Harrogate will get a new civic figurehead from April to perform ceremonial duties following the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council.

The role of the mayor will be abolished along with the council this spring, to make way for the unitary authority North Yorkshire Council.

From April 1, a new position called a charter trustee will be created by North Yorkshire Council and will remain in place until the likely creation of a Harrogate town council.

The charter trustee would only represent the unparished area of Harrogate, which includes the town centre and surrounding areas such as Bilton and Starbeck.

Like the current mayor of the borough, they would wear mayoral chains and other civic regalia.

North Yorkshire County Council leader Cllr Carl Les, who will also lead the new authority, said the first charter trustees would be voted in by councillors at a meeting in April.

These will be the 10 councillors sitting on North Yorkshire Council with wards that fall within the unparished area.

He said:

“Charter trustees will come into existence on April 1, following the dissolution of Harrogate Borough Council, and will remain in place unless or until a town council is created which would take responsibility for the continuation of the mayoral and civic function.

“They will be responsible for the mayoral chains and other civic regalia and for continuing any ceremonial rights and traditions in the unparished areas.”

Read more:

• Second consultation to be held on whether to form Harrogate town council
• New council will use Harrogate’s multi-million pound headquarters

The mayor of the borough has historically been appointed by HBC each year, usually in May, and chairs meetings of the full council.

He or she is known as the “first citizen” of the borough and also represents the council on ceremonial occasions, welcomes visitors and attends events organised by local people and community groups.

In recent years, the holder of the role has rotated between Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors.

The current and final mayor is Victoria Oldham, Conservative councillor for Washburn. The deputy mayor is Robert Windass, Conservative councillor for Boroughbridge.

Other areas of the borough, such as Knaresborough, Ripon and Pateley Bridge, already have their own mayors and these will be unaffected by devolution.

Harrogate Borough Council has requested that a charter trustee body is set up to take the place of the authority after it is scrapped.

The council will no longer exist in April 2023 after a county-wide unitary council is set up as part of devolution plans.

The move will leave the town with no lower tier authority.

As a result, council officials have requested to government that a charter trustee body in Harrogate is established after April 2023.

A charter trustee is a body which “preserves the rights and privileges” of an area which has borough status. However, it does not have any power to provide council services.

A report before the council’s cabinet said:

“Both Harrogate and Scarborough have Borough status, and in the absence of town/parish councils in the town centre areas, consideration needs to be given as to how to preserve the rights and privileges that accompany that status.

“Following a structural change, where there is no suitable local government body such as a parish council, charter trustees can be established to preserve historic property, privileges, rights and traditions presently enjoyed by local residents in council areas which will be abolished.”

Read more:

• Creation of Harrogate Town Council ‘inevitable’ if reorganisation happens
• Harrogate town council: will it be created and what would it cost?
• Harrogate council to recommend creation of town council

The body would be in place while a town council is considered for Harrogate.

Council officials will write to the unitary authority to recommend that it consider setting up of a lower-tier authority.

In July, Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said the creation of such a town council was “inevitable”.

He told a full council meeting that he had previously offered assurances that a Harrogate Town Council would most likely be created and that a review of services would be carried at “the correct time, in the correct way and by the correct people”.

According to a government letter to North Yorkshire chief executives, a structural change order, a parliamentary mechanism which would start the process of abolishing the two-tier system, is expected to be put before the House of Commons “around the turn of the year”.

What is a charter trustee body?

A charter trustee body is a ceremonial body which is set up when a district council is abolished and there is no parish in that area.

They were first set up in the 1970s as part of a wider range of reform in local government.

Councillors are elected to the trustee and a mayor is elected. The body is set up to “preserves the rights and privileges” of the borough and to continue the traditional roles carried out by the previous borough council.

The trustee body is funded through a local precept to fund administrative roles, such as the mayor. 

However, it has no legal power to levy a precept to run services that a parish council would, such as grass cutting or public toilets.