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27
Jul
Labour has called for the number of North Yorkshire councillors to be increased from 90 to 108.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is reviewing the divisional boundaries of North Yorkshire Council to ensure a fair distribution of electors to councillors.
The Conservative-run council, which was only set up 16 months ago, has proposed reducing the number of elected members from its current 90 to 89.
But the Labour group, which includes 10 councillors, suggested in its submission to the review this week that the number should be increased to 108. The Green Party has endorsed Labour’s position.
Labour said having 89 councillors would mean an average of 5,812 electors for each councillor, which would make it “unreasonably difficult” for councillors to represent their communities and would therefore create a “democratic deficit”.
The party said recent boundary reviews of similarly new unitary authorities had resulted in the commission setting the average number of electors per councillor in the range of 4,150 in neighbouring Durham to 4,569 in Buckinghamshire.
Having 108 councillors in North Yorkshire would mean each councillor would represent an average of 4,600 electors.
An Independent Panel has already highlighted the increased workload for councillors since the unitary council was formed with the loss of over 200 elected representatives from the district councils that were abolished, including Harrogate Borough Council.
Labour group leader Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright, who represents Selby West, said:
The citizens of North Yorkshire should not be short-changed by having fewer elected representatives than those living in the affluent home counties.
Labour councillors stand to advocate for our communities, assist individual constituents, promote progressive policies, and hold North Yorkshire Council and other public bodies to account.
These functions are essential for healthy local democracy and there must be enough councillors to give the necessary time, attention and scrutiny.
Councillor Kevin Foster, leader of the Green group said he “fully endorsed” Labour’s submission, adding:
It’s a well-argued document and provides what I believe to be a sensible proposal that will benefit the residents of North Yorkshire along with providing a manageable workload for councillors.”
Councillors are not officially paid for their duties but they receive allowances. The basic annual allowance for each one is £17,000. Special allowances are paid for taking on extra responsibilities — for example, executive members with for specific areas receive an additional £19,845 and council leader Carl Les receives £40,447.
Asked about the additional cost incurred by paying allowances to 18 extra councillors, Cllr Shaw-Weight highlighted a section in the party’s submission that says:
It is important to take issue with the argument that the size of the council should be limited because of the cost of member allowances and expenses. The total staffing budget for North Yorkshire Council is around £289,000,000 — the additional cost of allowances for 108 councillors would amount to 0.1% of this.
Effective local government requires a culture of mutual respect and partnership between elected representatives and appointed staff. The suggestion that North Yorkshire Council cannot ‘afford’ an adequate number of councillors is risible.
Once the commission reaches a view on the future size of North Yorkshire Council it will consult the public and invite proposals for the boundaries of electoral divisions.
That stage is expected to run from September to November this year.
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