Mayor for North Yorkshire agreed in £540m historic devolution deal

An historic agreement has been announced today that sees the biggest shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire and York for more than fifty years.

The 30 year devolution deal agreed by the government will mean North Yorkshire and York will see an elected Mayor in 2024 with £540 million pounds of government cash to focus primarily on skills, housing and transport.

The mayor will take over the role of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and have an annual £18m budget to spend.

The agreement has been described as “a one-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North-South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural areas”.

The aim is that the mayor and combined authority – which would be made up of North Yorkshire and City of York councillers – will be able to have more control of strategic investment for jobs and skills and infrastructure.

Key points to the deal are:

The structure of the mayor and a combined authority will be similar that of the Tees Valley and West Yorkshire, which have already gone through the devolution process and have elected mayors.

North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The chance to secure a wide range of decision-making powers as well as bringing in millions of pounds of investment for North Yorkshire is a huge opportunity for us all to shape our own future for many years to come.

“It will make a real difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in North Yorkshire, driving future prosperity and much better opportunities that are so important to everyone.

“Whether it is improving skills and education, bringing in more investment to the region or helping improve transport links and providing much-needed affordable housing, the proposed deal would enable us to take far greater control of our own destinies.

“An elected mayor representing both York and North Yorkshire would be a powerful figure to have a seat at the table for further negotiations with the Government, bringing real and tangible benefits to the region.”

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Councillors delay North Yorkshire climate change proposals

North Yorkshire councillors have postponed moves aiming to ensure robust and immediate actions are taken to tackle the climate change and biodiversity crises for about four months.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council saw a majority of elected members agree motions for further environmental measures should be referred to the council’s executive and constitutional working group for consideration.

Liberal Democrat, Independent, Green and Liberal councillors had proposed the authority establish a dedicated scrutiny committee, an executive member to oversee climate change and the development of a biodiversity action plan.

The calls came just days after the council’s executive declared a climate emergency, several years after numerous neighbouring councils, following mounting pressure from councillors.

Coordinator of the council’s Green Party group, Cllr Andy Brown, said while the executive’s recent decision to declare a climate emergency was welcome, “we all know good intent needs a clear, costed, timed action plan” to be approved by the same councillors.

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He added a scrutiny committee was needed as it was the role of councillors to examine plans to tackle climate change and that residents suffering record high temperatures would struggle to understand why the authority was not taking more immediate action.

Cllr Brown said: 

“Let’s be honest, how does it look if we say we declared an emergency, but say we’re only going to discuss the scrutiny arrangements in about four months’ time and we may not discuss them at all or we may not set up any scrutiny yet because we think our organisation is more important.

“How are we going to explain that to the people of Tadcaster who lost their bridge for so long, how are we going to explain that to people in Richmondshire who suffered those appalling floods that damaged their livelihoods?”

The authority’s chairman, Cllr Margaret Atkinson, who is tasked with controlling debates at full meetings of the authority, told the chamber the temperatures of the past few days had underlined the need to tackle climate change.

However, she said it was important the authority gave the motions “appropriate consideration”.

She added the council’s staff were already under a lot of pressure due to local government reorganisation.

The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said the proposals had implications, such as financial ones, that needed to be fully understood, with a report by officers, before the motions could be properly considered.

He said it was possible creating an extra scrutiny committee could dilute the efforts of the authority’s existing scrutiny committees for matters ranging from health to transport.

Cllr Dadd said: 

“Policy and organisational issues are often worse for being delivered on the hoof. Good policy may well take a little bit longer to deliver.”

North Yorkshire Police reveals scores of detective vacancies

The chief constable of North Yorkshire Police has revealed it has vacancies for about a third of detectives it needs.

Lisa Winward, chief constable of the force, said while police had acted at speed in recent months to correct failures identified in an inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, it had scores of vacant detective posts.

The inspectors concluded investigations, including those involving missing children and child sexual exploitation, were being handed to inexperienced officers who lacked support.

The inspectors found the force needed to improve speaking to children, recording their behaviour and demeanour, listening to their concerns and views, and using that information to make decisions about their welfare.

Ms Winward highlighted the force’s significant staffing issues to a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and  Crime Panel after commissioner Zoe Metcalfe was asked if she was reassured enough skilled officers were undertaking investigations.

Mrs Metcalfe replied that she definitely was, before adding there was “gaps in resourcing for North Yorkshire Police”.

She said:

“Every effort is being done to address that and make sure all the police officers have the skills they need.”

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Ms Winward, who has led the force since 2018, said the question was “really relevant”, before adding “we don’t have enough resources”.

The chief constable added the force was doing everything it could to speed up the process of people becoming detectives and was opening up new routes to recruit graduates and those solely interested in becoming an investigator.

Efforts to turn around staffing shortages include the force looking at becoming one of the first non-Metropolitan forces to introduce direct entry for detectives from next year, as it had been proven to be an effective means of attracting the right people into policing.

Ms Winward said a third of the force’s total capacity of detectives still needed to be recruited.

She said:

“That’s about 40 posts for detectives across the force.”

The meeting was told the force had introduced a policy to ensure investigations could no longer be handed to someone lacking the requisite skills.

The chief constable said the force had taken the findings of the inspection “extremely seriously”, particularly as “protecting children in our communities is the most important thing we can do as a police service”.

Selby councillor and former police officer Tim Grogan said he had been disturbed to learn the force’s officers had “been taught by emails and internet distant learning packages”.

The meeting heard all officers received face to face training as well as interactive lessons.

After City of York Council leader Councillor Keith Aspden asked the commissioner if she was assured the service was now listening to the views of children, Mrs Metcalfe replied: 

“Absolutely, 100%. They really are taking account of children’s views. They are the centre and they need to be listened to.”

North Yorkshire devolution deal announcement ‘imminent’

A devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York looks set to be announced by the government in just over a week.

There were fears recent ministerial resignations and sackings could have derailed the process.

But details of the deal are now expected to be revealed before the summer Parliamentary recess starts on July 21.

It follows almost 20 months of negotiations between North Yorkshire and York council leaders and officers, government ministers and Whitehall officials.

The deal could potentially unlock around £2.4 billion of investment over 30 years.

It would be targeted on improving economic prosperity, creating more affordable housing and lead to the area becoming England’s first carbon negative economy.

Every first and second tier council in the area, except Hambleton, put forward some ‘asks’ to the government in December 2020 about what they’d like in a devolution deal.

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Concerns were raised that following Michael Gove being fired from his role as the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary by Boris Johnson, it would mean the new minister, Greg Clark, would want to spend time fully digesting the complex deal before signing it off.

Political commentators have highlighted how during his first stint at the Department for Communities Mr Clark negotiated devolution deals and served as minister for decentralisation, but his economic preference was for city-led growth rather than the levelling-up approach focusing on non-metropolitan Britain.

Following news of his appointment and entering his second stint at the department, Clark tweeted that he had a “duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead”.

We have a duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead. Having been Secretary of State at the Communities department before, I will do my best to provide stability, good governance and accountability to Parliament at this important time.

— Greg Clark (@GregClarkMP) July 7, 2022

When asked if he was confident about a deal remaining on track following Mr Clark’s appointment, North Yorkshire County Council leader Cllr Carl Les said he was optimistic the transfer of power and funding would be in time to form a Mayoral Combined Authority next year, with Mayoral elections in 2024.

He said the negotiations were at a very advanced stage.

Cllr Les said: 

“I do hope this will not derail the negotiations and having worked with Greg Clark before as secretary of state I have every confidence that he will treat this matter with the urgency it requires.

“We are at not only the 11th hour, but at the 59th minute of the 11th hour.”

Cllr Les said he felt the county council and City of York Council had been listened to during the negotiations, which he described as having been “fruitful”.

Decision on North Yorkshire second homes council tax premium delayed

A proposal to double council tax on second homes has been postponed to enable an investigation into whether residents with more than one property could easily swerve paying the extra charge.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive agreed to delay considering a policy to charge a 100% premium on second homes so that the potential £14 million windfall the authority believes it could generate from April 2024 could become part of its budget decisions.

The move is part of the authority’s response to a surge in people following the pandemic buying holiday homes in the tourism destination county, increasing demand for housing and prices so that local families cannot afford to stay in the communities.

The proposal to be ready to levy the extra tax should expected government legislation be approved has been warmly some councillors as a “statement of intent” by the council.

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Some councillors saw it as the authority getting to grips with the escalating issue which has already seen some villages, particularly in the Yorkshire Dales and coastal areas, compared to ghost towns for much of the year.

The council’s officers have highlighted that although uncertainty surrounds possible loopholes in the forthcoming government legislation, a law to apply a 100% premium on second homes was introduced in Wales in 2017/18 which last year was paid on more than 23,000 properties there.

However, critics have claimed the premium could even lead to council tax receipts falling as second home owners could simply transfer the property to being a holiday cottage business or swap the named owner’s details for someone who does not own property.

A meeting of the executive heard given that council tax rates for second homes mirror those of main residences there may also be issues that need resolving with how properties are classified for council tax.

Executive member for finance Cllr Gareth Dadd told the meeting the authority was not “going soft” on the policy before it was adopted, but it wanted certainty that second home owners could not use loopholes, undermining what the authority wanted to achieve.

Nevertheless, the executive did approve following other councils in North Yorkshire in introducing the maximum permitted council tax premiums on empty properties.

Councillors heard the introduction of council tax premiums on empty properties in Ryedale had been successful in bringing properties back into use.

Properties that are left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished for two years or more, will have to pay 100% extra council from April, while those with properties that have been empty for 10 years or more, will have to pay three times their main residence council tax bill.

Cllr Yvonne Peacock, who has spearheaded a high-profile campaign to stop the exodus of young families from the Yorkshire Dales, told the meeting she was delighted by the move as run-down empty properties ruined the appearance of villages.

She said: 

“I’m sorry, I have no sympathy. If you cannot afford to do it up then you must put it on the market and let somebody buy it and they can do it up.”

Harrogate District Hospital sees rise in covid cases

Harrogate District Hospital has seen a rise in covid case this past month due to the spread of new variants.

The hospital currently has 11 patients who have tested positive for covid.

However, none of those patients are primarily in hospital for treatment for the virus.

It comes as the Harrogate district has seen a rise in cases due to the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant.

At the end of May, the district’s rate of infection was 55 people per 100,000. It is now 172.

A spokesperson for Harrogate District Hospital said:

“There has been a rise in covid cases at Harrogate District Hospital over the last month as numbers rise in the community due to the new covid variants. This is a trend which is being seen across the country.

“We currently have 11 patients at Harrogate District Hospital who have tested positive for covid and none of these are primarily in hospital for treatment for covid.

“The trust continues to manage covid patients in line with national guidance. Patients with covid are cared for in specific areas of the hospital to minimise transmission and in these areas more strict PPE is in use.”

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Last week, public health officials in North Yorkshire urged people to take measures to avoid covid after the rate surged.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Cases of covid are once again rising across the UK, including in North Yorkshire.

“The latest increase is being driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron, which has also caused high rates in other countries across the world.

“There is evidence that BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible than previous variants, and there is limited protection from infection with previous variants against BA.4 and BA.5.”

Dr Turner added that getting vaccinated, meeting outdoors or in well-ventilated areas indoors, wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces, and good hand and respiratory hygiene would reduce the risk of transmission.

She also advised people with covid symptoms to try to stay at home for five days following the day of their positive result.

Calls for action over ‘overwhelmed’ North Yorkshire children’s mental health services

Children’s community mental health services need a root and branch review, officials in North Yorkshire have said.

North Yorkshire County Council’s director of children and young people’s services Stuart Carlton, said ongoing concerns over a lack of available support had been highlighted to the Department for Education.

It comes amid concerns the strategy to deal with a post-pandemic surge in youngsters requiring support is grossly inadequate.

Mr Carlton said increasing the amount of help for children with mental health issues ranked alongside child exploitation and online safety as the most significant challenges his colleagues were facing.

He was speaking at a meeting of the authority’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee a year after the NHS announced it was rapidly expanding children’s mental health services to offer support teams in schools to almost three million pupils by 2023.

At the time, the NHS said by intervening in mental health issues early it was hoped to prevent problems escalating into serious concerns.

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Earlier this year the committee heard mental health services for children in the county and elsewhere were struggling to cope with an “exponential growth in demand” due to the isolation and upheaval of the pandemic, compounded by factors like pressure experienced by children on social media platforms.

In February, Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust bosses told the scrutiny meeting its community-based mental health team (CAMHS) was treating more than 2,500 children across the county.

They said referrals to its services for issues such as eating disorders had risen from about 100 a month at start of pandemic to more than 300 a month during 2021.

18-month waiting list

Four months on, a youth support worker told the committee the waiting list for CAMHS had risen to 18 months, which was not a sufficiently timely reaction to what children needed.

She said: 

“The biggest challenge we face on the ground is mental health. I cannot overestimate how challenging it is. Pretty much all the young people we work with have some element of mental ill health.”

When asked about a timeframe for getting mental health support teams into schools, Mr Carlton said the authority had told government officials the scheme was too being implemented too slowly and the ambition needed to be to get mental health teams available for all schools.

He added: 

“I just don’t see how that’s going to happen. I have called nationally for a fundamental CAMHS review because it is not working. It needs significant funding and significant review and enacting clearly across the whole of the country.”

Mr Carlton said the authority was providing support to schools through mental heath training while working with North Yorkshire NHS bosses to reassess what was needed from the service and how it could be modernised.

He said there had been promising collaborative work with the NHS, but financing extra support for children would be “very challenging”.

Mr Carlton said:

“We can see through the pandemic increased demand. The services are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed and overstretched and it’s an area of absolute focus.

“Any interaction with a child from a professional is a mental health opportunity. However, we need enough capacity for specialist support when it is required.”

Fraction of free school meals children accessing school holidays scheme

Less than a quarter of children eligible for free school meals have accessed a high-profile holidays activities and food programme in North Yorkshire.

Council officials have put the issue down to a lack of public transport in rural areas, an insufficient number of groups and a perceived social stigma among parents.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s young person’s scrutiny committee heard while the Department for Education had given the authority £1.36m to support healthy eating and activities during school holidays this year, 85% of the funding must be spent on youngsters in receipt of benefits-related meals.

Such is the weight given to ensuring children from poorer backgrounds are the focus of the scheme, which was launched following a campaign by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, that the amount of funding is based on the number of eligible children in the local authority area.

Councillors were told although 2,554 children eligible for free school meals had attended the county’s Food, Entertainment, Art and Sport Together (Feast) programme last summer, they represented just 22% of the county’s children in receipt of free school meals.

The children receiving free school meals had been vastly outnumbered by 3,778 children attending whose parents did not receive benefits.

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The meeting heard the “significant challenge” over reaching children from poorer families had been exacerbated by the number of children eligible for free school meals across the county over the last year rising by 25%, or by some 3,000.

The meeting heard the scheme was seen as vital for vulnerable children, it had been designed to ensure every child from less affluent homes took part in confidence-building activities and learnt about healthy eating.

David Sharp, chief executive of North Yorkshire Youth, said one of the main challenges in attracting primary-aged pupils to Feast schemes was the social stigma parents associated with their children being on the programme.

He said: 

“It comes from parents not wanting their children to know that they on a programme, I’ve had that conversation with several, and also from peers – why have I got a letter and my friend hasn’t got a letter.”

Mr Sharp said Feast organisers were trying to create a strong brand that meant parents know about the provision without its promotion being targeted at them.

A lack of public transport in rural areas meant many North Yorkshire children had effectively been excluded from the scheme, the meeting was told.

Feast organisers said they were working on getting funding to transport children to groups and launch more localised activities.

Councillors were told the authority, charities and providers running the scheme had been given little time by the government to develop it last year and this year would see a significant increase in number of projects, places and activities on offer.

Yorkshire School of Garden Design set to launch at Harewood House

A top North Yorkshire garden designer is launching a new school at Harewood House which will focus on northern landscapes.

Alistair Baldwin decided to set up the Yorkshire School of Garden Design after realising there were no similar schools in the north.

Opening its doors in August, the facility will offer a range of short courses throughout the year.

These will be aimed at garden design enthusiasts and those wanting to learn more about all aspects of the art, from landscaping to planting.

The school’s flagship professional Diploma in Garden Design, which will be delivered over an academic year, begins in September.

Mr Baldwin said:

“For too long the budding designers of the north have had little local choice when looking for a learning experience to broaden their skills and launch them into the profession.

“More often than not, students have had to make the journey to London to find the right course and I thought that needed to change.

“I have lived and worked in North Yorkshire for over three decades and have developed an acute understanding of how the terrain, geology, even climate and the way of working is very different in this part of the UK.

“The process within which gardens are designed and built in this magnificent landscape is very different to the south. So I want to share everything I have learned over the last 35 years and inspire a new generation.”

Alistair Baldwin. Photo: Eva Nemeth

The school will be based at Harewood House, which has more than 100 acres of parkland designed by eminent 18th century landscape architect Sir Lancelot Capability Brown.

Trevor Nicholson, head gardener at Harewood House, said:

“We are absolutely delighted that the Yorkshire School of Garden design will have its base at Harewood House, which we think is a fitting and inspirational venue for a school, which hopes to train the design professionals of the future.

“I am incredibly excited to welcome guests and inspire them with Harewood’s beautiful landscapes.”

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Mr Baldwin trained in garden design in Leeds. After graduating, he built an award-winning landscape design practice in Richmond, which delivers high-spec public and private gardens throughout the UK, as well as internationally.

Having spent 12 years teaching landscape and garden design at Leeds Beckett University, while also running his practice, he has a wealth of experience in nurturing the next generation of garden design talent.

Mr Baldwin added:

“I am delighted to announce that I will be joined by an eminent team of world class design consultants, who will work with me to deliver the  courses.

“Having a team of practising garden designers, all of whom have experience in creating rich and well-crafted gardens, means that students will get essential practical advice and insight straight from the horse’s mouth.”

The Terrace at Harewood House. Photo: Harewood House Trust and Lee Beal

New covid advice after Harrogate district rate triples in June

People are being urged to take measures to avoid covid after the rate of infection tripled in the Harrogate district this month.

The covid rate had been decreasing across North Yorkshire since the end of March. But the trend has reversed in recent weeks due to a more transmissible variant of Omicron.

At the end of May, the district’s rate of infection was 55 people per 100,000. It is now 172.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Cases of covid are once again rising across the UK, including in North Yorkshire.

“The latest increase is being driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron, which has also caused high rates in other countries across the world.

“There is evidence that BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible than previous variants, and there is limited protection from infection with previous variants against BA.4 and BA.5.”

Dr Turner said getting vaccinated, meeting outdoors or in well-ventilated areas indoors, wearing face coverings in enclosed spaces, and good hand and respiratory hygiene would reduce the risk of transmission.

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She also advised people with covid symptoms to try to stay at home for five days following the day of their positive result.

Free covid testing is no longer available for most people, but tests can be bought from pharmacies. Dr Turner said:

“It is still best to try to avoid covid infection wherever possible, or minimise the number of times you have it.

“Even if you do not develop severe symptoms from the initial infection you are still at risk of developing long covid, which can be debilitating.

“You are also at increased risk from cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes in the days and weeks following covid infection.”

Sue Peckitt, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group chief nurse and director of nursing and quality, added:

“There are still a significant number of people in our hospitals who have covid and it’s a stark reminder that coronavirus hasn’t gone away. This virus is still causing some people to become very unwell.”