Campaigners believe it is extremely unlikely a local authority being established to shape and run North Yorkshire’s public services in the 21st century will reflect its population as less than a third of those running to represent communities are women.

An analysis of the 310 candidates running to serve a five-year term on North Yorkshire Council from next month has found just 90 are women.

All the main parties contesting the election are fielding significantly fewer women candidates than men, a situation which is also replicated by the independent candidates as a group.

Of its 90 candidates the Conservatives are fielding 20 women. The Liberal Democrats have 13 female candidates out of 48, while the Green Party has 18 women out of 50 candidates. The Labour Party has selected 19 women out of the 67 candidates it has put forward.

In some areas of the county the gender imbalance is more pronounced than others. Of the 33 candidates in the Craven area just six, or 18%, are women.

While the gender imbalance of the candidates roughly reflects the 26% of female councillors currently elected to North Yorkshire County Council, some other nearby local authorities have significantly higher proportions of women. More than 50% of Leeds City councillors are women.

Frances Scott, founder of the 50:50 Parliament, a group dedicated to enabling women to progress in politics, said with a low proportion of female candidates across all the parties for the North Yorkshire poll “it seems well nigh on impossible that the elected body will be truly reflective of the population”.

She said society needed to question why people from a group of half of North Yorkshire’s population were unable or not choosing to participate in the election.

She said:

“It’s partly about the selection committees not choosing women. We tend to choose in our own image and what we have seen before as the image of a politician. All these things are changing, but not quickly enough.”

Ms Scott added while some women were not prepared to put up with “having stones thrown”, legislation was needed to enable parents to support each other. She said: “If we are going to engage the brightest and the best to run the country we need to make sure the institutions are ones that will attract the brightest and best.

“In order to succeed in politics you need to have the support of your family and we need men to be supportive of women going into these roles.”

Many party officials privately admit changing what has traditionally been seen as a “boys’ club” at County Hall could take years as it would mean changing voters’ perception of the type of person that would be a suitable community representative.

However, all political groups said the main reason for a low proportion of female candidates in the election was a lack of women coming forward.

A spokesman for the Conservative Whitby and Scarborough group said its selection policy was “absolutely gender neutral” and out of the women who had come forward to be candidates in its area only one had not been selected.

He said:

“We can only put forward female candidates if female candidates apply.”

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said the Richmond constituency party had noted women were facing more practical and emotional barriers to becoming councillors than men, with many already juggling family and work commitments.

A Labour Party spokesman for the area added the gender imbalance was partly being perpetuated because established councillors, most of whom are men, were more likely to be selected due to their experience. He said the party was in favour of policies which boosted candidates from under-represented groups.

A Richmond constituency Green Party spokeswoman added:

“We have a policy of pushing women forward, but as a small party it’s more a matter of finding who is willing to stand.”

A councillor has compared Harrogate Borough Council‘s headquarters at Knapping Mount to the abandoned ghost ship the Mary Celeste, due to the number of staff still working from home.

The multi-million-pound Civic Centre opened in 2017 and can accommodate up to 500 council workers. However, the council is still encouraging many staff to work from home despite lockdown restrictions being removed.

Nick Brown, the Conservative councillor for Bishop Monkton and Newby, told the Stray Ferret yesterday that he was unsatisfied with the response of Conservative council leader Richard Cooper to a question he asked at a council meeting last week.

Cllr Cooper said decisions about working practices should be made by senior officers rather than councillors.

Cllr Brown told the Stray Ferret:

“We councillors agreed to spend £13m on a new Civic Centre, opened in 2017, for officers to work in. Yet the leader now tells us that it is not members’ business to require council officers to work there.

“Prior to the covid pandemic, the Civic Centre was a busy place where I as a councillor could find the officers that I wished to speak to. Now it is like the Mary Celeste!”.

Cllr Brown believes ending the work from home policy would “benefit the local economy”.

He added:

“Our Conservative Prime Minister has given a clear message to end working from home in the public sector, in order to boost the economy.

“As a Conservative-led council, I believe we should get officers back at their desks and using the Civic Centre.”

Read more:

• Harrogate council still expecting staff to work from home
• Harrogate council staff still working from home – despite change of guidance

The public sector workers union Unison said it “broadly supports” the council’s decision to allow staff to work from home.

David Houlgate, branch secretary for the Harrogate district, told the Stray Ferret council staff proved during the pandemic they can work from home effectively.

He added:

“We believe the government’s Living with Covid strategy to scrap all remaining covid rules in England was reckless.

“So we broadly support this cautious approach taken by Harrogate Borough Council about returning to the Civic Centre at this time.

“Staff have demonstrated over a two-year period that they can deliver vital public services whether or not they are in the office or working from home.

“We’re confident that that can continue, though poor pay does present an ever increasing risk.”

‘Agile working’

The Stray Ferret has asked the council for the number of staff currently working from home who would normally be in the Civic Centre.

A council spokesperson said:

“Following the updated guidance in relation to the end of Plan B measures, staff are permitted to work from the office should they wish to or are required to do so.

“The number of staff using said office(s) differs day-by-day so it would be difficult to provide a comprehensive figure. Staff also come and go from the office depending on their job role; housing and planning officers for example.

“And while covid has seen a significant increase in staff working from home – and rightly so – many staff were already doing so. The civic centre was designed in such a way that staff could hybrid work or ‘hot desk’ if they so wished.

“Agile working is something adopted by many local authorities and companies long before covid and is one of the many benefits of working for Harrogate Borough Council.”

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed that an investigation into missing Porsche sports cars at a former Knaresborough dealership Gmund Cars is still ongoing.

The police launched its investigation in the summer of 2019 after allegations from customers that Gmund transferred ownership of more than £1 million worth of cars without their permission.

In July 2019, North Yorkshire Police arrested a man in his fifties but no charges have been brought currently.

No further arrests have been made since the investigation began.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said last week:

“The investigation is ongoing and as such we cannot provide any further statement.”

Frustration

One customer of Gmund, who asked not to be named, told the Stray Ferret last week that they are “very frustrated” with the pace of the investigation.

The customer bought a car from Gmund but said they have been told by the police they are not able to sell or modify it until the investigation is complete.

They said:

Read more:

• How Harrogate Borough Council responded to a complaint around Cllr Mearns and Gmund Cars
• Exclusive: Harrogate MP aide and councillor at centre of £1 million Porsche investigation
• Harrogate MP refuses to answer Porsche investigation questions

History

The company started in 2006 and built up a strong reputation as a place that bought and sold classic Porsche cars.

In 2020, six alleged victims told the Stray Ferret spoke to about their experiences with the firm.

The company, which was based at the Nidd Valley Business Park, has now been dissolved and its owner Andrew Mearns was declared bankrupt.

His wife, the former Conservative councillor for Knaresborough Scriven Park, Samantha Mearns, was company secretary until December 2018.

Ms Mearns told the Stray Ferret in 2020 she was never interviewed by police in relation to the allegations.

In July 2021, she resigned from the council and moved to Wales citing family reasons.

Local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire is “blatant gerrymandering” by the Tory government and will create Europe’s least democratic local authority, it has been claimed.

Some elected members serving on the county’s seven district and borough councils say it has become increasingly apparent the forthcoming North Yorkshire Council was being introduced by the government to consolidate power in the hands of the Conservative Party from April 2023.

While North Yorkshire’s 225 district and borough councillors represent the same residents as the 72 county councillors, the Conservative Party has 74% of county seats but just 51% of elected members on the district and borough councils.

The district and borough councils feature almost 29% of Independent and Green councillors, but less than 17% on the county council. Labour and Liberal Democrat groups on the county council have less than half the share of seats they have on district and borough authorities.

Although opposition councillors have alleged the new authority’s 89 divisions, many of which resemble the existing county council divisions, have been designed to favour the Conservatives, senior Tories leading the changes have dismissed suggestions the division boundaries were politically motivated.

The Green Party and Independent councillor for Catterick Leslie Rowe said a study by the District Council’s Network had found creating unitary authorities for counties would in North Yorkshire’s case lead to the least democratic local authority in Europe, with each of the 90 councillors representing around 7,000 people.

He said:

“Compare this to Barking and Dagenham Council, which is also undergoing reorganisation, with each councillor there representing 3,200 people.

“Clearly, the sole justification for this costly local government reorganisation is to consolidate power into the hands of the Conservative Party.”

Read more:

• Energy crisis could mean £796 increase for Harrogate district households
• Harrogate ranked most expensive place in Yorkshire for first-time buyers

County council opposition leader Stuart Parsons said the creation of the new authority was “blatant political gerrymandering” by the government as the smaller neighbouring county of Cumbria was being split into two councils to ensure the Conservatives were in control of at least one local authority there.

He said:

“It’s fairly obvious this is Conservative Party politics and they are hoping they will be able to dominate the new local authority in the same way they have dominated the county council, but have had less success in some of the borough and district councils.

“They don’t like not being in control and get very upset when they lose control of a council. However, it could nicely backfire on them. The public are not over the moon about the Tories at the moment and there’s a great opportunity in May to have as few Tories re-elected as possible.”

However, the authority’s Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Bryn Griffiths said while local government reorganisation was a political move, he believed the changes represented an opportunity for a more politically diverse council covering the county.

He said:

“If candidates listen to their communities and put their community’s views forward I think there is a better chance of a more representative county, but if you haven’t got proportional representation you get stuffed.”

County council leader Councillor Carl Les said claims that the new authority would be Europe’s least democratic were wrong as at least one unitary council, Leeds, had a smaller proportion of councillors to residents.

When asked if the reorganisation had been motivated by politics, Coun Les replied:

“No. It’s a move to make sure we get the benefits of negotiating devolution asks with the government.”