North Yorkshire should be split to secure devolution says Scarborough Council leader

This week, North Yorkshire’s councils, along with the City of York, sent the government their preferred proposals for Local Government Reorganisation, which will see the two tier structure currently in place scrapped by 2023.

North Yorkshire County Council submitted a bid for one large authority to cover the county, with more powers passed on to town and parish councils.

City of York Council, itself already a unitary, would be left as it is under the proposals.

Six of the county’s seven district councils – Scarborough, Harrogate, Ryedale, Craven, Selby and Richmondshire – have submitted a proposal dubbed the “East & West plan” that would see the county and York split in half to create two authorities of roughly the same population size under one Mayor.

Scarborough, Ryedale, Selby and York would be in one authority with Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Harrogate in the other.

Hambleton Council urged the government to leave things as they were when it considered which proposal to back.

Cllr Steve Siddons, the Labour leader of Scarborough Council said that the East & West proposal would create a balanced system moving forward.

Cllr Siddons said: “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve services and create the best possible future for the area. Through our East & West proposal, we are taking that opportunity to get change right.

“This bid is backed by six out of nine authorities in North Yorkshire and York, is cross-party, and has been built on a foundation of extensive consultation.

"We have developed our proposals through listening to our residents, businesses, community groups, charities and partners, and it has their needs at its heart. A wide range of supporters have backed our model.”