Fire and Crime Commissioner Archives

New figures show North Yorkshire ‘safest place in England’

North Yorkshire is the safest place in England, the county’s acting chief constable has said after new crime figures were released.

Elliot Foskett made the claim after three-year crime trend figures showed North Yorkshire has a lower crime rate than the England and Wales average in all but one of 15 categories. Bicycle theft was the exception.

The figures were revealed during an online public meeting yesterday (March 25) held by North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe.

Temporary assistant chief constable Catherine Clarke said the figures, for the period from March 2021 and Feb 2024 showed all areas of crime were lower than in recent years with the exception of the period during covid.

Acting chief constable Foskett then said:

“This for me is the big one. This makes North Yorkshire the safest place in England.”

He said crime levels usually rose during summer but the trend last year from May to August was “significantly flat”, adding:

“What this means at the end of the day is fewer victims of crime. I don’t want to underplay this because I think it is such a huge thing for this county.

“Everytime I go out speaking to people in the street or in the community, sometimes they don’t realise just how safe it is here.”

A slide from the meeting showing crime levels.

Temporary ACC Clarke’s presentation also said the response rate for answering 999 calls was “vastly improved”.

The national target for police forces is to answer 90% of calls within 10 seconds. In February this year the figure in North Yorkshire was 89%, she said.

The response time for answering non-emergency 101 calls has also improved but remains below the target of 90% of calls being answered in 120 seconds.

North Yorkshire Police is currently achieving 75%, with the longest wait for a 101 call being one hour 23 minutes.

Yesterday’s public meeting was the first since the publication of a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services recognising significant improvements in North Yorkshire Police after a highly critical previous inspection in October 2022.

It was also the last police public meeting chaired by Ms Metcalfe before her role is taken over by whoever is elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire on May 2.

Four Harrogate firefighters to be axed in April

The number of firefighters stationed in Harrogate will be cut by four in April.

The move, which will save £210,000, is part of plans to reduce the number of nighttime fire engines based in the town from two to one.

The Stray Ferret broke the news in 2022 that Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner planned to shed frontline firefighting jobs as part of her Risk and Resource Model, which sets out how fire resources will be deployed.

The proposals were later adopted despite widespread safety concerns but they have yet to be implemented.

A report that will be debated by councillors on Thursday (January 11) about setting the police and fire service precepts for the next financial year gives a brief update.

It says Harrogate will have four fewer firefighters from April this year. Scarborough is due to lose four firefighters next year, saving another £215,000. Another seven firefighters, described as ‘operational staffing reserve’, will also go in April next year, saving £375,000.

The report, which comes after Ms Metcalfe hinted council taxpayers may have to pay more for police and fire services this year, warns “finances continue to be exceptional tight”.

The Stray Ferret asked Ms Metcalfe’s office how many firefighters will remain at Harrogate after the changes take effect and whether those affected had been offered alternative roles.

A spokesperson said:

“The proposals in the precept report are in line with the consultation and decisions made in relation to the Risk and Resource Model in September 2022.

“The report to which your questions refer will be discussed at the police, fire and crime panel meeting on Thursday, January 11 and it would not be appropriate for us to provide any further information at this time.”

The North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Panel, which is a joint committee of North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council, scrutinises the performance of the commissioner.

How will it work?

Harrogate Fire Station

Currently, Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road has one fire engine which can respond to all callouts and one smaller tactical response vehicle. Both operate around the clock.

The tactical response vehicle will be replaced by a larger fire engine but it will only be crewed during the day.

Ms Metcalfe’s Risk and Resource Model said more fires occur during daytime, and having two fire engines at Harrogate would provide better daytime protection at key times.

But the second Harrogate appliance won’t be staffed between 10pm and 9am, meaning greater dependence on on-call firefighters in Knaresborough when a second fire engine is required at major incidents.

Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe hints at council tax increase

Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe has hinted council taxpayers in North Yorkshire will have to pay more for police and fire services next year.

The commissioner sets the annual police and fire precepts – the amounts dedicated to policing and fire and rescue services in North Yorkshire and York from every household.

Ms Metcalfe has opened a consultation on how much people are willing to spend on this in their council tax bills from April next year. The sum will be added to the amount charged by North Yorkshire Council and local parish councils for residents’ final council tax bills from April next year.

Three of the options presented in the consultation are for council tax increases. One suggests a freeze and none suggest a reduction. The freeze option is accompanied by the statement, ‘this would be a significant cut to the fire budget due to inflation and current levels of service delivery could not be maintained’.

The suggested increases are for 2.99%, 6.2% and 9.3%, which would be the equivalent of an extra £2.41, £5 and £7.50 a year respectively.

Ms Metcalfe said:

“It is never easy to ask residents for more money, and I know that many individuals and families are facing financial pressures once again this coming year, but our emergency services are also dealing with rising costs as they continue their vital work to keep us all safe.

“And again, this year the decision will be challenging, as I have to balance the burden on taxpayers and the growing demands for services from our police and fire and rescue services, so it’s vital that I hear your views.

“Please go online, take just a few minutes to have your say and I will ensure your views are reflected when decisions are made.”

The survey runs until midnight Monday, January 21 and you can participate here.

After the consultation ends, Ms Metcalfe will submit her proposals to the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel in February.

The panel, which is a joint committee of North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council, can make recommendations on the proposal but the commissioner will ultimately decide the outcome.

Ms Metcalfe’s role will be taken over by whoever is elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire in May next year.

Harrogate bar staff to be trained to prevent attacks on women

Harrogate hospitality workers are to receive training on how to make women feel safer in the town centre at night.

Zoë Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, announced today her office had been awarded up to £309,911 from the Home Office’s safer streets fund to improve safety for women and girls.

It will fund various initiatives, including vulnerability and spiking awareness training for staff employed in the nighttime economy in Harrogate.

The training aims to make women feel safer at night and tackle violence against women and girls.

The funding will also provide free video doorbells for repeat victims of domestic abuse and stalking.

The commissioner’s office has also secured up to £689,607 from the Home Office to prevent neighbourhood crime, most of which will be spent on security upgrades at homes and farms in and around Scarborough and York.

Ms Metcalfe said:

“Preventing burglary, tackling rural crime and improving safety for women and girls are priority areas within my police and crime plan and violence against women and girls strategy and these initiatives will have a real, tangible impact on how safe people feel both in and outside their homes.”

Police criticised over delays to Ripon Town Hall move

North Yorkshire Police has been accused of a “flagrant breach of trust” by a councillor because its planned move into Ripon Town Hall has still not happened.

In February, the office for North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe issued a press release to say that a £91,000 refurbishment of space in the town hall was already underway to give officers more of a presence in the city centre.

But six months later none of the works have actually taken place, which has led Cllr Andrew Williams to describe the original press release as “complete and utter bunkum” in an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Cllr Williams, who is leader of Ripon City Council and also represents the Conservatives and Independents group on North Yorkshire Council, criticised North Yorkshire Police and the crime commissioner for not delivering on their pledge.

Cllr Williams said:

“I’d like to see North Yorkshire Police honour their commitment and have an opportunity for residents to speak to officers in the city.

“I’m sick of procrastination and prevarication and now is the time for action.

“It’s a fragrant breach of trust with the public that she has issued this instruction but it’s not been delivered.”

Since the covid pandemic, Ripon has suffered from a series of anti-social behaviour problems and councillors were hopeful the move to create a public consultation room, an office and a break out room for officers, will help tackle crime in the city.

This would become an additional site to Ripon’s main Police and Fire Station based at Stonebridgegate.

Police response

A spokesperson for the crime commissioner said following the decision to approve funding for the move into the town hall, the ground floor space originally offered by Harrogate Borough Council was changed by the new North Yorkshire Council, in conjunction with Ripon City Council.

Alternative space was then offered on the second floor which it said will need to be assessed for “public accessibility and operational use”.

The spokesperson said:

“Commissioner Zoë is committed to ensuring that the residents of Ripon are provided with consistent, visible policing, and it is understood that North Yorkshire Police are currently in the process of assessing a number of additional sites in the heart of the City to ensure the local policing team are accessible to the public.

Ms Metcalfe added:

“When elected as police, fire and crime commissioner I made a commitment to the people of North Yorkshire that I would strive to ensure that they would always be safe and feel safe, with efficient use of public resources being one of my five key priorities.”

Reduction in Harrogate fire engines to begin next year

The reduction in the number of fire engines based in Harrogate overnight is expected to take effect next year.

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe announced the move last year as part of her three-year fire service blueprint on how resources would be deployed in the county.

The reduction, which is part of a shift towards fire prevention, prompted widespread concerns about safety, particularly life-threatening delays at Starbeck level crossing if a second fire engine were required in an emergency.

Conservative Ms Metcalfe also agreed to reduce the number of overnight fire engines at Scarborough and to have on-call rather than full-time firefighters at Huntington, near York.

Harrogate fire station

Her draft fire and rescue annual report for 2022/23, which was discussed by a panel today, says North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is consulting with trade unions around the implementation of the changes to Huntington station.

The report adds this is expected to be finalised by the end of the year then ‘Harrogate will form the second phase of implementation’.

Harrogate firefighters affected will be redeployed to other stations or roles, including fire prevention roles.

Harrogate and Scarborough will have two larger emergency rescue fire engines during daytime, when most fires occur. They currently have one of these and one smaller tactical response appliance. Her report says:

“This will increase the capacity and capability to respond to an emergency when demand is at its greatest, improve resilience across the service area and increase the opportunity to undertake prevention and protection activities during these hours.

“This change will take place at Harrogate first and, on completion of a full review of the implementation of the change, be extended to Scarborough.”

An ambulance waiting at Starbeck level crossing — there are fears this will happen more frequently to fire engines under the changes.

Councillor Pat Marsh, a Liberal Democrat who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone on North Yorkshire Council, said the changes were putting people “at risk”.

She added:

“I totally support the emphasis on prevention but we still need to make sure that if accidents and incidents happen we have the right response with the appropriate number of fire engines and firemen.

“The government should set a standard service per head of population. Our Residents should get the service they pay for not a reduced service.”

Knaresborough’s ex-crime commissioner sells marketing firm

Former crime commissioner Philip Allott has sold a majority stake in the Knaresborough marketing firm he founded almost 30 years ago.

Allott and Associates has become part of the Breakout Media Group, a digital marketing agency based in Stockton-on-Tees, the two firms announced today.

Mr Allott will continue to be involved as a consultant but has relinquished his role as director. Breakout Media founder Mike Lewis will take charge as managing director.

Mr Allott, who set up the business with his wife Sandra in 1994, said the move was “a step into the realms of semi-retirement” although besides his consultancy role he and Sandra remain directors of Boardroom Matters, which provides data protection and legal services.

The former pupil of Knaresborough’s King James’s School has combined marketing with a career in politics, having served as leader of the Conservatives on Harrogate Borough Council and stood unsuccessfully for election as a Conservative MP five times.

He was elected North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in May 2021 but stood down in October the same year in the wake of criticism of comments he made on the murder of Sarah Everard.

Today’s news creates a fully integrated marketing agency serving with more than 20 staff in disciplines ranging from public relations and direct mail to social media, content marketing and SEO.

Mr Allott told the Stray Ferret he had reached an age where he wanted to wind down and the acquisition presented an opportunity “that’s good for the business and clients”.

He added:

“It’s been an honour to grow Allotts into the agency it’s become, with a very talented team and clients literally across the world from Canada to Europe, Asia to Australia.

“I’m delighted to hand over the reins to Mike as part of the succession plan and equally delighted that I’ll still be involved in the company to see where it takes the group next.”

Breakout Media aims to create a group of specialist marketing agencies covering the whole of the UK.

Mr Lewis said:

“Breakout Media has grown massively since I founded it five years ago and I’ve been looking for a PR and marketing agency with synergy and similar values to our own – and we found them in Allotts.

“This move is part of an ambitious growth strategy to make Breakout Media Group a dominant force in the UK and international marketing landscape. It’s business as usual going forward, as Allotts has a great formula for delivering for clients – and that can only be improved by the highly complementary skill sets across our teams. I can’t wait to get cracking.”

Commissioner rules out Harrogate fire engine rethink despite faulty data

North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe has ruled out reconsidering plans to reduce the number of nighttime fire engines based in Harrogate.

Ms Metcalfe’s three-year fire service blueprint last year decided the number of overnight appliances at the Skipton Road fire station would be cut from two to one.

One of the main concerns during consultation was this could lead to life-threatening delays at Starbeck level crossing if a second fire engine were required in an emergency.

Ms Metcalfe allayed fears by telling councillors firefighters knew the train times and could ring ahead to Network Rail if they needed to cross urgently.

But her office admitted last month this information, which it said had been “relayed in good faith by the commissioner”, was incorrect, which heightened concerns.

Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative, responded by saying concerns about Starbeck level crossing had been “the subject of limited media coverage”.

She added there was “misunderstanding on the part of the media and therefore also local stakeholders and the public” about the significance of Starbeck level crossing in her Risk and Resource Model 2022 to 2025, which outlines how fire service resources should be deployed.

She added:

“I want to reiterate that the Risk and Resource Model proposals were subject of a detailed modelling and consultation process undertaken in support of the review of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service provision.

“The nature of the misunderstanding does not warrant a reconsideration of the resource proposals and statutory planning process that is now complete.”

But Ms Metcalfe added:

“Nonetheless, I recognise that local concerns about this misunderstanding should be addressed and I propose to offer a meeting with myself and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, should any local councillor wish to avail themselves of that opportunity.”

‘Gates down for five minutes’

Cllr Pat Marsh, a Liberal Democrat on North Yorkshire Council who raised concerns about Starbeck level crossing with Ms Metcalfe last year, said the issue “cannot be batted away” and called for a meeting at the level crossing. She added:

“I have major concerns when the gates are down for a long period of time and ambulances and fire engines are waiting it can make the difference between life and death as it did in my family.

“The gates are down on some occasions for at least five minutes. If you are having a heart attack or your house is on fire every minute is precious.”

Cllr Paul Haslam, a Conservative on North Yorkshire Council, said he was willing to meet Ms Metcalfe in the hope of putting pressure on Network Rail. He said:

“We have been working round this issue for a long time.”

Fewer than half of 999 calls in North Yorkshire being answered on time

Just 44% of 999 calls in North Yorkshire are being answered on time, according to figures in a new report.

The report by the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner‘s office said the national target is for 90% of 999 calls to be answered in under 10 seconds.

But between November 2021 and November 2022, only 44% were answered within this time in the county.

The document also revealed that between February and December 2022, the average non-emergency 101 call answer time ranged from 4 minutes and 3 seconds to 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Unlike for 999 calls, nationally there is no imposed target for answering 101 calls.

Police, fire and crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has described the figures as “unacceptable”.

Her office has awarded the force control room a £1.8 million a year to improve the times.

The report, which will be debated by North Yorkshire County Council‘s police, fire and crime panel on February 6, said:

“This investment will enable the Chief Constable to fund 36 additional communications officers, 12 additional dispatchers, six established trainers and two additional police inspectors.”

The document highlights how call volume has increased, saying:

“Nationally there has been a 16% increase in 999 calls to the police, and 2022 saw the highest number of emergency calls to North Yorkshire Police ever in one month (over 10,000 in July and August).”

The report also said the commissioner “wants the force to explore how they could deliver a long-term programme of public education and awareness about when to contact the police, and the most appropriate method for doing so”.

North Yorkshire Police usually receives over 10,000 emergency 999 calls a month.

North Yorkshire Police using lie detector tests to target sex offenders

North Yorkshire Police is using lie detector tests to target suspected and convicted sex offenders across the county.

At a public accountability meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner this afternoon, the force’s head of safeguarding, Heather Whorriskey, revealed officers have used a polygraph test 87 times since it first started using the equipment in October 2020.

The tests work by measuring how a person responds to certain questions, such as if their blood pressure rises or if they get sweaty palms, to detect traits associated with lying.

However, the tests are controversial as they are not 100% accurate and the results can’t be used as evidence in the courts.

After a guest on ITV’s Jeremy Kyle Show died after reportedly failing a lie detector test, MPs in 2019 criticised the producers after they admitted they did not know how reliable their lie detector tests were.

Detective Superintendent Whorriskey said NYP uses the tests before a suspect is charged to investigate if they have been in communication with children using a device.

The tests are also used on “lower-level” people on the sexual offenders register to understand the risk they might pose to the public.

However, Det Supt Whorriskey said many people about to take these test reveal things before it starts as they “realise their answers are likely to give away some untruths.”

She said:

“It’s used quite significantly whenever offenders are using communication devices to assess whether or not they have engaged in further communication with children. We’re able to use that to prioritise those devices for examination within our digital forensic unit.”

Det Supt Whorriskey said the use of polygraph tests is increasing and will be used 13 times in the next three weeks alone. She added:

“It identifies unknown risks and offences we would not have known about without having used the equipment. It’s absolutely value for money.”

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‘Gates down for five minutes’

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