Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon Julian Smith is back in the spotlight for having three consultancy roles that earn him an extra £144,000 a year.
The Guardian reported today that MPs could be barred from holding consultancy positions.
It listed Mr Smith as the second highest paid of 30 MPs that would be affected by the move.
The news comes after the former Conservative MP Owen Paterson MP was found to have used his position to lobby the government on behalf of two companies that paid him.
The issue has reignited the debate over whether MPs should be allowed to hold external positions, and prompted allegations of sleaze.
As previously reported in the Stray Ferret, Mr Smith has three advisory roles outside of Parliament. They are in addition to his £81,932 annual salary as an MP.
All the roles were approved by the Advisory Committee of Business Appointments.
Mr Smith was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July 2019 to February 2020.
In August 2020 he began advising Ryse Hydrogen, whose chief executive Jo Bamford also owns Wrightbus, a Northern Ireland bus manufacturer. The contract is £60,000 for 20 hours of work.
He is also paid to work for 30 to 40 hours over 12 months for MJM Marine, a cruise ship refurbishment company based in County Down. This contract is also for £60,000.
In January 2021 he began another role, advising Cork-based sustainable energy and aquaculture company Simply Blue Management. He is paid £24,000 over a year for up to two hours work per month.
Read more:
- Ripon MP Julian Smith extends £3,000 an hour advisory role
- Julian Smith MP criticised for taking on third lucrative advisory role
Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader on Harrogate Borough Council, said Mr Smith should “rethink” his other jobs and added that MPs should be stopped from taking on other work.
She said:
“His job is being an MP. To take on a paid position is so wrong.
“From a purely democratic position, when you’re elected that should be the major concern, not distracted with outside jobs.
Shan Oakes, co-ordinator for Harrogate & District Green Party, said she was “appalled” by the Owen Patterson affair.
Ms Oakes, who attended the Stray bonfire on Saturday night holding rubbish bags with ‘Tory Sleaze’ written on them. added:
“With Harrogate having lots of Tory voters we assumed we’d get a lot of flack but we had not one negative comment. People were saying ‘thank you’.
“The whole thing stinks. Once these mechanisms of democracy are meddled with like this then we’re on a real road to ruin.”
The Stray Ferret asked Mr Smith to comment but did not receive a response.
Ripon Cathedral hosts concert to raise money for mental healthRipon Cathedral will play host to a concert this coming weekend to raise money and awareness for a local mental health charity.
Wellspring Therapy and Training, which is based in Starbeck, provides affordable counselling to people suffering from mental illness.
Harrogate concert pianist Julian Saphir and soprano Eleanore Cockerham, a former member of internationally-acclaimed singing group VOCES8, will star in the November 12 concert, which is called A Night to Remember.
They will be joined by local choirs and performers, including Nidd Chorale, Unity Voices, Harrogate Theatre Choir, and St Aidan’s School Chamber Choir.
The concert also aims to raise awareness by exploring themes of memory and thanksgiving.
Concert Co-ordinator, David Moon, said:
“This event is a wonderful opportunity to explore and experience the power music has on our mood and raise money for Wellspring, which is providing a vital wellbeing service in our local community.”
Read more:
Referrals to Wellspring shot up during covid, forcing the charity to temporarily suspend its waiting list. Operations have now returned to normal and the charity has supported over 700 people in the last year.
Sarah James, therapeutic lead for the charity, said:
“Our counsellors are frequently working with adults who present with depression, anxiety, trauma, loss, relationship issues, low self-esteem, emotional abuse, loss of confidence and stress. Many people we support have been signposted to us for more in-depth/long-term therapeutic work that is too expensive for many people to fund for themselves.”
The concert begins at 7pm on November 12. Tickets start at £12 for adults and £5 for children, and are available online here.
96 daily covid cases reported in Harrogate districtThe Harrogate district has reported 96 daily covid cases according to Public Health England figures.
The district’s seven-day average now stands at 601 per 100,000 people.
Across North Yorkshire, the rate is 505 and the England average is 400.
NHS England figures on the number of patients who have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus are no longer published on a weekend.
However, the hospital was treating 25 covid patients as of Monday — a rise from 19 on last week.
Read more:
- Knaresborough vaccine centre welcomes first 12 to 15-year-olds
- Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site to reopen for just two weeks
- Harrogate people face trip to Leeds for booster jab walk-ins
Hot Seat: navigating choppy waters at Ripon firm Wolseley
Few major employees in the Harrogate district have experienced more turbulent times recently than Wolseley.
The plumbing and heating merchants, which has a £1.8bn turnover, employs almost 5,000 staff globally, of which 270 are based in Ripon and 150 at a distribution centre in Melmerby.
Besides covid, this year Wolseley has been at the sharp end of Brexit and been sold to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice for £308 million.
The man navigating the choppy waters is Simon Oakland, who has been chief executive of Wolseley UK since January last year.
Mr Oakland, who has a background in private equity, has been with the company in its various guises since 2012.
He doesn’t hide how difficult the last 18 months have been, particularly for staff in Ripon. The site, which opened in 1971, provides support functions, including accounts, payments, IT support and HR and have such felt the brunt of all the changes.
“As a business we have been through a lot of difficulties. There had been damaging cost cutting measures and we’ve been through a few strategic initiatives that haven’t been successful.”
The company, he says, lost customer focus when it integrated divisions in 2017. But a divisional restructure, completed in July last year, was the catalyst for recovery, he says.
The new suite at Ripon.
The figures back him up. In the financial year ending 31 July 2020, Wolseley lost £250 million of sales. Profit, forecast to be £60 million, came in at £6 million, partly due to covid.
But recently published accounts for the financial year ending 31 July 2021 show £75 million profit – considerably up on the pre-covid £54 million figure of 2019. Mr Oakland says:
“This is the first year of genuine growth since 2012.
“From August 1 last year we have had a strong recovery. The market is strong, but we’ve taken a lot of market share.”
He highlights the acquisition of 32 branches of Graham Plumbers in July as evidence of recovery.
Brexit blues
Brexit has not affected demand but it has disrupted the supply chain by making it harder for small European manufacturers to import into the UK.
It’s also created “real complexity” with exporting products to Northern Ireland, says Mr Oakland. The company now has to provide detailed certificate of origin forms and prove its products to Northern Ireland wont be moved on to the Republic of Ireland. He says:
“The process of importing from Europe is going to continue being a small stone in our shoe.
“The process of moving products to Northern Ireland is going to be very complex. Even with the number of exemptions in place now it’s incredibly complex. If those exemptions come off it will be even more complex.”
Read more:
- Major Ripon employer Wolseley celebrates 50 years in city today
- Ripon Leisure Centre: Harrogate council plans 3D soil map amid sinkhole fears
- Hot Seat: Harrogate Town’s new CEO aims to take club to new heights
Until this year Wolseley was part of a FTSE 100 company called Ferguson PLC, which operates in the US, Canada and the UK. But its demerger from Ferguson and sale to Clayton, Dubilier and Rice led to huge change.
“The demerger caused a lot of work and that significantly impacted teams in Ripon, especially finance and IT. We were fully integrated on IT with US and Canada and had to migrate.”
Private equity firms don’t have the best reputations but Mr Oakland says:
“I spent 20 years in private equity. I get private equity inside and out. There are different styles. Some buy defunct businesses and liquidate stock. At the other end you have firms that understand the sector and try to support and grow the business.”
Clayton, Dubilier and Rice fall into the latter camp, he says, and “bring real strategic insight”. But it wasn’t an easy sell to staff.
“I took the decision in July 2020 to be totally open with colleagues and told them it was likely we would be sold to a private equity firm. They took a lot of confidence from the fact that I have been a partner in a private equity firm. That helped to defuse the uncertainty and the Chinese whispers.
“The real theme was that we would be able to tap into our independence.”
50 years in Ripon
Wolseley was founded in 1887, when Frederick York Wolseley launched the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine. The firm expanded into manufacturing and in 1899, the first Wolseley horseless carriage went on sale in the UK at £120.
It acquired a number of heating companies in the 1960s. Today plumbing and heating account for £1 billion of the £1.8 billion turnover. Your home’s boiler, pipework, bathroom fittings and gas and electricity meters could well have been made by Wolseley.
Part of the refurbished Ripon site.
The company opened its Ripon office on Boroughbridge Road in 1971. The site reopened this year after a £500,000 refurbishment, which included a new learning and development suite for training courses. Mr Oakland says:
“It’s completely transformed the business in Ripon. It was very tired inside.”
Mr Oakland was born in Dewsbury and his grandparents lived in Starbeck. He is based in Warwickshire and says he looks forward to his trips north:
“I love it. It takes me back to the places where I went to as a kid.”
He enjoys food and wine and tries to complete one or two triathlons each year. Training isn’t easy when you’re on the road three or four nights a week but after a period of upheaval, quieter times at Wolseley may be ahead. He says:
Harrogate student wins global competition for young leaders“The business is in a really good place now.”
Harrogate student Thomas Grattoni-May has been named as one of 100 global winners of a programme launched by Eric Schmidt, the billionaire former chief executive of Google, to identify exceptional young people who help others.
More than 50,000 15-17-year-olds entered the Rise Challenge, which aims to find young people with the potential to tackle the planet’s most pressing challenges.
Thomas’ ‘big idea’ was a global speech and language therapy app for stammerers who have limited access to support.
Thomas, 17, who is in Year 13 at Harrogate independent school Ashville College, has a stammer himself and has been a vocal advocate for the charity Action for Stammering Children. He hopes to bring together charities across the globe to share resources and expertise.
As a winner of the competition, Thomas will receive a lifetime of personalised support. This includes free tuition to any accredited university and a fully funded invitation to an annual three-week summit of winners. This is combined with access to careers advice, mentoring, and access to further funding in a package that could exceed $500,000 in value.
Thomas said:
“I’m feeling ecstatic, and really can’t quite comprehend what it means to be one of the 100 Global Rise winners. It’s just amazing.”
“I have met so many inspirational young people through this competition, and I am so proud and humbled to have been chosen as a winner alongside them.”
Read more:
- Harrogate student stars in second series of All Creatures Great and Small
- Harrogate Spring Water ends sponsorship with Yorkshire County Cricket
Through his application, Thomas submitted 14 video responses to various challenges, and spent more than 50 hours developing his big idea. After being shortlisted in May, the 17-year-old participated in a series of gruelling interviews.
Steven Gauge, chief executive of Action for Stammering Children, of which Thomas is a youth panel member, said:
“Thomas is already a role model for younger stammerers, and this will increase his standing even further as it demonstrates that if you have a stammer there are no limits to what one can achieve.”
“We couldn’t be happier, or prouder of this achievement.”
Ashville College head Rhiannon Wilkinson said it was a “remarkable achievement”, adding:
Overgrown play area to be sold off for new housing for disabled people“To be chosen as one of the Rise 100 Global Winners is a testament to his sheer determination not to let his stammer hold him back and, of course, his tremendous hard work and ability.”
A disused and overgrown play area in Harrogate is set to be sold off for part of a new housing development for disabled people.
The council-owned play area behind Disability Action Yorkshire’s Claro Road care home will be cleared to make way for three accommodation blocks if the sale and planning permission is agreed.
Members of Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet will be asked to approve the sale for an undisclosed sum at a meeting next Wednesday before plans are submitted at a later date.
A report to the meeting said:
“The purchaser is a non-profit registered provider offering housing management and support services.
“Disposal of this asset will enable the development of an additional block of flats, providing affordable rent, supported living accommodation, for people with learning and physical disabilities.”
Read more:
- Harrogate Spring Water ends sponsorship with Yorkshire County Cricket
- Guide to fireworks displays in the Harrogate district
The plans include 36 flats with a mix of one and two bedrooms at the site, which is near Claro Business Park and St Roberts Catholic Primary School.
Jackie Snape, chief executive at Disability Action Yorkshire, said:
Guide to fireworks displays in the Harrogate district“Whilst we are not the prospective purchaser of this plot of land, we are working in partnership with them.
“Following Monday’s cabinet meeting, and should the purchase be given the green light, we will be in a position soon after to share our exciting plans for the development of our service.”
Bonfire night is fast approaching so we have compiled a list of events coming up this weekend in the Harrogate district.
Bonfires in Masham and Bilton were cancelled this year but we have still managed to find nine that are due to go ahead either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Let us know if we have missed your event and we will add it to the list email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk or call us on 01423 276197 and we will add you to the list.
Friday 5th November
Knaresborough Cricket Club Fireworks Night
Where: Aspin Lane, Knaresborough, HG5 8EP
When: 6:15pm start, 7pm firework display
Tickets: adult £2, concessions £1
Aspin Park Academy, Knaresborough
Where: School grounds, parking on Manse Lane, Knaresborough
When: 5pm start, 6.30pm firework display
Tickets: Advance online booking – adults £4, children £3, family ticket £12, preschoolers free. On the gate – adults £5, children £4
Ripon Rowels Rotary Charity Bonfire and Firework Display
Where: Ripon Racecourse, Boroughbridge Road, Ripon, HG4 1UG
When: 5:30pm start, 7pm fire lit, 7:30pm firework display.
Tickets: adults £6, children £3, family (2 adult, 2 child) £12, under 3s free
Spofforth Village Firework Display
Where: Spofforth cricket ground
Timings: Gates open 5pm
Tickets: Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.
Tockwith & District Agricultural Society Annual Bonfire & Firework Display
Where: Show field, Cattle Moor Lane, Tockwith, YO26 7QH
Timings: 6pm start, 6:30pm fire lit, 7pm fireworks
Tickets: 13 and over £5, under 13s free
The Tockwith event is back.
Saturday 6th November
50th Annual Stray Bonfire, Harrogate Roundtable
Where: The Stray, Harrogate, HG1 1BJ
When: 6pm start, 6:30pm fire lit, 7pm fireworks
Tickets: free entry, donations welcome
Upper Nidderdale Scouts Group Pateley Bonfire
Where: Pateley Bridge Showground
When: 5:30pm bonfire lit, 7pm fireworks
Tickets: free entry, donations welcome
Wath and Melmerby Community Bonfire
Where: Roger Clarke Motor Engineers, The Sidings, Melmerby, HG4 5EX
When: 6pm bonfire lit, 7pm fireworks
Tickets: £5 per family
Sunday 7th November
Staveley Arms Bonfire
Where: The Staveley Arms, Greenfields, North Stainley, Ripon, HG4 3HT
When: 4pm-6pm
Tickets: £3 per person
Swinton Bivouac Quiet Bonfire Night
Where: Swinton Bivouac, Masham, Ilton, Ripon, HG4 4JZ
When: 6:30pm bonfire lit. There will be no fireworks or loud bangs.
Tickets: free entry, food and drinks available from the Bivouac Café
Starbeck Community Firework Night – Harrogate Railway Sports and Social Club, Friends of Starbeck School
Where: Harrogate Railway Sports & Social Club, Station View, Starbeck, HG2 7JA
When: 5pm start, 6:30pm fireworks
Tickets: under 5’s free, 5 to 15’s £1, over 16’s £2
Harrogate district covid rate rises as 151 cases reported
The Harrogate district’s seven-day covid rate has crept up again as a further 151 cases have been reported by Public Health England.
The district’s average now stands at 578 per 100,000 people.
Across North Yorkshire, the rate is 505 and the England average is 412.
No further deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital, according to NHS England figures.
However, the hospital was treating 25 covid patients as of Monday — a rise from 19 on last week.
Read more:
- Knaresborough vaccine centre welcomes first 12 to 15-year-olds
- Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site to reopen for just two weeks
- Harrogate people face trip to Leeds for booster jab walk-ins
Harrogate district MPs abstain from Owen Paterson vote
Local Conservative MPs Andrew Jones and Julian Smith abstained from the controversial vote in the Commons yesterday on whether to suspend former minister Owen Paterson.
MPs voted by 250 to 232 to put off a decision on whether to suspend Mr Paterson.
A total of 98 Conservative MPs did not take part in the vote, despite pressure from the party leadership to vote in favour.
They included Mr Jones, who represents Harrogate and Knaresborough, and Mr Smith, who represents Skipton and Ripon. Both men rarely rebel from the party line.
Selby and Ainsty MP Nigel Adams, who is Minister of State without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office, voted with the government.
The Leadsom amendment was put forward after a Parliamentary standards watchdog found Mr Paterson had breached lobbying rules by approaching MPs about two firms he was working for as a consultant.
Read more:
- MPs watch: Sewage dumps, commissioner resignations and David Amess
- MP criticises government for not electrifying Harrogate rail line
The vote was carried and would have seen the formation a new cross-party committee of MPs to review the process for policing MPs and postponed Mr Paterson’s 30-day suspension from the Commons.
But following a fierce backlash, today, the government has now said it will rethink its plans.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Leader of the House, said the changes would not go ahead without cross-party support. He added a further vote on Mr Paterson’s suspension will go ahead.
The Stray Ferret has contacted Mr Smith and Mr Jones about the vote but has not received replies.
114 covid cases in Harrogate district as rate increasesThe Harrogate district reported another 109 cases of covid today, according to latest Public Health England figures.
The infection rate has increased slightly to 571 per 100,000 people — the highest in the county, but lower than the 740 mark achieved on October 16.
The county average is 500 and the England rate stands at 412.
No further covid deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.
Read more:
- Knaresborough vaccine centre welcomes first 12 to 15-year-olds
- Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site to reopen for just two weeks
However, the hospital was treating 25 covid patients as of Monday — a rise from 19 on last week.
Today, health officials said they were unable to open walk-in vaccine clinics as centres in the Harrogate district were already at full capacity.