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31
Mar 2023
Harrogate Borough Council to be abolished today
Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished at the end of today after 49 years of existence.
The council, along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council, will be replaced by North Yorkshire Council from April 1.
The move comes as part of the biggest shake-up in local government since 1974.
It means North Yorkshire Council, which will employ 11,500 staff, will be responsible for all council services in the district, including bin collections, planning, licensing and highways.
The change will also see the district represented by 16 councillors, instead of the current 40 on the borough council plus more on the county council.
Among those councillors stepping down are Richard Cooper and Graham Swift, the leader and deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council respectively.
'We will be locally-based'
The new leaders of the unitary council have pledged the new authority will be local, despite being based in Northallerton.
Speaking ahead of the takeover, Richard Flinton, the new chief executive of the council, defended the authority from criticism that it was too remote.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
The authority’s leadership says while one safeguard against parochialism on the new authority would be in its executive members representing communities from across the county, another is by retaining its headquarters in Northallerton.
Richard Flinton, chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.
Mr Flinton said:
Meanwhile, Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the new council, defended the decision to create 90 councillors to cover the entire county - rather than the current number of 319 which cover different councils.
He said:
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