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16
Jul
Mayor accused of York bias in £19 million transport funding
Senior Conservative councillors in North Yorkshire have accused Labour mayor David Skaith of favouring his home city of York in a transport funding settlement.
Mr Skaith oversees York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which has allocated £19.2 million to highways maintenance schemes put forward by North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council.
North Yorkshire Council was awarded £11.3 million, which its executive agreed to approve yesterday (July 15). The remaining £7.9 million went to Labour-run City of York Council. You can watch the executive meeting here.
Councillor Mark Crane, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for open to business, said the sums seemed “slightly out of kilter”.
He added:
York accounts for 25% of the population of York and North Yorkshire and 9 to 10% of the geography but managed to get 40% of the spend.
I guess I should remind people that the mayor — wonderful person that he is — lives in York.
Yesterday's executive meeting
Cllr Malcolm Taylor, the executive member for transport, agreed:
“It does seem slightly disproportionate. Whilst we are very grateful for the funding that’s coming our way, in the greater context it is interesting that our percentage does seem slightly out of kilter.”
Louise Neale, transport planning team leader at North Yorkshire Council, told the executive meeting that funding was allocated on the basis of 70% population and 30% deprivation.
Ms Neale added total funding should have been £15.3 million, of which North Yorkshire and City of York would have been eligible for £10.6 million and £4.7 million respectively.
But she added “there has been an element of over-programming so the total pot is now £19.2 million” because some schemes are expected to fall by the wayside. She added:
If we split that we (North Yorkshire Council) should have got about £13.3 million so it depends which way you look at it. In terms of the original pot, we have done better; if you look at the over-programmed pot, slightly less than expected.
'Absolutely not true'
Mr Skaith ran a menswear shop in York before becoming mayor. However, he was brought up in Harrogate and attended Rossett School.
Asked to respond to the comments, he said:
This is absolutely not true and not how we decide on funding. We work closely with North Yorkshire Council and have funded all priority projects which meet our tight timeframes.
This £20 million investment in transport schemes across York and North Yorkshire is about one thing – delivering for people, because everyone should feel safe while they enjoy walking, wheeling and cycling.
By working with North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council, we have secured the future of projects that will make a real difference across the region. We have supported schemes in York and towns like Selby, Thirsk, Colburn and Skipton.
With this funding we will create safer streets for children to get to school and enable people to make cheaper and more sustainable choices.
For too long public transport has not been good enough for so many communities in our region, especially in our rural and coastal areas. I am determined to fix it and by joining the Urban Transport Group and leading on the rural bus franchising pilot, we will start work on building the transport network that our region deserves.
It demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together, focused on supporting communities.
Cllr Gareth Dadd
'Fight like hell'
The government is reforming how it funds local government.
A consultation into its Fair Funding Review opened in June and its new approach will begin in the 2026/2027 financial year.
Local authorities are expected to find out what it will mean for them in autumn.
Cllr Crane said the government review was “causing me concern”.
He added:
They seem to think all the money should follow deprivation and it would be unfair to think North Yorkshire doesn’t have any. We have some significant pockets of it and that shouldn’t be lost on people here or indeed in the government so whilst I accept there may be deprivation in York, we certainly have pockets of it as well.
But he added he was “not hopeful” of any change.
Cllr Gareth Dadd, the deputy leader and executive member for finance, said the council had to “fight like hell” to preserve a funding formula that worked for North Yorkshire.
He added:
“For the mayoral combined authority to function properly, it needs sustainable strong local government beneath it.”
Cllr Dadd said the loss of a £14 million rural services grant and the increase in employers' contribution to National Insurance meant North Yorkshire Council had taken a “hit of £22 million” even before the fair funding review. He added: “It doesn’t bode well for sustainable local government.”
'Tough choices'
In its consultation document on the fair funding review, the government said:
After a decade of cuts and fiscal mismanagement inflicted by the last government, compounded by spiralling inflation, rocketing demand for key services, and a failure to grow our economy, councils of all political stripes were left in crisis. Our fiscal inheritance means that there will be tough choices on all sides to get us back on the path to recovery, and it will take time.
The broken funding system we inherited has left local authorities across the country in crisis. To turn this around, we need to reset local government so that it is fit, legal and decent and can, once again, reliably deliver for our communities. We are going to work with local authorities to rebuild throughout this parliament.
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