Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have called for an investigation after figures revealed a rise in staff vacancies at Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Figures obtained by the party show the number of employees leaving the service annually had increased by 28.3% since 2019/20.

According to the data, in 2022/23 alone, 892 staff left the ambulance trust and its vacancy rate was 17% – the highest in the country.

By comparison, South Central Ambulance Service had the next highest with 16%.

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, called on the government to investigate the ‘mass exodus” of staff.

He added that a recruitment drive should be launched to retain, recruit and train paramedics and other ambulance service staff.

Mr Gordon said:

“This is deeply disturbing and there needs to be an investigation immediately.

“We are fortunate to have a great district hospital, and fantastic ambulance staff, but paramedics and our hospital are feeling the strain of years of Conservative neglect.”

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A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the vacancy figure included vacancies for all service lines including emergency operations, non-emergency patient transport service and the NHS 111 urgent care service.

They added:

“While these figures look stark in isolation, it’s important to remember there is natural attrition in every organisation and many reasons why people choose to change jobs.  Yorkshire Ambulance Service is committed to increasing its workforce, including the number of frontline clinical roles.

“The nature of our work is diverse and very much focused on providing high quality patient care, and we are committed to supporting colleagues in a positive workplace environment.”

Martin Flaherty, managing director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, added:

“There is no doubt that recruitment and retention of all grades of frontline staff ranks foremost in the priorities of the boards of each of our member services so of course it is worrying to see an increase in those leaving the ambulance service. 

“However, it is important to note that the data that was requested includes all ambulance staff groups, not just paramedics, including wider clinical roles and also non-clinical such as 111 call handlers and administrative staff. 

“There is also natural attrition in every organisation and many reasons why people may choose to move on in their careers. This is not unique to the ambulance service, and indeed there are recruitment and retention issues across the wider health and social care arena.”

North Yorkshire Council has said it is unaware of “significant staff shortages” despite concerns from union officials.

Dave Houlgate, secretary at the Unison Harrogate local government branch, said local authorities faced a “recruitment and retention” crisis.

It comes amid reports that Knaresborough Castle was closed last weekend due to staffing shortages and various bin collections have been postponed.

A report before the council’s corporate partnerships scrutiny committee in June also found that demand for care workers in North Yorkshire “continues to outstrip supply”.

Similarly, the council, along with other authorities, faces a “national shortage” of education psychologists.

Mr Houlgate said a below inflation pay award for council staff would not address concerns of shortages.

He said:

“I have been saying there is a recruitment and retention crisis in local government for a number of years now.

“It does impact on service delivery and the latest below inflation pay award will not address that.”

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However, council officials have said they are unaware of any significant shortages within the council.

Trudy Foster, assistant chief executive for HR and business support at the authority, said:

“We have a staff base of over 12,500 employees providing services across the whole county. Whilst there will always be a level of turnover, which is healthy for any organisation, the council is in a good position. 

“We are not aware of any significant staffing shortages affecting services at this time. However, as reported at the corporate partnerships overview and scrutiny committee in June, we do have some hard-to-fill posts in care, social workers, planning and educational psychologists. We are working proactively in these markets to attracts applicants.  

“Through the work in moving to the new council we have revised terms and conditions to ensure the offer is attractive to existing employees and new recruits, ensuring we are able to retain and attract.” 

Harrogate residents will soon again be asked for their views on creating a Harrogate Town Council.

They’d be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja-vu as it will be third time documents have been dropped in letterboxes with information and questions about how it should be formed.

For some, creating another layer of local democracy so soon after the demise of Harrogate Borough Council is an unpalatable thought.

But Harrogate, along with Scarborough, are the only two areas in the county without a town or parish council and proponents say the council will give the town a voice and help hold North Yorkshire Council to account.

How much will it cost?

Perhaps the most pertinent question for residents during a cost-of-living crisis is how much the new council will cost them.

If it’s created then an annual sum, called a precept, will be added to every council tax bill to help pay for services.

The council has said that households would initially be asked to pay between £40 and £60 to allow for an annual budget in the range of £1m to £1.6m.

The areas in Harrogate which would fall under the new town council.

The budget would be spent on accommodation, employment costs, office and IT equipment, insurance, professional fees, the mayor and delivering services.

The precept would be lower than Ripon City Council, which charges £70.77 for band D properties, but higher than Knaresborough Town Council, which charges £25.27.

However, another cost that has alarmed councillors is the combined cost of the three public consultations. It was revealed at a recent meeting that the bill for these is likely to come to £140,000.

What powers will it have?

The council would be a statutory consultee on planning applications in Harrogate, which would give it a voice if it felt strongly about a particular application.

But it would not have power to make decisions as applications would still in the hands of North Yorkshire Council.

When the new unitary council was formed, it pledged to hand back some powers to parish or town councils through a project it has called double-devolution.

It could mean Harrogate Town Council is much more powerful than it would have been without this pledge.

It could bid to run services in the town such as looking after its parks or the Stray, operating car parks or managing the Royal Hall.

But this will only be decided once the council has formed and councillors have been elected.

How many councillors will there be?

There are set to be 19 councillors on the council and they will represent wards based around the former Harrogate Borough Council boundaries.

These are not used by North Yorkshire Council, which decided to use larger divisions.

Read more:

• In numbers: Harrogate town council consultation response
• Third consultation to be held on creation of Harrogate town council

Councillors considered having two councillors per ward after it was backed in the previous consultation but the Conservatives said accountability to residents would be better served with single councillor wards.

Councillors who already sit on North Yorkshire Council are able to stand in town council elections.

In most parish councils, councillors sit as independent members, however, they can also stand for political parties.

When will elections take place?

If residents approve the proposals laid out in the next consultation, the council would likely form in April 2025 with elections taking place in May, although this has not been confirmed yet.

This is a year later than originally planned but it’s been put back in order for the third consultation to take place.

Reform UK has announced its prospective parliamentary candidates for Harrogate and Knaresborough and Ripon and Skipton.

The right-wing party was founded as the Brexit Party with support from Nigel Farage in 2018.

It was renamed in 2021 and is now led by Richard Tice.

Reform UK has said it will field candidates in every constituency at the next general election, which must take place within the next 18 months.

It has selected Richard Brown to contest Harrogate and Knaresborough and Simon Garvey to stand in Ripon and Skipton. The seats are currently held by Conservatives Andrew Jones and Julian Smith respectively.

We spoke to both candidates, neither of whom has stood for political office before.

Harrogate Station Gateway ‘ridiculous’

Mr Brown (pictured), an accountant from Harrogate, said he believed local authorities should be more open and accountable.

He described the £11.9 million Harrogate Station Gateway initiative as “ridiculous” and accused the council of wasting public money on schemes most people didn’t want. He cited the £10,000 spent on a fountain in Valley Gardens as another example.

Being an accountant, he said he’d “like to see the figures” before forming a view on what should happen to Harrogate Convention Centre, which has unsuccessfully sought funds for a £49 million upgrade.

Mr Brown said he decided to put his name forward after attending some Reform UK meetings and being “impressed by the quality of people”.

Many Reform UK members had Conservative or UKIP backgrounds, he said, but he hadn’t voted consistently for any party since the days of Margaret Thatcher. He said he voted for the Conservatives at the last election to achieve Brexit.

He said:

“My clients have always told me I should stand as an MP. I thought maybe that’s an itch I ought to scratch.”

Mr Brown said he wasn’t campaigning to make up the numbers. He said people were disillusioned with the Tories and not impressed by Labour or the Liberal Democrats and there was an opportunity to appeal to disaffected Tories.

He said he hoped Reform UK would have a “Berlin Wall moment” by shocking the established political parties and winning in places such as Harrogate and Knaresborough.

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‘I backed Boris to get Brexit done”

Simon Garvey (pictured) said he was a mainstream Conservative with no political ambitions who decided to stand because of recent political developments.

Mr Garvey, who lives with his wife and children in Ripon, said:

“I backed Boris to get Brexit done and feel disenfranchised now after Boris was ousted. If Liz Truss was given a chance I would have backed her too as she was chosen by the membership but from a democracy standpoint I don’t feel I can support Rishi Sunak as I don’t think you can have un-elected leaders.”

Mr Garvey has a background in education. Besides teaching in Ripon, he set up Inclusive Learning Systems to develop software for schools.

He cites education, and “good teachers being forced out of the system”, as one of his main concerns, along with the drive to carbon net zero, which he said had affected many people financially.

Mr Garvey said:

“We had an open goal with Brexit. Boris could have led us to a great place financially. But forces outside the political sphere are influencing where the country is heading.”

He predicted if the opinion polls were correct and Labour won the next election, many voters would turn to Reform UK at the following election out of disillusionment with both Labour and the Tories.

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In July, Labour’s Keir Mather became the new MP for Selby and Ainsty after overturning a 20,000 majority to unseat the Conservatives.

Meanwhile, the debate over the River Nidd bathing water status campaign continued and the Tories selected current North Yorkshire councillor, Keane Duncan, as their candidate for mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

We asked Ripon MP Julian Smith if he would like to highlight anything in particular, but did not receive a response.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found on Mr Jones:

• On July 5, Mr Jones welcomed the decision by rail companies not to close Harrogate station ticket office as part of plans to close hundreds of kiosks across the country.
• He also called for an apology from Lib Dem candidate Tom Gordon after he wrongly claimed the ticket office was due to close.
• Mr Jones called for a debate in parliament on July 13 over electric vehicle charging infrastructure. He said progress across the country had been “quite mixed”.
• On July 13, Mr Jones posted on his community news website that he hosted pupils from Harrogate Ladies College and St Aidan’s Church of England High School in parliament.
• Mr Jones welcomed the confirmation of Keane Duncan as Conservative candidate for Mayor of York and North Yorkshire on July 17.
• On July 25, Mr Jones defended his involvement in a campaign to designate the River Nidd at Knaresborough bathing water status after Liberal Democrat councillor Matt Walker accused him of using it as a “political tool”.
• Mr Jones also welcomed North Yorkshire Council’s backing for the campaign.
• On July 25, Mr Jones posted a video of him taking part in a “Take The Bus” campaign, which encourages more disabled and older people to use free bus travel.

When we contacted Mr Jones for comment, his office sent a list of his engagements for July.

They included holding constituency surgeries, hosting a reception in Parliament on behalf the Rail Delivery Group to increase awareness of sexual harassment on the rail network and visiting Springwater School to meet with the headteacher and chair of governors. 

Others included visiting GirlGuiding West’s new headquarters development on Cornwall Road and hosting a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport across the North to discuss the new strategic transport plan.  

Julian Smith, MP for Ripon and Skipton.

In Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

• Mr Smith made no spoken contributions in the House of Commons in July.
• On July 21, Mr Smith met with the Ripon Military Heritage Trust to discuss the trust’s plans to preserve military heritage in the city.
• On July 22, Mr Smith tweeted his congratulations to Labour’s Keir Mather after his victory in the Selby and Ainsty by-election. 
• Mr Smith posted 15 tweets on his Twitter account in July, which included promoting government grants and national funding announcements.

Read more:

• Labour overturns huge Tory majority to win Selby and Ainsty by-election
• Knaresborough councillor accuses MP of using Nidd sewage campaign as ‘political tool’

Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Conservative MP Andrew Jones has been criticised by a Liberal Democrat councillor who claimed he is using a campaign to clean up the River Nidd as a “political tool” to help him get re-elected.

But Mr Jones has fought back and said his involvement in the campaign is about him doing his job as an MP.

The issue of river pollution caused by private water companies such as Yorkshire Water — and what is being done to stop it — is expected to be one of the battlegrounds at the next general election, which must be held in the next 18 months.

Mr Jones has won four elections in a row since 2010, but the Liberal Democrats are hopeful of taking Harrogate and Knaresborough back for the first time since the days of Phil Willis, who was MP between 1997 and 2010.

Mr Jones has confirmed he will stand for a fifth time and the Lib Dems have chosen former Wakefield councillor Tom Gordon as their candidate.

Nidd campaign

There are hopes that a section of the Nidd by Knaresborough Lido will be designated bathing water status by the government so people can swim in it without falling ill.

It currently has high levels of the bacteria e-coli, a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste.

The campaign is gathering momentum and is being led by Mr Jones who secured a debate on the topic in Parliament in November.

Last week, North Yorkshire councillors of all political stripes agreed to back a motion to support the campaign, brought by Conservative councillor for Bilton and Nidd Gorge Paul Haslam, when Cllr Matt Walker raised the topic of the MP’s involvement.

Cllr Walker said:

“People listening online and in the chamber might wonder why this motion has been brought before council.

“Perhaps it’s to do with a local MP using it as a political tool to try and get elected in the next general election?”

River Nidd at Knaresborough.

In 2021, Mr Jones was one of 265 Conservative MPs who voted down a Lords amendment to the Environment Bill which would have forced water companies to reduce the amount of sewage they discharged.

Instead, MPs including Mr Jones backed a government amendment to make water companies produce plans for reducing river pollution.

This has led to criticism from opposition parties, with Cllr Walker adding:

“Waters are allowed to have sewage in them because our MPs voted for it.”

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In a statement sent to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Jones disputed that his involvement was political and listed the things he has done to raise awareness about the campaign, including securing the debate in Parliament, meeting with ministers about the topic and winning the support of the chief executive of Yorkshire Water.

Referring to the contentious votes in Parliament, Mr Jones said he voted for a “costed plan to reduce the operation of the Victorian storm overflows”.

The MP also took aim at Cllr Walker’s own political career after he stood unsuccessfully for the Lib Dems in the Selby and Ainsty by-election last week, when he came sixth.

Mr Jones said he welcomed the support from North Yorkshire Council and added that his team and a group of volunteers had been working on collecting information for the bid.

He said:

“I have discussed the successful Ilkley bathing water application with the MP for that area and led a special debate in the House of Commons on water quality. I have voted in Parliament for a costed plan to reduce the operation of the Victorian storm overflows.

“I have delivered thousands of leaflets and letters encouraging people to get involved and written numerous articles for the local media highlighting the issue. My team and I alongside an enormous number of local volunteers are taking positive action.

“This is what Members of Parliament should be doing and most of them, from all parties, are. It is not ‘using an issue as a political tool’; it is doing my job.

“Cllr Walker has stood twice to be an MP most recently in the Selby and Ainsty by election where the Liberal Democrat vote sank by 5% and they came sixth behind the Yorkshire Party, the Greens and Reform UK.  Cllr Walker lost his deposit.

“I am sure he will do better when he addresses that lack of understanding about the role of an MP in supporting and leading local campaigns.”

A committee that focuses on North Yorkshire’s devolution deal has approved an additional £1 million to implement a new authority.

The North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which will elect a mayor in May 2024, will oversee £13 million worth of new homes, green economic growth to achieve a carbon-negative region, and further investment in digital broadband, if its setup is successful.

The combined authority is scheduled to be launched in November this year.

It will include councillors from North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council and make decisions on matters such as economic development and transport.

North Yorkshire has already spent £582,000 on the implementation of the authority, but a further £1 million was granted by the committee on July 24.

Nick Edwards from North Yorkshire Council, speaking on behalf of the chief finance officer for the devolution deal, said: 

“With regards to the request for an additional £1 million, the principles remain to the initial cash flow and that is on the basis that when the combined authority is established and it receives its grant funding that the implementation costs are repaid immediately to the council.

“If for any reason the combined authority does not proceed, the financial risks of the implementation costs rest equally with North Yorkshire and York councils.”

However, Mr Edwards asked the committee to consider the significant returns this investment would take from securing the implementation of the deal.

Mr Edwards said: 

“The combined authority will receive significant funding when it is established – funding which is on top of any specific project funding – from November 1, if that is the setup date, will include funding of around £10 million, and £19.5 million in 2024/25.

“So in a matter of months of the authority going live, there will be funds of circa £30m available to it.”

Read more:

• In numbers: Harrogate town council consultation response
• Third consultation to be held on creation of Harrogate town council
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These funds are expected to go towards the mayoral capacity fund, the transport capacity fund and the investment fund.

A request to approve an adult education budget request of almost £500,000 was also approved at the meeting.

The estimated cost of delivering the implementation stage of the adult education budget over two years is £975,748.

The bid to the Department of Education is £480,932 (49.29%), requiring a local contribution of £494,816 (50.71%).

The combined cost of three public consultations about the creation of Harrogate Town Council is likely to be £140,000, a senior Conservative councillor has said.

This week at a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council, councillors debated proposals to create a town council for Harrogate.

The council would be similar to parish councils in Knaresborough and Ripon but as yet, it has not been confirmed what services it might deliver.

In a second public consultation held earlier this year, residents backed the creation of two councillor wards arranged by the current 10 North Yorkshire Council divisions. Saltergate would have had one councillor.

However, Conservative councillors said they didn’t want to proceed with this model and instead wanted to see single councillor wards based around the 19 former Harrogate Borough Council boundaries.

Councillors ultimately voted by 49 to 32 to back these plans with another public consultation now legally required. It means the new council is not likely to be formed before 2025 — a year later than originally planned.

During the debate, councillors raised concerns about the cost of holding another consultation.

Read more:

• In numbers: Harrogate town council consultation response
• Third consultation to be held on creation of Harrogate town council

Later in the meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor for High Harrogate and Kingsley, Chris Aldred, asked the Conservative executive member for corporate services, David Chance, how much the previous two consultations had cost and how much it would cost to “yet again” go out to the public.

Cllr Chance said that £45,270 was spent on the first consultation and £46,486 on the second with the money spent on printing, postage costs and digital marketing.

He said if the council decides to proceed with a third consultation that would be similar in form the the previous two, it would cost another £48,000.

Although he added that “there are other ways of carrying out this consultation at a much lower cost” but did not give any specifics.

The Selby and Ainsty by-election this week delivered a historic result for Labour and a blow to the ruling Conservative government.

Keir Mather became the youngest MP in parliament at just 25 after overturning the 20,000 majority held by the Tories.

It means Mr Mather becomes the first ever Labour MP to be elected in a constituency that includes part of the Harrogate district.

But, what does this mean for Harrogate and Knaresborough ahead of an upcoming General Election?

Tactical voting

Labour was the main opposition in Selby and Ainsty – however the same cannot be said for Harrogate.

Amid the fallout from the results last night, John Curtis, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, told the BBC that, as with other by-elections, voters opted for “whichever opposition party appeared best able to defeat the local Conservative candidate”.

Should this be replicated in Harrogate at a General Election, it would be the Liberal Democrats and their candidate Tom Gordon.

Currently, they need to make up a 9,675 majority held by Conservative MP, Andrew Jones.

Should they unseat the Tories, it would likely require some Labour voters switching to the Lib Dems in order to vote tactically.

People are sick & tired of this Conservative Government, & they are voting them out.

Another huge historic swing & win for the Lib Dems in Somerton & Frome for @SarahDykeLD proves that in blue wall seats, like Harrogate & Knaresborough, where the @LibDems are 2nd we can win. pic.twitter.com/pzo0o4Vvuj

— Tom Gordon (@tomgordonLD) July 21, 2023

As with the Somerset and Frome election on Thursday, which the Liberal Democrats won, Mr Gordon believes this can be replicated in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

He told Sky News:

“We have seen that people are not overly enthusiastic about Keir Starmer and Labour here [in Selby] in general.

“But they will vote for the second placed party who is best positioned to get rid of the Conservatives.”

Despite Mr Gordon’s confidence over the prospect of unseating the Conservatives, the political forecasters paint a different picture.

The chances of winning in Harrogate and Knaresborough, according to Electoral Calculus.

Electoral Calculus, which uses past voting figures, polling trends and party support to predict the average outcome of seat, has Mr Jones winning a fifth consecutive election with a 56% chance of winning.

By contrast, the Liberal Democrats have 24% chance of winning and Labour 19%.

Mr Jones told BBC News on Thursday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s five pledges had chimed with people in his constituency despite these being tough times.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats will have work to do to replicate Selby and Ainsty in Harrogate ahead of the next polling day.

Read more:

• Labour overturns huge Tory majority to win Selby and Ainsty by-election
• Harrogate heavyweights out in force at Selby by-election

Harrogate Borough Council’s former chief executive Wallace Sampson OBE is set to take on a new advisory role at a company that provides services to local authorities.

Mr Sampson was in charge of the borough council from 2008 until it was abolished on March 31 this year to make way for North Yorkshire Council.

He will join the strategic advisory panel of Commercial Services Group, which is owned by Kent County Council and supplies services to the public sector including in HR, energy and procurement. According to its website it serves 15,000 customers in over 85 countries.

The company said this week that the three person panel will also include former Harrogate Borough Council councillor for Oatlands, Alex Raubitschek, and the former CEO of Staffordshire County Council.

Mr Sampson wrote on LinkedIn to confirm the appointment. 

He said:

“I am excited to announce that I will shortly be joining the Strategic Advisory Panel of Commercial Services Group.

“I am keen to use my significant local government experience to support CSG as a strategic adviser and to be a critical friend where necessary. CSG are an ambitious company with a strong desire to grow their business within the public sector and I look forward to working with the executive team to support their ambitions.”

Read more:

• Councillors give backing to Harrogate council chief executive’s £101,000 redundancy pay-out
• Harrogate heavyweights out in force at Selby by-election

All seven district council chief executives lost their jobs in March due to local government reorganisation. The new council is led by the former North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton.

He received a contractual redundancy payment of £71,633 plus £29,641 for a 12-week notice period he did not have to work.

It was a lower settlement than other chief executives in North Yorkshire. Hambleton District Council faced criticism after offering a £225,000 pay-off for outgoing boss Justin Ives.