harrogate borough council Archives - Page 120 of 159

Harrogate council staff review highlights bullying and harassment claims

Staff have made allegations of bullying, harassment and undermining at Harrogate Borough Council.

As part of an ongoing review into pay at the authority, some staff responded to a survey with claims that their bosses “work together to threaten” and “get what they want” from more junior colleagues.

One member of staff said in a report that the council “bullies and harasses its staff regularly,” adding:

“I have been on the receiving end of this – the lies, being made to feel incompetent, being bullied and harassed on returning to work.

“Harrogate Borough Council needs to take a long hard look at itself.”

Reacting to the allegations, David Houlgate, secretary of the trade union Unison Harrogate, which represents council workers, said the claims were “not a surprise”. But he added he did not believe there was a “culture” of bullying at the authority:

“The council is a large employer with over 1,000 staff. It is sadly inevitable that bullying behaviour will and does occur.

“The council has policies and procedures to deal with these. When our members come to us with complaints we fully expect the council to engage with us and fully respond and resolve the issues being raised.

“If we feel this is not happening, then we do involve our legal representatives but this does not happen very often.”

A spokesperson for the council said there had been two complaints of inappropriate behaviour and one grievance regarding bullying and harassment raised in 2021. These are currently under investigation.

In 2020, one grievance was raised regarding bullying and harassment with no further action taken at either stages one or two of the grievance procedure.

And in 2019, one complaint of bullying and harassment was investigated and an appropriate level of warning issued.

The spokesperson said: “Sadly, at some time or another, all employers will have to deal with bullying and/or harassment in their workplace.

“It is something we will not stand for and any incident is dealt with in accordance our behaviour policy. Thankfully, these reports are very few and far between.

“It is encouraging to see that the Local Government Association agree that our new pay and grading structure is consistent with the national position.”

The allegations were made as part of a review into pay, which could see 17 of the council’s most senior staff next month get pay rises totalling around £133,000 between them.

Meanwhile, mainstream workers, who had their pay structure reviewed more recently two years ago, are currently in negotiations for a further rise.

This is after a study concluded the recruitment and retention of staff was challenging and that pay was a factor.

Out of the 553 employees who responded to the survey held in August, over 80% gave pay as one of the main reasons why they would consider quitting their jobs.

Mr Houlgate said staff have been offered a “derisory” 1.5% pay rise this year – an increase which he believes does not go far enough to recognise them as the “unsung heroes” of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Unison has been clear for a long time that levels of pay for council staff has been a major contributory factor in relation to recruitment and retention issues.

“We have seen a decade of staff being overworked and undervalued whilst enduring significant real term pay cuts, redundancies and increased workloads.

“The council now seems to be waking up to this and says it is putting things in place to tackle these issues but we have real concerns about the timeframe it has set and whether it will deliver on these.

“This needs to happen now otherwise people will leave.”

As well as the bullying and harassment allegations, and complaints over pay, several staff also responded to the survey with positive comments about working at the council.

Positive comments from the survey

“The fact that the council offers a free mental health service is a great benefit to the whole council.”

“I really have no intention to leave at the moment because I enjoy my job. It offers challenge, variety, flexibility etc.”
“The council is a great place to work, however the pay is not competitive with other local authorities.”

“I have really enjoyed working for Harrogate Borough Council and have been able to progress and work flexibly.”

Negative comments from the survey

“Harrogate Borough Council bullies and harasses its staff regularly. HR and managers, including directors work together to threaten, undermine and bully the staff to get what they want. I have been on the receiving end of this, the lies, being made to feel incompetent, being bullied and harassed on returning to work.”

“Employees over 50 aren’t valued. I have heard more than one manager say that employees over 50 are ‘a threat to the organisation’.”
“I feel Harrogate Borough Council is lagging behind other authorities in its pay levels and it impacts on our ability to recruit and keep good staff.”
“The council acts as though they care but it is clear they do not and also they do not have staff trained to offer support when it is requested hence my response to the council not caring about health and wellbeing – it is all lip service and rather patronising when we have real work to do and deadlines.”
“Some managers do not care about feelings or wellbeing which makes a complete mockery of the council.

“There is very little in the way of career progression at Harrogate Borough Council – it is very much ‘dead men’s shoes’.”

Do you have experience of bullying at the council? Write to us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

UCI World Championships caused ‘major disruption’ in Harrogate, says report

A new report into the UCI Road World Championships 2019 has said the event inspired people to cycle more — but had a ‘major disruptive impact on the community in Harrogate’.

The study commissioned jointly by British Cycling, Sport England and UK Sport found that 45% of those surveyed said they would take up cycling or cycle more after watching the event.

The 11-day event in September 2019 received a hostile response from many local businesses because road closures hampered trade. The event also caused £130,000 worth of damage to the West Park Stray.

The report, compiled by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, covers awareness of the event, its perceived impacts, and the extent to which it influenced changes in physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, individual and community development.

It found that:

57% of those who interacted with the event felt prouder of Yorkshire and the UK.
45% were inspired to take up cycling or cycle more.
49% felt the event had brought their local community closer together.

But the report adds:

“There were also some negative consequences of the Road World Championships expressed by host community residents surveyed, particularly in Harrogate, where respondents were critical of the inconvenience and disruption due to the prolonged road closures compared with other host locations such as Doncaster and Leeds.

“Another sticking point in Harrogate was the damage caused to a section of the Stray – a protected public area of green space – where the Championship Fan Zone was located.

“The event was seen to have had a major disruptive impact on the community in Harrogate, which is illustrated starkly by Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to refrain temporarily from hosting major events of this scale.”

Cllr Stanley Lumley, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, said the report showed the UCI Road World Championships had inspired people to get more involved in sport.

He added:

“It is inevitable that hosting an international event of this scale can cause some disruption on day-to-day life.

“But the global television audience has no doubt left a lasting impression on what Yorkshire and specifically the Harrogate district has to offer. This will no doubt encourage a number of visits in the future which our tourist economy so desperately needs.

“It was also positive to read that the volunteering opportunities the event created has had a lasting impression on those involved.”

Rod Findlay, British Cycling’s business services director, said:

“The 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire was a truly momentous celebration of cycling, and from the report published today it’s clear that the legacy of those nine days of racing will be felt for many years to come.”

Review into UCI

Last week, a public survey into the UCI championships, which were held in Harrogate, closed.

Harrogate Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny committee set up the review to build on “its successes and identifying any areas for improvement to inform the organisation of future events”.

However, questions were raised over why the committee decided to hold a review on the UCI two years after the event.

Plans to convert Ripon garages into homes approved

Plans to build three council houses at the sites of two disused garage blocks in Ripon have been approved.

Harrogate Borough Council’s housing team will build the properties at North Road and Church Close where many of the council-owned garages have sat empty for years and the majority are currently not in use.

The council said the plans would help tackle the desperate need for affordable homes in the district, although some residents raised concerns over the impact on the nearby roads.

At North Road, a garage block will be converted into a three-bedroom bungalow but nearby resident Christine Shepherd said she was worried about what the development would mean for traffic in the area.

Speaking at a meeting today, she said:

“Parking for the proposed building is opposite my gate where my disabled access is. It is a narrow part of road on a bend and we have to dodge cars coming out of the gate and the access road to the rear of Fremantle Terrace.”

In response, an architect for the council said the development would in fact reduce the number of vehicles in the area due to the removal of seven garages and that highways officials had not raised any concerns.

At Church Close, a garage block will be demolished to make way for two three-bedroom semi-detached properties.

A petition against the plans, which had the support of 34 residents, was handed into the council with similar concerns over the loss of garage parking and increase in vehicles.

But council planners argued there was no demand for these garages and that although the roads can get busy with parked vehicles, a nearby council-owned car park provided for residents was underused.

Also at today’s meeting, a decision on separate plans to build three social rented homes at another site of disused garage blocks at Russell Dixon Square was deferred after a nearby resident raised concerns over access to her home.

It was agreed that the proposals would be revised before being brought back to the council’s planning committee at a later date.

How has the Harrogate council’s housing company performed during the pandemic?

When Harrogate Borough Council’s commercial housing company launched in 2019 it was hailed as an exciting opportunity to turn the authority a profit and help first-time buyers get a foot on the property ladder.

Two years and a global pandemic later – how is Bracewell Homes performing and is it what the district needed?

Backed by an up to £10 million loan from taxpayers, the at arm’s-length company was set up to intervene in Harrogate’s pricey property market by delivering desperately needed rental and shared ownership homes which are affordable to low-income earners.

And with around 1,700 households currently in the queue for social housing and the district remaining as one of the most unaffordable places to live in England, the scale of the task at hand could not be clearer.

That is why Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group on Harrogate Borough Council, believes the company should be setting much more ambitious targets than its initial aim to deliver 40 properties by 2024.

Bracewell Homes has so far hit 14 properties either sold or nearing completion but councillor Marsh said this figure needed to be reaching the “hundreds” if the district is to ever become a place where many low-income earners can afford to call it their home.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she said:

“Forty homes in three years will barely make a dent in the need for the 1,700 on the waiting list, some living in very difficult circumstances.

“We cannot continue to rely on affordable housing being delivered by developers, they are a part of the solution but until they start to develop their land the supply will not be kept at a level required.”

A council spokesperson previously said while Bracewell Homes had a successful launch, the delivery of properties had been “slightly slower than anticipated”.

The entrance to the Castle Hill Farm development on Whinney Lane.

In August last year, senior councillors agreed to purchase 52 homes in Pannal Ash at a cost of £4.5 million with 16 of the properties to be sold under shared ownership by Bracewell Homes and the rest made available for social rent.

The company had also earmarked other sites in the district to develop, including Frogmire in Knaresborough.

As well as shared ownership and rental properties, Cllr Mike Chambers, the council’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, said the company also saw the renovation of existing properties as a way of improving the prospects of people being able to buy their own home.

His comments come after the Local Democracy Reporting Service last month revealed that 774 homes across the district have sat empty for more than six months, prompting calls for greater action to bring vacant properties back into use.

Cllr Chambers said:

“We want to do everything we can to ensure local people have the opportunity of a decent and affordable home in the Harrogate district.

“We know getting a foot on the housing ladder in the Harrogate district can be a challenge.

“That’s why we have established Bracewell homes to acquire shared ownership homes, renovate existing properties and/or sites for development, as well as owning and letting rental properties.

“By doing all this we can be confident that the homes provided by Bracewell Homes are of a high quality, fit for purpose and will allow local people to stay local in the future.

“Any financial return can be invested back into providing more high quality homes and council services.”

When Bracewell Homes launched, it was agreed that the company would be shut down if it were to run at a loss and waste taxpayers’ money.

A council spokesperson said while the company’s 2020/21 accounts were still being finalised following the end of the financial year, the profit after tax figure for 2019/20 was £129,953.

They also said the company had another 25 properties in the pipeline over the next year and on top of the 14 homes already delivered.

Despite the profits and seemingly on target delivery figures, Cllr Marsh repeated her belief that Bracewell Homes should be setting far loftier ambitions if it is to have a major impact on the housing market, as she also said a different approach with a greater focus on construction could be taken altogether.

She said:

“We Lib Dems were first to push for a housing company with the hope to create a company that would build social housing as many other local authorities had done. We were very shocked to learn once it had been set up that they could not be proactive and build social housing.

“The disappointment with Bracewell Homes is the emphasis, at the moment, on building homes to sell at market prices to get a commercial return on money invested.

“Maybe there is a need to look at two companies – one commercial and one for social housing.

“We would have liked them to look at lifting the borrowing cap on the housing revenue account, as many councils have done, to start a very proactive social housing building programme.

“We need Bracewell homes to set targets to achieve hundreds of houses per year otherwise this crisis will never come to an end.”

Snapshot: Harrogate’s unforgiving housing market

The coronavirus pandemic has caused an unprecedented economic shock across the UK, closing businesses and putting people out of work.

But despite this, house prices are on the up – even in areas where there has been a drop in sales.

In Harrogate, average house prices last year reached £331,580 according to latest figures from estate agents Hamptons.

That figure is around 11 times greater than the average annual income of workers in our area.

Government pledges to boost affordable housing have been redoubled by Harrogate Borough Council which set out in its Local Plan that almost 4,400 affordable homes are needed over the 2014-2035 plan period.

To hit this target, the council has promised to put pressure on housing developers to bring forward more lower-cost homes at building sites across the district.

Another £3m allocated to controversial Harrogate Station Gateway scheme

Funding for Harrogate’s controversial Station Gateway scheme has been increased from £7.9m to over £10.9m.

The gateway project aims to create a more attractive entrance to the town around Station Parade and James Street and give greater priority for pedestrians and cyclists.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which bid for the initial funding from the UK government, has now allocated an additional £2.6m to the scheme. It will come from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund.

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority report said the overall delivery costs of the project have not increased but the extra money was needed for “risk and contingency”.

An additional £300,000 will be match-funded by local councils, taking the total cost of the project to £10.9m.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority has now agreed to proceed with the scheme towards drawing up a full business case.

The UK government has set a deadline of March 2023 for all schemes that received funds from the Transforming Cities Fund to be built.

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The Harrogate gateway scheme is being done in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

Similar projects are planned in Selby and Skipton but the Harrogate scheme has proved the most contentious.

Some businesses are worried about the impact on trade but many Harrogate residents and environmental groups have welcomed it.

Councillor Phil Ireland, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, has said the initiative “has the potential to create many more walking and cycling opportunities while transforming the look and feel of the station gateway area in Harrogate”.

Harrogate councillor pays £2,000 of his own cash to cover cost of live streaming

A Harrogate councillor has agreed to pay more than £2,000 of his own cash to cover the cost of live streaming meetings after last year ripping up a cheque when the idea was rejected.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Chris Aldred first put forward the idea to livestream in-person Harrogate Borough Council meetings in January 2020 but it was rejected because of claims that the “tens of thousands of pounds” needed to buy the equipment would have been too expensive.

At the time, the exact quoted costs were never made public although Cllr Aldred said they were “not excessive” as he offered to pay for the equipment himself and tore up a cheque in front of other council members when his failed proposal was put to bed.

More than a year on, and after the coronavirus pandemic forced the live streaming of both remote and in-person meetings, Cllr Aldred this month faced calls from Conservative council leader Richard Cooper to follow up on his offer of payment “as a matter of honour”.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s general purposes committee last Thursday, Cllr Cooper said:

“It was a genuine offer, I assume, made for a genuine purpose and not just for party political chicanery.

“If a councillor makes a genuine offer to pay for a service and that service is provided then I would expect the honourable thing to do is to pay.

“Otherwise, I think everyone will assume that the offer was never genuine in the first place.”

At Thursday’s meeting, councillor Aldred presented a cheque for £2,180 – the actual cost of live streaming equipment which was installed last month and is now to become a permanent feature of meetings.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Aldred later said he was happy to pay the money and that he had made a number of requests for all meetings to be livestreamed, publicised and archived, and that councillors are offered training for presentation skills.

He said:

“I am happy to personally facilitate this purchase by the council, as long as my ‘buyers conditions’ are met and as the council leader gave assurance at the meeting that they would be – and obviously that is now on record for all to see.

“Richard has now guaranteed this will all happen and a relatively small financial contribution on my part to ensure this is no hardship.

“I strongly believe that if these conditions I have requested are met then it will enable more residents to view and perhaps more fully understand our deliberations, not just at full council and planning as was originally envisaged, but across all council committees.

“I think leaving the meeting online for a longer period will increase the opportunity for meetings to be viewed at a time and place convenient to the public – and not the council.

“If my requests are not fully met, I would be looking for some sort of recompense from the council, but I have no reason to doubt they will not be.”

Mayfield Grove: house at centre of crime concerns allowed to re-open

A house at the centre of crime concerns on Harrogate’s Mayfield Grove is to be allowed to reopen.

North Yorkshire Police and Harrogate Borough Council issued a three-month closure order on 38 Mayfield Grove in March.

The two organisations can apply to a court for a closure order if they have concerns about antisocial behaviour and criminal behaviour on premises.

At a community engagement session on Mayfield Grove last week, police and council officers revealed they do not intend to bid to extend the closure order, which expired yesterday.

Constable Kelvin Troughton, of North Yorkshire Police, told the Stray Ferret:

“Since the order has been in place there has been a reduction of incidents.

“There’s a dialogue now and we are working with the landlord to hold him to account and ask him what his intentions are for this property when the closure order ends.”

John Willis, the landlord, has divided 38 Mayfield Grove into bedsits. Constable Troughton said Mr Willis served eviction notices on all of the tenants after the closure order was issued.

He added:

“We hope we have illustrated we are not afraid to take action.”

Helen Richardson, community safety officer at Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“We are working closely with John Willis to look at the tenancies being put in place.”

Ms Richardson added prohibition orders had been served on two of the bedsits and the council was working with Harrogate Homeless Project to address concerns.

Julia Stack, community safety and CCTV manager at the council, said its private sector housing team had inspected 38 Mayfield Grove:

“There have been challenges regarding that property and the management of the property by that landlord. The closure order was a proportionate response.

“We have robustly challenged the landlord about his property and who he chooses as his tenants.

“It is a challenging property. He is responsible for his choice of tenants.”

A closure order was served on the same property in 2005, when it was dubbed the House from Hell by neighbours.

Residents on Mayfield Grove and nearby streets, including Mayfield Terrace, Strawberry Dale, Nydd Vale Road and Nydd Vale Terrace attended last week’s outdoor drop-in session.

Many had concerns not only about individual properties but also about crime in general in the area, with some saying they knew exactly who was responsible and where criminal activity took place yet nothing was done.

One woman told the Stray Ferret she was unable to sell her home because of the area’s reputation.

Mr Stack said the council was considering temporarily attaching a CCTV camera to a street light in the area as part of measures to tackle crime.

The Stray Ferret has attempted to contact Mr Willis for comment but has not received a response.

A man who lived in 38 Mayfield Grove died in March and another man has been charged with murder.

Do you live in the Mayfield Grove area and have concerns about crime? Email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

Image Gallery: Replacing Harrogate Theatre’s 120-year-old roof

The £1million replacement of Harrogate Theatre’s ageing roof is well underway in preparation for the hopeful return of live shows this year.

A temporary roof structure has been erected over the building to keep out water and protect against wind during re-roofing and external works.

The project is due to be completed by the end of September with performances returning soon after, subject to covid restrictions.

Harrogate Borough Council has released some images of the works, which you can see below:

Conservative councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, said:

“Our investment in this local asset will allow the fantastic performances to continue, promote cultural activity in the town, attract visitors and support the local economy at a time when it is needed the most.”

David Bown, chief executive of Harrogate Theatre (White Rose) Theatre Trust, added:

“Harrogate Theatre is a much loved local venue and we’d like to thank Harrogate Borough Council for investing in the building. This will allow us to put on performances, and connect with our audiences for many years to come.”

Harrogate Theatre is operating a summer season programme in various venues around the town while the theatre is out of use. Further details are available here.

Homes England submits final plans for 390 homes near Ripon

Homes England has submitted final plans for 390 homes near Ripon after previous developers pulled out of the scheme.

The site on West Lane, Littlethorpe, was bought by the government’s housing agency back in February.

The proposal already has outline permission after a government planning inspector approved the development following an appeal in 2018.

Now, Homes England has submitted design and layout plans for the site, which include public open space.

It also includes plans for 159 of the homes to be designated as affordable housing.

The site would see a mixture of one, two, three and four bedroom homes built.

In documents submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, the developer said:

“The proposals create a high-quality, memorable and distinctive residential development that is well connected to its wider context.

“The safe and accessible development will create a broad-based community in an environment that supports health and well-being.”

The borough council will make a decision on the development at a later date.

History of West Lane site

In 2018, Harrogate Borough Council granted permission to Barratt Homes on appeal for the development.

It was previously rejected in 2017 for being a “substantial intrusion into the open countryside” and its impact on nearby Studley Royal and Fountains Abbey.

The site layout for the West Lane development, as submitted to Harrogate Borough Council.

However, last summer Barratt Homes pulled out of the scheme.

The developer told The Stray Ferret that the decision was not related to the lockdown but in a year-end trading update, the company announced its revenue had fallen by 30% due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It means Homes England now has a major presence in the Harrogate district.

The developer already has plans submitted with the council for 200 homes at a former police training centre on Yew Tree Lane, Harrogate, and is working on a 1,300 home scheme at Ripon barracks.

Homes England also bought the 450-home Bluecoat Park site off Otley Road in Harrogate at the same time as it purchased the West Lane site.

It said the two developments had stalled for various reasons, including the “associated enabling costs” and that their planning permissions were due to lapse imminently.

Knaresborough set for by-election after Conservative councillor resigns

A by-election is set to be held in Knaresborough’s Scriven Park ward after the resignation of Conservative councillor, Samantha Mearns.

Cllr Mearns won the seat on Harrogate Borough Council in May 2018 with a majority of just 16 votes.

Liberal Democrat candidate, Matthew Walker, came second with 441 votes and the Labour Party’s Andrew John Wright picked up 291 votes.

A total of 36% of the 3,266 electorate voted.

The by-election, which has yet to be announced by the borough council, will be the first to take place in the Harrogate district since the Bilton and Nidd Gorge election for North Yorkshire County Council last month.

In that election, the Conservative candidate Matt Scott gained the seat from the Liberal Democrats with a majority of 352 votes. The turnout was 37%.

The borough council by-election comes as Cllr Mearns has stepped down from the borough council over family reasons.

She made the announcement to residents over the weekend.

The Stray Ferret understands that Knaresborough resident Jacqui Renton will stand in her place for the next election.

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Positive comments from the survey

Negative comments from the survey

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Review into UCI

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Snapshot: Harrogate’s unforgiving housing market

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History of West Lane site

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