Businesses in the Harrogate district will get a share of a new £40 million support package to help them stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

Any business eligible for small business rate relief or rural relief will get a £10,000 grant while hospitality and leisure businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 will get a £25,000 grant.

Those hospitality and leisure businesses, regardless of rateable value, will not need to pay any business rates during the 2020/2021 financial year.

It comes as Harrogate Borough Council announces that its commercial tenants will be able to get three months rent free.

Councillor Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said: “We know businesses are struggling.

“Our business rates team are geared up to process tens of millions of pounds of government cash to support local businesses.

“As soon as it hits our bank account we will be getting it into the bank accounts of local businesses.

“We have also been lobbying government on behalf of freelancers and the self-employed who make up a significant part of our local workforce. We are expecting announcements on this over the coming days.

“But we want to go further. So we will be offering nearly all our commercial tenants three months’ rent-free.

“This includes some shops on our high streets, Harrogate Theatre and other offices and business premises around the district.”

More information on these initiatives will be available on the Harrogate Borough Council website.

A tough year lies ahead for charities in the Harrogate district after swathes of fundraising events were cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

From supporters taking part in the London Marathon to their own community activities, charities rely heavily on numerous events in their annual calendars. 

Now, with almost every event being cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis, many are left wondering how they will meet their costs. 

Stephen Tongue, director of fundraising at Henshaws, said:

“We have got all our usual costs and additional costs of getting back-up staffing and deep cleaning areas – that’s quite expensive.

“It’s a challenging time. We do have some money coming in, but there’s a huge question mark over so many events.”

The charity held an art auction in early March and, even then, attendance was only around half of what was expected. Meanwhile, several upcoming fundraisers have been cancelled, including Knaresborough Beer Festival in May. 

Stephen is hopeful two outdoor events – a golf day at Rudding Park and a Yorkshire Three Peaks walk – will be able to take place in June and July, depending on government advice at the time. Its corporate donations, however, may also dwindle over the coming weeks as SMEs in the Harrogate district – a key source of support to Henshaws – struggle to find spare cash. 

To make up the shortfall and meet the additional needs of its students during the crisis, Henshaws has launched a new fundraising appeal.

For Open Arms Malawi, which sends around £500,000 per year out to its projects in the African nation, the worries are just as severe. Founded by Harrogate couple Neville and Rosemarie Bevis in 2000, it still has strong links with the town and relies on local people to contribute to its work with orphaned children. 

Ashville College has been a long-term supporter of Open Arms Malawi, sending students to volunteer there last summer

Fundraising manager Claire Collins said: “We were having a really good year for fundraising and just starting to look at new and different activities. Everything has been cancelled – all the challenge events, runs, and activities in the schools which support us. 

“We have two corporate partners who do trips to Malawi to see how funds are helping and donate significant amounts to us. They still want to support us, but without the trips it’s very difficult: when people see the work, they become really big advocates for what we do.” 

The charity has two infant homes, 10 nursery schools and five family homes for older children, as well as an outreach programme supporting families in the community. As yet, there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Malawi but, with high numbers elsewhere in Africa, all the homes and schools are taking extra precautions with hand washing and cleaning procedures. 

“HIV is still a big problem in Malawi, along with malnutrition,” said Claire. “Coronavirus is a huge risk on top of that. They’re taking it very seriously.” 

Claire has set up a new page on the charity’s website to keep supporters informed about the situation in Malawi. They are hoping supporters will still feel able to contribute, despite the difficulties being faced by many families across the Harrogate district. 

A family from Harrogate have ‘made the decision’ to live apart for 12 weeks. Leah Coates is a care worker and her husband Mark is in the ‘extremely vulnerable’ group after having a Kidney transplant 20 years ago. Leah told The Stray Ferret that ‘it is a very upsetting time, especially for our three year old son, but as a carer I need to be there for my patients too.’

Vital care workers say they are being left behind as people continue to clear supermarket shelves as soon as they open. 

Although NHS staff are being given priority access to some shops at designated times, the rules do not always apply to those employed by private organisations. 

However, care home staff and others all play an essential part in keeping elderly and vulnerable people safe and well as the coronavirus pandemic continues. As a result, their work relieves pressure on the NHS by reducing the number of people needing medical care or hospital beds. 

Suzanne Kay, who works at Belmont House in Starbeck, said she has been left unable to get basic provisions because of her long shifts. 

Suzanne Kay

“It’s an absolute nightmare,” she said. “Because I work 12-hour shifts, if I get a lift home I get back to Ripon at 8.30pm. By that time, there’s nothing left. What do you do?” 

After work , Suzanne said she is struggling to come up with meals to feed herself and her 18-year-old son, who has lost his job in a cinema this week. 

“We’re just having to live off what we can,” she said. “By the time I get home, it’s shower, bed and ready to do it all again the next day.”  

Routine is essential

Her role in the early-onset dementia unit is challenging in normal circumstances, but particularly tough at the moment, when relatives are unable to visit. With some carers having to self-isolate as a precaution, there is even more pressure on staff. 

“Everyone is having to pick up extra hours in order to keep residents with some normality,” said Suzanne.

“With them having dementia, routine is essential for them. It keeps them going. You take that routine and structure away from them and it has a really big effect.

“They ask, ‘when is my son coming?’ or ‘when is my daughter coming?’. You have to explain several times a day. A lot of them don’t know how to use a phone so they don’t have that option to keep in touch. When they get upset, it sets you off as well.”

Yesterday the Government urged people not to panic buy. In its daily briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary George Eustice, said that everybody in the UK needs to play their part and shop responsibly:

“Be responsible when you shop. Buying more than you need means that others may be left without.”

Harrogate Borough Council says the £11.5m build cost of the Civic Centre is not a true picture of the cost of the project 

Reacting to a Stray Ferret exclusive on Friday, the Council argues the overall cost was lower because of money received in the sale of its other premises. 

Harrogate Borough Council argued that the £11.5m reported as the final build cost by The Stray Ferret did not reflect the overall cost of the new council offices at Knapping Mount.   

The figure of £11.5m for building the Civic Centre was obtained by a Freedom of Information request made by The Stray Ferret. The Stray Ferret asked: What was the final cost to Harrogate Borough Council of building its new Civic Centre at St Luke’s Avenue?

Its FOI response said: 

“Final account negotiations were ongoing between the Council and Harry Fairclough prior to Harry Fairclough entering into administration. The Council’s view of the gross valuation of the final account sum for the building contract is £11,516,200.” 

The council said that the figure it released as part of the FOI may change as it continues to negotiate costs with the construction firm, Harry Fairclough Ltd, which has gone into administration. 

It also said that the £11.5m figure to build its new offices did not take into account the fact that millions of pounds was generated through the sale of its other council department buildings to fund the move—these included the sale of Victoria Park House, Scottsdale House, Springfield House and Crescent Gardens. It also argued that moving staff onto one site would result in savings of £1m a year on overheads. 

The council said the £11m figure was always in the public domain. However, in a leaflet distributed by the ruling Conservative party in 2014 during a consultation about the planned build at Knapping Mount, the £8.7m was reported as a gross figure, with the sale of the offices to be deducted from this: 

Taken from a Conservative leaflet distributed to local households in 2014

The council had refused to confirm the cost in response to previous FOI requests, citing commercial sensitivity. Having now been released, the numbers are still confusing for residents of the district. 

The Stray Ferret requested the information in the FOI as part of a detailed look into the net cost of the move to Knapping Mount, the sale of its former offices and whether or not the council has met its original stated objectives for the whole project.    

A full report of our findings will be published once complete.  

What is ‘County Lines’?

‘County Lines’ is a term used when drug gangs from big cities expand their operations to smaller towns, often using violence to drive out local dealers and exploiting children and vulnerable people to sell drugs.

These dealers will use dedicated mobile phone lines, known as ‘deal lines’, to take orders from drug users.

All kinds of illegal drugs are being supplied and ordered, including heroin and cocaine. Other drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy are also in demand.

In most instances, the users or customers will live in a different area to where the dealers and networks are based, so drug runners are needed to transport the drugs and collect payment.

A common feature in county lines drug supply is the exploitation of young and vulnerable people. The dealers will frequently target children and adults – often with mental health or addiction problems – to act as drug runners or move cash so they can stay under the radar of law enforcement.

Suspected drugs seized from one of the recent property raids

Destructive cycle

Detective Superintendent Fran Naughton, of North Yorkshire Police, said that county lines was an operational priority for North Yorkshire Police, with three dedicated proactive teams dedicated to the issue: “There are drug users in all towns and it’s important that vulnerable people are offered the help to get out of the destructive cycle of drug use. It’s a complex problem with many factors which is why partnership working with housing providers, drug intervention and local authorities and the health service is important.”

“The criminals will exploit younger people and children and force them to transport the drugs to the smaller towns, often using public transport. In a practice known as cuckooing, they also take over the homes of vulnerable people, again often drug users themselves, to store and sell their drugs while they are in the area.

“Any teenager is at risk of becoming involved, even those from affluent families.

“Our advice to parents is to talk to your children about drugs and be aware of the signs to look out.”

What should parents look out for:

Gangs are increasingly using social media to recruit children via mobile phones who aren’t typically vulnerable, so everyone needs to be alert to the following signs:

• Persistently going missing from school or home and / or being found out-of-area;
• Unexplained money, clothes, or mobile phones
• Excessive receipt of texts / phone calls
• Relationships with controlling / older individuals or groups
• Leaving home / care without explanation
• Suspicion of physical assault / unexplained injuries
• Carrying weapons
• Significant decline in school results / performance
• Gang association or isolation from peers or social networks
• Self-harm or significant changes in emotional well-being

If you suspect a child you care for or know is being exploited, please call the police on 101, if they are in immediate danger, always call 999 

Visit https://northyorkshire.police.uk/ for advice and information for parents.

The final build cost for Harrogate’s new civic centre has been revealed as £11,516,200.

It is almost £3m more than the budget announced by Harrogate Borough Council at the outset of the project in 2015.

The figure was revealed to The Stray Ferret after a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Previously, the council had refused to announce the cost on the grounds of “commercial sensitivity”. Contractor Harry Fairclough (Construction) Limited entered administration in February this year.

The council said: “Final account negotiations were ongoing between the Council and Harry Fairclough prior to Harry Fairclough entering into administration.”

In 2015, when the council first began work at the Knapping Mount site, the expected build cost was £8.7m.

Harrogate Borough Council said its intention was to unite all staff on one site, saving £1m per year through efficiencies as a result. It argued its existing offices across five sites were not fit for purpose.

Having first put its historic Crescent Gardens building on the market in July 2015, HBC finally announced it had completed a sale to Impala Estates in January this year for £4m. The company said it intends to refurbish the building as offices.

Two events at Harrogate Convention Centre have been called off because of coronavirus.

The Morrisons supplier conference on 24th March and the three-day IPIG medical conference in May have both been postponed because of the spread of the virus.

However, the AireCon gaming festival is taking place this weekend with 2,500 attendees and the Conservative Party Spring Forum is still currently scheduled for early April.

Kim Wilson, who chairs guesthouse group Accommodation Harrogate, said she believed the two postponed events were relatively small and did not bring significant contributions to the local economy. The Morrisons event would have been mostly day delegates, while those at the IPIG conference kept mostly to the venue itself. New dates have yet to be confirmed for either.

Discussing the growing impact of coronavirus, she said: “I think across town, and across the country generally, we need to hunker down a bit and do what we can to get through.

“There are big events cancelling elsewhere in the country but they are already rescheduling for September onwards. That would be a sensible thing for the Convention Centre to offer, to bring the event to Harrogate in a few months’ time.”

Retailers in the Harrogate district have welcomed the news of a break in their business rates to help them deal with the impact of coronavirus.

The announcement in this week’s Budget will see retail, leisure and hospitality firms with a rateable value below £51,000 receive the tax break in the coming financial year. 

It has been welcomed by business groups, with both Independent Harrogate (IH) and Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC) saying it will be badly needed by businesses worrying about the impact of the pandemic.

Sandra Doherty of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce

Chamber CEO Sandra Doherty said:

“This rates break could mean the difference between businesses surviving into next year and what could otherwise have been many more empty units around our towns. However, we shouldn’t be complacent – this is a short term measure and local businesses still need our support in the coming months and years.” 

William Woods of Independent Harrogate also raised concerns about the extent to which businesses would benefit. 

“It is just not fair the high street has to pay the lion’s share of tax when online businesses hardly pay anything. It’s only smaller businesses that benefit from rate relief for a year – what about good family businesses like Hoopers that will get no benefit?” 

He added that, in the current climate, Independent Harrogate would be renewing its calls to delay any planned increase in parking charges.

Commuters in Harrogate have reacted to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s pledge to ‘build better railways’. 

Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, in his first Budget announcement, made the pledge to spend billions of pounds on road and rail projects as part of a proposed £600 billion infrastructure programme. 

Although there was no specific announcement yesterday as to where the money will be spent, long-suffering passengers at Harrogate Railway Station were clear about where they feel the government should prioritise.

Jerome Morrow (pictured above) who regularly travels between Harrogate and Leeds, said

 “The trains themselves have improved, but too few carriages are put on and at peak times that leads to overcrowding and an uncomfortable journey.  

“Compared with London, we have a lot of catching up to do in the north. We are paying the same fares for an inferior service and investment should be made in the provision of more carriages.” 

York University sociology student Kate McWhirter

For York University sociology student, Kate McWhirter, who was in Harrogate to meet friends, the issue is lack of communication:

 “On four separate occasions recently, I was waiting for trains that were suddenly cancelled with no reason given for the cancellation and left wondering if the ticket I had was valid on another train. They need to spend the money on better communications.” 

The Harrogate line has recently had national attention with the Sunday Times reporting at the weekend that the 07:13 Harrogate to Leeds service being “the most cancelled in the UK”.  Northern Rail, which had operated the line, lost its franchise at the beginning of this month and the service is now in government control.