A Harrogate woman has received a suspended jail sentence for a two-year benefit fraud in which she failed to declare the proceeds from a property sale.

Vanessa Boyd, 49, acted out of “sheer greed” by failing to disclose to the Department for Work and Pensions that she had received £126,518 from the sale of a property, York Crown Court heard.

That resulted in benefit overpayments of just over £13,881 over a period of more than two years from September 2020, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

She said that Boyd started receiving Universal Credit payments in September 2020 due to being out of work and having very meagre savings.

Ms Morrison added:

“However, she informed the Jobcentre Plus that she would have an amount of money coming from solicitors as a result of the sale of a property, but (that there was) some delay in receiving those funds.”

Boyd, of Tewit Well Road, received just over £126,518 in November 2021 from the proceeds of the sale which would have affected her benefit entitlement, but she failed to declare it to the authorities.

Ms Morrison said:

“She had been informed of her need to do so before receiving the funds.”

Boyd made “multiple declarations” about her savings which didn’t include the proceeds from the property sale.

When questioned about these omissions by fraud investigators, she claimed she didn’t think she had to declare the proceeds of the sale because “the money was going to be used to purchase another property”.

Boyd admitted fraud by making the false declarations and appeared for sentence today.

Her barrister Benjamin Bell said she had since been making repayments to the DWP at a rate of £55 per month and had never been in trouble before.

Judge Simon Hickey said that Boyd had acted out of “sheer greed” and fraudulently claimed a “substantial amount of money over a substantial period”.

He said the offence was so serious that it had to be met with a jail sentence, but that it could be suspended because Boyd had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had child-caring responsibilities.

The six-month jail sentence was suspended for 18 months. As part of that sentence, Boyd was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 rehabilitation-activity days.

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The number of children eligible for free school meals in the Harrogate district has risen by 50% since before the start of the covid pandemic.

The figures, obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service through a freedom of information request, highlight the financial pressure many families face due to rising food, energy and housing costs.

To qualify for free school meals a parent of a child who is in year three or above must apply to North Yorkshire County Council with evidence they are receiving a benefit, such as Child Tax Credit, Income Support, or Universal Credit.

All children in reception, year one and year two automatically receive free school meals through the Universal Infant Free School Meal Scheme.

At the end of 2019, the number of children eligible for free school meals in the Harrogate district was 1,794 — representing 8% of all children. But by the close of 2022 this figure had risen to 2,715, taking the overall percentage to 12%.

The figure is still far below the national figure of 22.5% but Dawn Pearson, area manager at Harrogate District Foodbank, told the LDRS more working parents in the district are in need of help to feed their children.

She believes the situation will not improve without “drastic” measures to improve wages and reduce inflation. Ms Pearson said:

“It’s getting worse. People are struggling and it’s a bad time for everyone. If you’ve got children they are always in need. There’s school uniform, breakfasts, lunch and dinner. Things now cost a lot”.

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A council spokeswoman said the increase in eligible children for free school meals was down to factors including the introduction of Universal Credit and the effects of the pandemic. She said:

“In April 2018, the new Universal Credit was rolled out and nationally, children were able to remain on free school meals as they continued through their present school even if families’ overall income increased, to mitigate the impact.

“Increases in people meeting the income threshold for free school meals during the first year of the pandemic could potentially be linked to the effects of the pandemic.
The county council has been on a drive to improve take-up of those entitled to free school meals after it was revealed that one in five children who are entitled to the benefit are still not receiving it.”

The spokeswoman added:

“We would like every family eligible for free school meals to take up that offer. Last year we launched an extensive campaign to encourage this. School catering teams can provide support with issues such as food sensitivities and help children enjoy new foods. They provide children with nutritious healthy food which can help them stay focused on learning and keep up their energy levels throughout the day.”

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky finds out how a series of life events left one woman unable to afford food.

Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help. 

“I feel guilty every time I go to Resurrected Bites. I keep saying I shouldn’t be here. I work full-time for the NHS. But it’s a life-saver.” 

Lara Rundle is a single mum to four grown-up children. 

For the last three years, she has lived in Burton Leonard, having moved up from the south-east following the death of her father. 

It was the first in a string of events that left her struggling to cover all her outgoings – even before she tried to buy food. 

“I had lost my dad and he was helping me pay my mortgage. Even a rabbit hutch in the south-east is mad money.  

“When he passed, he said to me and my brother that he had left the money to clear our mortgages. We found out after that his partner had accidentally lost the will and she took everything.  

“My house was on the point of being repossessed and I had a breakdown.  

“I had only been in Harrogate twice in my life and had a midlife crisis and said I was moving to Yorkshire.” 

With some savings in the bank and a small, fixed-rate mortgage, Lara had enough money to get by. However, a reaction to the covid vaccination left her leaving hospital treatment and unable to work for some time.  

As she recovered, Lara received some devastating news: 

“The second of my four children was in a car accident in Sussex. She broke her back in two places.  

“Her friend was killed, and another friend was in intensive care.” 

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Lara spent many months travelling up and down the country to visit her daughter, eating into her dwindling savings. 

She began to look into ways to cut her costs and find some money. 

“I’ve got this big, flash car that I can’t afford, but because it keeps breaking down, the garage won’t take it back. It’s in negative equity. If it wasn’t for that, I would probably be OK. 

“I’ve got equity in the house – I’ve got a very small mortgage, but the building society won’t let me release any equity because they said I don’t earn enough to repay it.” 

Lara had been in receipt of some benefits, but that changed when her youngest daughter went away to university. She was given an annual pay rise of £90 a month, which meant she was no longer entitled to the £180 a month she had been receiving in Universal Credit. 

At £90 a month worse off than before, she then received a letter saying her council tax was going to increase because the valuations office believed her house should be in a higher band. 

Lara simply didn’t know what to do. 

Shelves full of products at Resurrected Bites’ community grocery

She was helped by her GP practice, which put her in touch with Resurrected Bites.

She became a customer of the community grocery at Gracious Street in Knaresborough, paying £3 for a shop worth many times that amount. She said:

“When my kids were small, I was on my own with four kids and we did have to use a foodbank.  

“Now they’re grown up, I never thought I would be in this situation again. 

“I had never heard of Resurrected BItes before.  

“You feel you are paying something, so it’s not a hand-out. It’s fresh fruit and vegetables. They’re the kind of things I can’t afford to buy.

“If I go to the supermarket, the only thing I have to buy is cheese and butter, sometimes meat. There’s stuff there I could never have afforded to buy even if I wasn’t in this situation.” 

With her daughter well on the road to recovery and the support of Resurrected Bites when she needs it, as well as welcoming neighbours in her new home, Lara feels much more positive about the future. 

She said: 

“It has made such a massive difference. I know I don’t have to worry.

“If you have an extra fiver you put it on your account so you don’t have to worry about paying next time.

“I just can’t thank them enough. They’re angels. The service is a life-saver.”

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas. 

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it. 

Click here to contribute now. 

Just 2.2% of all adults in the Harrogate district are claiming out-of-work benefits, latest figures show.

Monthly figures published today by the Office for National Statistics show 1,755 people were claiming the benefits on May 12, which was similar to April’s figure of 1,779.

The figures appear to have stabilised after falling by around 150 people a month since the start of the year.

However, they are still above pre-pandemic levels. In January 2020, 1,410 people claimed the benefits that includes Universal Credit.

Universal Credit can also be claimed by people who are in work but on low incomes.

Many of the district’s key sectors including hospitality and social care have reported difficulties hiring staff since the end of covid restrictions.

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The number of people receiving out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district has fallen again.

Latest monthly figures by the Office for National Statistics show 2,080 people were claiming the benefits on February 10, falling by 55 from January’s figure of 2,135.

The figure, however, remains considerably above pre-pandemic levels. In January 2020, 1,410 people claimed the benefits, which includes Universal Credit.

Universal Credit can also be claimed by people who are in work but on low incomes.

Across the UK, 4.3% of all adults are claiming the benefits. In the Harrogate district, it is 2.3%.

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In a boost for jobs in the district, a 600,000 square feet business park approved was approved last week by Harrogate Borough Council.

The business park will be called ‘Harrogate 47’ because it will be built at Flaxby close to junction 47 of the A1 (M). The developer Opus North believes it could support 2,000 jobs.

It is allocated as the main strategic employment site in the council’s Harrogate district Local Plan 2014-35, which identifies where development can take place.

The number of people receiving out-of-work benefits in the Harrogate district has continued to fall, despite the furlough scheme ending at the end of September.

Latest figures by the Office for National Statistics show 2,225 people were claiming the benefits on November 11, which is 150 fewer than October’s figure of 2,375.

The benefits include Universal Credit, which can also be claimed by people who are in work but on low incomes.

The furlough scheme ended on September 30 and supported around 28,600 jobs in the Harrogate district for 18 months.

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A single mum with four children from Harrogate has opened up about her experience of struggling to pay the bills to try and break the stigma around poverty.

Kayleigh Cooper lost her job manning the phones in the evenings at a taxi company early in the coronavirus pandemic.

So overnight, after never worrying about money, she started to wonder how she could afford her rising living costs while also feeding her children.

She gets Universal Credit and food vouchers but they have not been able to cover her costs.

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Ms Cooper felt ashamed about her situation at first. But after reaching out for support, she now wants to let others know that they do not need to “suffer in silence” like she did. She said:

“I was really struggling to feed my children on a daily basis. A lot of people pretend they are doing alright, I have done it myself. But we need to talk about the issue otherwise it gets swept under the rug.

“For me I never had to worry about money before this. Since losing my job I have had to make those choices between paying the utility bills and buying food.

“It’s not just those without a job though, there are plenty of people with jobs who do not have enough money to live off too. Sometimes they struggle even more.

“My anxiety has been a lot worse. It really has had an impact on my mental health. However since reaching out for support I feel like I have had a weight taken off my shoulders.”

Reaching out for support at the new community grocery

A neighbour told Ms Cooper about the community grocery run by the Resurrected Bites team, which opened last month at New Park Primary Academy Community Hub.

She was hesitant at first but broke down in tears when she finally decided to go and ask for help.

People pay £5 a year to sign up as members and are then entitled to pay £3, £6 or £9 depending on the size of their family. The value of the items for the £3 shop would usually cost around £30.

She posted this picture online of a shop that cost her £9 to try and break the stigma.

It has a wide range of tinned, fresh food and frozen food. The shop also stocks toiletries, sanitary products and nappies in various sizes.

The shop, which can be found in one of the school’s separate buildings on West Street, just off Skipton Road, is open daily every Tuesday and Thursday between 9.30am and 3.30pm. Ms Cooper added:

“It has lightened me because I know even if I have £10 or £15 that week that I can go down to the community grocery and get meals for my children.

“I have used food banks in the past but I have had to pass things on because I won’t use it.

“So the beauty of it is that you get to choose what you take. They have everything you could need and the people there were so lovely.

“I wanted to post pictures so other people could see what they could get. I didn’t expect it but my post got a really positive response.”