The leader of North Yorkshire Council has defended its record as it marks its one year anniversary since being established.
The authority replaced the now defunct Harrogate Borough Council in April 2023 with the promise of making savings.
One year on from its launch, the Stray Ferret has looked at how the council has changed governance in the county and if people feel it has improved.
Among those we spoke to was Lord Wallace of Saltaire, a Liberal Democrat peer, who was highly critical of the move 12 months ago. He remained concerned that the authority felt detached from its constituents.
The Stray Ferret put the concerns to Conservative leader of the council, Cllr Carl Les, and asked what he felt the council’s achievements were over the last 12 months.
He pointed to £30 million worth of savings, which he said had been used to “protect vital services”.
Cllr Les said the money had been saved by streamlining services from the seven districts, plus various staff and management reviews.
He described the move as a “local government reorganisation dividend” which had allowed the authority to protect frontline services.
Part of the protection of local services was also down to increasing council tax by 4.99%, he said. However, Cllr Less added that this was necessary.
He said:
“There are councils across the county that would want that dividend.
“There will also come a point that members can have a real good discussion about the council tax needed to run the authority. But, at the moment, we have used that money to protect services.”
Residents ‘not detached’ from council
Much of the criticism around the new council has that it is too remote.
This week, Lord Saltaire told the Stray Ferret that he stood by criticism he made about the authority in the House of Lords 12 months ago.
He said he felt that people feel detached from their local council and that councillors could not cope with the number of constituents within their divisions.
Lord Saltaire added that a district and county council model still worked, despite being criticised as “inefficient”.
He said:
“We still have county councils and district councils in some places. That in some ways is less efficient, but it does at least give people a connection.
“People do not feel any connection with their local authority.”
Read more:
- North Yorkshire Council ‘still feels detached’ one year on, says peer
- North Yorkshire Council: Five things that have changed in Harrogate
In response, Cllr Les said he disagreed with the notion that the authority is detached from its residents.
He said that residents across North Yorkshire still had representatives that they could reach out to and that the council was responsive.
Cllr Les said:
“I have been a councillor for a number of years, both district and county, and I do not think my constituents would feel that they are detached from their representatives.
“Everybody still has a councillor.”
Cllr Les previously described the establishment of North Yorkshire Council as a “wastershed” moment for public services in the county.
The move was the first reorganisation of local government in the county since 1974.
He said it was still early days for the unitary council, but he felt it would last as long as its predecessor.
Cllr Les said:
“At the moment, we are only over a year into the new council. The last one lasted 50 years. I think this new authority will last 50 years.”
