Scarborough Council leader Steve Siddons backs plan to split North Yorkshire in half

Cllr Steve Siddons has joined with the leaders of North Yorkshire’s six other district councils for what has been dubbed the “East and West” model.

KPMG has worked with the district and borough leaders to draw up a case for the creation of two unitary authorities; with Craven, Harrogate, Richmondshire and Hambleton in the West, and Selby, City of York, Ryedale and Scarborough in the East.

This would produce two unitary authorities with a similar population and economic size, the district leaders claim.

North Yorkshire County Council is expected to put forward a bid for a one council model, which would create a unitary authority covering the whole of North Yorkshire, with a population of 618,000, while preserving the existing City of York unitary authority with a population of 211,000.

Last week, the Government officially invited councils in North Yorkshire to submit proposals for devolution, starting the process that will lead to a new governance structure and the possibility of a Metro Mayor for the region.

Cllr Siddons said: “Over the last few months, district and borough council leaders have been working hard to develop the very best model for local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire and York, in expectation of this letter inviting us to submit proposals.

“We still believe this is not the right time for local government reorganisation, as we are all focusing our efforts on supporting our communities and businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“However, we fully expect North Yorkshire County Council to submit a proposal for a ‘mega-council’, which would create a massive imbalance in any combined authority.

"North Yorkshire is five and a half times the size of Greater London; it’s as big as Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire combined.

“This means we will have no choice but to submit our alternative model.

"The district and borough leaders have held a range of consultation events over the last few months with local people, businesses and organisations.

"We have listened carefully to their views, in order to get change right, and we know there is growing support for our model.

“District councils are deeply embedded in the fabric of their communities, towns and cities; this has been evident in our swift and effective response to the Covid-19 crisis.

“We know many people fear that in a county-wide unitary, local knowledge and representation of local communities will be lost, and this is a real danger.

“Our model will enable service delivery improvement across the whole of the City of York and North Yorkshire, whilst minimising disruption to key services, especially for vulnerable groups and safeguarding. Our model will enable existing partnership working to grow and strengthen, to promote strong, safe, inclusive and healthy communities.

“We recognise how important devolution is to the region and the east/west model is the strongest approach to achieve a balanced combined authority with an elected mayor.

“The KPMG document is a key piece of research which supports our case; however, we will also be submitting further evidence to Government as part of our bid.

"We will continue to engage with residents, businesses and local organisations and partners as we finalise our case for an East and West model.”

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