Town and parish councils in the Harrogate district are to be invited to propose taking on more powers when local government undergoes its biggest shake-up for almost 50 years.
North Yorkshire Council will take charge of all local government in the county on April 1. The seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, and North Yorkshire County Council, will be abolished.
Under a pilot scheme, lower-tier authorities will be offered the chance to manage more local services as part of a “double devolution” approach designed to prevent too much power being centralised at Northallerton.
It could see Ripon City Council, Knaresborough Town Council, Pateley Bridge Town Council and others in North Yorkshire take on more powers over assets and services.
Harrogate currently does not have a town council.
As part of the plan, county council officials will write to parish authorities by the end of this month inviting them to submit expressions of interest.
From there, six councils will be picked to develop a business case.
In a report due before the county council’s executive on November 8, Neil Irving, assistant director of partnerships, said:
“Double devolution is entirely separate from the proposed devolution deal between the government and the local authorities in York and North Yorkshire.
“Double devolution has operated for over 10 years in some other parts of the country, including Cornwall and Wiltshire.
“There is also significant experience of existing councils in North Yorkshire successfully transferring services and assets to community groups and to town and parish councils.”
Councils will be able to propose taking on a wide range of assets and services, rather than picking from a list.
However, the county council intends to make it clear that proposals to take on decision making powers, such as planning or traffic regulation, will not be considered.
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It would also not consider “expressions of interest with regard to services and assets that generate a significant net income for the new council”.
Once invited, local councils will have until March 2023 to express an interest in taking on more services.
‘More things done at a local level’
The move comes as county council officials proposed offering parish authorities more powers in August 2020.
Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, pledged to offer more powers for people to “get more things done at a local level”.
He said at the time:
“We believe this double devolution which passports powers from Whitehall to the town hall and the town hall to the village hall is an exciting prospect.
“We are seeking more powers from the government, but we want more powers to be devolved to the very local area as well. We want to bring people together to get more things done at a local level.”
