their top three preferences of secondary school. 

This year, 6,262 North Yorkshire pupils are transferring to secondary school. 

The county council’s executive member for education, learning and skills, Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, said:  

“Once again, so many of our families have gained the first preference from their choice of schools, which is great news.” 

In North Yorkshire, parents can list up to five schools in order of preference on their common application form, but this year, some parents did not use all five options and others did not complete an application form at all. 

This meant that the council, which must ensure each child is allocated a school place on national offer day, had to place some children in schools further way from their home.

However, disappointed parents can appeal, and the council said its admissions team would try to accommodate their wishes. Appeals for a place at a particular secondary school must be received by March 29; these will be assessed between April and June.

Read more:

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• Ripon Grammar named top northern secondary school again
• Harrogate district primary school places: Majority of parents get first choice