Agenda item

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to St John Harris of Democratic Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Tuesday, 3 June, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

 

·       at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·       when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

 

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

 

There were four public questions and statements submitted to the committee.  Question 1 was considered at Minute 144 – Community Safety Annual Reports.  All members of the public were in attendance to put their questions except Andrew Watson.  Responses are also set out below.

 

Public questions and statements

 

1.     Cllr William Stuart

Most recorded crime was reduced in 2024/25 compared with the previous year. But one recorded type of crime, namely theft remained stubbornly high at 1523 recorded incidents. For Scarborough and Whitby what are specifically the types of crimes that are being recorded as theft? Is there any evidence that theft in Scarborough and Whitby is linked to organised crime and what measures will be taken to reduce this scourge that has seen no noticeable improvements in 2 years?

 

Reply

 

Here is a breakdown of all the thefts recorded since 2019/10.

 

 

Is there any evidence that theft in Scarborough and Whitby is linked to organised crime?

Yes – we have seen several instances of organised criminals travelling nationwide to steal from supermarkets.  As one recent example shows, in May 2025, there was an arrest in London of 3 travelling criminals who had stolen from a supermarket in our area.  They were wanted by Met Police, West Midlands Police and North Yorkshire for allegedly stealing high value items from supermarkets around the country.  This is not an isolated example.

And what measures will be taken to reduce this scourge that has seen no noticeable improvements in 2 years?

This is a national concern, not specific to Scarborough.  Measures have included appointing a dedicated retail crime officer and this resulted in us detecting 7 out of every 10 reported shoplifting crimes in the 2024/25 financial year.

Theft as a whole actually reduced by 2 crimes when compared to the previous year.  The initial report showed 1523 theft crimes but one of them has since been classified as not a crime, so this has reduced to 1522.

The last stable year of crime figures prior to COVID19 was 2019/20. The large drop for the 2020/21 year was largely due to the reduction in shoplifting during COVID.  Shoplifting has since become a national concern as details on page 5 of the report.  To counter this, we have the outstanding detection rate.

Supplementary question

 

How sure are you that the marked increase in shoplifting in 2024/25 is attributable to detection rates as opposed to volume?

 

Reply

 

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the local high detection rates have encouraged more retailers to report shoplifting offences although there is no doubt that nationally this offence is on the rise.

 

 

2.     Cllr Sandra Turner

Given that the overspill park and ride currently in operation on Green Lane and the impact this will have in the busier weeks of the season, on top of the complete disruption already being experienced, on both the number of cars that will have to travel through the town to access it, and the residents living there, will this council investigate the viability of placing a second Park and Ride on the East side of Whitby, located next to the industrial estate?

 

Reply

 

The development of the Maritime Hub at Endeavour Wharf was accepted after full consultation with key stakeholders. The closure of Endeavour Wharf in Whitby was always going to have an impact during the main tourist season and we have put additional arrangements in place to try and mitigate this impact as much as possible. It is envisaged that some of the loss of parking space will be absorbed by other Whitby car parks such as Marina Front and Back but equally other car parks as well, although it is accepted that they cannot take all of the displacement.  Back in 2018, the then Scarborough Borough Council was faced with a similar closure and set up a Shuttle Bus to run from the car park at Abbey Headland and transported passengers from there to Langborne Road and usage records show that it was successful.  We have therefore decided to run that operation again during this tourist season to help mitigate the loss of the car park.

 

It is envisaged that people travelling into Whitby from the West and South A171 and A169 would gravitate to the Whitby P&R on the Guisborough Rd, while those travelling along the coast from say Scarborough along the A171 will use the Abbey Headland Shuttle Bus.  It is anticipated that these services will adequately provide coverage during the closure of the Endeavour Wharf and there are no plans to extend it further, but the usage of both sites will be monitored throughout the season.

 

Supplementary question

 

This extra provision is to be welcomed, but the disruption is a permanent problem which impacts significantly on residents’ lives.  It would be a great help if residents could access the Park and Ride too.

 

In reply, the Chair, in recognition of the importance of this matter, obtained the agreement of the Area Committee to add it to the committee’s work programme.

 

 

3.     Cllr Linda Wild

 

Can you please give an update of the situation with the Cliff Lift in Whitby and North Yorkshire Council’s long term plan to facilitate access to the beach and beach huts for residents and visitors.

 

Reply

 

The Structures Options Report has now been completed and recommends a number of different decommissioning possibilities. A report is due to be taken to Executive on 15 July 2025 to consider which is the best option to pursue. The officer recommendation is to infill the shaft with a foamed concrete or similar and retain the tunnel section as a storage space following the removal of the existing internal finishes/cladding however a briefing meeting is being arranged prior to Executive to discuss the options and implications with local Members.

 

The question around the future of the bus service will be the subject of public consultation which will be launched over the summer and this too will be discussed at the Member briefing.  The high level plan is that the results of the consultation will be reported back to Executive prior to a decision being made as to the future of the service. The intention is to bring this for decision by the end of the calendar year.

 

Supplementary question

 

Many in Whitby see the Cliff List as a valuable asset to the town and would wish to see it returned to use.

 

In reply, the Chair commented that she would urge officers to engage with Whitby Town Council on this matter, and confirmed that a briefing for the Area Committee would be arranged in due course.

 

4.     Andrew Watson

 

Firstly I would like to apologise for not being able to attend in person today. I would however like to bring to your attention the difficulties that are faced by myself and numerous other families in the Upper Esk Valley near Whitby and across North Yorkshire as a whole.

On 23 May 2025 we received an email to confirm that our daughter will not be eligible for school transport to her catchment school, which is Whitby School. We have heard rumours that Whitby School will be providing transport, however this has not been confirmed, therefore we are left in limbo deciding whether or not to apply for a place on the bus that currently travels from our village. These spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis, so this decision is time sensitive.

Even though the current Year 7 Local Authority projected intake has been noted as a ‘higher intake’ and ‘should have a positive impact on the school’s budget’ in the 1 April Whitby School Governors meeting minutes, the intake applications were submitted at a time of uncertainty on school transport and before the realisation of the impact on families across the Upper Esk Valley and North Yorkshire. If all children living in the Upper Esk Valley were to follow the new policy and attend their nearest school rather than their catchment school then the loss of budget to Whitby school, which is clearly a point of concern, would run to millions of pounds in the next 5 years. This therefore has a negative financial impact on the school.

The solution that has been suggested that Whitby school fund a bus for the affected children, will also have a negative financial impact on the school, but with the aforementioned predicted losses, it seems they have little choice.

My question today is therefore for the Chair of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee. As the motion to bring back the policy which would ensure that transport is provided to a child’s nearest and catchment schools was voted against, what steps have/will the council take to mitigate the negative financial impact of the change in policy to Whitby School in particular and in general to other coastal and county border schools the transport policy has affected?

Thank you for your time.

Reply

 

Whilst the local authority has an oversight and monitoring role in relation to maintained schools, there has been a long-established arrangement for schools to have autonomy in managing their own resources, including budgets and staff, rather than being managed centrally by the local authority. This is known as Local Management of Schools (LMS) – school funding is delegated to schools and the Governing Body of the school will make decisions about how they spend that funding.

 

In this context, each school will make local decisions relevant to their circumstances to manage within legal frameworks and policies that are in force from central and local government. We note that 193 pupils were allocated to Whitby School on National Offer Day for a Year 7 intake from September 2025. This compares to 194 pupils allocated at the same point for September 2024.

 

Thank you to writing to the Committee on this issue.