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15
Jan
New North Yorkshire Council division boundary changes finalised
Changes to council divisions across North Yorkshire have been finalised following a review to ensure all councillors represent a similar number of electors.
The Local Government Boundary Commission has concluded that there should be 89 North Yorkshire Council councillors in the future — one fewer than the existing arrangements.
There will be 85 single-councillor divisions and two two-councillor divisions.
Most existing division boundaries will change.
Publishing the recommendations, Andrew Scallan CBE, deputy chair of the commission, said:
We are very grateful to people in North Yorkshire. We looked at all the views they gave us. They helped us improve our earlier proposals.
We believe the new arrangements will deliver electoral fairness while maintaining local ties.
North Yorkshire Council’s chief executive, Richard Flinton, said:
I am pleased that this important process has concluded well in advance of the council’s all-out elections in May 2027, as it provides certainty for our residents, councillors and prospective candidates.
This represents one of the final pieces in the jigsaw of creating the new North Yorkshire Council following its launch in April 2023.
The commission received 382 comments from people and organisations which helped decide the new divisions.
Changes in response to what local people said included alterations to Tadcaster and Appleton Roebuck and Church Fenton divisions to reflect strong local community evidence and division name changes across the Scarborough area.
It emerged when a draft report was published in April last year that a number of suggestions made by local Liberal Democrats had been included over suggestions made by the council.
This prompted North Yorkshire Council to submit a fresh list of recommendations.
Councillor Peter Lacey, leader of the Liberal Democrat and Liberal Party Group at North Yorkshire Council, said his party was pleased to see the boundaries for the 2027 elections confirmed.
He added:
It’s on these boundaries that residents in North Yorkshire will have the chance to get rid of a Conservative administration which has failed residents on important local issues like home-to-school transport, and replace it with a Lib Dem-led council administration.
In response, Councillor Carl Les, leader of the Conservative-led council, said:
It’s disappointing that the Lib Dems would choose to characterise it in this way.
The Boundary Commission’s work is to make sure that the representation is as fair as possible so that everybody’s vote is equal.
Then it will be up to the electorate to decide who they want to support from the candidates that are put forward at the next election and future elections.
The input we’ve had into the review has been about sensible geographic representation based on community of interest.
The changes will become law once Parliament has approved them.
North Yorkshire Council staff will be tasked with ensuring that the arrangements are in place for the 2027 elections.
Details of the divisions can be found here.
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