New Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner pledges to be ‘broad church’

Philip Allott has pledged to be “a broad church” and tackle a wide range of concerns after being elected Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire.

With a turnout that was the highest since the post of police and crime commissioner was created in 2012, the Conservative candidate took 47% of the first preference votes – falling short of the requisite 50% – but secured re-election on second preference votes.

After several recounts it was announced he had secured a total of 83,737 first and second preference votes, over 30,000 more than his nearest rival Labour’s Alison Hume.

The first round of voting had seen Liberal Democrat James Barker with 19,773 votes and Independent candidate Keith Tordoff with 22,308 votes eliminated.

As the result over who would have oversight of the police and fire services in the county was announced in the sports hall at Selby College, Mr Allott, who runs a public relations and marketing agency, said he would take on the issues that his rival candidates had raised while campaigning.

He said:

“We live in the best county in England and I hope to make it an even better county.”

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With the exception of the Harrogate district, the result in each of the North Yorkshire districts was the same with Ms Hume coming second in each of the first counts, Independent candidate and Pateley Bridge sweet shop entrepreneur Keith Tordoff has received the third most votes in each area. Harrogate saw Mr Barker come second.

Returning officer Janet Waggott has said there had been 160,025 votes verified for the North Yorkshire and York area, meaning 25.47% of the electorate, higher than the 22% five years ago and almost double that of 2012.

The rural district of Craven, which includes part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, saw 29.6% of the electorate turn out, while the similarly rural district of Richmondshire, on the other side of the park saw just 23.8% of the electorate vote.

The areas with the largest urban populations, York, Harrogate and Scarborough, saw turnouts of 24.1%, 27.4% and 22% respectively.

Ms Hume, a York-based lecturer and disability campaigner, said she was proud at having run a positive campaign. She welcomed Mr Allott’s pledge to tackle the issues she had raised, and said she looked forward to seeing action over the “epidemic of violence against women and girls”.

Mr Barker, a City of York councillor with 24 years of military service, said:

“I am pleased with the amount of votes I got, which was 6,000 more than the previous Liberal Democrat candidate for this role. I came here with two aims. Not to lose the deposit and to increase the count and we have achieved this.”

After the first count, Mr Tordoff said:

“I am obviously disappointed because I came to win, but to come third is pleasing and over 22,000 people in North Yorkshire voted for me as first preference. It was always going to be a Herculean task against the main political parties.”

Conservatives win North Yorkshire Police commissioner election

The Conservatives have held the position of North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Philip Allott, the Tory candidate, won the election with 83,737 votes.

The vote went to a second preferences count after no candidate took 50 per cent of the vote.

He replaces Julia Mulligan, who stepped down from the role.

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Turnout for the election was 25.47 per cent.

Full results on first and second preferences were:

In the first round, James Barker, Liberal Democrat, got 19,773 and Keith Tordoff, Independent, 22,308.

Tory crime candidate: No plans to close more police stations

The Conservative candidate for North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has said he does not envisage closing more police stations if elected.

In the first of a series of candidate interviews with the Stray Ferret, Philip Allott said he would take the closure of stations on a case by case basis.

Voters will go to the polls on May 6 to elect a new commissioner. The Liberal Democrats, Labour Party and an independent candidate will also be fielding candidates.

Mr Allott, who lives in Knaresborough, is standing for the Conservative party. He is managing director of PR and marketing agency Allott and Associates Ltd.

No more station closures

Mr Allott said, if elected commissioner, he did not “envisage” closing anymore stations.

In the Harrogate district, Pateley Bridge police station became the latest to be closed in the county in an effort to save money.

The building on King Street has been put up for sale and officers relocated to save £19,000 per year.

It follows other station closures, such as Northallerton, which have been shut to relocate officers with other public sector workers.

Mr Allott said some of the stations had been closed due to a lack of people coming in to report crime. He said the Pateley Bridge station was among those that were underused.

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He added that the money has been used to invest in frontline policing, such as body cameras.

When asked if he intended to stick with the policy to close stations down in order to save money for taxpayers, Mr Allott said: 

“I don’t envisage anymore police stations closing, that has been worked through.

“If there is a special case, then I will do it on a case by case basis. But I think where we are is just about right.”

Harrogate ‘badly hit’ by county lines

In the last six months of 2020, police made 140 arrests related to county lines drugs across the Harrogate district.

Police launched Operation Expedite, based in the town, to deal with drug dealing and the exploitation of vulnerable people.

Mr Allott said Harrogate had been “badly hit” by county lines drugs gangs in recent years.

He said he would extend the automatic number plate recognition system and encourage stop and search “on reasonable grounds” to help the force tackle drug gangs.

Mr Allot said there were “some easy hits” to make on tackling the problem, but added there were longer term issues such as working to help vulnerable young people who may be encouraged into gangs.

He said:

“I’m a realist. The police, fire and crime commissioner on their own and with partners can’t stop the drugs trade.

“It would be fantastic if we could, but we can’t. We can simply control it.

“But what I want to do is to make it so hard for that trade in North Yorkshire.”

North Yorkshire Police in Ripon.

More police presence to tackle Ripon crime

In order to tackle the problems over anti-social behaviour in Ripon, Mr Allott said he wanted to double the number of police officers in the city.

The city has been blighted by crime in recent months with cannabis farms found on an industrial estate and five incidents in one three-hour spree earlier in February, including a robbery, thefts and reports of a man carrying a machete.

Mr Allott said part of the issue was a “lack of visibility” of police officers. He added that there should be a mobile unit patrolling communities, including Ripon.

When asked whether he really believed more police would work when officers had already pledged to tackle the problem in the city, he said the force needed to use the “record number” of resources that it will soon have at its disposal.

He said:

“We’re well on our way to a record number of officers. We’ve definitely got a record number of PCSOs.

“But we’ve got to utilise those people and police have got to have a greater community involvement. Other agencies and organisations need to support the police.”

Dog thefts and keeping women safe on Harrogate’s streets

One area where the Conservative candidate has focused a lot of his campaign is on dog thefts.

Mr Allott believes many frustrated dog owners feel some police forces treat the crime as low priority. He wants to lobby for stronger enforcement on dog thefts.

“There’s a lot of people out there who feel they are not been listened to about their pets. That needs to be addressed.”

He highlighted a survey showing dog thefts increased by 250% last year due to gangs cashing in on the demand for puppies during lockdown.

A Freedom of Information request by the Stray Ferret to North Yorkshire Police showed the number of incidents recorded in the district where a dog had been stolen was nine last year, four in 2019 and four in 2018.

When asked whether violence against women would be a better focus for his campaign, he pointed to £500,000 which has been allocated by government to North Yorkshire to spend on improving female safety.

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Mr Allott said he wanted the money spent on plain clothes police officers and to educate young men on the issue.

As part of his campaign, he has launched a survey to gather views on how the funding should be best spent.

He said:

“The hard knock is the plain clothes police to arrest men who are harassing women. But secondly we need a cultural change.

“The way we are going to do that cultural change is that we are going to educate men to behave better.”

Funding the fire service

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue also falls within the commissioners remit.

The service precept, which funds the fire service, is set by the commissioner’s office.

But, Julia Mulligan, who has held the role since 2012, said recently that the county’s fire service is among the worst funded in the country.

Asked how he would solve that problem, Mr Allott said there would need to be more funding for the service.

He said this could be done through running fire stations more effectively, increasing the precept and lobbying ministers for more funding.

The following candidates so far have announced they are standing for election as commissioner:

The final list of nominations will be published on April 9. The deadline to register to vote in the May elections is April 19. You can register to vote here.

Tomorrow, the Stray Ferret will feature an interview with Liberal Democrat candidate, James Barker.

Police commissioner candidate promises action on dog thefts

The Conservative candidate for the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner elections has pledged to take a tougher stance on dog theft.

Philip Allott, who lives in Knaresborough, believes many frustrated dog owners feel some police forces treat the crime as low priority.

Mr Allott highlighted a survey showing dog thefts increased by 250% last year due to gangs cashing in on the demand for puppies during lockdown.

Sought-after breeds, such as French bulldogs, can sell for more than £5,000 and a litter can fetch £35,000.

If elected, Mr Allott would not be able to change operational police policy but he pledged to lobby those who can.

Last week he discussed dog thefts on a group call with Home Secretary Priti Patel, who said she would consider further action.

Voters will go to the polls on May 6 to elect a successor to Julia Mulligan.

The North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner election was delayed last year due to covid.

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Mr Allott told the Stray Ferret today:

“The rising prices of dogs have made them a target for criminals. Most would probably make more money stealing a dog than a wallet.

“Laws are now relatively robust with sentences up to five years but many criminals receive just a caution or a fine.

“PFCCs cannot change the law but we can make representations. I have already been on a call with the Home Secretary and I have also shared a survey on Twitter.”

The following candidates so far have announced they are standing for election as commissioner:

The final list of nominations will be published on April 9.