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Aug 2022
Opposition councillors raise concern over £540m North Yorkshire devolution deal
Opposition leaders in North Yorkshire have given a mixed reaction to the announcement that a devolution deal has been agreed and have questioned whether the county’s residents will be fairly treated.
With the Tories achieving a narrow majority in May’s elections, opposition councillors say they will hold North Yorkshire County Council’s Conservative administration to account over how the gain-share or extra funding from government is divided between the county and York.
The comments come as a historic 30 year devolution deal was announced by ministers today, which will mean North Yorkshire and York will see an elected Mayor in 2024 with £540 million pounds of government cash.
Leader of the authority’s largest opposition group, the Liberal Democrats and Liberals, Cllr Bryn Griffiths said he had reservations over devolution and the combined authority and mayor that went with it.
He said:
'Not a great exercise in democracy'
A number of other authority opposition members have similar concerns that devolution has proved to be an intensely political process.
Independent group leader Cllr Stuart Parsons said:
Cllr Parsons said suggestions that two North Yorkshire and two City of York councillors would form the decision-making body on the combined authority with a mayor would be a blow for democratic representation and democratic decision-making.
He said the councillors on the combined authority would be from a council’s ruling group there would be no “serious political representation on that body”.
Read More:
- Have devolution fears that Harrogate will be voiceless come true?
- Mayor for North Yorkshire agreed in £540m historic devolution deal
- 5 lessons to learn from devolution in Tees Valley
Green Party group coordinator Cllr Andy Brown agreed that devolution “did not appear to be a great exercise in democracy” in the county.
He said:
Meanwhile, Labour group leader Cllr Steve Shaw Wright said while he believed devolution would benefit North Yorkshire, he was uncertain about the timing.
He said the combination of launching a new unitary authority, starting negotiations with City of York Council and holding mayoral elections was “an awful lot all at once”.
Cllr Shaw Wright said:
He added suggestions that the combined authority would feature just two York and two North Yorkshire councillors was “a recipe for disaster at the worst and deadlock at the best” and that a larger more politically representative decision-making body would be more effective.
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