It’s been a busy summer recess with Julian making the most of the North Yorkshire weather to visit businesses, charities and other local organisations across Skipton and Ripon.
One of the highlights was Settle Beer Festival, with Julian dropping-in again this year to Victoria Hall to chat to those taking part and sample an ale or two. A later visit to the Clapham Village Store to meet the Management Committee and find out more about their plans for the future was also useful for all involved.
Julian further welcomed the opportunity to stop by The Bentham Hub and meet the volunteers running the fantastic community initiative. The Hub sells second-hand goods to raise funds for other local charities, managing to raise an impressive £43,650 in just over a year. The visit was also an opportunity for Julian to learn about their fundraising efforts to move to a new, more permanent home. Impressively, it was announced just a few weeks later that The Hub has successfully raised £35,000 in just three months, testament to the strength of local feeling about the initiative. This will enable them to buy Bentham’s former Community Centre with the support of a Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust grant, a superb achievement for the charity and local community.
More good news came in the form of Ofsted’s report on North Yorkshire Council’s children’s services, which were judged as Outstanding overall and in every individual assessed element. This made North Yorkshire Council the only council so far to have achieved such a judgement under Ofsted’s new inspection framework. The report highlights, amongst others, the high-quality services available to children and their families; the well-established culture across the service; the comprehensive, robust and effective systems in place; as well as the skill and inspiring commitment of the staff. In a letter to Richard Flinton, Chief Executive of North Yorkshire Council, Julian offered his wholehearted congratulations to the children’s service staff and thanked them for their hard work and diligence.
The full Ofsted report can be found at: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50226213
To round off the summer, Julian welcomed the news that Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will receive £4.12 million to establish a new Urgent Treatment Centre at Airedale General Hospital. It is one of thirty schemes across the country that will create 900 beds, improve space and assessment areas in A&Es, and develop and improve four Same Day Emergency Care services and five Urgent Treatment Centres. Funded by £250 million nationally, these upgrades will support urgent and emergency care capacity to relieve pressure on A&Es, while ensuring that NHS England meets its target to provide over 5,000 additional permanent beds for this winter.
Alongside visits across the constituency, Julian continued to hold regular surgery meetings with constituents. Should anyone wish to arrange a surgery appointment with Julian, please email [email protected]
