Government Set to Be Asked to Back Metro Mayor Plan for North Yorkshire and York

North Yorkshire County Council's Executive are set to back the plan and call on the government to "forge ahead" with the idea.

Senior councillors in North Yorkshire are set to give their backing to the proposal to create a combined Mayoral Authority for North Yorkshire and York.

The combined authority is set to be overseen by an influential metro mayor elected under the proposed devolution deal, co-ordinating key strategic projects ranging from major transport improvements and boosting skills and education to providing more affordable housing in York and North Yorkshire.

The council says that "widespread support from leading organisations and the public has been gathered" as it prepares to ask the Government  to "forge ahead with plans to bring a host of benefits including new jobs, more affordable housing and measures to tackle climate change to North Yorkshire".

Hundreds of residents, businesses and charity and voluntary organisations took part in the biggest public consultation ever undertaken by councils in North Yorkshire to collect the public’s views on a proposed devolution deal.

The eight-week consultation was launched on October 21 and ran until December 16 last year, and views were gathered through face-to-face engagement events, an online survey and via letters and emails.

A total of 1,943 people completed the survey in full for the devolution element of the public consultations, expressing views on a range of topics including housing, transport, skills and employment and climate change. The council says the response rate is "understood to have compared favourably to other devolution engagement campaigns with the public elsewhere in the country."

A total of 54 per cent of respondents online either strongly supported or supported the proposed governance of the mayoral combined authority, while 32 per cent were opposed or strongly opposed with the remainder not expressing a view or stating they did not know.

Leader of the opposition Independents group on the authority, Councillor Stuart Parsons, said:

“I find it astounding that the council believes the support for its devolution proposals is widespread. I would have thought if they had got 60 to 70 per cent support they could claim that is widespread, but at the moment it sounds like it is thinly spread.”

Members of the county council’s executive will meet on Tuesday next week (February 14) to discuss a report outlining the consultation results. If they approve the report, it will be discussed at a full council meeting later this month before a decision is made to send the results to the Government.

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

“The prospect of a devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire is a huge opportunity that will bring benefits to hundreds of thousands of people that will be felt for generations to come.

“We have the opportunity to take a greater control of our futures, with greater prosperity through new jobs and better skills and education and the chance to tackle long-standing issues such as a lack of affordable housing and the growing threat of climate change.

“To have so many people taking part in the public engagement is very welcome, as it shows the interest that is there on the proposed devolution deal. The responses will be carefully considered by the county council before a decision is taken to submit the results of the engagement to the Government.”

However, concerns were expressed by some members of the public about ensuring the mayoral combined authority remains democratically accountable to the electorate, especially as it will serve such a vast area across England’s largest county. Other respondents voiced reservations that a top tier of local government was being introduced with the combined authority over-arching both the new North Yorkshire Council and the existing City of York Council.

But Cllr Les, who will assume the leadership of North Yorkshire Council from April 1, said:

“The mayor is due to be elected by residents of York and North Yorkshire so they would be directly accountable to the electorate at the ballot box. Beyond that, their activities will be scrutinised by an overview and scrutiny committee.

“As devolution has progressed in other parts of Yorkshire - there are deals already in place in West and South Yorkshire - we do not want York and North Yorkshire to be left behind. The mayoral combined authority will work closely with both the new North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council to listen and ensure the views and priorities of communities and businesses across the whole area are represented.”

The full results of the public engagement on the proposed devolution deal can be found at www.edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk/documents/s16623/Appendix%201%20-%20Consultation%20Outputs%20Report.pdf