Fears Devolution Will Fail Over 'York-Centric' Decisions

North Yorkshire councillors have warned that devolution in the region will fail if decisions remain 'York-centric' following a bitter dispute over road repair funding.

Devolution in York and North Yorkshire will fail if further decisions are taken that are York-centric, councillors have warned, as a row over road repair funding intensified.

Members of North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee have branded a decision by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to reallocate funding from the Department for Transport as an attack on rural North Yorkshire.

While Mayor David Skaith, who leads the combined authority, says the council will receive a record-breaking £268 million over the next four years to fix roads, councillors say the authority will actually receive around £20 million less over the four years due to the mayor’s changes than it would if the money came directly from the government.

Senior councillors point out that a new calculation devised by the mayor would mean £4 million is redirected from North Yorkshire Council to City of York Council.

Around £30 million is being set aside to use for repairs to the major roads network, with another funding pot being allocated for minor improvements such as dropped kerbs and new crossings.

North Yorkshire Council's executive member for culture, arts and housing, Councillor Simon Myers, said:

"I think what is concerning about this is that the combined authority in which North Yorkshire, with three-quarters of the residents, has the same votes as York, will work, providing people are decent, and the mayor, I would have thought, elected as he is to represent both York and North Yorkshire, should be an honest broker.

If we develop a situation where the mayor and the two York councillors on the combined authority are York centric, then this arrangement cannot work. And I'm afraid this is the first indication of it failing to work."

The transport funding decision was approved by the board of the York and North Yorkshire Combine Authority by 3 votes to 2, with the Mayor and the two York Councillors backing the plan and the two North Yorkshire Councillors voting against.

Councillor Simon Myers is worried that the balance of the votes doesn't represent the make up of the region with roughly three quarters of the population in North Yorkshire and a quarter in York.:

"I'm afraid this is the first indication of it failing to work.

A decision is taken that is York-biased using a majority that in any democratic world they wouldn't have. So, they have to exercise that very cautiously, because otherwise this arrangement will not work, and and we are left representing the by far the larger chunk of the combined authority and its residents being stymied by York interests. So, that must not happen. The mayor must avoid it. The mayor must talk to North Yorkshire and find a way through this."

North Yorkshire Council Leader, Councillor Carl Les, said:

"It's a source of personal frustration for me and disappointment that in all the planning that we put into developing the combined authority, the overarching principle was always the councils and the mayor would work together in consensus.

And this is the first time we've had this falling apart and consensus clearly is just being pushed to one side and I regret that."

North Yorkshire Council deputy leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd, told the meeting that he was subject to gagging by the Mayor of York when the Combined Authority discussed the issue last month. Councillor Gareth Dadd said:

"I call him the Mayor of York because his actions seem to be the Mayor of York rather than the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire. Frankly, I’ve never seen anything so disgraceful. It’s an attack on rural North Yorkshire by a York mayor."

Executive member for open to business, Councillor Mark Crane, said:

"What he’s doing is frankly outrageous and he needs to be told. It’s just simply not acceptable to take money from North Yorkshire and give it to York. There is a clear formula set out by the Department for Transport. He’s written roughshod over the rule book and he’s costing this county millions of pounds."

The executive committee agreed to ask the full council to urge the mayor to reconsider the allocations when it meets later this month.

In response, Labour Mayor David Skaith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that North Yorkshire Conservatives had let the region down. Mayor David Skaith said:

"If they’d put as much effort into fighting the actual cuts to highways funding imposed by their government as they do into criticising the biggest investment they’ve ever had to fix our roads, maybe the state of those roads would be in a better place. This funding package is not about me or them; it’s about residents who are sick of broken roads and being ignored when they ask for them to be made safer. This is record investment into fixing our roads and making them safer for everyone who uses them, that’s the reality, however it’s spun."

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