A chief executive for the upcoming North Yorkshire Council is due to be in place by autumn this year.
The move to a single council will mark the biggest change to local government in North Yorkshire in almost 50 years.
The existing county council and seven district and borough councils will be scrapped to make way for North Yorkshire Council.
This week, senior councillors agreed on an implementation plan for the new authority, which will come into place in April 2023.
As part of the plan, a new senior management board and chief executive will be appointed as part of an open process.
The document before senior councillors said:
“For all posts, but critically those with senior management and leadership responsibilities, it is critically important that the new council has the right people at the right level doing the right things and behaving the right way.”
Details of salary and roles at the new council have yet to be published.
Current county council chief executive, Richard Flinton, received a total pay packet, including allowances, of £179,431 in 2019/20, according to latest transparency figures published by the authority.
Read more:
- Harrogate can be economic driver for North Yorkshire after devolution, says council chief
- Roadmap to new North Yorkshire Council will ‘hold feet to the fire’ on promise of better services
Four other senior officers also earn more than £100,000.
Meanwhile, almost all remaining staff will then be transferred across on April 1, 2023, as all services from bin collections to business support, and social care to highways, come under new control.
North Yorkshire councils chief executive salaries:
- Richard Flinton, North Yorkshire County Council – £179,431
- Wallace Sampson, Harrogate Borough Council – £115,277
- Justin Ives, Hambleton District Council – £132,676
- Mike Greene, Scarborough Borough Council – £112,892
- Tony Clark, Richmondshire District Council – £98,702
- Paul Shelvin, Craven District Council – £105,669
- Janet Waggott, Selby District Council – £109,767
- Stacey Burlet, Ryedale District Council – £105,504
*Figures are based on each council’s latest transparency information.
Key decisions on the new council, such as its location, decision making and economic strategy, are set to be made after the May elections.
Cllr Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, was one of several members of a new executive board that approved the implementation plan for the new North Yorkshire Council.
He said while he previously supported a rival vision for two new councils split on an east/west basis, he believed the plan would ensure the single council meets the overall aims of saving money and streamlining services.
Cllr Swift said:
“Today we have got a document in the public domain which I find extremely exciting because it starts to lay out the principles of what the new council can be.
“This is a document which can be used to display with confidence the plans that our councils have, but it will also keep our feet to the fire.”
Elections for the new North Yorkshire Council will be held on May 5. and the deadline to register to vote is April 14. You can register to vote here.
