Remembrance Day was commemorated differently this year because of covid but residents across the Harrogate district still paid their respects to those who lost their lives in battle.

Although annual services and parades were unable to go ahead, people held two-minute silences at home and some paid their respects at war memorials.

In Harrogate …

After a two-minute silence and the playing of the Last Post by a single bugler, pupils and a small number of staff from Ashville College laid wreaths at the school’s on-site war memorial.

The rest of the college participated in the annual commemoration from their classrooms.

Upper sixth pupils and joint heads of school Niamh Boyle (left) and Massimiliano Ernesto Nobile (right) with year 6 pupil Taylor Henderson (centre).

Local people congregated at the Harrogate war memorial at 11am yesterday for the two-minute silence.

On Sunday members of the Harrogate Brigantes Rotary Club gathered at Stonefall Cemetary. A small service was led by Rev. David Hoskins.

Photograph: Guy Wilson.

Rotarian Manuel Camacho laying a wreath. Photograph: Guy Wilson.

In Ripon …

On Sunday, the Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion and standard bearers representing the Royal Navy, Royal Engineers and Royal Air Force, stood at the war memorial in Spa Gardens.

Local MP Julian Smith and the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, laid wreaths in the mist.

Yesterday, about 40 people gathered at social distance outside Ripon Cathedral at 11am to observe the two-minute silence. Prayers after the silence were led by the Dean of Ripon, The Very Revd John Dobson.

In Pateley Bridge …

The chair of Nidderdale Chamber of Trade, Tim Ledbetter, laid a wreath on behalf of the chamber.

Elsewhere …

At the North Yorkshire County Council’s offices in Northallerton, Cllr Jim Clark laid a wreath.

North Yorkshire was not included in a government list today of local authority areas that will receive mass coronavirus tests, which deliver results in less than an hour.

The Department of Health and Social Care announced a batch of more than 600,000 quick turnaround test kits will be sent to 67 local authorities — about half of the total in England.

The first 10,000 will be sent this week and will be followed by further weekly allocations. Each area will decide which priority groups to test.

Some parts of Yorkshire, including Calderdale, Kingston upon Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire were included.

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But North Yorkshire was not on the list.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret council bosses will discuss tomorrow whether or not to bid to be included in the next phase of the mass testing programme.

He added the county would be a “good experiment” for the government because it is so big.

Cllr Les said:

“It would be a good area to prove a point, whether or not it would be a great benefit for North Yorkshire residents is another thing.”

The government said the areas chosen for the first phase of the rollout were based on locations with a “local prevalence of covid” and those that expressed an interest.

Liverpool pilot

Ministers rolled out the first rapid tests in Liverpool last week.

More than 23,000 people were tested in the city across 18 test centres, including Liverpool’s Anfield stadium. Of the number, 154 people tested positive.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said the rollout was designed to expand testing for those who are asymptomatic. He said:

“Last week we rolled out mass testing in Liverpool using new, rapid technology so we can detect this virus quicker than ever before, even in people who don’t have symptoms. Mass testing is a vital tool to help us control this virus and get life more normal.”

Care home visits will continue in North Yorkshire despite the country entering a second national lockdown.

The county council restricted visits during October but advised homes they could relax the rules in November to allow one designated visitor for each resident.

Officials have said the measure will continue through lockdown, but homes which report an outbreak will have to restrict visits.

Richard Webb, director of adult social care at the county council, said he was pleased that new government guidance will allow visits to continue.

He said:

“We know how very important it is to the mental health and emotional wellbeing of residents and their friends and families for visits to care settings to take place, if at all possible, without jeopardising safety,

“When covid-19 infection rates began to rise across communities in September we asked care homes to pause routine visits so as to protect residents.  However, we set up a task group which included residents and families to look into how visits could be made safe long-term.

“We acted on their recommendations so that from the start of November we could ask  all care homes to be open for one visitor for each resident, subject to keeping to rules on hygiene, physical distancing and protective equipment.

“We are very pleased that the new national lockdown regulations will enable these visits to continue.”

Read more:

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It comes as the government has to set out further guidance to encourage care homes to allow visitors through lockdown.

The advice reiterates the use of PPE and social distancing when allowing visitors into homes.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire has also bid to be part of a national pilot for care home visits.

The scheme, which was revealed by care minister Helen Whately last week, would allow one relative or friend of a care home resident to be treated as a key worker.

This would enable people to visit loved ones in homes during the winter, though no dates when this might be implemented have been revealed.

Libraries in North Yorkshire have closed again for lockdown — but people can still order books and collect them from the entrances of the buildings.

North Yorkshire County Council revealed yesterday it would operate its select and collect service, which began this year.

The service enables library members to call or email libraries to order books and then pick them up.

Select and collect is available at council-managed libraries in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon. Some community libraries will also offer the service.

Computers available

It is no longer possible to browse libraries but members can book computers for essential use only. A council statement said:

“Workstations will be cleaned between each use and hand sanitiser and wipes will be available.”

The home library service and mobile library will continue to operate during lockdown, although books from the mobile vehicle must be pre-ordered online.

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Library membership grew during the first lockdown.

Current loans extended

All books issued before the current lockdown have had their loan period extended to January 11.

County Councillor Greg White, executive member for library services, said:

“Libraries can be of significant benefit to people’s wellbeing, and it was clear from the last lockdown how much people relied on and missed library services, so I am pleased that has been recognised and that some services will be able to continue.”

Two Ripon schools have merged as part of a £1.5 million project.

Funded by North Yorkshire County Council, the scheme has brought together Moorside infant and junior schools onto one site.

The project involved refurbishment of classrooms, cloakrooms, toilets and a construction of a new workspace extension for pupils and staff.

It comes after county council bosses gave the go-ahead last March for the two sites to merge into one primary school and nursery.

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Authority officials said there are plans for an opening event when it is feasible to do so.

Claire Rowett, headteacher at Moorside school, said the outcome of the project was “exceptional”.

She said:

“The most rewarding part is seeing our children happily learning in a safe and stimulating environment, where they will grow and develop from when they begin in our Nursery up to when they leave in Year six, ready for secondary.

“We are already seeing the positive impact of our continuous and consistent approaches in providing high quality teaching and learning for our pupils, as one school community.

“Both during and after the completion of the building work, our governors and staff team – and their families – have voluntarily invested hours into setting up our fabulous new provision, and I will be forever grateful to them for sharing our vision, and being part of what has been a memorable journey to success.

“We have also appreciated a great deal of support from our wider community, including Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and other locally-based businesses, who have also kindly donated their time and resources.

“We just can’t wait to be able to welcome previous and current members of our school and their families to see the transformation, when covid restrictions are lifted. We feel very excited about the future.”

Cllr Patrick Mulligan, executive member for schools said: 

“This development has benefited so many children and families in the Ripon area. 

“It’s enabled the creation of a newly refurbished school with specially-designed spaces to inspire children and help them achieve their potential with the extra resources and facilities available.”

North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to submit plans to create a new single local authority for the county to ministers.

County councillors voted for the move today, signalling the start of the biggest shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire for decades.

However, the seven district and borough councils will also vote on submitting alternative proposals to ministers.

At the county council’s meeting this morning, 57 councillors voted in favour of submitting the bid and 11 against.

It included “dual hatted” councillors, who sit on both district and the county councils, who will also vote on the districts’ proposal for an east/west model.

Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for local government, will decide on the government’s preferred option.

Whichever proposal he chooses, it will result in both the county council and the district and borough councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, being scrapped and replaced by one or more single-tier authority.

‘Momentous decision’

Cllr Carl Les, leader of the county council, said the proposal for one council, which would cover 618,000 people, was among the most “momentous decisions” the authority has made.

He said the government regarded devolution as part of its plan for recovery from the covid pandemic.

North Yorkshire County Council leader, Carl Les.

Cllr Les said:

“The government sees two parts to covid. Firstly contain and secondly recovery.

“They see devolution and local government reform as key parts of that recovery process and delivering the levelling up agenda.

“This is so the right time to do this and to get prepared for future challenges.”

He added that there would be “no criticism” of other models and that it would be for ministers to decide the best proposal for the county.

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The proposal has received support from City of York Council, which would remain as a unitary authority under the plan.

But opposition councillors on the county council opposed the move.

Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the North Yorkshire independents group, said it was not “the right time” for local government reform.

He said:

“I think central government needs to get to grips with what is going on in our country rather than rearranging deck chairs.”

Cllr Eric Broadbent, leader of the Labour group, said creating a single authority for the county would be “a step too far”.

£38 million cost of shake-up

In its outline plan, the county council said reorganisation of councils in the county could cost up to £38 million.

Consultants Pricewaterhouse Cooper’s report on the plans revealed that setting up a single authority will cost between £18 million and £38 million.

However, the authority also predicts savings of up to £252 million over five years, equivalent to £50.4 million per year.

The district councils ware set to submit an east/west model as a counter proposal to the county council.

Harrogate Borough Council will vote on the plan this evening.

Ministers have set a deadline of December 9 for full proposals to be submitted.

Care homes in the Harrogate district will be able to open their doors for visitors from Sunday.

With strict procedures still in place, a resident will only be able to see one designated visitor.

However, in care homes where there are covid outbreaks, visits will be stopped to protect residents.

It comes after North Yorkshire County Council advised care homes to stop visits throughout October amid rising infection levels.

Read more:

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While those infection levels are still on the upward trend, the county council is keen to balance safety and wellbeing.

Richard Webb, the corporate director for health and adult services at the county council, said:

“North Yorkshire is currently still in tier one. But if part, or all, of the county moves into a higher level of restrictions at any point, then decisions about visiting may be beyond our control.

“However, I have already alerted Public Health England that we would like to see a more flexible approach to care home keeping in touch arrangements than the current tier two and tier three restrictions allow.”

Meanwhile, as previously reported, almost a quarter of North Yorkshire care homes have reported at least one covid infection since the second wave.

Almost a quarter of North Yorkshire care homes currently have at least one covid infection.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, revealed the situation in a bulletin on Wednesday. He said:

“Despite robust outbreak management plans, we now have more than 55 care homes out of a total of 233 with single cases or outbreaks, and three of those now have a very difficult situation with wider scale infection. This is a serious matter, as you will understand.”

The council is due to make an announcement on reopening care homes to some visitors today.

It advised care homes to close during October.

A council spokesman said the announcement was still due to go ahead.

Read more:

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Mr Flinton reiterated that North Yorkshire’s tier one status was hanging by a thread and that people’s actions now would determine what happened at Christmas. He added:

“If we are to have any chance at all of staying in this tier, and to give us all the best chance of being able to be with our loved ones at Christmas, we need to step up and stand together as a county and we will explain this in more detail over the coming days.

“In my role as chair of North Yorkshire’s Local Resilience Forum, I am regularly asked when all this will end.

‘The answer is unfortunately not as straightforward as the question. In truth, we will need to adapt the way we live for many more months.”

An 85-year-old lollipop woman in Summerbridge has celebrated her 45th year of helping children cross the road.

Mary Fisher has helped three generations of children at Summerbridge Community Primary School.

She took up the role in 1975, when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and Leeds United reached the final of the European Cup, and has been excited by it ever since. She said:

“One of the best parts of the job is that everyone recognises you – everyone always waves at me.

“I love being outside and active as well. I have to be out and about rather than sat inside. Not a day goes by where I think I don’t want to get up today and do it.”

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Ms Fisher worked as a carer for more than 30 years before retiring in her 60s.

“I’d get up in the morning and go to my caring job, before coming back and getting changed and going out to be a crossing lady. I did that for many years and I enjoyed it.

“The community thinks the world of us lollipop ladies and the job we do and every day is different and every day is happy.”

Nick Coates, headteacher at the school, said Ms Fisher was “a treasured member of our community for generations” who had “ensured the safe crossing of the busy road for hundreds of children”. He added:

“Not only does Mary ensure that everyone is safe, but she always has a kind word for the children and a wise word for the parents, many of whom she has known for all of their lives, too.”

North Yorkshire County Council has extended its support to local groups after recognising the ongoing need of those struggling.

A total of 23 organisations in the county have received an additional £453,000 in funding from the county council to continue supporting vulnerable people in their communities until March 2021.

Six of these are in the Harrogate district:

• Harrogate and District Community Action
• Knaresborough Connectors
• Ripon Community House
• Boroughbridge Community Care
• Nidderdale Plus
• Masham Community Office

This initiative was set up in April to support those self-isolating and ensure volunteers were in place within communities to offer deliveries of food and essential items.

The county council has chosen to extend this throughout the winter as tougher restrictions come into place.

Helen Flynn, executive director of Nidderdale Plus, said:

“We are an organisation reliant on volunteers but currently we are unable to get many of them together. With this funding we have been able to increase the hours of a member of staff to cover this.

“We are also expanding our current services and starting up new projects to better help the community. The funding also allows us to continue working with our 13 community groups across Nidderdale and Washburn to distribute information to those rural communities.”

A total of £930,000 will have been invested across the county by March 2021. The money has been made available through its North Yorkshire Local Assistance Fund.

The government contributed £150,000 to the fund.

Read more:

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County Council Leader Cllr Carl Les said:

“This Local Assistance Fund makes use of County Council resources and we also welcome Government money sent to us since the pandemic began.

“We have used the funds to support food banks, our local Community Support Organisations and the Citizens Advice network across the county as these are where residents go for advice and help.”

The county council has said it is constantly reviewing the need of its communities and will continue to adjust its interventions if necessary.