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23
Nov

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has remained silent about how much its new active travel commissioner is being paid.
David Skaith, Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, appointed Rhiannon Letman-Wade to the position on Tuesday (November 18).
Ms Wade, who is the first ever active travel commissioner for the region and formerly deputy chair of Wales’ Active Travel Board, will oversee the delivery of the mayor’s £4 million active travel fund.
However, details over how much she will be paid for the role — which will last the rest of Mr Skaith’s term in office — were not revealed as part of the announcement.
The Stray Ferret asked the combined authority if it would disclose how much Ms Letman-Wade will be paid, but we did not receive a response.
The move comes as Cllr Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of North Yorkshire Council, questioned combined authority officials over the position at a board meeting in June.
Cllr Dadd asked for further information on the role, including whether the active travel commissioner would be appointed through an external consultancy.
At the time, Mike Scott, transport lead at the combined authority, confirmed that the authority was looking to “bring in somebody with expertise, probably through a consultancy arrangement”.
Further details of the £4 million fund were announced in July, including that applications will open in January 2026.
Of the £4 million available over two years, £500,000 — 12.5% of the entire sum — will go towards external partners to manage the fund and the new active travel commissioner's role, plus 'internal costs’.
A further £2.4 million is ringfenced for large projects of between £100,000 and £500,000 run by public bodies.
Another £1 million will go to small projects of between £10,000 and £100,000. The remaining £100,000 will pay for “additional highway officer resource”.
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