North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to submit plans to create a new single local authority for the county to ministers.
County councillors voted for the move today, signalling the start of the biggest shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire for decades.
However, the seven district and borough councils will also vote on submitting alternative proposals to ministers.
At the county council’s meeting this morning, 57 councillors voted in favour of submitting the bid and 11 against.
It included “dual hatted” councillors, who sit on both district and the county councils, who will also vote on the districts’ proposal for an east/west model.
Robert Jenrick, secretary of state for local government, will decide on the government’s preferred option.
Whichever proposal he chooses, it will result in both the county council and the district and borough councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, being scrapped and replaced by one or more single-tier authority.
‘Momentous decision’
Cllr Carl Les, leader of the county council, said the proposal for one council, which would cover 618,000 people, was among the most “momentous decisions” the authority has made.
He said the government regarded devolution as part of its plan for recovery from the covid pandemic.
North Yorkshire County Council leader, Carl Les.
Cllr Les said:
“The government sees two parts to covid. Firstly contain and secondly recovery.
“They see devolution and local government reform as key parts of that recovery process and delivering the levelling up agenda.
“This is so the right time to do this and to get prepared for future challenges.”
He added that there would be “no criticism” of other models and that it would be for ministers to decide the best proposal for the county.
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The proposal has received support from City of York Council, which would remain as a unitary authority under the plan.
But opposition councillors on the county council opposed the move.
Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the North Yorkshire independents group, said it was not “the right time” for local government reform.
He said:
“I think central government needs to get to grips with what is going on in our country rather than rearranging deck chairs.”
Cllr Eric Broadbent, leader of the Labour group, said creating a single authority for the county would be “a step too far”.
£38 million cost of shake-up
In its outline plan, the county council said reorganisation of councils in the county could cost up to £38 million.
Consultants Pricewaterhouse Cooper’s report on the plans revealed that setting up a single authority will cost between £18 million and £38 million.
However, the authority also predicts savings of up to £252 million over five years, equivalent to £50.4 million per year.
The district councils ware set to submit an east/west model as a counter proposal to the county council.
Harrogate Borough Council will vote on the plan this evening.
Ministers have set a deadline of December 9 for full proposals to be submitted.
