North Yorkshire Council Drops Legal Action Over £20m Road Funding Dispute

North Yorkshire Council has decided not to proceed with a judicial review against York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith over the reallocation of transport funding.

North Yorkshire Council has formally withdrawn its threat of legal action against the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority over a contentious £20 million road funding dispute.

The local authority had previously initiated legal proceedings and was actively seeking a judicial review after York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith altered the highway maintenance allocation split between North Yorkshire Council and the City of York Council.

The revised funding ratio of 90:10 represented a significant shift from the previous 92.7:7.3 split. North Yorkshire Council leaders claimed the move would cost the county £20 million in road repair funding over the four-year period from 2026 to 2030, with £4 million diverted directly to York.

The council's assistant chief executive, Barry Khan, had previously sent a letter before action arguing that the budget decision required unanimous agreement rather than a majority vote. Mayor Skaith had responded by describing the legal challenge as a political stunt that could waste taxpayer money and pause record investment in the region's transport network.

However, the council has now decided to drop the judicial review process following last-minute talks.

North Yorkshire Council Leader, Councillor Carl Les, explained the reasoning behind the decision to halt the legal action. He said:

"It took some time to arrange such a meeting, eventually it was online. It was the day before our deadline for a judicial review. I did actually decline one day that was offered the day after the deadline for the JR. It was clear that he would hold his line about proportions, improvements and the Mayor's pothole fund. It was also clear to me that this is actually his privilege and this privileged position is only going to grow in time. As such, I saw little point in spending money on a JR process."

Despite the disagreement over the funding reallocation, which saw around £30 million set aside for major road network repairs and another pot allocated for minor improvements such as dropped kerbs, the council is now looking to collaborate with the combined authority.

Councillor Carl Les outlined the next steps for the two authorities. He said:

"In a spirit of wanting to work together rather than against each other, we have agreed that our officer teams will meet to discuss the local transport plan to see if we can come up with with with more common ground before the decision taking time in October. But I can say that if the mayor uses his privileged position to disadvantage the residents of North Yorkshire in our view, then we reserve the right to call it out at that time."

The initial reallocation of funds had sparked outrage among North Yorkshire Council's executive committee members, who had branded the move an attack on rural North Yorkshire and described it as frankly outrageous and disgraceful.

Deputy Leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd, had previously criticised the politicisation of the Mayor's maintenance fund, questioning the mayor's highway skills compared to professional officers. He argued that the allocation of funds should be an objective exercise and stated he had never seen anything so disgraceful.

The shift in funding comes at a time when the county's roads have suffered significant deterioration due to severe weather exposure, altitude, and heavy traffic. According to the council, over 2,200 potholes have been fixed in the last eighteen months.

Executive Member for Highways, Councillor Malcolm Taylor, had previously highlighted the impact the reduction in capital funding would have on local communities after a gruelling, wet winter. He stated that potholes are merely the symptoms and that the council wanted capital funding to fix the roads properly rather than a specific pothole fund from the mayor.

In response to the previous criticisms, Labour Mayor David Skaith had stated that the funding package was about residents who are sick of broken roads, adding that it represented a record investment into fixing the transport network. He had also suggested that North Yorkshire Conservatives had let the region down, arguing they should have put as much effort into fighting previous government cuts to highways funding as they did into criticising the new budget plan.

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