Labour names candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough

The Labour Party has selected Conrad Whitcroft as its candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next general election.

Mr Whitcroft, who has never previously stood for parliament, lives in York and works as a project manager for insurance firm Aviva.

He was elected to represent Fishergate on City of York Council this month and supported David Skaith’s successful mayoral campaign for Labour.

Mr Whitcroft attended school in Northampton then graduated from the University of York with a degree in politics.

A profile on the York Labour Party website describes him as an ‘active union rep’ and environmental campaigner. He has also been an intern in the House of Commons.

Mr Skaith’s victory in this month’s York and North Yorkshire mayoral election boosted local Labour supporters.

But the party faces an uphill battle to win in Harrogate and Knaresborough at the next general election. Mark Sewards, its candidate in 2019, polled just 10% of votes to finish third behind Conservative Andrew Jones and Liberal Democrat Judith Rogerson.

Mr Jones will defend the seat for the Tories while Tom Gordon will stand for the Lib Dems.

Conrad Whitcroft with supporters.

In a Labour press release today, Mr Whitcroft said Harrogate and Knaresborough “has been let down by more than a decade of Conservative-led government”.

He added:

“It will be an honour to lead the campaign for Labour in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

“My priorities in our area include tackling anti-social behaviour, building more affordable housing and working closely with David Skaith.

“I know Harrogate and Knaresborough well and enjoy campaigning there with the local Labour Party. I particularly enjoy the Knaresborough-based Turning Point Brewery which I have had a tour of in the past.”

The press release added:

“As a councillor, Conrad has delivered ward funding to fight the cost of living crisis and has recently taken a leading role in a campaign to stop a new takeaway in a residential area.

Harrogate-born Mr Skaith said:

“Conrad worked hard for my election campaign and has proven himself as a councillor. He will make an excellent Labour candidate for my home town.”

Chris Watt, chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour Party, said:

“As Labour’s win in Harrogate and Knaresborough in the recent mayoral election showed, it’s all to play for locally and when Rishi Sunak finally has the courage to call the election the choice will be clear: more chaos under the Tories or real change and a fresh start with Labour.

“Conrad has shown that’s he an effective and energetic campaigner who gets results and we are looking forward to working with him for the people of Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

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Mayor for North Yorkshire agreed in £540m historic devolution deal

An historic agreement has been announced today that sees the biggest shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire and York for more than fifty years.

The 30 year devolution deal agreed by the government will mean North Yorkshire and York will see an elected Mayor in 2024 with £540 million pounds of government cash to focus primarily on skills, housing and transport.

The mayor will take over the role of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and have an annual £18m budget to spend.

The agreement has been described as “a one-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North-South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural areas”.

The aim is that the mayor and combined authority – which would be made up of North Yorkshire and City of York councillers – will be able to have more control of strategic investment for jobs and skills and infrastructure.

Key points to the deal are:

The structure of the mayor and a combined authority will be similar that of the Tees Valley and West Yorkshire, which have already gone through the devolution process and have elected mayors.

North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The chance to secure a wide range of decision-making powers as well as bringing in millions of pounds of investment for North Yorkshire is a huge opportunity for us all to shape our own future for many years to come.

“It will make a real difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in North Yorkshire, driving future prosperity and much better opportunities that are so important to everyone.

“Whether it is improving skills and education, bringing in more investment to the region or helping improve transport links and providing much-needed affordable housing, the proposed deal would enable us to take far greater control of our own destinies.

“An elected mayor representing both York and North Yorkshire would be a powerful figure to have a seat at the table for further negotiations with the Government, bringing real and tangible benefits to the region.”

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North Yorkshire could get directly elected mayor by 2024

North Yorkshire could have a directly elected mayor as soon as 2024.

The move could unlock significant funding for the county, with the mayor responsible for allocating much of it.

He or she would assume control over areas such as transport and economic development for the whole of North Yorkshire. The mayoral office could also swallow up the role of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

The government announced yesterday that it would open negotiations over a devolution deal, including a mayor, with leaders at North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council as part of its levelling up agenda.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, and Cllr Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council, said they welcomed the decision by ministers, which could bring £2 billion worth of funding as part of the deal.

Council officials submitted a list of requests for devolved powers to government in December 2020 but negotiations were delayed by covid and the publication of the levelling up white paper.

‘Devolution can drive growth’

In a joint statement responding to the decision, Cllr Les and Cllr Aspden said:

“Yesterday’s announcement of a levelling up white paper brings York and North Yorkshire a step closer to a devolution deal.

“Devolution can unlock significant, long-term, investment for this region, driving growth and contributing to a stronger northern economy. It has the potential to bring improvements to areas such as public transport, infrastructure, support for businesses, education and skills, benefitting the people who live and work here.

“A devolution deal could also help deliver an ambition for this region to become England’s first carbon negative economy. We therefore welcome the commitment shown for levelling up and devolution in this announcement.

“We now look forward to entering into negotiations with government to secure the best possible deal for our region. We hope to see York and North Yorkshire taken forward as the first city-region rural powerhouse to make devolution a reality.”

In December 2020, council bosses submitted to government a 140-page document which outlined £2.4 billion worth of spending and proposals to take back further powers from Westminster.

More powers over transport, skills, regeneration and energy were included in the submission, as well as a mayoral funding pot worth £750 million over 25 years.

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Further funding proposals included a five-year transport settlement worth £250 million, £520 million of devolved funding for fibre connectivity, and a £230 million fund for the new mayor to share between the county’s towns.

However, Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, said the deal was subject to negotiations. He added that the deal would also be more than just the funding.

He said:

“What we have seen with other combined authorities is that it’s not necessarily about the devolution deal.

“What we have seen is a strong voice for a single county. This is not just about the deal, it is about constant engagement with government.”

The move towards a devolution deal comes as ministers made it a requirement that a unitary council is set up in North Yorkshire before any negotiations could proceed.

A mayor for North Yorkshire and York by 2024

Mr Flinton also told a press conference this morning that the timetable for negotiations could see a mayor in place in the county by May 2024.

A combined authority for the county, which would be headed by the mayor, could also be in place by 2023.

Mr Flinton said:

“We are going to work with government over the coming months with a view to a mayoral election in May 2024.

“That is subject to a number of factors and the deal that we do with government.”

Conservative Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen.

County council bosses have looked to Conservative Mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, as an example of a devolution deal in practice. Picture credit: Tees Valley Combined Authority.

The directly elected mayor could have powers over areas such as transport and economic development.

Mayors can also take on the role of police and crime commissioner for their area.

Mr Flinton pointed to other mayors in England, such as Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley, as examples of what council leaders were trying to achieve.

Mr Flinton added:

“He [Burnham] has got quite a broad suite of powers in terms of managing transport, skills and a coordinating role in the health service.”

The role of the mayor in North Yorkshire will be subject to further negotiations with government over the coming months.

‘Bleak’ future for North Yorkshire fire service due to underfunding

North Yorkshire’s fire and rescue service faces a bleak outlook due to chronic underfunding, systemic on-call staffing shortages, crumbling buildings and out of date vehicles, a meeting has heard,

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime panel was told the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the fire service, which serves about 824,000 people across the county, was working “exceptionally hard” to break even this year.

Chief financial officer Michael Porter told the meeting the service would be drawing on £638,000 of reserves to balance the books until April, but “next year is looking like it is going to be really challenging”.

Mr Porter said a £390,000 deficit had initially been forecast for 2022/23 from reserves to balance the 2022/23 budget, but that was likely to deepen significantly due to pay awards, soaring utility bills and increases in national insurance contributions.

The meeting heard unless restrictions on fire services increasing their council tax demands were eased by the government, the service would need to make more savings. Mr Porter said:

“There’s an awful lot of additional pressures that are lining up for the fire service for next year. Initial views on the settlement for next year are that it is probably not as generous as it has been for the police and the police have more scope to increase precept.”

The meeting heard members question why some £365,000 had been spent on “minor works” to fire service buildings, before hearing they were built as medium-term premises up to 70 years ago and constructed with interiors designed for a different time, when there were few female firefighters.

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Mr Porter said the service’s 30 buildings across the county and its fleet of vehicles had been significantly under-invested in for some time.

“There are a significant number of properties within the estate that are in dire need of replacement, as opposed to maintenance. The longer that we leave it or are unable to replace the buildings, the more we will have to spend patching them up.

“We have got an aged estate that doesn’t meet modern requirements and standards it is an inhibitor of what the organisation wants to do as it moves forward. We almost have to borrow every single penny we have to invest in the capital programme as it is. It is not a rosy picture.”

Sharing buildings

The meeting was told the fire service was considering sharing more buildings with other emergency services to cut costs, but the fire service needed to have bases spread across the county to reach emergencies in good time.

City of York Council leader Councillor Keith Aspden told the meeting recruitment issues over on-call firefighters had persisted for a long time, but overall funding was the key issue.

“Every time I see the fire minister I ask about capital grants for fire services and precept flexibility.  Unless something happens nationally things are going to get very difficult, particularly for services like this with relatively small budgets and rural areas.”

Interim Chief Fire Officer Jon Foster told members on-call recruitment remained a challenge due to changes in people’s lifestyles and covid had further impacted on it.

He said the service was examining changing terms and conditions and flexibility of being an on-call firefighter as the system was very outdated, paying a small amount for being available and a larger amount to attend calls.

After the meeting, the panel’s chair, Councillor Carl Les said:

“I think the situation is bleak. The fundamental problem is the overall funding for the fire and rescue service.

“Arguments will be made that the government grant could and should be increased, but also the fact that the precept regime with the fire and rescue service is very limited.

“I think we need to lobby the government that for small rural forces like North Yorkshire it would be useful if there was flexibility to go above the two per cent increase cap and levy an extra £5 or £10.

“We know that delivering services in rural areas is more expensive than delivering services in cities.

“For a number of years resources have been difficult to find to allocate for things like buildings and machinery that are getting older.”