The deputy chair of the new North Yorkshire Council has said that the authority “has to stay local” if it is to succeed.
Cllr Roberta Swiers, who has been appointed the deputy chair of the new North Yorkshire Council, has said that councillors
“need to keep Scarborough way up top and get all the money and funding that we possibly can for the area”.
The Conservative councillor represents Cayton and was appointed deputy chair of the new authority in February.
On April 1, North Yorkshire Council replaced the county’s seven borough and district councils with the aim of all local services being provided by one authority.
However, many members of the now-defunct Scarborough Council raised concerns that the new authority, which is headquartered in Northallerton, may not give coastal areas the same attention and funding as it had before.
Steve Siddons, the last leader of Scarborough Borough Council, said that one of the biggest issues facing the borough as part of the local government shake-up was likely to be gaining adequate funding.
It has been estimated that there will be a shortfall of more than £30 million in the new council’s revenue budget for the next financial year.
The deputy chair of the authority and councillor representing Cayton in Scarborough said that her biggest concern for the new council is
“will it stay local or will it be miles away”.
The new council has said it will retain a main office in each former district area, supported by additional customer access points in the places people go, such as libraries.
Cllr Swiers said:
“I want it to stay local and it has to stay local. People need to know that somebody is looking out for them… and I think people want to see local decisions made by local people.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she said that she felt positive about councillors from Scarborough promoting local initiatives and added that as deputy chair she was “in a better position” to make debates fair and varied.
She also highlighted the need to include villages and towns in decision-making.
“Such a lot of the villages are sometimes forgotten in all the funding decisions and it is a shame because they do such a lot for their residents,” said Cllr Swiers.
The deputy chair of the council added:
“I want to work hard to promote these areas because we struggle to get doctors and nurses and I want people to see what a lovely area we live in.”
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