Andrew Jones Archives - Page 13 of 22

‘Right’ for commons to investigate MPs, says Harrogate MP

Andrew Jones MP has said it is right for the Committee of Privileges to investigate MPs in light of a probe into Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conduct.

In a speech to the House of Commons yesterday, the Harrogate and Knaresborough MP said there was a “problem with standards in our politics”.

The move comes as the Prime Minister is facing a Commons investigation into whether he misled MPs by telling them covid laws in No 10 Downing Street were followed amid an ongoing row over lockdown parties.

Mr Jones told MPs, who were debating whether to approve the probe into the Prime Minister, that higher standards were required across parliament.

He said:

“When there are questions about the conduct of any Member in this place, it is right for the Committee of Privileges to take a look at that case.

“It is right for it to investigate, it is right for it to make a judgment and it is right for that to happen whoever the Member is.

“That is the correct procedure for our House, and has been the case for a significant time. If any matters of privilege come to the House for a decision to trigger an investigation, it is right for that to happen. I support privileges investigations. It is our due process.”

Mr Jones reiterated his call for the Sue Gray report into lockdown parties at Number 10 to be published in full.

He added:

“That is still my view. I recognise that the Met needs time and space to complete its work, but every effort must be made to bring this matter to a conclusion as fast as possible. Colleagues are making comments when we have not seen all the evidence.

“I can understand that, because I have done so, too, but the Privileges Committee must be allowed time and space to conclude its investigation and colleagues should not prejudge that.”

Analysis

At a time when Conservative MPs are considering their support for the Prime Minister, Mr Jones has remained coy over where his support lies.

Mr Jones’ contribution to the House of Commons debate was very carefully worded.

He has made his view on the wider standards in Parliament clear, but stopped short of disclosing whether or not he has acted upon this with his own party leader and the 1922 committee.

Meanwhile, Skipton and Ripon MP, Julian Smith, has remained silent on the matter and so too has Nigel Adams, Selby and Ainsty MP, who is a staunch ally of the Prime Minister.

Last week, the Stray Ferret asked all Harrogate district MPs whether Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunk should resign after being notified by the Metropolitan Police that they would be given a fixed penalty notice for breaching covid rules.

However, none replied.

Harrogate to honour Australia and New Zealand’s war dead

A ceremony to honour World War Two air force casualties from Australia and New Zealand who are buried in Harrogate will take place at Stonefall Cemetery on April 24.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) will host the Harrogate International Partnership’s Anzac Day Ceremony. It will highlight more than 100 casualties who were serving with the Australian and New Zealand air forces.

These include flight officer Terence McKinley, 21, who piloted a Halifax bomber on a test flight on November 14 1943 when both starboard engines failed just after take-off and the aircraft crashed just behind the Vale of York Hotel, Thirsk.

Four of the five crew on board also lost their lives.

McKinley had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross a few months before his death after completing a tour of duty.

His citation describes him as ‘outstanding’ and says ‘his fine fighting spirit, courage and leadership have gained him the entire confidence of his crew’.

The Anzac Day Ceremony has been organised by Kate Spencer, who looks after the twinning between Harrogate and Wellington for Harrogate International Partnerships.

Ms Spencer said:

“I felt it was the right thing to do for these young airmen who, like thousands upon thousands of others, saw their lives cut drastically short in service of their country and the Commonwealth.

“I have the full backing of the RNZAF and Wellington City Council, who are delighted that this inaugural ceremony will now be held this year and for many more years to come. With the help and support of Colin Gibbs BEM and Elizabeth Smith of the CWGC, the ceremony will be a fine tribute to honour all these young Australians and New Zealanders who lie here together.”

The ceremony will see representation from both the Australian and New Zealand High Commission as well as the Mayor and Mayoress of Harrogate and Andrew Jones MP.

The music will be provided by Tewit Youth Band and a pupil from Harrogate Grammar School will sing the New Zealand national anthem in both Maori and English.

Members of the public are invited to gather from 2.30pm for the ceremony start at 3pm.

Harrogate district MPs silent on Boris Johnson’s future

The three Conservative MPs whose constituencies include the Harrogate district have remained silent so far on whether Boris Johnson should resign.

Number 10 said today that the Prime Minister and his wife Carrie, plus Chancellor Rishi Sunak, had been notified by the Metropolitan Police that they would be given fixed penalty notices.

The Met, which is investigating alleged covid law-breaking at 12 Whitehall and Downing Street gatherings, has issued more than 50 fines.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer today led calls for Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak to resign.

Harrogate district MPs (from left) Nigel Adams, Andrew Jones and Julian Smith.

The Stray Ferret reported in January that Andrew Jones, who represents Harrogate and Knaresborough, had said in a letter to a constituent:

“I followed coronavirus restrictions. I take the maxim ‘lawmakers can’t be lawbreakers’ seriously.”

Mr Jones added:

“In respect of the investigation announced by the Prime Minister in December, if this finds wrongdoing, and the police find that these actions were criminal, then consequences must flow from that.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Mr Jones today asking for his views on today’s fixed penalty notice and whether he felt Mr Johnson should resign.

We also contacted Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon, and Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, to ask whether they felt Mr Johnson should resign.

At the time of publication, none had replied.

‘Worried’ Tories dig up old Facebook posts of Harrogate Lib Dem

The Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have said an article on a local Conservative Party website that digs up old Facebook posts from a prospective Lib Dem candidate “shows they are worried” about the upcoming council elections.

The article on Community News, which is run by Andrew Jones MP’s office, posted screenshots from the Facebook page of Michael Schofield, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Harlow Hill & St Georges.

Mr Schofield is the landlord of the Shepherd’s Dog pub on Otley Road.

The article included one of his Facebook posts in 2019, which the Conservatives called an ‘expletive-laden, bizarre online rant’ that referred to Brexit, Donald Trump and Guy Fawkes.

The post from March 2019 was written at the height of the wrangling in Parliament over Brexit. It said:

“This country needs one person to stand up! A Trump, a Thatcher, a Guy Fawkes. Politicians have shown their colours and let our country down. Nail your colours to either side but be Brexit or Remain not one of these self wanting a****** deserve a vote. GUY FAWKES WE NEED YOU”.

The article also posted a screenshot of Mr Schofield reposting a satirical article from December 2019, which said then-Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson should be in Bagpuss’s window with “all the other lost and broken things nobody wants anymore”.

Voters go to the polls on May 5 to elect councillors to sit on North Yorkshire County Council and its successor authority, North Yorkshire Council, which comes into existence in April 2023.

Responding, Mr Schofield said:

“My response is quite clear. I apologise if language was offensive however at that time no party had a leader of credibility and I do believe it was the vote of a lifetime to make a difference.”

David Goode, chair of Harrogate & Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, criticised the campaign tactics used by the Conservatives.

He said:

“It’s no more than we’ve come to expect. It’s very standard practice for them to try and besmirch the opposition. It shows they are worried about the election.

“This election is so important for a whole raft of different reasons and they will try every trick in the book. I’d like to think we’ll keep more to the issues. We’ll have a go at them on their record, not at individuals.”

Mr Goode defended the comments of the publican Mr Schofield, which he said makes him a “far stronger candidate” due to his “passion”.

“At the time there was a lot of emotion flying about Brexit. From Michael’s perspective, he probably used some language he shouldn’t have used. It reflects his passion and truly that’s what what we need. We need people with passion who care.

“With any political party people fall in and out out of love at certain times. We can’t always be 100% enthusiastic. In a way it makes him a far stronger candidate, he’s gone through bad times with the party and come back.”

What is Community News?

Community News launched in September 2020.

The home page makes no reference to the fact that it’s set up by the office of Andrew Jones.

This only becomes clear when you click on the “About” page, which also says the aim of the website is to provide news stories about Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge in a “positive” and “non-political way”.

Mr Jones’ office manager is current council leader Richard Cooper. The office also employs current Conservative councillors Matt Scott and Ed Darling.

Following the 2019 general election, Mr Jones commented on negative campaigning. He said: “politics needs to grow up” and “I don’t use these tactics”.

Mr Jones wrote on his website:

“I don’t like it when candidates spend much of their time demonising their opponents.

“I don’t use these tactics. I simply say what I do in the local area and describe how I represent local people and our communities. My literature and my team were positive about our achievements and our ambitions. We didn’t pull down opponents or manipulate people to vote differently to their beliefs to ‘stop someone else winning’.

“Politics needs to grow up and step away from this old-fashioned and frankly US-style attack ad approach. I hope over the next few years – at least locally – there will be agreement to adopt a more positive approach.”

The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones, Richard Cooper and the Conservative candidate for Harlow Hill & St Georges, Steven Jackson, to respond to Mr Goode’s comments but we did not receive any responses.

MPs watch: Ukraine war dominates agenda

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

This month the war in Ukraine dominated the news, with constituents across the district raising money, donating goods and offering their homes to refugees.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but, as usual, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found out on Mr Jones:

Mr Jones spoke about the Ukraine war nine times in the House of Commons this month. On March 2, he said: “My constituents have told me that they want to see the government continue to support the Ukrainian resistance in three ways: humanitarian assistance in the region; welcoming refugees here; and military aid.”
On March 1, the Conservative leader of Harrogate Borough Council, Richard Cooper, who is also Mr Jones’ office manager, told a council meeting that the MP had written to Boris Johnson to ask if council housing stock could be used to house Ukrainian refugees.
On March 4, Mr Jones met with the new acting chief executive of the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, Jonathan Coulter, to discuss catching up on elective care and visiting arrangements at the hospital.
Writing on his Community News website, Mr Jones praised the local fundraising efforts in Harrogate and Knaresborough for Ukraine. He wrote: “Locally, the outpouring support is typical of the generous and compassionate nature of our communities.”
On March 22, the MP voted in favour of Clause 9 of the Nationality and Borders Bill. The clause is controversial and gives the Home Office the right to strip people of UK citizenship without warning. A petition calling for its removal received 325,000 signatures.
Following news that rail operator Northern would be cutting several train services from Harrogate station, Mr Jones wrote to the company’s chairman urging it to ‘rethink’. Despite his plea, Northern announced on March 29 that the cuts would be staying.
On March 24 Mr Jones called on the government to tackle fake ads that purport to be from consumer journalist Martin Lewis.
On March 29, Mr Jones posed for a picture at a Sight Loss Councils event in Westminster. The group briefed MPs on issues affecting blind and partially sighted people.

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

The Ripon MP praised Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky following his speech to MPs at the House of Commons on March 8. “Incredible leadership and resilience,” he tweeted.
On March 9 in the Commons, Mr Smith called on the government to “look again” at its approach to Ukrainian refugees.
On March 14, he thanked his “many constituents” for offering their homes as part Homes for Ukraine scheme that launched that week.
The former Northern Ireland secretary attended a St Patrick’s Day event at the Ireland Embassy in London on March 16.
Eight of his 11 tweets were related to Northern Ireland.
On March 14, Mr Smith voted against a Liberal Democrat amendment to the government’s Animal Welfare Bill that would force the government to publish the number of animals killed by sewage dumping in rivers every year.
Posting on his website on March, 18, Mr Smith said he was pleased to hear that work on the A59 at Kex Gill is expected to start at the end of this year.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

On March 30, the MP praised the bravery of fellow Tory MP Jamie Wallis for coming out as trans.
Whilst attending the Conservative Party spring conference in Blackpool, Mr Adams had another confrontation with ‘Stop Brexit Man’ Steve Bray. The MP said in a video: “I see a village has lost its idiot”. Last year, Mr Adams told Mr Bray to f*** off outside Parliament.
On March 20, the MP met the Ukraine ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, in Blackpool. He said it was “great to see him join the standing ovation for Boris Johnson”.

Andrew Jones MP urges Northern to ‘rethink’ cuts to Harrogate trains

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has written to the chairman of rail operator Northern urging him to “rethink” reductions to the service between Harrogate and Leeds.

The Stray Ferret reported last week that the 6.07am from Harrogate to Leeds — the first of the day — will be axed from May 15. Some evening services will also be cut.

Brian Dunsby, of Harrogate Line Supporters Group, branded the move ‘disgraceful’ and called for a rethink.

Now Mr Jones has also said the decision should be reconsidered. The Conservative MP said:

“Over the last 12 years we have seen steady improvements to our local rail services. The hated pacer trains have gone, we have more direct services to London with the Azumas and we had seen welcome increases in services to Leeds and York.

“Many groups and individuals lobbied hard to get those changes and we worked with regional and national rail companies in a positive and constructive way. None of us want to see these hard-won improvements lost.”

Mr Jones added that some long-term changes were understandable because of the trend towards working from home. He said>

“However these changes won’t be forever and there are other pressures in the local and national economy – such as the increase in fuel prices, the strength of the jobs market, the re-opening of the conference and exhibition business and the emphasis on greener methods of travel – which seem likely to lead to an increase in public transport use.

“It is simply therefore too early to judge whether it is right to consolidate the cuts made during the covid lockdowns into the timetable and add new reductions on top of that.”

Mr Jones said he had written to Robin Gisby, chairman of Northern, “asking him to pause any proposed service reductions between Harrogate and Leeds and consider reversing the earlier reductions in stages so that we get back to the level of service we had pre-pandemic”.

Derelict Knaresborough High Street properties restored

A row of derelict properties on Knaresborough High Street have been renovated with a £1m investment from Harrogate Borough Council.

The council bought the seven Grade II listed properties in 2019 after they had been unoccupied for several years. They consist of three retail units and four residences.

Renovation began with planning permission and listed building consent in 2020, and has just been completed.

One of the properties that did not need renovation has already been occupied by Knaresborough Exotic Rescue.

The other properties have been listed for rent or sale.

Councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader and Cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, said;

“These properties had been a blight on the high street in Knaresborough for several years.

“But after they were brought to our attention by Councillor Darling, we recognised the potential they could have to provide both homes and business spaces, we took the necessary steps to purchase them.”

A former resident of one of the properties, Ms Hassall, wrote to Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones to share her thanks for the project, saying;

“I am so very pleased that 82a Knaresborough High Street has been renovated; I lived there when I first got married in 1949.

It was quite a bad state then. However, we decorated it and made it as nice as we could.

It is good to see these properties being renovated.”

Police still investigating missing Porsches at former Knaresborough car dealership

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that an investigation into missing Porsche sports cars at a former Knaresborough dealership Gmund Cars is still ongoing.

The police launched its investigation in the summer of 2019 after allegations from customers that Gmund transferred ownership of more than £1 million worth of cars without their permission.

In July 2019, North Yorkshire Police arrested a man in his fifties but no charges have been brought currently.

No further arrests have been made since the investigation began.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said last week:

“The investigation is ongoing and as such we cannot provide any further statement.”

Frustration

One customer of Gmund, who asked not to be named, told the Stray Ferret last week that they are “very frustrated” with the pace of the investigation.

The customer bought a car from Gmund but said they have been told by the police they are not able to sell or modify it until the investigation is complete.

They said:

“I am very frustrated with the protracted process and total lack of transparency. After three years, the pace at which this is being conducted is incredible.”

History

The company started in 2006 and built up a strong reputation as a place that bought and sold classic Porsche cars.

In 2020, six alleged victims told the Stray Ferret spoke to about their experiences with the firm.

The company, which was based at the Nidd Valley Business Park, has now been dissolved and its owner Andrew Mearns was declared bankrupt.

His wife, the former Conservative councillor for Knaresborough Scriven Park, Samantha Mearns, was company secretary until December 2018.

Ms Mearns told the Stray Ferret in 2020 she was never interviewed by police in relation to the allegations.

In July 2021, she resigned from the council and moved to Wales citing family reasons.

MPs watch: Criticising the Prime Minister and trips to Qatar

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In February, war broke out in Ukraine and all legal restrictions for covid were lifted after almost two years.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, Mr Jones:

Writing on his local “news” website, Community News, on February 1, Mr Jones commented on the release of the Sue Gray Downing Street parties report. He said he was “disappointed” the full report would not be published until after the police investigation but called the alleged events at Downing Street a “sorry state of affairs.”
On February 15, the MP posed for a photo with Copgrove-based Abacus Manufacturing owner Ian Pattison. The pair discussed how the business had coped during covid and its expansion plans.
The MP is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure. On February 23 he posed for a photo with chancellor Rishi Sunak and leading figures from the civil engineering industry.
At PMQs on the same day, Mr Jones asked the prime minister if the NHS would review the system for identifying people most vulnerable to covid, as he said some are at risk of being missed.
The MP defended Harrogate District Hospital after the Local Democracy Service revealed 800 patients were allowed to return to their care homes without being tested for covid. Mr Jones said :“This must have been extremely difficult for them particularly in the early days of the pandemic when the world was fighting against something new.”

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

The MP was uncharacteristically outspoken on Twitter during February. On February 1 he criticised prime minister Boris Johnson for suggesting labour leader Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile while he was Director of Public Prosecutions. He wrote: “The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Saville yesterday is wrong & cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust & can’t just be accepted as part of the cut & thrust of parliamentary debate.”
After Keir Starmer was harassed outside Parliament a week later, Mr Smith again called for the PM to withdraw the “false slur” about Jimmy Savile.
In a tweet on February 26, he urged the UK government to “make an immediate open, welcoming and warm hearted commitment of sanctuary to those who wish to leave Ukraine. Rip up the usual bureaucracy and let’s just say they are welcome and we will make it as easy as possible to be here.”
On February 9, Children from Masham C of E Primary School visited Mr Smith in Parliament. He tweeted that he was envious of their Happy Meal at the end of the day.
The MP criticised fellow Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg who suggested civil servants do not make British life better. Mr Smith replied “Have to disagree. Massive thanks to all local, devolved & central gov civil servants.”

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

The MP said on February 1 he was “delighted’ that North Yorkshire would become an Education Investment Area. Ministers plan to offer retention payments in those areas to keep the best teachers and prioritise them for new specialist sixth form free schools.
On Twitter, the MP praised his boss Boris Johnson for hiring the “fabulous” ex-BBC and GB News journalist Guto Harri as his new director of communications.
On February 16, the MP visited Qatar for a trip to help drum up trade to the UK.
Mr Adams’ constituency includes Tadcaster, just outside the Harrogate district, which was hit by floods in February. He told ITV the Environment Agency needs to ‘get their fingers out’ and invest in flood defences for the town.

Fresh calls to reinstate Harrogate Wedderburn bus

Fresh calls have been made to reinstate a Harrogate bus service which was scrapped more than three years ago.

The 104 service between Wedderburn Road and Harrogate town centre was removed in November 2018, despite efforts from residents and councillors to save the service.

Locals say the scrapping of the service has left elderly and disabled residents cut adrift and forced to pay for taxis to get into town.

However, with North Yorkshire County Council bidding for a £116 million to help fund bus services, there have been renewed calls to reinstate the service.

Removal was a ‘slap in the face’

Lynne Hallums lives on Stonefall Drive, which the bus used to serve as part of its circular of the Wedderburn Estate.

She has chronic nerve pain, fibromyalgia and has to wear a hearing aid. Lynne used to take the 104 into town around four times a week.

She said the bus used to serve a large elderly community, all of which knew each other. It was also a means of getting to Mowbray Square medical centre and the hospital.

But now she says the removal of the service has left them without regular transport and cut them off as a community.

Lynne said:

“When they said they were going to take it [the bus] away, it was like a slap in the face.”

After the removal of the 104 bus, a voluntary service known as “dial-a-ride” was put on to serve the estate.

However, Lynne says that the voluntary service needed to be booked in advance and did not help those who wanted to go into town regularly.

Meanwhile, elderly and disabled residents are forced to either walk to Wetherby Road or Knaresborough Road to catch a bus.

Lynne bought her house on Stonefall Drive 12 years ago and said the bus stop outside her house was a key selling point.

However, she says she is now considering moving after two years of covid lockdowns and the lack of a regular service to get into town and meet people has had an affect on her mental health.

“I need to get out of this house, my mental health is suffering.

“We do not get to see anyone. We cannot support the local businesses.”

Renewed calls to reinstate

The subsidy for the 104 service was withdrawn in May 2014 when North Yorkshire county councillors agreed that town services should no longer be subsidised.

The decision was made in an effort to save the council £1.1 million and Connexions, which operated the service, subsequently stopped running the bus in 2018.

Craig Temple, director of the company, said the removal of the subsidy was the starting point which led to the service being stopped.

He said:

“I did not want to take it off. The people were lovely and it is not something that we wanted to do.

“We looked at other ways of reintroducing it. I would love to put it back on, the people were great customers and it breaks my heart.”

He added that the loss of subsidy, drop in passenger numbers due to covid and the lack of small buses in its fleet to be able to serve Wedderburn meant it was unlikely that the company would be able to reintroduce the service.

However, residents, local councillors and Andrew Jones, Conservative Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, have called for it to be reinstated.

Ahead of the county council bidding for funding for improved bus services, Mr Jones said he hoped a Wedderburn service would be included in its proposal as the removal of the service had “cut off a whole section of our community from the hospital, the medical centre at Mowbray Square and the town centre”.

Cllr Chris Aldred (left) and Andrew Jones MP.

Cllr Chris Aldred, the Liberal Democrat councillor who represents the Fairfax ward on Harrogate Borough Council, to the Stray Ferret that while the removal of the service may make sense commercially, he was “not convinced” it served residents well.

He added that he had raised the idea of reinstating the service as part of the county council’s bus improvement strategy, which it has bid to government for £116 million of funding for.

Cllr Aldred said:

“Despite this strategy, I cannot see it returning. There does not seem to be anything in that strategy for local services.”

£116m bus strategy

The council’s plan asks for £116 million of government cash over the next eight years to fund support for existing and new services, a simpler ticketing system, better information on journeys and other measures.

The aim is for services to cover the whole of North Yorkshire and has been dubbed an “enormous challenge” by Cllr Don Mackenzie, Conservative executive county councillor for highways.

It is hoped these targets will be also met through so-called enhanced partnerships where councils agree to infrastructure improvements in return for better services from bus companies.

The Stray Ferret asked the county council whether any restating of the 104 service to Wedderburn was included in its plan and, if it wasn’t, what measures does the authority intend to implement to help elderly residents with public transport.

Michael Leah, assistant director for travel, environment and countryside service at the county council, said:

“Our Bus Service Improvement Plan does not include details of individual bus services or journeys yet instead outlines how we aim to expand services and support those which already exist. We continue to provide a discretionary £1.5 million budget to subsidise local bus services which provide fixed route and timetabled bus services that are not discretely commercially viable.

“In partnership with our operators, we aim to increase passenger numbers and therefore, through increasing commercial viability in this way, seek to extend the bus network as well as increase frequency of services.

“Through the plan, and based on funding received, we are committed to delivering more flexible, on-demand services following the successful YorBus pilot in Bedale, Ripon and Masham. YorBus is fully accessible, with low floor access and a ramp access for users of wheelchairs, pushchairs and those with mobility difficulties.

“We have just concluded the public consultation on proposals in our enhanced partnership plan. A report incorporating the feedback will go to our executive in March to consider the enhanced partnership with bus operators, with a view to that partnership coming into effect from April 1, 2022.”

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Analysis

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What is Community News?

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Frustration

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History

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Removal was a ‘slap in the face’

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Renewed calls to reinstate

£116m bus strategy