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18
Jul
Harrogate hospital: the political row over crumbling concrete
Two local parties are rowing over who is really responsible for securing millions of pounds to remove crumbling concrete at Harrogate District Hospital.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT), which oversees local hospitals, confirmed various parts of the hospital contained RAAC – a crumbly form of concrete that has been likened to an Aero chocolate bar – in 2023.
The trust bid for £20 million in funding to remove the RAAC, part of which has already been used to demolish a former therapy services building that was riddled with the material.
The cash injection is part of a wider £50 million investment into the hospital, which includes the construction of a new day-case surgery, funded by HDFT and NHS England.
But which MP is really responsible for securing the RAAC removal money?
At a time NHS funding has been in the spotlight - both the former and the current MP are claiming they were instrumental in helping the hospital.
The row began after Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Tom Gordon, was vocal about his role in finalising the money.
The local Conservatives, who held the seat for 14 years before Mr Gordon was elected last year, suggested otherwise.
In a press release issued this week, Mr Gordon’s office said he was celebrating the latest tranche of RAAC funding after “years of tirelessly campaigning” for it.
As a considerable amount had been secured whilst his political opponent was in office, Mr Gordon was keen to point out he'd spearheaded the campaign “well before entering Parliament”.
The press release stated:
Years before being elected as MP, Tom launched a public petition calling for action, which gathered hundreds of signatures from concerned local residents and was handed directly to the Department for Health.
He secured national backing too – ensuring that Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey and MP Richard Foord raised the issue of RAAC in Harrogate in the last Parliament, at a time when the previous Conservative MP had yet to mention it parliament.
In an email to constituents about the RAAC funding on Wednesday (July 16), Mr Gordon said he wanted to “outline the steps I took, both before and during my time as your MP, to help secure this huge win”.
Claiming credit for others’ work is odd, local Tories say
But local Conservatives have painted a different picture – suggesting it was Mr Gordon’s predecessor, Andrew Jones, who paved the way to secure the money.
The Stray Ferret approached Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Association for comment after Mr Gordon’s office distributed the release.
Rebecca Reeve-Burnett, chair of the association, told the Stray Ferret:
The funding for this work was secured long before Mr Gordon became our MP. You can see that from the hospital's own news announcements about the project. The hospital submitted their business case to the NHS in 2023, and the funding was approved to not just remove the RAAC but to build new enhanced facilities. This work started before the general election too and people could see the old building being demolished.
Andrew Jones worked with the hospital to support their bid - a bid which took significant effort by the local hospital finance team. Andrew's support included meetings with the hospital, lobbying the Head of Estates for the NHS and several meetings with the Secretary of State for Health.
The construction project obviously spans from one parliament to the next, but to claim credit for securing the funding when it's the work of others and when there's a clear audit trail is odd. It is no wonder people have such a low estimate of political claims.
Cllr Michael Harrogate at a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee on June 5, 2025.
This is not the first time the local Tories have suggested Mr Gordon is “claiming credit” for securing the RAAC funding.
Conservative councillor Michael Harrison, who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate on North Yorkshire Council, told Mr Gordon hospital staff are “furious” at him for taking credit at a Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee meeting last month.
Cllr Harrison, who is the only local councillor on leader Carl Les’ 10-person executive, said:
We are all pleased to see those works progressing, but I’m slightly confused because the work to demolish the parts of the hospital with RAAC concrete started before the general election, so I’m confused why you were claiming credit for securing the funding for it when, in fairness, you didn’t have anything to do with that.
I actually spoke to people in the finance team at Harrogate who were furious that you took credit.
Mr Gordon accused Cllr Harrison of making an “inadvertent misrepresentation” at the time.
'The Conservatives are on the back foot in Harrogate and Knaresborough'
The Stray Ferret put Ms Reeve-Burnett’s comment to Mr Gordon.
Responding, his office said:
Tom has consistently campaigned to fund the removal of RAAC concrete at Harrogate Hospital. It’s a campaign that precedes his time as Harrogate & Knaresborough’s MP. From working with other Lib Dem MPs to raise it in Parliament, to running a petition locally in Harrogate and handing it into the Department for Health, there is a clear audit trail of Tom’s action on this issue.
Since being elected, Tom has kept the pressure up on ministers to ensure Harrogate Hospital received the required funding. We’re proud that our area is now seeing the tangible difference having a truly community-focused MP makes.
The truth is that the Conservatives are on the back foot in Harrogate and Knaresborough. They’ve lost their MP here, been reduced to only a handful of North Yorkshire councillors and managed to only win two seats at the recent Harrogate Town Council elections. Perhaps it is not a surprise that the only way the Conservatives here feel they can stay relevant is by resorting to dangerous falsehoods.
This particular political row may have run its course, but with language as strong as that, it's clear both parties are rattled.
The political battle for public recognition of what each party acheived while in office for local people is not over.
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