Ripon councillor Andrew Williams has resigned from the North Yorkshire Independents group after forming a political alliance with the Conservatives.
Cllr Williams, who is also the leader of Ripon City Council, is one of three independents to have joined a new Conservatives and Independents Group.
The Conservatives announced the group on Friday, saying it had been formed “to secure the stable and sustainable governance of North Yorkshire Council” in the wake of the party losing its majority.
The Tories have 45 of 90 seats — precisely half — on North Yorkshire Council following Cllr Mike Jordan’s defection last month.
The new alliance will help them maintain control until the next local elections in 2027.
Cllr Williams was elected to represent Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council in last year’s local elections with 1,453 votes. The Conservative candidate was third with 312 votes.
Cllr Stuart Parsons
He has yet to respond to questions about his decision from the Stray Ferret but Cllr Stuart Parsons, who leads the North Yorkshire Independents group, said Cllr Williams had resigned “very late on Thursday evening”.
He added:
“The new ‘Tory Group’ just shows what the Conservative Party will do to cling on to power.
“With just over 40% of the vote they still believe that they have a god-given right to rule. Their new name also sullies the use of the word ‘Independent’.
“When a city like Ripon, which had previously returned two Tories, sent their message to North Yorkshire Council it was with one Liberal Democrat and one Independent.
“Ripon quite clearly showed that they did not want a Tory and yet now they have one.”
Read more:
- Conservatives lose majority on North Yorkshire Council
- Ripon Independent councillor Andrew Williams joins Tory alliance
The other independents to join the new group are Cllr Caroline Goodrick, who represents Sheriff Hutton and Derwent and Cllr Robert Heseltine.
However, they are among seven unaffiliated independents whereas Cllr Williams was one of nine members of an Independents group.
Cllr Parsons echoed Lib Dem concerns about whether discussions between the Tories and independents involved using council resources for party political purposes.
He said:
Opposition North Yorkshire councillors criticise ‘community networks’ plan“We will be monitoring very closely.”
The leaders of opposition political groups on North Yorkshire County Council have criticised plans to fill the void left by the abolition of seven district councils by launching 30 unelected and unfunded “community networks”.
A series of concerns have been raised ahead of the council’s executive next Tuesday, which will consider establishing community networks to act as the “engine rooms” for social and economic change.
The leaders of the Liberal Democrat, Labour, Green and Independent groups, which collectively secured 59% of the votes at last May’s election, said both they and some members of the ruling Conservative group, which has a two-seat majority, had significant reservations over the move.
A statement issued by the council on Tuesday, said the networks, which it is hoped will include representatives of organisations, such as parish councils, police and the NHS, were being seen as “a hugely important element of the new North Yorkshire Council”, which will be launched on April 1.
It is hoped the networks will build on existing relationships and partnerships between the public, private and community and voluntary sectors, including the close working arrangements that were developed during the covid pandemic.
Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council.
The statement highlighted how the networks would include councillors and receive support from senior council officers, but would be independent of the new authority and be responsible for driving forward action plans centred on a specific area’s priorities.
County council leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:
“While North Yorkshire Council will cover the largest geographical area of any local authority in the country, we are committed to being the most local too.
“The community networks will be invaluable to ensuring that the voices of communities across North Yorkshire are heard, and that local needs and priorities can be addressed.”
‘Don’t seem to make much sense’
Labour group leader Cllr Steve Shaw Wright said while the proposed organisations were “a start”, due to their lack of powers the networks would “end up like talking shops where people come and tub thump” and feature parishes with vastly different budgets and priorities.
He said:
“They don’t seem to make much sense at the moment. My patch is so diverse, trying to get something that works for everybody is going to be difficult.”
Read more:
- Ex-ombudsman criticises North Yorkshire devolution consultation as biased ‘marketing exercise’
- Ripon hopeful of controlling its destiny under new council
Cllr Andy Brown, leader of the Green group, said he did not understand how community networks would help and that there was a risk of confusion between the roles of parish and town councils, the county authority’s area constituency committees and the unitary council and mayoral combined authority.
He said:
“I don’t understand when they were approved or how their geography was determined. My biggest concern is nobody consulted the local councillors about the geography of these networks.
“If you are going to have community networks they have to be communities.”
Independent group leader Cllr Stuart Parsons said the community networks would have “no power to make decisions or determine anything”.
He said:
“How these organisations are supposed to have any impact is beyond me.
“For example, if a Community Network was to make a recommendation to increase bus services the unitary council’s executive could just turn round and say it can’t afford it. There’s nothing for these networks to have any bite.”
Cllr Bryn Griffiths, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said although it was positive that members of communities would be working together to achieve a common goal, there were issues over the networks’ governance, accountability and how they would be financed.
He said:
Bid to set up new taxpayer-funded Yorkshire tourism body branded ‘laughable’“There is potential for these networks to be hijacked by individuals for their own purposes and the role of elected members could be circumvented. I also have concerns they will go their own way and do their own thing.”
Taxpayers in North Yorkshire are set to fund a new tourism organisation in the wake of Welcome to Yorkshire’s demise.
Welcome to Yorkshire entered administration on Tuesday after years of financial and reputational difficulties.
Yorkshire Leaders Board, which represents council leaders and metro mayors, agreed at a private meeting this week there should be a new regional destination marketing organisation funded by local authority grants. A timeline will be agreed in May.
The prospect of local authorities, including North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council, funding another tourism body has prompted concrns.
Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independent group on the Conservative-controlled county council, said:
“North Yorkshire County Council and the district / borough councils have spent vast amounts supporting this organisation with little or no return.
“The idea of setting up another group at this moment is just laughable.”
Welcome to Yorkshire in happier times.
‘Couldn’t organise a tea party’
Cllr Parsons was also critical of the decision by Yorkshire Leaders Board to publish a summary of a tourism report by Merran McRae, a former chief executive of Wakefield and Calderdale councils, rather than the full report. He added:
“We haven’t seen the report and so don’t know just how rotten things were. Also given that the leaders of North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council served on the existing board I’m afraid that I would have no confidence in their ability to organise a tea party let alone a regional agency.
“All previous board members must be prevented from serving on any new organisation as they have failed taxpayers.”
Stuart Parsons
Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, was a Welcome to Yorkshire board member for five years until administration. Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, was a board member from 2016 to 2019.
A Conservative county councillor, who asked not to be named, branded Cllr Les’ five years on the board as a “litany of failure”, adding:
“It fits with other issues showing a lack of judgement — the loss-making Brierley Group companies and the £9m acquisition of the Royal Baths in Harrogate.
“Some of the core services North Yorkshire County Council runs are excellent but when it comes to commercial judgement, it’s a series of disasters.”
Read more:
- Welcome to Yorkshire enters administration
- Harrogate council to continue to fund Welcome to Yorkshire
£85,000 a year from county council
The county council paid annual subscriptions of £85,000 to Welcome to Yorkshire.
Carl Les
Cllr Les said the new tourism body would be smaller than Welcome to Yorkshire and focus on strategic marketing to “get people interested in coming to Yorkshire” and leave specific initiatives to other groups.
He said his anonymous critic “doesn’t actually know an awful lot about what has happened” and added “it was a pity they didn’t challenge me face-to-face”.
Cllr Les added he was unable to discuss Welcome to Yorkshire in detail as it was now being managed by administrators.
£62,100 since 2012 from Harrogate Borough Council
Harrogate Borough Council has paid £62,100 from its holiday tourism marketing budget to Welcome to Yorkshire over the last decade — but hopes to get £12,100 reimbursed.
A spokesman added:
“We recognise the need for an organisation that has a Yorkshire-wide focus to help develop the Yorkshire brand in order to attract visitors to the region.
“This enables us to build on the successes of Destination Harrogate, and the reputation we have as an events destination, to drive both leisure and business visitors to the Harrogate district.”
Welcome to Yorkshire chairman Peter Box said in a statement:
“The past three years have been incredibly difficult for board members and staff as we have endeavoured to deal with well-publicised legacy issues.
“These matters, coupled with the impact of covid and the task of securing sufficient funding from the public and private sectors to place Welcome to Yorkshire on a sound financial footing, have made the situation increasingly challenging.”
“It is my sincere hope that the public sector will recognise the value of a new regional destination management organisation to build on the many achievements of WtY.
Council leader Richard Cooper has not responded to a request for comment by the Stray Ferret.
Richard Cooper
Armstrong Watson LLP has been appointed as joint administrators of Welcome to Yorkshire.
County Councillor Gareth Dadd, North Yorkshire’s deputy leader for finance and assets, said in a statement:
“This is disappointing news, but we now have an opportunity to work with all our partners across Yorkshire to build a new destination marketing company with a new funding model that will help the whole of Yorkshire punch its weight and build on its globally recognised brand.
“North Yorkshire has seen its fair share of benefits from the work of Welcome to Yorkshire in past years in attracting visitors to the county for world class events such as Tour de Yorkshire and our role in the Grand Depart of the Tour de France. And it’s important to say that all loans made to the Welcome to Yorkshire by the county council have been repaid in full with agreed interest.”
It remains to be seen whether the new organisation, which could be run by many of those involved with Welcome to Yorkshire, will avoid the same mistakes.