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24
May
Roads funding legal challenge ‘a waste of resources’, says combined authority
A legal challenge against the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire’s road repair funding is “misconceived” and “a waste of resources”, combined authority chiefs have said.
Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council challenged Labour’s David Skaith over the funding decision, which it says will mean a £20 million loss in funding for repairs, such as fixing potholes.
In March, Mr Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, changed the government's funding formula for highways maintenance, which diverted £4 million of North Yorkshire’s 2026/27 allocation to Labour-run City of York Council and £20 million between 2026 and 2030.
Senior Tory North Yorkshire councillors described the move as “disgraceful” and the council sent a pre-action letter to York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority threatening to take the decision to judicial review.
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire.
At a full council meeting on Wednesday (May 20), Cllr Carl Les, leader of the council, said the combined authority’s response to its legal letter was “poor” and the council had reiterated its position on the matter.
He said:
We have sent a letter before action and had a response. I think that response is poor, in my opinion. Fortunately, that is also the opinion of our legal counsel. So we have responded again setting out our legal position.
Legal action is expensive, but so is the financial impact on North Yorkshire if this decision stands. I would like to avoid legal action, I make that absolutely clear. But I would like the mayor to agree to a face-to-face discussion about this.
The Stray Ferret asked York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority what its response was to the pre-action letter over the mayor’s decision.
A combined authority spokesperson said it had responded to”robustly” to the letter and it was satisfied that it had acted “legally and appropriately” in its decision making.
They said:
As this issue may relate to potential legal proceedings, it would be highly inappropriate to comment in detail.
However, we can confirm that York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority responded robustly to North Yorkshire Council’s letter before action relating to the decision in respect of the transport capital grant allocations which resolved to provide North Yorkshire Council with £63.8 million for highways maintenance in 2026/27, up from £57.8 million in previous years. This formed part of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authorities record £456m long term transport investment package and the combined authority is satisfied that it has acted legally and appropriately in its decision making and that any legal action is misconceived and a highly regrettable waste of both authority's resources.
The mayor and combined authority remain committed to working collaboratively with North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council in the wider interests of the region and we share the sentiment that this issue can and should be resolved without the need for formal legal proceedings.
The move comes as North Yorkshire councillors have urged Mr Skaith to “come to the table” over the decision.
Councillors from the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and independent councillors backed a motion to urged the mayor to come forward after describing the funding as a bad deal for the county.
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