Questions remain as closure of Ripon care home looms

Questions still surround the closure of a Ripon care home more than two months after the care group which runs the home announced the decision.

Skell Lodge, which is owned by the Maria Mallaband Care Group (MMCG), operates from a listed Victorian building on South Crescent.

MMCG told the Stray Ferret in October that the building would “shortly no longer meet appropriate building regulations” so it would need to move residents out before the end of the year.

The Stray Ferret has asked MMCG a number of times what the problem with the building is and whether it would it possible to remedy the problem. We did not receive an answer.

A spokesperson for the care group has, however, since said:

“We can confirm that all residents have found alternative accommodation.

“We have worked hard with the team at Skell Lodge, and our partners locally to ensure residents and their families have been supported and have received the help needed during this difficult period of adjustment.

“It is expected that all residents will be settled into their new homes in time for Christmas.”

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We have spoken to two staff members and the family of a former resident. They all raised concerns about how staff and residents have been treated. They also said they were not aware of any problems with the building.

A spokesperson from the CQC said:

“We are aware that the provider Skell Lodge in Ripon has taken the decision to close the service at the end of this year.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and liaising with North Yorkshire County Council to ensure that people are moved safely to alternative services that are appropriate to their needs.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire County Council said:

“The future of the residents and the staff is our paramount concern.

“We continue to work with the care provider and the CQC and with residents and their families to try to ensure the smoothest possible transition for people.”

Newts delay junction 47 A1(M) upgrade near Knaresborough

The discovery of great crested newts has delayed the A1(M) junction 47 upgrade near Knaresborough — which is now set to overrun by at least six months.

North Yorkshire County Council, the highways authority, also revealed today the scheme was set to cost considerably more than the original £7.7m budget.

It said spending had racked up to £10 million by September and “the latest estimated costs are the subject of detailed discussions with the council’s contractor and will be publicly available once agreement is confirmed”.

It said in a statement:

“Encountering unforeseen poor ground conditions on the southbound slip road has significantly restricted the speed of work taking place and the methods that can be used.

“In addition, the discovery of great crested newts caused a delay as they legally had to be relocated. During the coronavirus pandemic, operatives had to comply with secure site procedures which also extended the timescale.”

Work by contractors Farrans Construction began in September last year to widen three of the four slip roads and install traffic lights to prevent vehicles queueing.

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It was initially due to finish in September but the council said in August that “unforeseen ground conditions” meant it would finish this month.

North Yorkshire County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access, said:

“We are looking forward to the completion of this important scheme, which anticipates significant residential and commercial development along the A59 corridor.

“The prolongation of the schedule is not expected to cause disruption to traffic flows at the junction and will be accompanied by additional safety work on the vehicle restraint systems on the A1M slip roads.

“Whilst progress on construction works will depend upon winter weather conditions, we are confident that we can fully complete the scheme by spring.

‘Long-term benefits’

As well as widening the slip roads, traffic signals will be installed on the roundabout to improve traffic flow. Signals will also be added to the T-junction between the A168 and the A59, a short distance from junction 47 on the York side to benefit drivers turning onto the A59 and to improve safety.

To the west of Junction 47, between the A1 and the Flaxby roundabout, a lane will be added for traffic travelling east, so there will be two lanes in each direction between those two roundabouts.

Cllr Andy Paraskos, member for the Ainsty division, added:

“The delays to the project are unfortunate, but unforeseen issues are always a risk on major schemes like this. We can look forward to the long-term benefits from next spring for residents, commuters and visitors for many years to come.”

The project has been funded by £2.47m from the government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, along with contributions from the county council, National Highways and developer Forward Investment LLP.

 

Council accused of ‘trophy investment’ for £9m purchase of Harrogate’s Royal Baths

North Yorkshire County Council has been accused of making a “trophy investment” by buying Harrogate’s Royal Baths for £9m, as part of a bid to raise money for frontline services.

The council set up the Brierley Group of firms, ranging from house builders to lawyers, in 2017 to bring together council-owned companies and save money. However, last year it reported a loss of £639,000.

With further losses forecast for the current financial year, some members of the authority have questioned whether the council has the necessary business acumen to run the array of firms.

A meeting of the Tory-led authority’s corporate and partnerships scrutiny committee heard the pandemic was continuing to significantly affect some arms of the Brierley Group.

Officers have estimated revenue returns for its property investment this financial year of £282,000, which equates to a return of 2.38 per cent.

The meeting heard the Royal Baths property comprises four commercial units, including a nightclub, bar and restaurant that had all closed for extended periods over the last two years, but also that “the longer term viability of some tenants is a concern”.

Officers said covid and the resulting lockdowns could not have been foreseen and officers were working closely with tenants to achieve a return to pre-covid performance as soon as possible.

‘Absolutely speechless’

After learning of the rate of return, Conservative member for Escrick, Councillor Richard Musgrave, told the meeting he was “staggered” to learn the council had invested £9m in the Royal Baths:

“I thought you might say a million for example for four units. I am absolutely speechless.”

“The performance looks very very poor. Several of the tenants are struggling by the looks of things. It looks like a poor investment, it looks like a trophy investment.”

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The meeting heard the council had carried out thorough checks before accepting tenants.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, the authority’s deputy leader who also chairs the council’s Commercial Investment Board, said the Harrogate Baths investment had been approved by the council’s executive.

He said businesses sometimes had to take non-payment of rent “on the chin”:

“It’s about the percentage rate of return of investment that we would expect and at the time it looked good. Even with covid, which has clobbered the market, we are still the right side of the line in terms of leaving the money in the bank. Overall, yes it hasn’t performed as well as anybody would have hoped, but we are still making a margin on it.”

The meeting heard a proposal, first revealed three years ago, for the council to set up a solar farm to generate more funding had been shelved after the set-up costs and time for a return on the investment were found to be prohibitive.

Stray Views: Station Gateway will benefit far more people than cyclists

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Station Gateway will benefit far more people than cyclists

It’s good to read letters in Stray Views from Andrew Willoughby, Peter Whittingham and others in favour of the Station Gateway project, countering what in my opinion are unfounded fears about a great opportunity for significant investment to improve the town centre.

The Station Gateway scheme is not ‘to benefit cyclists’. The suggestion by some that the only way into town will be on a bicycle is utter nonsense. The scheme is aimed at ‘improving the public realm’, making the town centre a better place for people to spend time in, and to make it a safer and more pleasant place in which to walk and cycle.

It will mean less traffic, which scientists and governments recognise is essential if we are serious about tackling the climate crisis.

Objectors claim, with great confidence but no evidence, that reducing Station Parade to one lane is sure to cause massive congestion. I don’t agree. I think the conclusion of the county council’s consultants, based on pre-covid data, makes sense, which is that journey times will only be marginally longer even at peak times. What we are more likely to get is traffic evaporation. As this 2019 study found, ‘one of the best kept, and counter intuitive secrets in urban planning [is that] less road space doesn’t increase congestion but leads to a drop in vehicle numbers’.

This is what appears to be happening in the centre of Leeds where a far more radical reallocation of road space than is planned for Harrogate is well underway.

I ran Argos Sports in Beulah Street for 30 years. I believe that the noisy minority of local businesses opposing the scheme don’t know what’s good for them.

They are being offered a £10.9m investment to improve and bring more residents and visitors into the town centre yet they keep their heads firmly buried in the past pretending that their customers must be able to park outside their shops, which they can rarely do even now. Station Gateway will make the town centre more successful, and a much less polluted and more pleasant environment in which to spend time and to go to work.

I fully agree with those who want a feasibility study to look at making West Park and Parliament Street two-way, and with making 20mph rather than 30mph the default speed limit in our town centre and elsewhere.

The local authorities are contributing massively to our traffic problem by allowing one development after another, thousands of new homes, to be built which are car dependent by design, too far from town to walk, poorly served by public transport, and with no useful cycle infrastructure.

I also believe it’s time to stop HGVs from using many of our urban streets without restriction day and night.

Malcolm Margolis BEM, Harrogate

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Businesses are right to be worried about Station Gateway

According to North Yorkshire County Council, the outcome of its congestion study was to provide more sustainable transport. It would appear its meaning of sustainable is walking and cycling.

In my view it means frequent, affordable, viable all year transport for all and not just a minority. A total of 22% of the population is over the age of 65.

Have they forgotten the additional congestion and stop-starting which will arise if Station Parade is reduced to one lane? It is a classified major trunk road.

North Yorkshire County Council obviously considered 12 weeks in normal circumstances was required for consultation on the relief road but four weeks during lockdown when residents were advised to stay at home sufficient for the Gateway project.

I understand the Gateway scheme, if it goes ahead ,will start in spring 2022 and take 12 months. North Yorkshire County Council also intend to replace Oak Beck bridge on Skipton Road, with the disruption lasting six months, starting January 2022

It is not surprising that many businesses are concerned about their future.

Catherine Alderson, Harrogate

Gateway is ill-conceived and needs scrapping

I wish to add weight to the growing number of Harrogate residents who oppose the proposed Station Gateway. The project is ill-conceived and in my opinion [and the opinion of everyone in my neighbourhood], it needs to be scrapped.
Roger Cooke, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

District care homes reduce services after unvaccinated staff forced to leave

Some care homes in the Harrogate district have had to cut back services because unvaccinated staff left rather than having covid vaccines.

The government made it mandatory for all care home workers to be vaccinated by November 11. It said this would protect people being cared for.

Richard Webb (pictured), corporate director for health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, told a media briefing this week that nine staff out of 2,000 at council-run care homes had refused to have the vaccine and therefore either had been redeployed or had their contracts terminated. Five of these were in Harrogate.

“That has caused some issues for us. We are obviously trying to replace people who have left us and that has meant we have had to downscale temporarily some of our day and respite services as people know them.

“We’ve put alternatives in place but that might be in a different location to your normal location for a break so we are in touch with families about that.”

Mr Webb said there were 500 care providers in total across North Yorkshire, adding:

“We’ve had approximately 240 people out of 20,000 who decided not to have the vaccination. Again, unfortunately they will be leaving social care. But overall that’s an incredible record and compares very well with many other places across England.

The county council began a social care recruitment drive Make Care Matter to plug the staff shortfall. Mr Webb said it had so far generated 170 applications and that 31 interviews were coming up and 14 people had been appointed to jobs.He said there would be a second recruitment phase after Christmas.

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Harrogate district recycling centres appeal for Christmas toys for kids

Harrogate district residents are being urged to donate toys and games at household waste recycling centres in the run up to Christmas.

The aim is to collect 10 tonnes of items, which will be passed on to young people, aged up to 16, who are experiencing hardship this Christmas.

The Re-use Santa Appeal is working with No Wrong Door, which supports young people in or on the edge of the care system at centres in Harrogate and Scarborough, on the initiative.

No Wrong Door replaces traditional council-run young people’s homes with hubs that combine residential care with fostering.

Staff at the county’s recycling centres, which are operated by Yorwaste on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council, will ensure donations are in good working condition before they are delivered to children.

The gifts will be given as part of a Christmas family bag to families in North Yorkshire and York. Surplus items will be distributed to other charities.

There are three recycling centres in the Harrogate district: on Wetherby Road and Penny Pot Lane in Harrogate and on Dallamires Crescent in Ripon. Drop-off points are located by the containers for household reusable items. Donations will be accepted until December 15.

The sites are also taking donations of new or part-used Christmas wrapping paper and tape as part of the appeal.

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County Councillor Derek Bastiman, executive member for waste management at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Christmas is a time of good will. So we’re asking families who can to add a little light to the festive season this year for many children who are less fortunate.

“I encourage people to check their cupboards for any unwanted toys and games and to donate them in the confidence that their items will go to a good home.”

Last Christmas, people donated more than 2,000 games, toys, puzzles and books, including air hockey tables, dolls’ houses, Nerf guns, bicycles and giant teddy bears.

Cllr Paula Widdowson, executive member for environment and climate change at City of York Council, added:

“It’s critical the donations are clean, well-cared for and in full working order. Thank you once again to everyone who supports this appeal.”

£15,000 fund set up to help North Yorkshire councillors who face abuse

North Yorkshire County Council has set up a £15,000 fund to help councillors who have faced violent threats and abuse.

A meeting of the authority’s executive approved setting aside the money to which any of its 72 elected members will be able to apply, just weeks after Conservative MP Sir David Amess was killed at a constituency surgery in Essex.

The move also follows some North Yorkshire councillors reporting death threats, abusive letters and emails, being held hostage and having their property vandalised.

Under the initiative, councillors will be able to anonymously apply to the security fund, for which there would be no investigation as to whether there is any evidential support for the councillor’s concerns.

The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, whose partner is Darlington MP Peter Gibson, told the meeting no elected representative at whatever level should feel threatened or barred from seeking public office.

He said: 

“I also believe it’s the duty of any democratic organisation to protect and to promote democracy, and to that end I welcome a fund. And that fund will apply to all members of all parties or none. Party politics is not an issue whatsoever.”

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Cllr Dadd said the fund would mean elected members who felt frightened walking down the street could be provided with low-cost measures such as panic alarms, adding: 

“More serious threats could be and have been made, so it might be home security.”

He said while the amount of funding given to councillors needed to be proportional and pragmatic, the authority should not set an upper limit on the amount of money that could be spent protecting elected members.

Cllr Dadd said: 

“Money should not be an obstacle to achieving the outcome we are seeking. 

“We have pencilled in £15,000, but I very much hope the new unitary authority will not set a limit on this because there can be no financial limit on the defence of democracy.”

Home visit concerns

Councillors also agreed to enable elected members with concerns to contact designated officers to provide information about potentially violent persons before undertaking a home visit.

However, concerns were raised over how that would work as councillors were often unaware of concerns about individuals before they arrived at a property.

Whitby cum Mulgrave division councillor and executive member David Chance said: 

“I had a situation that revolved around my support for the refugee programme and I had a number of emails and telephone calls and I simply asked that my details be removed from the council website at that time. 

“But I can see  if there are contentious issues some members may feel threatened.”

Cllr Andrew Lee’s call for the council to take a pro-active approach and offer members who may feel their concerns are too trivial a range of low-cost security measures was also approved.

The safety initiative will also promote the reporting of incidents of abuse so the council can better understand the scale of the issue and what further actions can be taken to reduce risks for councillors.

Consultation agreed over merger of two Harrogate primary schools

Plans to merge two Harrogate primary schools have taken a step forward today after county councillors agreed to move proposals to the consultation stage.

North Yorkshire County Council met today to discuss a proposed merger for Woodfield Community Primary School and Grove Road Community Primary School, with parents set to be asked for their views when the consultation opens on December 2.

The schools sit just half a mile apart, but have very different Ofsted ratings, pupils numbers and finances.

Grove Road is rated as “good” by Ofsted inspectors, while Woodfield is judged “inadequate” and currently in special measures.

Woodfield has also failed to find an academy trust willing to take it over.

Due to pupil numbers determining the level of funding that a school receives, it is forecasting to be almost £333,000 in debt by 2024 due to the 49 pupils currently enrolled.

At Grove Road, the school is currently operating at capacity with almost 300 pupils and is forecasting a budget surplus by 2026.

Speaking today, councillor Patrick Mulligan, executive member for education and skills at the county council, described the proposed merger as an “exciting opportunity” for both schools and said the authority would listen to all comments during the consultation:

“We are confident it will achieve the best possible provision for all pupils, and importantly ensuring that the Woodfield site continues to be used for education of the wider community.

“The proposed amalgamation would be achieved through the technical closure of Woodfield School, and the enlargement of Grove Road School through future use of the Woodfield site.”

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A new leadership team was appointed at Woodfield when it was placed into special measures in January 2020 and an Ofsted monitoring report has since said “effective action” is being taken to remove the worst-possible rating.

However, Cllr Mulligan said these arrangements were only ever temporary and that the merger has been proposed as the school still faces an “uncertain future”.

He said:

“The two governing bodies carefully considered the proposals before half term, and both agreed to ask us to start a consultation.

“We have worked together with the schools to assess how education provision within the Woodfield community could best be preserved.

“Families, staff, and other members of the local community will have opportunities to consider the detail of the proposals during the consultation period.”

The consultation will run until January 22 next year before a final decision is made by the county council three months later in April.

If approved, the merger would create a single primary school operating on both school sites from September 2022.

County council leader ‘wants to be a friend of parish councils’

The leader of North Yorkshire County Council said he “wants to be a friend of parish councils” after being accused of plunging many into financial uncertainty.

A full meeting of the council heard Cllr Carl Les confirm that some parish councils holding elections next year to bring their polls into line with one for the new unitary authority would face charges for the election despite having little time to raise funding.

The meeting was told how some district councils charged parishes to run elections for them. Councillors heard Richmondshire District Council charged Richmond Town Council £6,000 for the election cycle.

Several opposition members called for clarification, saying many parishes had been left in a state of confusion after Cllr Les had said on October 5 that parish councils would not be charged for the forthcoming elections, before the council’s chief executive had stated parish councils would be charged.

Independent group leader Cllr Stuart Parsons said councils such as Richmond, where numerous seats were likely to be contested, would not have enough time to set aside the costs as they norally would because the election had been called by the county council with no consultation with parishes.

Richmondshire Cllr Helen Grant told Cllr Les: 

“The parishes are being disadvantaged. Little parishes have little or no money anyway and as we all know they tend to get their costs in over a four-year period.”

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She said St Martins Parish Council would have to double its tax demand from residents to cover the election and as parishes had the election “foisted” on them by the county council, the upper tier authority should be paying for the elections.

Selby district councillor John McCartney said during Cllr Les’ campaign to get North Yorkshire County Council to be the new authority parish councils were “your new best friends”.

He added: 

“You were going to be their champion, you were going to help them, they could take on responsibilities. But what you’ve done to them is give them uncertainty.”

Cllr Les replied that as a former parish councillor of many years he knew the value of parish councils. 

He said: 

“I do want to be a friend to parish councils. I want to help parish councils, which is why I believe the new authority should not charge, in the same way I don’t think district councils should charge presently.”

He said holding two separate elections for the unitary and parish authorities over two years would have been unreasonably expensive for taxpayers and as parish councils’ budgets were often small compared to district councils, parishes should not be charged for elections by the new authority.

Cllr Les added: 

“The next election is still under the remit of the district councils and it is quite right that it is their decision. Some charge and some don’t.”

Harrogate district men fined for selling van with ‘potentially catastrophic’ brake faults

Two Harrogate district men were fined over £4,000 today for selling a van with ‘potentially catastrophic’ faults to its brakes and structural parts.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Trading Standards team began an investigation after receiving a complaint from a resident who had bought the van in October last year to use in a long-distance house move.

The Iveco Daily van was listed on a Gumtree advert as “ready to work and runs perfect”.

However, an expert vehicle examiner found that on a road the van was dangerous because some components were corroded and there was excessive corrosion to the brake discs.

Paul Beesley, of Allotment Gardens, Harrogate and Andrew Birch, of The Green, Kirkby Malzeard, Ripon pleaded guilty at York Magistrates’ Court to offences under the Road Traffic Act 198T8 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Mr Beesley and Mr Birch were each ordered to pay a total of £2,006 in fines and costs at the rate of £200 per month.

The two men are listed on Companies House as directors of Boroughbridge firm Boss Motorhome Hire.

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County Councillor Derek Bastiman, executive member for Trading Standards, said:

“The resident relied on the description of this van in the advert he saw, and thought that he had bought a vehicle that he could use safely on an international journey.

“The nature of the faults on the van could have led to a terrible outcome for him, other road users or pedestrians, and for that reason trading standards officers will always take action where there is evidence that an unsafe vehicle has been supplied in the county.”