Free fairground rides for young children, will be a feature of events in Ripon for the rest of the year.
This will be subject to approvals from Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) in line with easing of covid lockdown restrictions.
Some families are facing a financially difficult summer and autumn.
The UK furlough scheme and safety nets, such as mortgage holidays, will be coming to an end. The rides are free to provide fun for families who cannot afford a holiday.
Ripon City Council also hopes the planned events will generate more footfall, which will be beneficial to retailers, cafes, restaurants, pubs and heritage attractions.
Councillor Pauline McHardy (pictured right) says the fairground rides will help families and traders in Ripon
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The first are planned to be in place alongside artisan markets to be held in Ripon on the Bank Holidays of 3 May and 31 May.
At a virtual meeting of the city council’s events committee, councillors agreed that three rides will be booked for Market Square on ten separate dates.
Councillor Pauline McHardy, said:
“I’m sorry to say that there is a lot of poverty in Ripon and more hard times lie ahead for many people, who are already finding it difficult to make ends meet.
“Some families will not be able to afford a holiday this year as they face financial uncertainty.
“We can help them by providing a means of entertaining their children, without the embarrassment of struggling to find the money for them to go on the rides.”
Councillor Chris Davis, was among those members who voted unanimously to support the proposed programme of events.
He said:
“As we come out of lockdown, we want to ensure that we hit the ground running and let people know that we are open for business.”
In addition to the spring and summer months, the fairground rides will operating on other key dates including Halloween, the switch on of the city’s Christmas lights on 19 November and two Christmas markets in December.
Harrogate businesses welcome furlough extension
Business owners in the Harrogate district have welcomed an extension to the furlough scheme which they say will help to save jobs.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the scheme, which covers 80% of employee salaries, will be extended until September this year.
Mr Sunak also confirmed that a business rates holiday will be extended until June, as well as a 5% VAT reduction for the hospitality and tourism sectors for six months.
An extra £5 billion worth of grants for high street shops and hospitality have also been announced. It will see pubs and hotels able to bid for £18,000 worth of funding.
Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park Hotel and Spa, said he was pleased with the extension to the furlough scheme.
He said:
“I’m delighted with that because it will be flexible furlough and it will mean that we do not have to carry that wage bill if we do not have customers.
“It means that my team will still be able to pay their mortgages. We are lucky that we as a business have more fat on our back, but there are lots who live hand to mouth.”
Elsewhere in his budget, Mr Sunak announced a further £400 million financial support for the arts.
The money will be added to the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, which has already awarded £800 million in grants to theatres, museums and music venues.
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Ripon Cathedral, Harrogate Theatre, the Deer Shed Festival, Ripon Museum Trust and Ripon Amateur Operatic Society are among the local beneficiaries of the fund so far.
David Bown, chief executive of the Harrogate Theatre, said he was pleased with the announcements on furlough and arts funding.
However, he added that more detail was required on the schemes.
He said:
“The furlough scheme will allow us to bring staff back in a measured way when we have got the details on when we can reopen.
“The funding for the arts is great news, but again we will have to find out the detail on the criteria and how we can access that.”
Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festival, agreed the “devil would be in the detail”.
She said:
Harrogate district businesses await details of support in Budget“The items that would affect us are the fourth and fifth grants. It is great that people in the arts are being recognised, especially those who may have missed out previously because of the way their business is set up.
“The devil will be in the detail, particularly for our industry, given all the unknowns on the reopening.”
Businesses across the Harrogate district are eagerly awaiting details of the support on offer to them in the Chancellor’s Budget, to be announced later today.
An extension to the furlough scheme, continued business rates relief and moves to support sole traders are high on the list of hopes for local business leaders.
Mike Patterson, head of employment at law firm Berwins, said support for continuing employment was vital, as well as more support being offered to self-employed people. He said:
“The furlough scheme has been a major financial lifeline for many businesses, especially those forced to close during this lockdown, and for it to continue for another few months would be a massive boost in helping to save jobs and hopefully minimise redundancies.
“We’re also expecting the Chancellor to announce a new wave of grants for the self-employed. Although this scheme could either be scrapped or scaled back from May when lockdown restrictions are expected to start being lifted and self-run businesses could reopen.
“There are then the sole traders and company directors we act for who have had no income support from the government at all. We’re aware that the Chancellor is under pressure to introduce a support scheme for those in this category and I hope to see support for those who have fallen through the gaps of previous support – up to three million people.”
Neil Addley, left, and Mike Patterson
Neil Addley, who runs automotive data specialist firm JudgeService, is expecting an increase in corporation tax, as well as sector-specific support. For JudgeService’s clients, keeping fuel duty and vehicle tax static would help, along with measures to support the infrastructure for electric vehicles, both for business and personal use.
Mr Addley, who launched new public survey platform YourPoll in autumn 2020, said rates reductions and a short-term cut in VAT would help the high street. However, he said he felt positive about the prospects for his businesses and the local economy over the coming months:
“Demand for vehicles and for reviews is likely to rise as we emerge from lockdown. Hospitality will reopen. People have been cooped up for the best part of a year and will be happy to splash the cash.”
His views were echoed by Marc Squires and Kevin Masheder of SignHub, who work with many hospitality clients. Marc said:
“It would be good to see the possibility of support extended as things are still up and down and it might be a while until businesses can return to normal later in the year.
“We work with a lot of local retail and hospitality businesses so, if the government can help get them going again with support and schemes to help them once they are back open, this will have a positive knock-on effect to other businesses that rely on working with them too, which hopefully will boost the local and national economy.”
For the property sector, the biggest question is whether the stamp duty holiday will be continued. Tim Waring, head of residential at estate agent Lister Haigh, said:
“Some form of tapering would be logical as a possible three-month extension would merely be deferring the ‘cliff edge’. This is not the answer to achieve market stability.
“The property market thrives on confidence and at this time, people want more than anything to hear good news. Economic uncertainties, including Brexit which seems to have dropped out of the headlines, will not produce a thriving housing market.”
Mr Waring said he also wants to see measures brought in locally to ensure town centres are able to reopen, even if some businesses do not survive. He called on Harrogate Borough and North Yorkshire County councils to work together with local businesses to bring people back to the high street, such as through lower parking charges.
Marc Squires, left, and Teresa Bowe
Looking across all sectors, Teresa Bowe, founder of CCF Accountancy, said the government had to balance the need to maintain the economy and employment against the huge sums spent over the last year.
“I’m not expecting income tax rates to change but maybe thresholds. The government has a tricky job of clawing back the money used to support business throughout this time but they still need to balance the books.
“I expect indirect taxes to be targeted such as capital gains tax and I wouldn’t be surprised if they reduced business disposal relief. There has been talk of aligning self employed taxes to employed and they have already got closer in recent budgets, but I suspect this gap will be narrowed further.
“I hope that they keep the employers rates and allowances in place and I also hope that they do not increase the rate of tax on dividends.”
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Meanwhile, authorities across North Yorkshire are hoping the Budget will include announcements about investment in transport infrastructure.
Invest East Coast Rail has set out a raft of benefits, which it says is worth £11 billion to the economy, from improving the East Coast Main Line. The group has called for measures to encourage people to use the route more as lockdown is eased, saying confidence in its reliability is vital after 17 major incidents in 2018 cost the economy £46 million.
North Yorkshire County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, who represents the authority on Invest East Coast Rail, said:
“The East Coast Mainline provides an essential transport link for North Yorkshire residents and businesses and the rail line certainly merits further investment, particularly to address capacity constraints.”