New ceremonial Mayor of Scarborough set to be elected by councillors

On Wednesday April 19, councillors representing the currently unparished areas of Scarborough are set to select Cllr John Ritchie as the charter mayor of the borough.

Following the local government reorganisation that saw Scarborough Council abolished on April 1, certain parts of the borough have been left unparished and until a town council is created, those areas will be represented by a group of charter trustees.

The charter trustees will be made up of the councillors on North Yorkshire Council who represent the unparished areas of Scarborough: Cllrs Eric Broadbent, Liz Colling, Janet Jefferson, Rich Maw, and John Ritchie.

The charter trustees will be responsible for the town’s civic duties and will have responsibility for ensuring the continuation of the civic and ceremonial traditions of the area until Scarborough Town Council is created.

At the upcoming meeting, Cllr Ritchie, who represents the Woodlands ward, will be proposed as charter mayor while Cllr Janet Jefferson, who represents the Castle ward, will be nominated for the role of deputy charter mayor.

Councillors can propose other nominations at the meeting and the trustees are also set to approve their annual budget.

The currently proposed annual budget is £20,980 which includes funding for hosting events, transport, and technical support.

A large portion of the proposed budget – £17,540 – is to be allocated to council officer support for the trustees, covering areas such as democratic services, finance, and communications.

Meanwhile, £950 is set to be allocated for a “community recognition” afternoon tea event at the Scarborough Annual Cricket Festival and the charter mayor is set to be granted a £500 annual allowance for charitable donations.

While the civic collection, including the civic regalia, will be the responsibility of the charter trustees, they will “not have powers to deliver any services”.

The currently unparished parts of Scarborough, for which a town council is planned, are Castle, Falsgrave and Stepney, Northstead, Weaponness and Ramshill, and Woodlands.

There were six charter trustees until last week when Tony Randerson resigned from North Yorkshire Council and the Labour Party, with a by-election likely to take place in the Eastfield division later this year.

As part of plans for the creation of a Scarborough Town Council which would replace the role of the charter trustees, a second public consultation is currently ongoing with plans for an election to be held in May 2024.

However, there has been “some concern raised about the apparent low response rate” of 2.45 per cent to the first consultation, out of almost 22,000 households that were contacted.