East Riding Council’s leader has said he is “frustrated” government ministers have not yet progressed devolution proposals but denied secret talks as a row erupted over Hull merger “rumours”.
Cllr Richard Burton told members at East Riding Council’s full meeting on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic had hampered progress on proposals for an East Yorkshire devolution deal.
The leader of the ruling Conservative group added the council was committed to a full consultation on the proposals floated for the new authority led by a directly elected mayor.
But a row erupted over the implications of the deal with Hull City Council and over an opposition motion alleging rumours of a merger between the authorities.
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Cllr David Nolan said he tabled the motion to highlight concerns that the authority would lack clout and raised questions over where it left existing councils.
Councillors passed an amended motion from the Conservatives stating the authority would never alter its boundaries with Hull without consulting residents.
But it passed after Cllr Nolan was muted for procedural reasons, leading to claims of an “affront to democracy” from the opposition and of spreading false rumours from the Conservatives.
It comes as Local Government Minister Luke Hall said this week further talks on the proposals would not take place until after local elections in May.
Councillors heard proposals from the East Riding and Hull would see a new authority with responsibilities for the economy, infrastructure, transport and flooding, backed by around £1.1bn in yearly funding.
Cllr Burton said the proposals would “put more power in people’s hands”.
The leader said:
“This deal would bring substantial new funding into the area and the government is committed to devolution across Yorkshire.“The majority of services will still be delivered by the two existing councils.
“It would put us further up the queue and increase our standing nationally and internationally, it’s about providing the region with the power to deliver for communities.
“It’s really important that residents, businesses and communities understand that this is just the start to negotiations, there are no secret negotiations and I’m as frustrated as anyone else that we’ve not received a reply to our submission.
“It will not mean having just one local authority or returning to Humberside County Council, there should be no more misinformation and we need to wait and see what we hear back from government.”
Cllr Nolan said speculation over a merger sprung from news both about the proposals and about the creation of a new Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The opposition leader said:
“There are concerns about what role the two existing councils will have going forward and if this will lead to them being shorn of their responsibilities.
“The new authority would cover a population of 600,000, West Yorkshire which has secured a devolution deal has a population of around 2.4 million.
“The question will remain what role will they have going forward given major decisions will be taken by mayors and the LEP.”
Cllr Nolan also denied he was being political by approaching town and parish councils for an opposition survey on the plans.
He was later muted for referring to devolution in the motion which solely referred to the merger rumours, causing an exchange which led to the meeting being briefly adjourned.
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