The run-up to summer recess has been busy both in Parliament and the constituency. As well as meeting with ministerial colleagues, Julian has welcomed some fantastic local news and met with businesses and other local organisations.
Julian started the month by welcoming the announcement of a number of grants and funds aimed at benefitting local communities. He received confirmation from the Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society that a new £60 million fund is available for public swimming pools. Charity, community and Local Authority-run pools will all be eligible to apply for funding, which will be delivered in two parts, providing both targeted support and investing in energy efficiency measures.
This was quickly followed up by further details of a new £1 million community defibrillator fund to expand access across the country. Julian welcomed the news that expressions of interest are now being received, with organisations encouraged to apply for funding to place a defibrillator in community spaces such as town halls, community centres, local shops, post offices and local parks. On hearing the news, Julian wrote to every Parish Council in Skipton and Ripon, alerting them to this funding opportunity and encouraging them to apply.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs also updated Julian on their latest efforts, including confirmation that North Yorkshire Council’s funding to help prepare the Local Nature Recovery Strategy will be the highest in the country. The £388,000 will help the Council to prepare a localised, tailored strategy to support and recover nature, using local expertise from across the area.
The Home Secretary has also written to Julian this month, confirming that North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PCC) will receive an additional £1.4 million to tackle neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls, and anti-social behaviour. The funding comes from the latest round of the Safer Streets Fund, worth £60 million nationally, which will run for 18 months over the current and next financial year, and on top of the £2 million already distributed across North Yorkshire over the previous rounds since its launch in 2020. It will be up to North Yorkshire’s PCC, Zoë Metcalfe, to determine where this funding can best be utilised.
In the constituency, Julian welcomed the opportunity to visit the Carers’ Resource office in Skipton to speak to members of staff and thank them for all their hard work particularly over Covid. The centre assists unpaid carers throughout the Craven and Harrogate area by providing information, advice and support. Julian met Chris Whiley, CEO of the Yorkshire-based charity, and staff members for a roundtable discussion, to learn more about the organisation, how the charity supports carers in the area and some of the key difficulties that they face.
There were some big announcements in Westminster this month as well, with the Government confirming an initial funding uplift of £204 million for local authorities towards childcare costs, rising to £288 million in 2024-25. In his Spring Budget earlier this year, the Chancellor pledged reforms for the childcare sector, including extending 30 hours of free childcare per week to all under four-year-olds by 2025, paying Universal Credit childcare support upfront rather than in arrears, and substantially uplifting the hourly funding rate paid to childcare providers. It has now been confirmed that childcare providers in Skipton and Ripon will receive a 6.8% increase to their hourly childcare payments for children aged three to four and a 32.5% increase for two-year-olds.
More good news came from the Office for National Statistics, which released figures showing there are now 4 million more people in work across the UK than in 2010, including an additional 259,181 people employed across Yorkshire and The Humber. There are now 33.1 million people in work across the country, with the employment rate at a near record high of 76 per cent, an increase of 5.8 per cent since 2010, with vacancies falling. As the number of people in work rises, figures also show that 111,793 fewer people across Yorkshire and The Humber are unemployed, meaning more people have the security of their own income. Nationally, the unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent means the number of unemployed people across the UK has almost halved since 2010.
Julian also welcomed the news that the 2024-25 schools budget will be the largest ever both in real terms and in real terms per pupil. Over £59.6 billion has been allocated in 2024-25, an increase of £1.8 billion from 2023-24 and £5.7 billion from 2022-23. In Skipton and Ripon, the total funding for all schools will increase by 3.5 per cent to hit £77,636,026 – equating to average per pupil funding of £5,722 for primary schools and £6,380 for secondary schools, both above the national average. The Department for Education also announced that North Yorkshire’s high needs funding will rise by 5 per cent – the highest possible increase – to total £83 million in 2024-25. This represents an increase of just under £4 million on the previous year and means that, since 2021-22, the high needs funding per head for those aged two to eighteen has risen by 34 per cent.
The final week of the month saw Julian meet with the Trustees of Ripon Military Heritage Trust (RMHT) to learn more about their efforts to safeguard for future generations key sites of historical interest. The RMHT was established to research and preserve the unique military heritage in Ripon, with a particular focus on key sites across Claro and Deverell Barracks. The meeting was an opportunity to find out more about the Trust’s plans for the preservation of these and other sites for future generations.
Julian also met with Friends of The Crown Ltd, a company formed in the aftermath of the decision by Admiral Taverns to sell The Crown Inn, Grewelthorpe, to find out more about their proposal for community ownership. The Crown Inn, which was closed in February but – as an Asset of Community Value – is under a six-month moratorium before it can be sold, is at the centre of a community effort to buy and restore the pub. Julian took the opportunity to find out more about the company’s proposals and what community ownership would mean for the village, as well as some of the challenges Friends of The Crown Ltd are facing.
Julian continues to hold surgeries on a regular basis and has held surgeries across the constituency this month. To book a surgery appointment please email or call the office, including the details of the matters you wish to raise.
