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24
Jun
Combined authority declines to reveal correspondence over Mayor’s pothole funding
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has declined to reveal correspondence relating to the mayor’s controversial decision to reallocate funding for road repairs.
In March, Mr Skaith, the Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, changed the government's funding formula for highways maintenance.
The move diverted £20 million of funding for potholes and other road repairs schemes away from Conservative-controlled North Yorkshire Council and towards Labour-run City of York Council between 2026 and 2030.
It infuriated North Yorkshire Council, which claimed that cuts to the county's highways budget will severely impact the state of its roads.
Senior Conservatives described the move as “disgraceful” and the council sent a pre-action letter to the combined authority threatening to take the decision to judicial review.
Cllrs Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council (left) and Gareth Dadd, deputy leader.
The Stray Ferret sent a freedom of information request to the combined authority asking for correspondence with the council on the issue of the Mayoral Transport Fund and how it was allocated.
We requested the information as we believe the public has a right to know about discussions between senior public authority officials involving millions of pounds of taxpayer funding.
However, the combined authority has declined to provide the information on the grounds of “preserving legal professional privilege”.
In response to the request, the authority said the correspondence included legal advice amid the ongoing legal challenge from North Yorkshire Council.
It said:
Given the existence of a current legal challenge concerning highways maintenance funding, this information is considered to attract strong legal professional privilege.
The combined authority added that, while it recognised the public interest in providing information on public funding decisions, it was outweighed by preserving legal professional privilege.
It said:
While we recognise the importance of openness in relation to public funding decisions, we consider that, in this case, the public interest strongly favours maintaining the exemption. The presence of an active legal challenge significantly increases the weight attached to preserving legal professional privilege.
Disclosure at this stage would risk undermining both the legal process and YNYCA’s ability to obtain candid legal advice.
We also asked what evidence and studies were carried out to justify the decision and if the combined authority could provide copies of them.
But, the combined authority said a report into the mayor's funding decision on March 27, 2026, was available online.
The Stray Ferret intends to challenge both decisions as it remains unclear what evidence was used to inform the decision.
What is the dispute about?
The Department for Transport has allocated £456 million in transport funding to York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which the mayor oversees, over the next four years.
The combined authority then distributes the funding to both City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council for highways schemes.
However, in March, Mr Skaith approved changes to the formula, which he said resulted in more money to both councils to fix the region’s roads over the next four years.
The DfT employs a highways funding ratio of 92.7/7.3, with North Yorkshire Council receiving the greater of those two shares, and City of York Council receiving the smaller portion.
But Mr Skaith's plans change the formula to 90/10, meaning that a total of £4 million in funds which would have come to North Yorkshire Council are now due to be redirected to City of York Council under the proposals.
Mr Skaith has defended the decision, and described it as "record investment" into fixing the region's roads.
But North Yorkshire Council has challenged the decision and threatened to take it to a judicial review.
The combined authority told the Stray Ferret in May it had responded "robustly” to the letter and was satisfied it had acted “legally and appropriately” in its decision making.
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