Mayor accused of York bias in £19 million transport fundingNorth Yorkshire Council finance chief: ‘We are not, at this time, in a financial crisis’“We must now look at what services we have to cut,” says North Yorkshire council leaderHow to vote in today’s mayoral election

Polling stations across Harrogate and Craven open at 7am today for residents to choose the first-ever mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

Here is everything you need to know about the election.

What will the mayor do?

The mayor will lead a new public body called the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority which will receive £750 million in funding from central government over 30 years.

It means the new mayor will have £18 million a year to spend and will take charge of the combined authority, which will include two councillors each from North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council.

There will be new powers to improve public transport although services will still be delivered by the local authorities.

More money will also be available to support the building of new homes on brownfield land.

The mayor will also be key in developing skills across the region and attracting investment from businesses.

The mayor will be paid £81,300 a year.

Who is standing?

Conservatives: Keane Duncan – A former journalist who is a Malton councillor and is in charge of transport on the council’s decision-making executive.

Labour: David Skaith – A Harrogate-born shopkeeper who is chair of the York High Street Forum.

Liberal Democrats: Felicity Cunliffe-Lister – A Masham councillor and owner of the Swinton Park Hotel.

Green Party: Kevin Foster – A Richmond councillor and former soldier who worked as a civil servant for 30 years.

Independent: Keith Tordoff – A former police officer in West Yorkshire and former owner of The Oldest Sweet Shop In The World in Pateley Bridge.

Independent: Paul Haslam – A Harrogate councillor and business consultant who quit the Conservatives to stand as an independent.

Where can I vote?

If you’re on the electoral register you should have received a polling card in the post that says which polling station you should attend.

For a full list of polling stations in the Harrogate/Craven area visit here.

Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm.

You do not need to bring your polling card to vote but you do need ID. The following forms of ID will be accepted:

When will the winner be announced?

Unlike general elections, the count will not take place overnight, so it means you’ll have to wait until Friday before the winner is announced.

This will take place at Harrogate Convention Centre with counting underway from 9am. A winner could be announced by 12pm.

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The York and North Yorkshire mayoral election is approaching – have your say

This story is sponsored by The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The York and North Yorkshire mayor will be chosen by residents of the region in an election on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Once elected, they will serve a four-year term, at which point they can either stand down, or choose to stand for re-election.

The deadline to register to vote is 11:59pm, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Don’t forget – if you’re voting at a polling station, you’ll need to bring along a valid form of photo ID.

The new mayoral role will be an important addition to the way the combined authority operates – but what exactly does this mean for local people, and why is it important to have your say in May?

What is the role of the mayor?

York and North Yorkshire has a 30-year devolution deal, which will give the mayor £18m a year to invest directly into the region. Once elected, they will then have certain powers and responsibilities, devolved to them by central government.

(Image: York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority)

The aim of the role is to facilitate greater investment to improve transport, boost job opportunities, unlock housing developments and develop training for the regional workforce.

While the full scope of these can be found in the Combined Authority Constitution, these will include:

Have your voice heard

(Image: York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority)

The upcoming election aims to appoint a leader to be a strong voice for York and North Yorkshire, and to act as an advocate for the region on a national – and international – stage.

That’s why it is important for you to have your say on who you feel would best represent your views, and your vision for the local area.

No registration, no vote

You must be registered to vote in this election by 11.59pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. If you’re voting at a polling station you need to show a valid form of photo ID.

This includes a full or provisional driver’s licence; UK passport and some travel passes such as an older person’s bus pass or blue badge. If you don’t have these you can apply for free voter ID by 5pm on Wednesday, April 24 by visiting the government website.

You can also vote by post and by proxy – where you ask someone you trust to cast your vote for you.

Find out more:

Visit the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority website at: www.yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/mayor to find out more about the election and what it means for you. 

£6m spent on transition to North Yorkshire Council so far

North Yorkshire Council has revealed £6 million has been spent so far on the transition from eight councils into one.

Local government reorganisation has seen the biggest change in local government in the county since 1974.

District councils in Harrogate, Craven, Hambleton, Scarborough, Rydedale, Richmondshire and Selby, as well as North Yorkshire County Council, were abolished on March 31.

The next day, a new unitary council called North Yorkshire Council based in Northallerton was created to provide all of the services previously delivered by the former councils.

To pay for the transition, £38m was allocated into a one-off fund, with the money coming from reserves held by the former North Yorkshire County Council.

The council allocated £16.9m to be spent between 2021/22 until 2024/25 and North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for resources, Gary Fielding, said £6m of this has been spent so far.

Mr Fielding added a “significant proportion” has been spent on technology and digital systems, with nearly £2.3m allocated during the last financial year and a further £1.5m earmarked in the current financial year.

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Other areas of spending include £4.9m on delivering local government reorganisation over the previous and current financial years.

A further £3.4m has been allocated for finance and £1.8m for human resources with most of these costs due to upgrading IT systems.

The council is facing a £30m shortfall in its first year and is targeting savings of up to £252m in its first five years.

Earlier this month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that the council will save £3.8m a year by cutting the roles of 24 senior managers.

Another one of the new unitary council’s early cost-cutting programmes will be to sell off some of the former district, borough and county council properties, which comes to more than 3,500 properties excluding schools.

Mr Fielding said:

“We remain committed to ensuring that the move to North Yorkshire Council presents the best value for money for taxpayers.

“The new authority is set to bring about annual savings of between £30m and £70m through the streamlining of services and bringing together eight councils into one organisation.”

North Yorkshire Council set for £513,700 redundancy payout to three senior managers

North Yorkshire Council looks set to make three former district council managers redundant at a cost of £513,700.

The council, which replaced Harrogate Borough Council and seven other district and county councils at the start of the month, is restructuring its workforce.

According to a report due before the authority’s executive, senior managers who were transferred to the council under TUPE regulations can be offered “substitute duties” which fit their job descriptions.

Some senior staff left for other jobs before the authority was formed, while others took up roles on the new council.

However, three of the senior managers are due to be made redundant after the roles they were allocated were “time-limited”.

The report said:

“There are three senior managers where the substitute duties allocated are time-limited, and on conclusion they will be in a redundancy position.

“Legal advice has been sought and confirms this position.”

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As a result, the council looks set to pay an estimated £513,700 in exit packages to those being made redundant.

None of the officers are former employees of Harrogate Borough Council.

The payments will be split by £107,000, £108,000 and £298,000.

Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council, said the move to one council has helped to save £3.7 million in senior officers’ pay.

He said:

“A huge amount of work has been undertaken to bring together the previous eight councils into one and ensure that there is value for money for North Yorkshire’s taxpayers. 

“The move to one single management team for North Yorkshire Council has saved about £3.7 million in pay for senior officers every year. The fact that there are only three senior managers in this situation is significantly less than other councils in this position. 

“To have these managers still involved for a defined period has been of significant benefit to the new council, making full use of their skills and experience for work that would otherwise have needed extra resources in terms of appointments, interim managers or consultants.”

A meeting of the council’s executive is set to discuss the matter on Tuesday, May 2. Senior councillors have been recommended to refer the matter to full council.

In December, Unison wrote to the authority warning it not to offer senior managers more favourable redundancy terms than other staff.

The letter came as Hambleton District Council agreed to pay £767,065 to four senior officers who decided they do not wish to work for the unitary North Yorkshire Council after April 1.

The payments were agreed even though the four directors had been assured they would be offered “suitable roles” at no financial loss to themselves when they transferred to North Yorkshire Council.

Former Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson negotiated a £101,274 redundancy pay-out before his departure at the end of March.

New signs consign Harrogate Borough Council to history

New signs have appeared at Knapping Mount in Harrogate to mark this month’s momentous change in local government.

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished at the end of last month and replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

North Yorkshire Council also replaced six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council to become the unitary local authority in the county.

Signs marking the change have gone up at the Civic Centre at Knapping Mount in Harrogate.

The Civic Centre used to be the centre of local government in the Harrogate district but it now one of many offices controlled by North Yorkshire Council, whose headquarters are at County Hall in Northallerton.

North Yorkshire Council knapping mount civic centre

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May 5 date set for first North Yorkshire Council elections

Elections will take place on May 5 to elect councillors to the new North Yorkshire Council.

The current two-tier system, where North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council provide different services locally, will be replaced by a single-tier system with one council in charge of England’s largest county.

A Structural Changes Order laid before Parliament, which paves the way for the elections, has confirmed the new council will be called North Yorkshire Council.

Councillors elected in May will serve on North Yorkshire County Council until April 1 2023 when they will move over to the new council.

Existing Harrogate borough councillors will remain in place until North Yorkshire Council is created.

There will be 90 new councillors in North Yorkshire Council, representing 89 divisions.

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Conservative Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council said:

“This is an exciting moment for North Yorkshire and one which I hope people will look back on in the future as a game-changer for the county’s economic fortunes. The new single council will give our county a much stronger voice regionally and nationally and allows us to bring together the very best of all eight councils to build the best possible new one.

“These are very important elections, because the councillors voted in this May will serve the final year of the county council and then they will be the voice of the people for the first four years of the new single council.”

Background to the shake-up

The government announced on July 21, 2021 there would be a new single council for North Yorkshire.

The first day of the new North Yorkshire Council will be 1 April 2023.

On the first day of the new council, the current North Yorkshire County Council, the borough councils of Harrogate and Scarborough and the district councils serving Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale and Selby will cease to exist.

Until then all eight councils in the county will continue to run their own services and make their own decisions, while working together on the change programme.

Harrogate council forecasts £6.5m income losses despite covid restrictions easing

Harrogate Borough Council has predicted that covid will wipe millions of pounds off its finances this year despite the hopeful end of all lockdown restrictions.

Finance bosses at the authority have forecast income losses of around £6.5million from areas including Harrogate Convention Centre, leisure centres and planning in 2021/22 after what they described as an already “incredibly challenging” year during the first 12 months of the pandemic.

Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, Paul Foster, head of finance, said out-turning on budget in February was an “incredible achievement” and that the council would now need to generate around £18.8million in income to do the same this financial term.

He said: 

“I can report that in line with monitoring through the year, we will out-turn on budget. This is despite a net cost of circa £10million that the council faced last financial year as a result of the pandemic.

“To out-turn on budget is an incredible achievement, particularly as we have managed to maintain performance in a number of critical areas – and this is in addition to the council’s response to the coronavirus pandemic itself.

“Key to achieving a balanced budget in 2021/22 is income recovery. We have budgeted for ongoing income losses of £6.5million as a result of covid, but income generation of £18.8million is still required to balance the budget.

“There is a lot to play this year to see how successful we are in keeping to budget.”

Council budgets across the UK have been stretched for some time as a result of years of government cuts, but for many covid has only compounded the problem.

At a time when local authorities have had to spend more on supporting their communities, income streams have been hit hard with little cash coming in and a lot going out.

Some councils have struggled to carry out statutory duties, been at risk of bankruptcy and have had to ask the government to borrow emergency money in order to keep services running.

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In Harrogate, the situation has not been quite as alarming but serious all the same.

At the start of the pandemic, the council scaled back spending to essential areas only before introducing a recruitment freeze and shedding around 60 jobs.

The council has also redeployed many staff into under pressure areas such as bin collections and business support grants, with chief executive Wallace Sampson himself lending a hand to waste collection crews.

The authority has received around £7.8million in emergency government grants, but this has still meant £2.7million of reserve cash has had to be used in to plug funding gaps.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire County Council – which looks after the vast majority of services including social care, education and highways – is facing a much starker picture with a projected funding shortfall of £59million over the next three years.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Mr Foster said detailed reports of how Harrogate Borough Council is plotting its way out of the financial pressures of the pandemic will be brought to a cabinet meeting later this month.

He said:

“This report will be finalised this week and published next.

“The out-turn position reflects the support across the council in adhering to the spending controls we put in place, including the recruitment freeze, in response to the financial challenges of the pandemic.

“The delivered savings would not have been achieved without a successful staff redeployment scheme. However, as we move towards business as usual, it is clear that the vacancy freeze is not sustainable and the filling of essential posts is key to our continued success.”