Harrogate council’s Tory leaders take parting swipe at Gary Lineker and BBC

Harrogate Borough Council‘s Conservative leaders took a parting swipe at the BBC, Gary Lineker and local media at the final cabinet meeting last night.

The council will be abolished in just over a week’s time to make way for the new North Yorkshire Council.

The cabinet met to accept a £2.5 million grant from central government to help buy 21 homes for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, as reported last week.

Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council, said:

“One of the frustrating things about being a councillor in Harrogate is the amazing good things that are done by the Conservative government.

“This is another example, £100 million putting into the aid of people who really need it most and yet is ignored by the Gary Linekers of the world, the BBC of the world and media organisations in Harrogate who aspire to operate under the same principles of the BBC.”

Cllr Swift, who lost to Liberal Democrat Peter Lacey in his bid to represent Coppice Valley and Duchy division on North Yorkshire Council, added:

“I think it’s just fantastic that these sort of things are carried out. “

Council leader Richard Cooper, who did not stand for election to the new council, nodded in support of Cllr Swift’s comments and replied by saying what the government does “dun’t fit with the narrative sometime”.

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Cllr Mike Chambers, the cabinet member for housing and safer communities, added:

“It’s well known that Harrogate Borough Council over the years has always stood by those people who are in greater need than many of us.”

The money will come from the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund, which is a £500 million grant fund launched enabling English councils to provide housing for those unable to find accommodation.

In the Harrogate district, just over £2 million will go towards buying 19 homes for Ukrainians and just under £500,000 will help buy two larger four-bedroom homes for Afghan families currently in temporary accommodation.

Harrogate council wins £2.5m from government to house Afghan and Ukrainian refugees

Harrogate Borough Council is set to receive a £2.5 million from central government to help buy 21 homes for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

A report will go before the council’s Conservative-run cabinet next week that asks councillors to accept the grant and continue Harrogate’s “long and proud history” of welcoming refugees that dates back to the First World War.

Many Ukrainian families have found homes in the Harrogate district since Russia’s invasion through the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Afghan families have also arrived through resettlement schemes but there is still a “pressing need” to provide homes for those fleeing war zones, according to the report.

The money will come from the Local Authority Housing Fund, which is a £500 million grant fund launched by the government so English councils can provide housing for those unable to find accommodation.

In the Harrogate district, just over £2 million will go towards buying 19 homes for Ukrainians and just under £500,000 will help buy two larger four-bedroom homes for Afghan families currently in temporary accommodation.

Funding from the LAHF equates to 40% of the cost of a single property. A total of £20,000 per property is also available to cover administrative and repair costs.

The government asks that local authorities secure match-funding to raise the remaining money needed to buy a property and the report says Harrogate Borough Council has come to an agreement with Broadacres Housing Association, which is based in Northallerton.

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The LAHF grant will be managed by Broadacres, which will identify and buy the homes with the council’s approval.

They will then be refurbished by the housing association so they can meet the decent homes standards.

The government says all homes should be bought and ready to be moved into by November this year.

The report says:

“Harrogate has a long and proud history of welcoming those fleeing violence and oppression in their home countries. In the past, this has included Belgium victims of the First World War and Jewish people escaping the Nazis.

“More recently the area has welcomed Syrians, vulnerable children, Afghans and Ukrainians.

“The acceptance of these funds will help the UK’s humanitarian duties to assist those fleeing war and ultimately provide a lasting legacy by increasing the supply of accommodation available to local authorities to address homelessness pressures.”

Nearly half of Harrogate council meetings cancelled in November

A lack of Harrogate Borough Council business has led to nearly half of meetings being cancelled this past month.

The authority will be abolished in four months time and replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

The cancellation of so many meetings raises questions over how effective the council will be in its final days.

It had been due to hold 13 meetings in November — not including informal meetings — which included senior cabinet member meetings and a planning committee.

However, five of those meetings were cancelled. Last week the council did not hold a single meeting.

Just three public meetings were streamed live onto the council’s YouTube in November.

This included a cabinet meeting, where senior councillors made a key decision over the progress of three strategic housing sites.

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The Stray Ferret asked the borough council why so many meetings had been cancelled and why so few meetings had been streamed for the public to watch.

A council spokesperson said:

“Provisional dates for meetings are added to the calendar at the start of the municipal year. 

“Should these not be required, as there are no items to bring to said meeting, then they are cancelled.”

The authority is due to hold 12 meetings in December—- one of which has already been cancelled.

 

 

Council set to use compulsory purchase order on two empty homes in Harrogate district

Two houses which have been empty and in a state of disrepair could be brought back into use with compulsory purchase orders.

Harrogate Borough Council is considering the unusual move after extensive efforts to encourage the owners to improve the homes have failed.

A report due to be considered by the council’s committee tomorrow recommends beginning the CPO process for 16 Greenfields Drive in Harrogate and 4a Beech Lane in Spofforth.

It said:

“Compulsory purchase is usually a last resort, as the preference is to acquire by voluntary agreement wherever practicable. This is in accordance with the council’s empty homes strategy.

“It is considered, however, that the council has made every effort to secure the return to use of these properties and CPO is now the only realistic option. Although the offer of voluntary acquisition will remain open to the landowners throughout this process.”

Housing growth officer James Tuck said the “massive shortage of housing stock within the Harrogate district” justified the CPO for the two homes.

His report said there were 2,006 households on the council’s waiting list for rented housing, with a rented affordable housing shortfall of 208 homes and affordable sale housing of around half that number, according to the council’s housing and economic development needs assessment.

Regarding the Spofforth home, the report said:

“A letter was sent to the property in March 2019 as part of a complaint that it was empty. Initially it was very difficult to make contact with the owner despite numerous letters being sent.

“Once contact was made the owner agreed to resolve the external issues and plan to get the property occupied again. Despite occasional correspondence since, deadlines have frequently been missed and little progress has been made.

“The property was scored as part of the empty homes database and was observed at the time to be in a poor state of repair with overgrowth and looking generally rundown.

“Concerns have been raised by a local councillor and attempts have been made to establish a timeline with the owner but deadlines are regularly missed and the property remains empty.”

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The home in Harrogate was brought to the housing department’s attention by the environmental health team, while the owner was being pursued for council tax payments.

The council’s empty homes officer began trying to make contact in July 2021 but received no response, the report said. It added:

“The property was scored as part of the empty homes database and was observed at the time to be in a very bad way with an overgrown garden, disused car in the drive, windows needing paintwork, a board covering the back garden, and in a very rundown state of repair.

“In August 2021 the cabinet member for housing and safer communities approved the empty homes officer to make an offer to purchase the property and a letter was sent to the owner requesting a meeting to arrange a formal, independent RICS valuation of the property.

“No response was received so a second letter was sent advising enforcement action would now be pursued.”

Any CPO would need to be approved by the government’s secretary of state for communities and local government.