Government asks public for views on North Yorkshire devolution

It's as two proposals have been put forward for how the county should be governed.

Author: Jon BurkePublished 23rd Feb 2021

A consultation on locally-led proposals for unitary local government submitted by councils in North Yorkshire has been started by government.

After a formal invitation from the government last October to councils in North Yorkshire to submit proposals for reorganisation, the Local Government Secretary has received two proposals for consideration.

The consultation published yesterday (22 February) seeks views on these locally-led proposals. One is from North Yorkshire County Council and the other is a joint proposal from Craven District Council, Harrogate Borough Council Richmondshire District Council, Ryedale District Council, Scarborough Borough Council and Selby District Council.

As a result of the consultation launch, the district and county council elections due to be held in May this year in North Yorkshire will be rescheduled to May 2022.

Rescheduling local elections avoids the possibility of the electorate being asked to vote for councils while at the same time they are being given the opportunity to express their views on the possible abolition of those councils. It also avoids members potentially being elected to serve short terms. The elections for local Police and Crime Commissioners, as well as elections to any town or parish councils, will continue to take place in May 2021.

Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

“I have always been clear that any restructuring of local government must be locally-led and will not involve top-down solutions from Government.

“Now that councils in North Yorkshire have submitted their proposals, I am pleased residents, businesses and service providers will have the opportunity to have their say on what will work best for their area.

“With local support, changing the structure of local government can offer better value for money and improved services for residents.”

The proposals outline how the councils who have responded to the invitation want to restructure local government in their area to establish unitary local government. This means moving from a two-tier system of county and district councils, to a system where there is a single tier for any given area.

For example, in April last year the county council and four district councils in Buckinghamshire were abolished and the new Buckinghamshire Council took on full local government functions and powers. This April, eight councils in Northamptonshire will be abolished and replaced with two new unitary councils, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. The new unitary councils will take on full local government functions and powers.

As well as North Yorkshire, councils in Cumbria and Somerset have also submitted proposals for unitarisation, which the government is also consulting on.

Residents, councils, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), public service providers, businesses and voluntary organisations in North Yorkshire will now have the opportunity to have their say on which proposal, if any, is the best fit for their area.

The Local Government Secretary will consider all proposals following the consultation before making a decision about which option, if any, to implement in each of the three areas. If any proposals are to be implemented, Parliamentary approval is needed before the legislation can be made.

The consultation asks a number of questions about each proposal to help inform the Local Government Secretary’s decision, including:

• Whether the proposal will provide greater value for money

• Views on the proposed geography of the council

• Whether the proposal will impact local police, fire and rescue, and health services

Subject to Parliamentary approval, we would expect any new unitary council to be fully operational from April 2023 with transitional arrangements expected to be in place from 2022, including elections in May 2022 to the shadow or continuing councils.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.