North Yorkshire should be split to secure devolution says Scarborough Council leader

This week, North Yorkshire’s councils, along with the City of York, sent the government their preferred proposals for Local Government Reorganisation, which will see the two tier structure currently in place scrapped by 2023.

North Yorkshire County Council submitted a bid for one large authority to cover the county, with more powers passed on to town and parish councils.

City of York Council, itself already a unitary, would be left as it is under the proposals.

Six of the county’s seven district councils – Scarborough, Harrogate, Ryedale, Craven, Selby and Richmondshire – have submitted a proposal dubbed the “East & West plan” that would see the county and York split in half to create two authorities of roughly the same population size under one Mayor.

Scarborough, Ryedale, Selby and York would be in one authority with Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Harrogate in the other.

Hambleton Council urged the government to leave things as they were when it considered which proposal to back.

Cllr Steve Siddons, the Labour leader of Scarborough Council said that the East & West proposal would create a balanced system moving forward.

Cllr Siddons said: “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve services and create the best possible future for the area. Through our East & West proposal, we are taking that opportunity to get change right.

“This bid is backed by six out of nine authorities in North Yorkshire and York, is cross-party, and has been built on a foundation of extensive consultation.

"We have developed our proposals through listening to our residents, businesses, community groups, charities and partners, and it has their needs at its heart. A wide range of supporters have backed our model.”

The districts’ bid has been produced following a review they financed by audit firm KPMG.

Cllr Siddons added: “We have built on the KPMG study with further work to develop our proposals for service improvement, particularly in the areas of social care, children’s services and public health.

“We have also developed a clear model for strong local democracy, with councils close to the people they serve, able to focus on local needs.

“Our East & West model is the only option that fits the government’s ideal population range for a unitary council, between 300,000 and 600,000 people.

“It is the only proposal that delivers two equal partners to sit within a Mayoral Combined Authority – which is important for the success of devolution.

“Our proposal will help drive recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and build a better economic future for the whole area.

“We have been encouraged by the level of grass-roots support for the East & West model – we know many of our residents and businesses are concerned about the alternative bid for a ‘mega-council’ from North Yorkshire County Council.

“The county council’s model would cover an area which is five and a half times the size of Greater London. It’s as big as Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire combined.

“Meanwhile, under their plans, York would remain as a tiny unitary authority, covering 3% of the whole area to North Yorkshire’s 97%. This clearly creates a huge imbalance of power.

“This is why our councils were determined to join together to submit a better alternative – to get change right.”

Under the East & West plan eight Locality Committees would be created across the East and West authorities, consisting of parish and town council and community representatives, which would have the authority and budget to make decisions at a local level.

Under North Yorkshire County Council’s proposal local planning committees would be created in order to ensure that councillors would be able to have their say on applications that affect their residents and town and parish councils would also be given more power.

In a message to residents last night, North Yorkshire County Council’s chief executive, Richard Flinton, said that the county’s plan had the backing of local leaders and organisations and would deliver £67 million a year in savings.

He said: “Our proposal would create a new single council here, delivering strengthened public services to every person and business in North Yorkshire.

"It would protect the county’s globally recognised brand and its nationally acclaimed services for children and adults.

“We also support the City of York’s position of remaining a separate authority serving its unique and urban population.

“By working more closely with York, our proposal also offers the potential to save around £67 million a year to plough back into supporting local services and empowered communities.

“The alternative would break our county in half and split up these services.

“Our bid has the backing of North Yorkshire’s health, police and fire services as well as many businesses, charities and the North Yorkshire branch of Unison.”

The government will announce which of the proposed models will be put forward for implementation sometime next year.