Mayor for North Yorkshire agreed in £540m historic devolution deal

An historic agreement has been announced today that sees the biggest shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire and York for more than fifty years.

The 30 year devolution deal agreed by the government will mean North Yorkshire and York will see an elected Mayor in 2024 with £540 million pounds of government cash to focus primarily on skills, housing and transport.

The mayor will take over the role of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and have an annual £18m budget to spend.

The agreement has been described as “a one-in-a-generation chance to help tackle regional inequalities by not only reducing the North-South divide nationally, but also helping to resolve economic differences that are being felt between urban and rural areas”.

The aim is that the mayor and combined authority – which would be made up of North Yorkshire and City of York councillers – will be able to have more control of strategic investment for jobs and skills and infrastructure.

Key points to the deal are:

The structure of the mayor and a combined authority will be similar that of the Tees Valley and West Yorkshire, which have already gone through the devolution process and have elected mayors.

North Yorkshire County Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The chance to secure a wide range of decision-making powers as well as bringing in millions of pounds of investment for North Yorkshire is a huge opportunity for us all to shape our own future for many years to come.

“It will make a real difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in North Yorkshire, driving future prosperity and much better opportunities that are so important to everyone.

“Whether it is improving skills and education, bringing in more investment to the region or helping improve transport links and providing much-needed affordable housing, the proposed deal would enable us to take far greater control of our own destinies.

“An elected mayor representing both York and North Yorkshire would be a powerful figure to have a seat at the table for further negotiations with the Government, bringing real and tangible benefits to the region.”

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County council boss set to be appointed chief executive of new North Yorkshire Council

The chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council is set to be appointed as the head of the new unitary authority next month.

Richard Flinton, who has held his current role since 2010, was today named as the preferred candidate to take the helm at North Yorkshire Council.

Mr Flinton, who lives in Ryedale, will be paid up to £197,000 for the role,

The recommendation comes from NYCC’s cross-party chief officer appointments committee, which conducted the selection process.

The final decision will be made by councillors at a full meeting of NYCC on Wednesday, August 17.

The committee chairman, Cllr Carl Les – who is also leader of NYCC and will become leader of the new authority next year – said:

“Our new council will be one of the largest authorities in the country but we are building it around the needs of people, communities and businesses; so it will also be one of the most local.

“The successful candidate for the role of chief executive will be in charge of ensuring that the county’s 600,000 residents, and tens of thousands of businesses, get the best possible service and value for money.

“The person will also manage a revenue budget of around £1.4 billion and an ongoing capital programme of around £350 million while driving the transformation programme to bring public services together in a way that is effective and practical. This programme is estimated to make significant financial savings, which will then be used to help finance frontline services.

“As you would expect for a job this important, the process to select a preferred candidate has been competitive and robust and involved all political parties. It is now for wider councillors to make the final decision when they meet in a few weeks’ time.”

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Mr Flinton, who was born in Scarborough, has worked for NYCC since 1987, initially in trading standards. He rose through the ranks to become corporate director of business and environmental services in 2008, before becoming chief executive two years later.

The county council said the recruitment process for his new role was open and promoted nationally.

He said:

“I am humbled to have been chosen as the preferred candidate for the role of chief executive officer of the new North Yorkshire Council. The move to the new authority represents huge challenges and opportunities, and to be able to play a part in that would be a huge honour.

“There are so many hugely talented people across all of the eight councils which will become one next year, and it would be a real privilege to work with them.”

He will take up the post on April 1, when the new North Yorkshire Council comes into effect.

At that point, the 90 councillors elected in May to NYCC will transfer to the new authority where they will serve the first four-year term before another election is held.

At the same time, North Yorkshire’s seven district councils – including Harrogate Borough Council – will be abolished.

County Council’s ambition for devolution deal on Yorkshire Day

The leader of North Yorkshire County Council has spoken of his hope that the government will agree a devolution deal this Monday on Yorkshire Day.

Councillor Carl Les said while it had been hoped devolution for the county and York would be agreed before the parliamentary summer recess started last week, work was continuing to finalise a deal after almost 20 months of negotiations.

He told a meeting of the authority that the Department for Communities and Local Government had launched a process known as a “write-round”, to get the consent from other ministries, such as the Treasury, and Department of Transport, without having to hold a cabinet meeting.

It is understood if all the government departments are happy, a devolution deal could be announced within days.

Cllr Les said he was hopeful a deal could be reached by August 1.

Cllr Les has repeatedly emphasised the county has no right to devolution and that North Yorkshire and York have had to develop a case for the government giving up some of its powers.

If there is an objection from any ministry it could delay the deal until September.

A meeting of the authority heard concerns over the potential consequences of the government missing the target date.

The concerns follow Michael Gove’s departure as communities secretary prompting fears within local government that devolution might be postponed.

However, local government analysts have reported Mr Gove’s replacement, Greg Clark, is determined to keep to his predecessor’s target of getting nine devolution deals signed before the autumn.

There have also been concerns the deal could be delayed by an unwillingness to ratify major decisions during uncertainty over who will become the next prime minister.

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It is believed the deal for York and North Yorkshire could potentially unlock around £2.4bn of investment over 30 years, with a focus on improving economic prosperity, creating more affordable housing and lead to the area becoming England’s first carbon negative economy.

Key to the asks which were put forward in December 2020 are wishes to take charge of delivering improved digital connectivity and the amount of “gain share” or extra funding from government.Gain share is being viewed as a key part of the devolution deal as it will remain the same flat rate for the next 30 years, whereas the devolvement of powers could continue to be negotiated at a later date.

Map reveals areas which could be served by a Harrogate Town Council

The areas which could pay an extra tax to fund a Harrogate Town Council have been revealed for the first time in a new map.

A consultation on whether to create the new council will be held this summer after the proposal gathered the support of politicians in Harrogate .

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only two areas in North Yorkshire not to be parished.

And although the move has been well supported by councillors, it will be residents who have the final say on whether it should go ahead.

A new map (pictured above) from North Yorkshire County Council has revealed which areas could vote in this poll and ultimately be served by the town council.

These include:

High Harrogate and Kingsley
Valley Gardens and Central Harrogate
Fairfax and Starbeck
Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone
Harlow and St Georges
Bilton Grange and New Park
Bilton and Nidd Gorge
Most of Coppice Valley and Duchy
Parts of Oatlands and Pannal
Parts of Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate

It has been argued that creating a town council will help Harrogate keep control of its prized public buildings and some services such as parks and tourism when the existing county and borough councils are abolished next April.

The existing councils will be replaced by a new North Yorkshire Council which could filter down some powers to all town and parish councils in what has been hailed as a “double devolution”.

Those were the words of councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, who also previously said more than one town or parish council could be created in Harrogate – if that’s what voters wanted.

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A decision to hold the upcoming consultation was agreed at a meeting of the county council’s executive today when the next steps of the legal process known as a community governance review were set out.

Councillor David Chance, executive member for corporate services, said:

“In the first set of consultations we will consult with the relevant people in the affected areas to gain their views.
“We will then take those views and make recommendations for approval.
“If it was considered appropriate to create town councils, we would then be looking to make such recommendations within a 12-month period.
“And then new town councils could potentially be created in 2024.”

Other services which could come under the control of a Harrogate Town Council include events, markets, play areas, community centres and allotments.

These arrangements are already in place at the likes of Knaresborough Town Council and Ripon City Council which charge £25.27 and £70.77 respectively for their annual parish precepts.

The idea of a Harrogate Town Council has already won the support of members of the outgoing Harrogate Borough Council who made calls for the process to be sped up.

County council leader Carl Les also said he believed Harrogate and Scarborough would both be “well served” by a lower tier of local government.

He previously said:

“I’m a great advocate of parish and town councils.
“That said, it is for the people to decide whether they want them or not.
“I’m very keen that we start the process as soon as possible and we will go to the public in Harrogate and Scarborough at the earliest opportunity.”

North Yorkshire devolution deal announcement ‘imminent’

A devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York looks set to be announced by the government in just over a week.

There were fears recent ministerial resignations and sackings could have derailed the process.

But details of the deal are now expected to be revealed before the summer Parliamentary recess starts on July 21.

It follows almost 20 months of negotiations between North Yorkshire and York council leaders and officers, government ministers and Whitehall officials.

The deal could potentially unlock around £2.4 billion of investment over 30 years.

It would be targeted on improving economic prosperity, creating more affordable housing and lead to the area becoming England’s first carbon negative economy.

Every first and second tier council in the area, except Hambleton, put forward some ‘asks’ to the government in December 2020 about what they’d like in a devolution deal.

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Concerns were raised that following Michael Gove being fired from his role as the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary by Boris Johnson, it would mean the new minister, Greg Clark, would want to spend time fully digesting the complex deal before signing it off.

Political commentators have highlighted how during his first stint at the Department for Communities Mr Clark negotiated devolution deals and served as minister for decentralisation, but his economic preference was for city-led growth rather than the levelling-up approach focusing on non-metropolitan Britain.

Following news of his appointment and entering his second stint at the department, Clark tweeted that he had a “duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead”.

We have a duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government in the weeks ahead. Having been Secretary of State at the Communities department before, I will do my best to provide stability, good governance and accountability to Parliament at this important time.

— Greg Clark (@GregClarkMP) July 7, 2022

When asked if he was confident about a deal remaining on track following Mr Clark’s appointment, North Yorkshire County Council leader Cllr Carl Les said he was optimistic the transfer of power and funding would be in time to form a Mayoral Combined Authority next year, with Mayoral elections in 2024.

He said the negotiations were at a very advanced stage.

Cllr Les said: 

“I do hope this will not derail the negotiations and having worked with Greg Clark before as secretary of state I have every confidence that he will treat this matter with the urgency it requires.

“We are at not only the 11th hour, but at the 59th minute of the 11th hour.”

Cllr Les said he felt the county council and City of York Council had been listened to during the negotiations, which he described as having been “fruitful”.

North Yorkshire Council chief executive to be paid up to £197,000

The chief executive of the new North Yorkshire Council will be paid a maximum salary of £197,000, it has been revealed.

The new council, which will employ more than 10,000 staff, will come into existence on April 1 next year.

Seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, will be abolished, along with North Yorkshire County Council.

The chief executive recruitment process will be overseen by a cross-party chief officer appointment and disciplinary committee, which met today to consider the salary as well as the recruitment process and job description.

One of the committee’s roles will be to decide whether to appoint an executive search agent, at an anticipated cost of £30,000, to help the process.

A report on the recruitment process to councillors at North Yorkshire County Council said the salary package had been benchmarked against similar public sector roles nationally. The report adds:

“The sample data shows the pay for unitary councils of a similar size to North Yorkshire falls within a salary range of £188,000 to £216,000 per annum.

“However, the proposed salary limit for the new chief executive is £197,000.

“Set against the current combined packages for the eight chief executives of North Yorkshire councils, this would deliver an annual saving in excess of £1 million.”

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£30m saving a year

Ending the two-tier system of local government in North Yorkshire is expected to save about £30m a year in total.

Carl Les

County council leader Carl Les, who is chairing the chief officer appointment and disciplinary committee, said:

“Our new council will be one of the largest local authorities nationally, providing essential services to more than 600,000 people.

“The chief executive will need to manage a revenue budget of around £1.4 billion and the new council will have an ongoing capital programme of around £350 million.

“In addition to the vast array of council services and functions, this job also includes heading up the council’s commercial operations at a critical time.

The report to councillors includes details of the current salaries of council leaders in North Yorkshire. It can be seen below.

council chief executive salaries

 

Decision on Harrogate town council could take two years

A decision on whether to create a Harrogate town council is unlikely to be made until at least 2024, a meeting heard last night.

Wallace Sampson, chief executive of Harrogate Borough Council, outlined the lengthy legal process to members of Harrogate Civic Society.

Mr Sampson said North Yorkshire Council, which comes into existence on April 1 next year, would have to undertake a community governance review before any changes to Harrogate’s governance can take place.

This would involve two stages of consultation, likely to take place next year, followed by a final recommendation on whether to approve a town council.

If approved, a legal order would be made, followed by other processes before implementation.

Harrogate civic society meeting

Last night’s meeting.

Speaking at last night’s packed meeting, at which he and Councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, discussed local government reorganisation and devolution, Mr Sampson said:

“It’s really difficult to say how long that process will take but our best guess is 15 months to two years. If it happened by 2024 that would be a good timeframe.”

Mr Sampson also said elections for a mayor for the combined North Yorkshire and York regions would “probably” take place in 2024.

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Last night’s meeting discussed the implications of the momentous changes brought about by North Yorkshire devolution and local government reorganisation.

Harrogate Borough Council and six other district councils, along with North Yorkshire County Council, will be abolished next year when the new North Yorkshire Council comes into being on April 1.

8,000 council staff

Eight thousand staff will be brought together into what will be one of the largest councils in the UK, in a move estimated to save about £30m a year.

The loss of Harrogate Borough Council has led to concerns that Harrogate may lack a political voice after the changes, with most key decisions set to be made by North Yorkshire Council in Northallerton.

Last month Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader for Harrogate and Knaresborough, called for the process to create a Harrogate town council to begin “as soon as possible, within the next couple of months” but this seems unlikely to happen.

Philip Broadbank, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Harrogate Starbeck on North Yorkshire County Council, attended last night’s meeting and said afterwards the party would continue to push for the process “to be done as quickly as possible” but he accepted it would take time.

Cllr Swift told the meeting that Harrogate Borough Council’s civic centre at Knapping Mount “won’t be a white elephant” after the authority is abolished and would continue to be used by staff employed by North Yorkshire Council. He said:

“It’s going to continue to save you £1m a year forever.”

County council vows to ‘chase savings’ ahead of new North Yorkshire authority

The leadership of North Yorkshire County Council has vowed to “chase savings” for residents and to bolster services from local government reorganisation as it launched an implementation plan to create a single authority for the county.

The authority’s finance boss and deputy leader issued the pledge ahead of its executive formally approving a blueprint which will be used to overcome a plethora of hurdles in reducing one county council and seven district and borough councils down to one single unitary authority.

Auditors’ analysis of the county council’s unitary plan has found it could save £30m a year by cutting red tape and reducing senior management and elected member costs.

In addition, by using the new council as a springboard for change, the auditors concluded savings could rise to between £50m and £67m a year, netting up to £252m at the end of the first five years, saving of up to £185 a year for households.

However, among the biggest concerns for residents before Vesting Day – the day the new unitary authority is launched on April 1 next year – will be how the council tax and other charges such as car parking and leisure centre fees are brought into line.

This year the district and borough councils’ element of the council tax charge ranged from Hambleton levying £165.83 to Harrogate’s £255.92 demand.

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Residents are also likely to see changes in the amount they are charged for services such as garden waste collections.

Outlining the scale of the challenge facing officers over the next ten months, county council chief executive Richard Flinton said the plan highlighted the need to collaborate with other organisations, including businesses and the voluntary sector, as it is “very easy at a time of enormous change to be very internal focused.”

He said the plan set out the vision of what the authority was trying to achieve and provided key objectives for senior officers, who would be in place for the unitary authority by autumn, to follow.

Cllr Gareth Dadd, executive member for finance, said one of the biggest drivers for local government reorganisation had been the potential savings that could be realised.

He said: 

“Through our usual budgetary processes I will be insisting that we chase not just the £30m, but £60m or £70m and more if we can get it.

“Whilst our priority at the moment must be getting to Vesting Day making sure all is safe and legal, after that we have got a job to do because by the end of this term in five years time we should be able to say we are well on the road to realising those savings.

“They may well be masked with austerity or left-field stuff coming forward,  but at least we should be able to prove we have set out to achieve and largely achieved what we intended to do by submitting that bid to government. There can be no rowing back from that, along with no rowing back from localism.”

Harrogate Borough Council to be stripped of financial powers

Harrogate Borough Council is to have its biggest powers stripped away next week, some 10 months before it is abolished.

All seven district and borough councils in North Yorkshire are affected by the move, which has been introduced by the UK government.

Political commentators claim it aims to prevent controversial spending, particularly of councils’ reserves.

It means any major financial decisions by Harrogate Borough Council will need to be approved by North Yorkshire County Council‘s executive.

This could have implications on Harrogate Borough Council’s plans to spend £47m redeveloping Harrogate Convention Centre.

The action follows concerns that district councils could propose large-scale schemes to ensure at least some of the money left in their coffers is spent in their areas, rather than added to general North Yorkshire funds from April 1 next year.

The seven district councils will continue to operate and make decisions until they are replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

Michal Gove intervenes

But Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, has issued a direction which gives the county council’s decision-making committee the power from Monday to veto any relevant financial decision which could bind the new authority in a potentially unfavourable way.

The direction will restrict district councils from entering into revenue contracts and disposals of land over £100,000 or capital contracts exceeding £1m without the executive’s consent.

An officers’ report to the executive states the sanctions for any council not complying with the direction and consent regime would be “severe”.

It adds councils face legal action if they enter into any contracts without the required consent and any transfers of land will be void.

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To avert “a large and unmanageable number of decisions” being put before the executive and to ensure a continuance of business in all the councils until the unitary authority is launched next May, the district councils will be handed a list of lower-scale decisions they can approve without seeking consent.

Implications for future

The requirement for seeking permission as a result of the direction will only apply to the district and borough councils.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, who looks set to be reappointed as the county council’s deputy leader and finance chief later this week, said the move would help all the district councils pull in the same direction ahead of the unitary authority’s formation:

“I’m sure colleagues in the districts will be very sensible in any event, but this order by the Secretary of State recognises the democratic mandate given to all those new members on the new unitary authority and North Yorkshire County Council.

“It is those, as a collective body, that has to deal with the decisions which could have serious implications in the future.”

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment.

Harrogate Convention Centre: What happens now?

With a planned £47 million renovation and a change of control to North Yorkshire Council on the horizon, the next 12 months are set to be pivotal for Harrogate Convention Centre.

Now that last week’s local elections are out of the way, the clock is ticking until one of the town’s major assets is handed over to the new unitary authority.

But key decisions on the convention centre, including the £47 million spend, have yet to be made.

Harrogate Borough Council currently controls the centre’s destiny, but that will no longer be the case come April 1 when it is abolished.

So what will happen with the convention centre and when will decisions be made?

Historic investment

In August 2020, the borough council outlined what would become its single biggest investment in recent times.

It tabled a plan to renovate the convention centre at a cost of £47 million over three phases.

However, while a plan to create seminar rooms in studio two to accommodate up to 1,200 people have been brought forward over fears the local economy could miss out on £14.9 million worth of events, the wider project has yet to be signed off.

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A spokesperson for the council previously said it intented to seek approval for the studio two project ahead of the first phase of the wider scheme.

The council also said that a final decision on the scheme was due to be put before councillors in 2022.

Meanwhile, questions also remain around how exactly the project will be funded.

Council officials have included an investment in the convention centre in a list of requests to government as part of a North Yorkshire devolution deal.

The 140-page document, which has already been submitted to ministers, includes a request to “work with government to address the capital funding gap we have identified through our business case work to date”.

The report adds:

“Our ‘ask’ is that stakeholders work together to develop a dialogue with government to meet the capital shortfall identified through business case modelling.

“Debt costs in meeting this high upfront capital expenditure will weigh-down the projects viability necessitating innovative funding solutions to enable these costs to be mitigated. 

“Finding a means to write-off or subsidise a portion of the upfront capital costs is considered necessary to enable the scheme to be viable.”

Ministers and council leaders in North Yorkshire are currently in negotiations over the devolution deal.

But given the government’s long list of funding headaches at the moment, there is a risk that ministers could not agree to the request – which would raise questions over how the scheme would be funded and who would stump up the cash.

Depending on timing, it’s likely that it fall to the new North Yorkshire Council to take the decision – it too will have funding pressures.

‘An integral part of Harrogate’

While the politics of the convention centre rumbles on, the prospect of any investment remains key to traders.

The centre continues to host a range of events, including bridal shows, political conferences and Thought Bubble Comic Con.

Sue Kramer, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president.

Sue Kramer, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president.

For businesses, the hope is that the convention centre attracts more visitors to the town who will then go onto stay, shop and visit the area.

Sue Kramer, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce president, told the Stray Ferret:

“From a retail perspective, with the number of customers we have who have come to Harrogate specifically because of HCC I regard it as an integral part of Harrogate’s special and unique offering.

“The range of events held throughout the year attract a diverse range of visitors to Harrogate, many of whom then visit the town centre to shop, eat and stay. 

“The HCC is undoubtedly a huge benefit to local businesses.”