North Yorkshire's 'super-council' is too distant from communities it represents: Dinah Keal

Before the creation of North Yorkshire Council, I predicted the likely outcomes of the new mega-council for local communities – nearly five years on and many of my predictions have come true.

My belief, set out in The Yorkshire Post in August 2022, that ‘bigger isn’t always better’ was countered by council leader Carl Les who stated that local communities would be at the heart of everything that the new super- council would do.

If only this were true – time and time again North Yorkshire Council has chosen to ignore local views.

It is so distant from these very communities it claims it represents and, until local campaigners intervened, it looked like it was about to make another decision that ignored public views sacrificing a specialist day centre for disabled adults with complex needs on the altar of its own development plans.

As it turned out – as a result of a major campaign launched by parents and supporters – Cauwood Day Centre, at least in name, is being saved, even if it will have to move to a new, yet to be refurbished, building in another town.

Without the campaign, fuelled by the parents’ passion and determination and backed by a petition signed by more than 2,000 people, North Yorkshire Councillors would have simply voted to close the day centre in the same way as they closed a care home on the same stretch of land earmarked for development – quietly.

What is missing from North Yorkshire Council’s approach to the public is any direct contact. Yes, they launch consultations to pay lip service to ‘talking to the public’ and no doubt professional consultants have made plenty from this approach – but as anyone who has tried to call an officer employed by the council or a specific department knows – it is virtually impossible to speak to a human being when you call and if you can’t sum up what you want to discuss in ‘just three words’ you don’t stand a chance.

Fortunately the high profile campaign forced North Yorkshire Council to talk to families of the users of Cauwood who were then able to drive home their message that every individual has differing, complex needs.

Some people need two members of staff to support them and in one case three care workers are needed to meet one individual’s needs.

Take for example, Natasha, who will soon celebrate her 25th birthday and has attended Cauwood two days a week for the last two years. Her parents, Caroline and Mickey, want her to attend for more days once she turns 25.

Mum, Caroline, says: “Before Natasha went to Cauwood we spent over a year transitioning her to somewhere she could go after she finished at college, we thought it was the right fit for her but sadly we were wrong and it all came crashing down around us.

“Natasha is very rigid in her routines - before she goes to bed she asks us the same thing every night, ‘where am I going tomorrow and with whom’. She started to say ‘not there again’ and wasn’t sleeping because of her anxiety. She was reluctant to get into the taxi each day and her personal assistant reported she was quieter, less of her bubbly self. She would go into the building reluctantly and was always keen to come home at the end of the day.

"One day I got a phone call from the placement saying you need to come and collect her as she had attacked a member of staff. I was shocked and all the signals started to link together - her reluctance, her comments, her anxiety, the not sleeping - and I knew something was wrong deep down. When her taxi went to collect her they found Natasha waiting with a staff member in the car park crying, shaking and visibly upset - she clung to her personal assistant sobbing, saying ‘take me home, take me home’.

"After the incident we spent a long time with her social worker trying to come up with a way forward. We visited Cauwood and spent time there, finally coming to the conclusion that it could work for Natasha. With the dedication and care from Ryedale Special Families and the Cauwood staff we slowly transitioned Natasha into Cauwood. It took us months to settle her, but we needed to make sure she was happy and enjoyed her time there. We now have a ‘happy Tash’ again who her loves spending time at Cauwood.”

I make no apologies for quoting Caroline in full as this is what councillors making the decision on the future of Cauwood didn’t see when they were looking at raw data and counting the cash.

They didn’t see the profound impact the closure would have had on people like Natasha and her family who would have to pick up the pieces again if their daughter was torn away from a facility where she is happy and settled.

Fortunately the service that Natasha and her family value so much has been saved for now – albeit in another building. It remains to be seen how well this will meet the needs of Cauwood users, but at least for now they feel they have been listened to. And their much loved day centre will remain open on its current site until such time as the ‘new Cauwood’ building is refurbished.

But it is not acceptable, democratic or acting in the interests of our local communities if the only way to get your voice heard is by launching a loud campaign that ensures the Conservative led council has to listen.

Other services that directly affect families and older people in North Yorkshire under threat of change include home to school transport and a hugely valued Life Line service, that helps older people stay in their own homes for longer by allowing them to use a personal alarm system in an emergency.

Ryedale, once an independent district that was subsumed by the unitary authority, had an exemplar Life Line service, which has been run down by North Yorkshire Council and if the council’s Executive has its way may well be destroyed entirely.

This is what happens when local government is so far removed from the people it allegedly represents. And that frankly just isn’t good enough.

Liberal Democrat campaigner, Councillor Di Keal, is currently Mayor of Norton-on-Derwent, North Yorkshire