October Review 2025 : Y&NYCA In Depth
Speakers:
Jo Coles – Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime
James Farrar – Chief Executive for York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority
The President introduced the meeting and welcomed members and guests.
David, Chief Executive of Harrogate Theatre welcomed everyone to the Theatre, which is 125 years old this year, having opened on 13 January 1900. The first ever show was a fundraiser for the returning soldiers of the Boer War. The Theatre was highly regarded until cinema became popular, and its popularity declined until it was rescued. It then did well until TV became popular in the 1950s, when it needed to be rescued again. This time, Harrogate Corporation stepped in to save it, creating the White Rose Trust, an arrangement that continues to this day. Cost of living, lack of funding and Covid have all had a negative impact on the theatre in recent years and gaining support from the new North Yorkshire Council is more challenging since they are now located further away and are not as hands-on as they once were. However, the Comedy Festival did sell out and brought 2.5 k people into the town. It is estimated that the impact of the Theatre on the town is around £20 million in incoming monies. There is a fundraiser for the Theatre on 31 October with tickets at £60 which David hopes we will all attend.
Lisa from the guest Charity Harrogate Choral Society took to the stage to explain more about the society, which was founded in 1948 and meets weekly. We have members from 20 to 80 years of age and perform concerts with professional orchestras and soloists. The meetings are great for mental well-being, and singing reduces cortisol levels, leading to improved mood. It costs around £80k to run, and they are seeking sponsorship; however, it is increasingly difficult to attract both funding and audiences. Next year, they are running a Yorkshire Choral event open to all singers throughout Yorkshire, to raise funds for the charity. Additionally, they are looking for funds for music storage and a music library. They lend music to raise funds. They are looking for financial support from the Chamber and would like to invite members free of charge to their next event, for which flyers have been circulated to all members this evening.
The President then introduced Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire & Crime and James Farrar who is Chief Executive of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
James introduced himself, noting that the Mayor has been in place for a while and has taken time to focus on improving the quality of life for individuals. He is keen to set up healthy communities, comprising warm homes. This underpins everything that the authority does.
Jo introduced herself, noting that she holds Police and Fire services to account, and that she has spent quite a while talking to people about what they thought we should be doing in the next four years. The reason why we have devolution is so that we can do things that work well for our community and our place. It’s about putting money into our communities.
Jo provided her presentation first, noting that she would touch on key points she thought the Chamber would be interested in. Firstly, retail crime. This has been a huge issue in the area. David is a retailer, so it’s close to home for him. We know we need to get this right, and that it has been a huge problem over the past few years. The first symposium on retail crime has been held and Jo is now monitoring performance of retail crime measures. In June, there was a crackdown on retail crime, and several people were arrested as part of that. In addition, Op Tornado has focused on Harrogate to tackle retail crime.
Visible policing is important and I am looking to get more police into our communities. We have had 12 new PCSO’s taken on for Harrogate recently to help with this. There will be a change to the lower value threshold for shoplifting which will be applied locally, though it has not been agreed nationally. This will allow the police to investigate crimes involving items of lower monetary value than £250 which was the previous lower threshold.
There has been increasing tension and religious intolerance aimed at the Jewish community, recently, and I am working with the Harrogate Synagogue to address this matter. We are monitoring hate crimes, and in the wider area, there have been over 1300 across the district, and Harrogate has had 275 incidents, which is relatively high.
Cybercrime is increasing and consumer fraud is affecting all ages, having become endemic. However, we have a dedicated team to provide specialist support to victims and to provide information to help people avoid becoming victims of such crimes.
The Fire service has just been dealing with the largest moor fire we’ve seen in our area. It has been a huge challenge for the teams. We are also taking steps to avoid unnecessary call-outs for fire alarms which have gone off for reasons other than an actual fire. The leadership and openness of the service have been applauded.
Jo noted that she was keen to hear from Chamber members about areas where they feel more should be being done, explaining that David Skaithe had set up a £7 million fund which includes support for businesses as noted above but also includes measures to help ensure that young people do not get drawn into crime.
James then gave his presentation noting that our towns are in the centre of our planning. The quality of our town centres is important and we would like some ambitious proposals from the town centre businesses so we can make improvements.
We are looking to try and get more investment into the area. Over 1700 small businesses are being supported and that community and economy is fundamental to delivering healthier communities more widely.
Alongside that, we have to connect people, and we have been looking at transport and creating an ambitious strategic transport plan. We have secured £90 million for roads and spent £ 4 million on active travel. We are looking to work with people to find out how to get Harrogate moving, and we will be coming out in 2026 to discuss this with you.
We are working to deliver affordable housing, working with Homes England and looking at ensuring that the housing stock we have is warm as well as how we can make them cheaper to run and energy efficient. Warm homes are a major priority for the Mayor and he has huge ambition around what we can do.
Turning to the outdoors, that natural aspect that we’ve got drives our economy, including farming, so we are looking to get more investment in Net Zero and also invest £3 million into sports so people can get outdoors. We launched a big investment plan over a period of two years, which includes the foregoing, plus men’s mental health and increased social prescribing. All of this will be launched in the next few months. You have a mayor who is really ambitious for North Yorkshire and wants to make a difference to people’s lives.
The President thanked both parties for their presentations and began to raise the question which had been sent in by Chamber members.
The President said that one of the underlying questions is around success and collaboration. For something to succeed, it needs collaboration from people, so in terms of this, who are you looking to connect with to achieve this?
James said there will be investment in town planning, and the plan needs to be owned by the town. If people want it, then people need to get involved. A strong, vibrant community is essential. We’ve done a good job engaging with people, but now we need to hear from businesses about what they need and what it feels like to run a business in Harrogate, so we can get to the grassroots of what’s going on.
The President raised the issue of County Lines and the drug issues which are having a direct impact on the town, noting that we don’t want anything to prevent people from coming to the town.
Jo said that Serious Organised Crime is a partnership between police nationally and locally. Support from voluntary organisations, as well as having boots on the ground, is also important. The operating method of County Lines does change regularly. More reassuringly, the partners and agencies that needed to be in the room were actually in the room. Young people are aware of what’s going on, and we need to harness their intelligence about current events in real time and empower those who know. People aren’t reporting crimes.
The President noted that often there is no response from the police.
Jo tackled this matter, noting that we are trying to make sure that we work in partnership, but we do need the reporting to happen. However, she acknowledged that the onus should not be all on the businesses.
The President noted that in both scenarios, he felt that in Harrogate you will find very willing organisations that want to work with you. However, this can be difficult if people are not asked to take part. People may need to be invited to take part.
In terms of community, Disability Action Yorkshire are interested to know what is being done about accessibility in the area as this is not always readily available.
James said the area had been awarded £20 million to get people into work. Transport will be considered as part of this and that consultation will be ongoing in early 2026.
Jo said we need to ensure that everyone is aware of what’s out there and ensure they are able to access it. She noted that there is a team dedicated to ensuring access for those who struggle. One priority around crime reduction is to ensure that methods of reporting crime are open to those who struggle with technological issues, and this would include making people aware of services through more traditional methods such as shops.
The President also raised, on behalf of organisations that deal directly with disability, the issue of bus passes not being able to be used after 9 pm. Tom Gordon has offered his support for this.
James said they are looking at this and they have someone working with the operators and advising them on how to do this as well as reviewing the network and looking at options. The viability of bus services in rural areas can be a difficulty, he acknowledged.
The President noted that people want to be able to engage with things like bus apps that say when buses are coming but equally they expect the service to be reliable, particularly late at night, in order to ensure that people can get home safely.
James said that more often than not, he will drive as there isn’t public transport available and noted that he will keep lobbying until we achieve the reliability and frequency we need. He also noted that he was looking to improve services on the trains, a commitment from the Mayor. Jo also noted that they need to look at ensuring that if people have a problem on a bus they know their options, for example, if they experience harassment on the buses. Taxi ranks should also be safe.
The Mayor has spoken about bus franchising, saying that they are looking at how this might operate in North Yorkshire. The model used in cities does not work in rural areas. City models concentrate on getting people into the city, whilst in a rural area, the model needs to concentrate on getting people to their rural homes. Therefore, he stated that we need to completely reinvent the model and what this looks like. He noted that he hopes to engage with the Chamber and the Council on this matter.
The President asked about business and carbon neutrality, enquiring about the types of support available for businesses to engage with reducing their footprint.
James noted that The Mayors ambition is to be the first carbon negative county. To do this, we need to look at our natural assets and their ability to take the carbon out of the enviromment. However, we also want to help businesses to become net zero to increase their income by using technology to save money and reduce costs. They are looking at how they can better incentivise this area.
The President asked, in terms of Harrogate, what engagement do you have with businesses? What’s the landscape?
James noted that the business growth hub is the main method. There’s a net zero specialist in the growth hub.
The President asked when the speakers thought devoloution fo health hours would take place and how did they foresee that impacting on the health sector? David noted that health is a complex area and the role of the Mayor is to work alongside the public health providers. There are a number of steps to get there.
Jo said there is an opportunity for the commissioning and convening organisations as we know that if we can commission work to allow for mental health support earlier in someone’s journey, you can potentially prevent a health problem from escalating. She noted that the NHS doesn’t seem to think in a preventative way. She feels the way forward is to get more money from the main NHS funds to spend on local area health funding.
The President raised the issue of cycle lanes which are not connected. Parents' confidence in children’s safety to ride to school is at an all-time low.
The speakers noted that there is a road safety partnership and one issue is that if parents don’t have confidence to let their children walk or ride. We are looking at graduated speed limits and small highway changes that might help confidence alongside connected transport.
The President noted that we want to reduce the carbon footprint and asked what more can and will be done with regards to connected transport.
James said they are looking to make it easier to buy an integrated ticket on the bus, how to encourage people cycle to the station and understand how we can use digital methods to help people get from point A to point B. This is about behaviour change and people feeling confident and safe. In reality, safety and reliability are the foundations of this type of change as well as ensuring that cycleways are joined up. How do we connect buses and trains to cycles so that people who want to cycle feel confident to do so. We have employed an Active Travel Commissioner who will advise on what we need to do, mapping what we have and then planning how to resolve the areas of concern.
James noted that we have a lot of growth between Harrogate and York, and therefore you will have a lot of people wanting to travel up and down that corridor, so we now have the opportunity to look at that. For example , whether we set up a park and ride. What does the employment and housing growth look like? Is the existing infrastructure sufficient?
The President noted that the third line from York has now been paused, and that could have reduced delays on the Harrogate/York line, and this has a knock-on effect in the region and further afield. What’s happening to tackle some of the obstacles we are currently seeing?
James said one of our economic advantages is the East coast Main Line and we are lobbying providers. The Mayor will have a clear strategy for what we need to connect Harrogate and York, or Harrogate and Scarborough. Our job is to make the business case for them to invest in the area.
The President noted that with regards to the Vibrant and Sustainable funds that were made available, only one project, relating to the Harrogate BID, has successfully gained funding. He further noted that Ake and Humphris are just preparing to open a new wine bar and wine shop and were not successful in gaining funding.
James noted that there will be a third and fourth funding round and he would welcome ambitious plans coming out of Harrogate. Businesses are invited to collaborate on plans and then meet with James and the Mayor.
The President noted that in the past, Harrogate has had things imposed upon us, and that we have to retain the look and feel of the overall town too, rather than focusing on individual areas.
James noted that for it to be successful businesses need to come foreward with their plans and everyone needs to take ownership of the town centre plan.
The President stated that In terms of business, and local business leaders, there are various organisations including Zero Carbon Harrogate and the Chamber who would welcome discussions with yourselves around the plans going forward. Once these organisations come together, should we just contact the office?
James confirmed that the organisations need a relationship with David Skaife, noting that the Chamber is well placed to pursue that.
The President asked whether, In terms of long term plans and current decisions in relation to those, are there any areas where you’ve not been able to engage with business organisations but would like to do so.
James stated currently there are none. However, there will be a couple coming up in 2026, including the local transport strategy in March/April and the Housing Plan. The more feedback we get, the better, and we’ll ensure that the Chamber will be told when that comes out. There will be a consultation on spatial planning and examining the sources of growth and some smaller ones, including the rural plan and the coastal plan.
The President asked, bringing it back down to community groups, and what impact the organisations are having, is there oversight and funding advice available from you. What sort of help would you suggest that the Combined Authority could give to them and how should they apply?.
James said there are so many living hand to mouth but thinks we are getting better. He noted that organisations can apply for the money every year but this is time consuming so they are looking at whether they can get to the point where there are multi-year assessments that will allow them to concentrate on what they are trying to do rather than constantly looking for funding. Jo said that she has a community fund for Policing which centres around crime prevention and normally it awards funds around innovation in this area, however, it is not necessarily confined to that. Small programmes in rural communities may find it worthwhile to apply.
The President asked, In terms of funding, how successfully are you getting the funding out? Are people applying and being awarded?
James stated that most of the funds are 100% invested and we are looking at next year. We have invested £150 million, all of which is fully committed. The President asked him to clarify how much had been paid out and when people would receive the funding if they had not done so yet. He noted that groups had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the funding and many fall at the first hurdle. James said that they are looking at gaps to get a sense of where we are with that element.
The Chief Executive thanked the speakers and the President for hosting the discussion.
New Members Introductions, and Members News
New member, Jacob Parsons, Chartered Financial Planner introduced himself to the Chamber. He specialises in retirement planning and is keen to start working with clients 5-10 years pre-retirement. He emphasised the importance of building up a pot that is sustainable as a key part of the plan, noting also that he is a member of a local, fully independent company.
Steve Phillip from Jordan Legacy explained that the Jordan Legacy has been chosen as one of the innovation partners to work with Prince William and the Royal Foundation, noting that they will be having a lot of meetings with the Royal Foundation and Prince William is absolutely behind the project.
Susie of Enchantica spoke about their work helping people to feel better through the medium of events, particularly singing. This year is Enchantica’s 20th birthday, and we will be hosting our festive experience at Allerton Castle, and it’s an immersive adventure. We do work for the community alongside that. In 2020 and 2021 there was no entertainment allowed due to Covid so there was no singing at the Christmas Fair. Enchantica is working on a project for over 300 people at Christmas and is looking for support from local businesses. Susan noted when we have school children coming then extended family tends to visit to see them sing. We also support two local charities. Harrogate Neighbours where our work makes a huge impact. We also support a parent-led charity called Unity, who have children who may not experience Christmas in the same way as others can enjoy. We try to get those shows funded. So any businesses that would like to take part, and we also give value back to. If you want more details, please connect.
https://www.harrogatechamber.co.uk/business-hub/partner-with-enchanticas-this-christmas
Charlotte Gale Photography told the Chamber that she offers Yorkshire Calendars, Harrogate Calendars, Knaresborough Calendars and Christmas cards alongside her photography work. She noted that there is the option for companies to include key dates on the calendars and personalise them with logos and details for the company. Susan also reminded Chamber members about the Rotary Brigantes service on 9 November for Remembrance Day, taking place at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.
Natalie from the theatre explained her upcoming events including the Halloween fundraiser. There is still an opportunity to sponsor a pantomime night . And more generally, we have many opportunities to sponsor or support the Theatre.
Louise from Time Together explained that they have an online charity shop and offer inclusive volunteering opportunities. They are looking for more businesses who can host donation stations or help to collect clothes from the stations.
Colleen spoke about her efforts to create a networking group for those who work in Social Care. The meetings can be found on Eventbrite
The next meeting will be on 10 November at Roosters Taproom and it will be Bank of England representative and John Garbutt will be speaking.
