Senior North Yorkshire councillors have dismissed suggestions they are “trying to curtail democracy” by limiting the number of questions elected councillors can publicly pose to the ruling group’s executive.

A meeting of Conservative-run North Yorkshire County Council’s executive saw proposals for the unitary North Yorkshire Council’s constitution pushed forward for consideration at a full council meeting next month.

But concerns were raised over democracy at the authority’s quarterly full council meetings, the only time where all 90 councillors can air issues together.

The meeting was told a clause of the constitution meant a restriction in the volume of questions the authority’s 10 executive members could face.

The authority’s opposition leader, Cllr Bryn Griffiths, questioned the rationale behind the proposal that “a maximum of five minutes will be permitted for questions to each executive member”.

The Liberal Democrat leader said the move was “effectively a guillotine from members of the council to executive members of the council”.

Corporate services executive member Cllr David Chance replied that the original constitution had stated members’ questions would be limited to those on the written reports of executive members to full council.

He added: 

“The questions have become lengthened…”

Cllr Chance said there had been “a suggestion from another quarter” that the Tory administration introduced a one-hour guillotine for members’ questions, but that the proposal had been dismissed as the council’s leading group did not believe that was sufficient.

He added: 

“So we settled on five minutes per question  with the chair having discretion to extend that if he felt that was needed.”

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The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said during discussions over the proposed change to full meetings of the council “on the face of it it seemed as though we were trying to curtail democracy and not hold executive members to account”.

He said the rule had been proposed to protect the integrity of the purpose of full council meetings and give members’ greater opportunities to raise issues with executive members.

Cllr Dadd said: 

“For me the purpose of full council is yes, to allow members of the authority to hold those in positions of responsibility to account, but the primary purpose of full council is to set policy and debate policy.

“After reflection… we have written a means into the constitution by which members can raise their concerns and hold accountable members to account with written questions that will be published on a website to enable the public to see responses to concerns raised by councillors.”

Cllr Dadd said during discussions with a cross-party group of councillors the five-minute limit had received a broad base of support, when considered alongside the move to publish any questions raised by members.

After the meeting, Independent group leader Cllr Stuart Parsons said even with the proposal to publish members’ questions, the move was set to stifle debate, perpetuating a situation where 10 executive members had “inordinate powers” and the remaining 80 elected councillors could “go swing”.

He said: 

“I think there will be quite a fight when we get to full council because putting that guillotine in effectively means what’s the point of being on North Yorkshire  Council because everybody will not have the opportunity to question people on their remits.

“If they carry on controlling or attempting to control scrutiny in the way they are there’s nothing that opposition members can actually do.”

North Yorkshire residents look set to have to find more than £100 extra from April to pay an average council tax bill, despite their newly-launched local authority embarking on a rigorous cost-cutting programme.

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive will next Tuesday consider charging average band D households £83.64 more just for services that have traditionally been provided by the district, borough and county councils.

Residents are also facing having to pay significantly higher council tax bills due to expected rises in precepts from North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and parish councils, some of which are considering levying large-scale increases to cover their costs.

As the proposed police and fire precepts will not be announced until later this month it remains unclear what total council tax rise residents will face, but under the proposal for the unitary North Yorkshire Council element of council tax bills, band D residents would have to pay £1,759.96.

Residents of areas such as Hambleton will face yet steeper increases, paying about £45 extra on what they paid last year to bring their bills into line with those charged elsewhere in the county.

A report to the executive states even with a 4.99% increase in its charge, the new council will need to use £30m of reserves to balance its budget in 2023/24 alone alongside a cost-cutting programme to save up to £68m annually.

Read more:

• Council freezes Ripon parish precept for third year running
• Levelling up council tax charges over two years is ‘best compromise’

Cllr Gareth Dadd, the authority’s finance executive member, said he was acutely aware of financial pressures households are facing and that those in the greatest financial need would be given up to 100 per cent reductions on council tax bills.

The authority’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: 

“We are facing the greatest ever financial challenges in North Yorkshire, which means we have a huge task in ensuring that services can be delivered effectively and efficiently for the public.

“However, without the opportunities presented with the launch of the new council, the situation would be a great deal worse, and it is vital that we take full advantage of these opportunities.

“We have the chance to make millions of pounds in savings by reorganising the way services are delivered, meaning that we get the most out of every pound of taxpayers’ money in North Yorkshire.”

‘Forced on local councils’

Opposition groups on the authority said although the 4.99% increase would be very difficult for many households to cover, with inflation at 11% it meant a six per cent real terms reduction to pay for council services.

Cllr Andy Brown, Green Party leader, said: 

“This is being forced on local councils by national government decisions and it leaves North Yorkshire Council massively short of what it needs to provide a reasonable level of service.”

Cllr Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independents group, said as the government had failed to carry out its promised reforms of social care charging councils were being forced to put the charge onto council tax bills.

He said:

“It shows yet again the Conservatives are a high tax party. 

“Since 2010 onwards with austerity the government has savaged local authorities and then expected them to massively increase local taxation to cover their inadequacies.”

A second consultation is to be launched into the creation of a Harrogate town council.

North Yorkshire County Council will write to households across Harrogate as part of an eight-week survey starting on February 20.

Harrogate and Scarborough are the only parts of North Yorkshire which do not have a parish or town council.

The second consultation is expected to be more detailed than the first one, which merely invited people to say whether they supported the idea.

Residents will be sent information including the number of councillors, assets and reasons for why it is needed.

A further survey on the matter was approved by senior county councillors today.

The areas in Harrogate which would fall under the new town council.

Cllr Michael Harrison, the Conservative executive member for health and adult services who represents Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, said while he supported the second consultation, he had reservations over the town council.

He said:

“Members will be aware of my concerns more generally about proceeding to the next stage of consultation. I have made my views both informally and on a one-to-one basis.

“We are removing a layer of local government by moving to a unitary authority and we are immediately going to be replacing it in the Harrogate area with another, so there is an underlying concern there.

“We are creating a likely future tax liability on a population without any real idea of what that tax would be or what the residents would get for paying that tax and I think that was one of the comments that came back in the consultation.”

Read more:

• Harrogate set to get town council after 75% back the idea
• Revealed: the Harrogate areas set for new council tax charge
• Just 3.5% responded to Harrogate town council consultation

However, Cllr Harrison added he understood it would be “an anomaly” to leave an unparished area in a county full of parish areas.

He said:

“I do acknowledge that there is an aspiration for double devolution with the new unitary council which clearly you could not achieve without a town or parish council for Harrogate.”

The consultation is set to be held instead of a local referendum, which the county council said was not “legally possible” after a request from Harrogate Borough Council.

The county council added it could not “fetter its discretion” to hold a referendum and that a further survey of residents may elicit a similar outcome.

Cllr Harrison told senior councillors that it was “vital” that every household was written to as part of the consultation in the absence of a referendum.

The Conservative Party has picked its candidate for the upcoming North Yorkshire County Council by-election for the Masham and Fountains division.

The by-election follows the death of long-serving Conservative councillor Margaret Atkinson in November.

Last month the Stray Ferret revealed Felicity Cunliffe-Lister will stand for the Liberal Democrats.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service now understands Brooke Hull will be the candidate for the Conservatives.

The candidates have not been officially confirmed yet as nominations close on January 13. Voters in the division, which includes the villages of Kirkby Malzeard, will go to the polls on February 9.

The winning councillor will sit on the new North Yorkshire Council from April 1 and the result will be significant for the balance of power in Northallerton.

The Conservatives currently control the council with 47 councillors, giving them a majority of four. A Liberal Democrat victory would reduce the Tories’ majority to just two.

Read more:

• Kirkby Malzeard councillor Margaret Atkinson dies
• Swinton estate owner to stand against Tories in key Masham by-election

Ms Hull is campaign manager for the Skipton and Ripon Conservative Party and is the wife of Conservative councillor for Washburn and Birstwith division, Nathan Hull. They have five children together and live in Burnt Yates.

Ms Cunliffe-Lister, a former lawyer, is the owner of Swinton Estate.

When the seat was last contested in May 2022, Cllr Atkinson was elected with 1,076 votes.

Ms Cunliffe-Lister stood as an independent and came second with 738 votes. Liberal Democrat candidate Judith Hooper was third with 620 votes.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked both the Skipton and Ripon Labour Party and the Green Party if they will be nominating candidates but we did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The new North Yorkshire Council is set to face a £30 million shortfall in its first year, despite increased funding from government.

Michael Gove, Levelling Up Secretary, unveiled £60 billion worth of funding for councils across the UK on Monday — a 9% increase on last year.

The council is set to receive an additional £22 million from government as part of the announcement.

However, soaring inflation and the impact of the covid pandemic is still set to leave a blackhole in the authority’s finances.

A council press release said the shortfall would be met “by the one-off use of reserves as well as some savings”.

Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of the council, said:

“We are faced with the biggest financial pressures which I have witnessed in all of the time I have been a member of the county council since I was elected more than 20 years ago.

“While the extra funding from the government is extremely welcome, it will still not be enough to alleviate the extraordinary challenges which we do need to tackle in the coming financial year.

“The pressure on budgets will be felt across all of the directorates which provide key services for the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in North Yorkshire.

“However, we are committed to ensuring that we can continue to provide the best possible services to the public in the face of these immense financial challenges.”

Read more:

• Harrogate set to get town council after 75% back the idea
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The new council, which comes into force on April 1, is set to inherit £18 million in deficits from the seven district authorities which will be abolished, including Harrogate Borough Council.

However, increased costs from inflation and growing demand on council services such as adult social care is expected to add an additional £50 million.

Authority officials estimated that, once government funding, council tax and savings are factored in, the council will have a shortfall of around £30 million.

In order to plug that gap, it is expected that the council will have to dip into its reserves and find savings from streamlined services.

A budget for the upcoming North Yorkshire Council is expected to be set in February.

A senior county councillor has backed giving greater powers to North Yorkshire Council area constituency committees.

Currently, county councillors in parliamentary constituency areas such as Harrogate and Knaresborough meet every two months to discuss and debate issues from education and transport to housing and the environment.

These area constituency committees can propose motions and make recommendations to the council’s executive, but in practice, the bodies have little power.

The impending abolition of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire will concentrate decision-making into the hands of the new unitary authority in Northallerton, which has led to concerns that local councillors will find it harder to influence decisions affecting their areas.

However, Conservative councillor for Mid-Craven, Simon Myers, who also has responsibility for planning on the council’s executive, said he supports area committees “taking some of the burden” off North Yorkshire Council.

He said:

“I was involved with running Craven District Council for many years and I know how many decisions we took.

“The idea that the executive can take all those decisions from Bentham to Scarborough is to me, too much work. I can see using area committees to take some of that burden as a valid thing to do.”

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At a meeting of the Skipton and Ripon’s area committee last week, Andy Brown, Green Party councillor for Aire Valley, said local government reorganisation presented an opportunity for area constituency committees to become “more than talking shops”.

Cllr Brown said:

“We have to decide whether the area committees are with people with a vision for the area and are thirsty with ideas, or do we want to lobby the MP and listen to a few reports?

“We’d like to be hearing officers on important issues like economic development, we’d like powers on things like planning. We’d like to send a message to the executive that local area committees need to be significant.”

Last week, North Yorkshire County Council announced the new authority will create six new planning committees to oversee decisions across parliamentary constituency areas to run alongside the current area committees.

A consultation over a planned £540 million devolution deal for North Yorkshire is set to end today.

In August, county council leaders agreed a proposed deal with ministers to devolve more powers, including an elected mayor, to North Yorkshire and York.

The deal would see £18 million-worth of funding each year devolved to the county over 30 years and pave the way for a mayor and combined authority in 2024.

A consultation was launched in October to seek views from the public, businesses and charity organisations.

The survey will close today.

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

“We really need the public to come forward and give us their views on what is important to them and how devolution can benefit communities and businesses across York and North Yorkshire.

“The chance to secure these decision-making powers and millions of pounds in funding from the government is set to prove a life-changing opportunity for more than 800,000 people who live and work in York and North Yorkshire.

“Devolution will give local leaders the chance to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing people in York and North Yorkshire – whether that be providing more affordable housing, improving skills and education for better job opportunities, boosting transport infrastructure or tackling the climate crisis.”

You can have your say on the deal here.

What is in the deal?

As part of the devolution deal, a mayoral combined authority would be formed with a directly-elected mayor by May 2024.

It would mirror similar arrangements in the Tees Valley, where Conservative mayor Ben Houchen oversees the combined authority.

While the planned North Yorkshire deal brings £540 million worth of investment funding, it is lower than the original £750 million requested by local leaders.

Read More:

• Have devolution fears that Harrogate will be voiceless come true?
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However, more power over skills and transport will be devolved.

It will see whoever is elected mayor and the new combined authority have control over the adult education budget and the ability to draw up its own transport strategy.

Control over bus franchising has also been granted to the county and the power to set up Mayoral Development Corporations, which have the power to buy land for housing or employment to regenerate a defined area.

Councillors have backed a package worth £101,274 for outgoing Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson.

The five councillors on the authority’s chief officer’s employment committee, which includes four Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat, met yesterday to discuss a report written by HBC’s head of legal & governance Jennifer Norton.

The report recommends Mr Sampson is paid a settlement due to the impending abolition of HBC.

HBC will cease to exist along with six other district councils and North Yorkshire County Council from April 1, 2023. A new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council will replace them to run services across the county.

Mr Sampson’s settlement is made up of a contractual £71,633 redundancy payment and £29,641 for a 12 week notice period that he will not have to work as his job will end on March 31. 

He is paid a salary of £118,447.

After HBC is abolished, his employment would automatically transfer to North Yorkshire Council. 

However, the report says because the new council is “likely to refuse to recognise” Mr Sampson as an employee he would be “effectively stranded” and it could lead to an unfair dismissal claim.

Read more:

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A redundancy package offered now would therefore reduce the “risk of the risk of costly legal proceedings that will be picked up by the public purse”.

Ms Norton summarised the report and described the settlement as a “practical and pragmatic” solution.

Conservative deputy council leader Graham Swift chaired the meeting in place of council leader Richard Cooper, who was absent.

Cllr Swift said HBC had been “disciplined” in preparing the settlement for Mr Sampson.

Hambleton District Council has faced criticism after offering a £225,000 pay-off for outgoing chief executive Justin Ives.

Cllr Swift praised Mr Sampson for his commitment to the role as staff prepare to move to the new council.

He said:

“We’re fortunate that we have a chief executive that is not just hanging around but ensuring employees are protected into the new organisation, that’s very important for staff to see leadership taking place.

“My experience is the chief executive role is one that nobody wants to do but everyone thinks they can do it better. As Wallace steps down we’re in great shape. At full council we’ll express our sincere thanks for his commitment.”

A full meeting of the council will take next Wednesday where councillors will have a final vote on Mr Sampson’s redundancy package.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Pat Marsh, said she will be asking her colleagues to approve the package next week.

Cllr Marsh said:

“Looking at what some other district and borough councils are proposing for their chief executives, I welcome what is being recommended.

“I will be urging my group to support the package being offered to Wallace Sampson.”

Current North Yorkshire County Council chief executive Richard Flinton has already been announced as the chief executive of North Yorkshire Council.

He will earn a salary of up to £197,000 a year with responsibility for an annual budget of £1.4 billion and a workforce of 10,500 staff.

Every month the Stray Ferret tries to find out what our local MPs have been up to in their constituencies and in the House of Commons.

In November, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his autumn statement, which included scrapping planned investment zones in the Harrogate district and across the country.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours were also revealed, which is set to include district MP Nigel Adams.

We asked our three Conservative MPs, Harrogate & Knaresborough’s Andrew Jones, Skipton and Ripon’s Julian Smith, and Selby and Ainsty’s Nigel Adams if they would like to highlight anything in particular that they have been doing this month, but, as usual, we did not receive a response from any of them.

Here is what we know after analysing their online presence.

Andrew Jones, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP.

In Harrogate and Knaresborough, here is what we found out on Mr Jones:

• On November 10, Andrew Jones debated the possibility of the River Nidd at Knaresborough achieving bathing water status in the House of Commons.
• Mr Jones called for a debate on green building regulations in the House of Commons to be “sped up”.
• Mr Jones asked for reassurance from ministers on November 15 that park home residents would get support for energy bills amid concern over rising prices.
• In response to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement on November 17, Mr Jones said he felt Mr Hunt had made some “difficult decisions but right ones”.
• In response to new IPSA guidance over expenses for festive decorations, Mr Jones said he has “never used parliamentary expenses to pay for festive decorations or parties and I never will”.
• On November 28, Mr Jones asked whether ministers would focus education funding on “creating estates to deliver the skills needed in the growth sectors of the future” after Harrogate College announced a £16 million estates scheme.

Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.

In Skipton and Ripon, here is what we found on Mr Smith:

• Mr Smith made three spoken contributions in the House of Commons in November on matters relating to Northern Ireland.
• On November 8, Mr Smith tweeted that he was pleased that Ripon Museums had secured a grant from Arts Council England.
• Mr Smith commemorated Armistice Day by placing a tribute on behalf of Skipton and Ripon in parliament’s garden of remembrance.
• Mr Smith also laid a wreath on Remembrance Sunday in Ripon as part of commemorations on November 13.
• The Ripon MP paid tribute to local constituency Cllr Margaret Atkinson on November 14, who died suddenly. He said she had “a passion, focus & dedication to public service which she pursued for many decade”.
• Mr Smith made no public comment on Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement, but he retweeted the Treasury Twitter account announcing measures included in the statement.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty which includes rural Harrogate.

In rural south Harrogate, here is what we found on Mr Adams:

• On November 8, it was revealed by The Times newspaper that Nigel Adams is in line for a peerage in former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours.
• On November 23, Mr Adams asked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for more support for bus services as he warned that 80 services across the county were at under threat.
• Mr Adams spoke only once in the House of Commons in November, which was to ask the Prime Minister for support on buses in North Yorkshire.
• He made no public comment on Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement.

Read more:

• Harrogate district MP Nigel Adams to step down at next election
• Harrogate district MP in line for peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours

A lack of Harrogate Borough Council business has led to nearly half of meetings being cancelled this past month.

The authority will be abolished in four months time and replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

The cancellation of so many meetings raises questions over how effective the council will be in its final days.

It had been due to hold 13 meetings in November — not including informal meetings — which included senior cabinet member meetings and a planning committee.

However, five of those meetings were cancelled. Last week the council did not hold a single meeting.

Just three public meetings were streamed live onto the council’s YouTube in November.

This included a cabinet meeting, where senior councillors made a key decision over the progress of three strategic housing sites.

Read more:

• What now for Harrogate Convention Centre after investment zones dropped?
• Calls for council to go ‘further and faster’ on climate change in North Yorkshire
• Former Harrogate councillor made Honorary Alderman for North Yorkshire

The Stray Ferret asked the borough council why so many meetings had been cancelled and why so few meetings had been streamed for the public to watch.

A council spokesperson said:

“Provisional dates for meetings are added to the calendar at the start of the municipal year. 

“Should these not be required, as there are no items to bring to said meeting, then they are cancelled.”

The authority is due to hold 12 meetings in December—- one of which has already been cancelled.