I am very pleased with the news that that the Secretary of State for Local Government has decided to move to a single unitary council for the whole of the administrative county of North Yorkshire. However, I fully understand that some people will be disappointed that Robert Jenrick chose the North Yorkshire option rather than one which would have provided for two unitary councils to cover the area. I fully support the principle of a unitary authority which is the first step towards devolved powers and a regional mayor, something that I have campaigned for since being elected to Parliament.
This has first to be approved by Parliament and then there will be a transitional period. I really hope that we can all work together to make it work because there are some huge changes ahead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the councillors and officers across local government in Thirsk and Malton for all their hard work, especially during the pandemic where everything has been so disrupted and uncertain. I am sure that, once the new system is in place, it will not only improve local services but also save money by making local government in this area more cost effective.
Secretary of State Mr Jenrick said that he had chosen the North Yorkshire option because it met all the criteria required which included improving local government and delivery service across the area; commanded a good deal of local support and had a credible geographical area. He said the second devolution option under consideration was an East-West model with Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby and York in the East and Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate and Richmondshire in the West. However, Mr Jenrick decided that, whilst this option did have good local support, it did not meet all the other criteria and might lead to significant risk of disruption during the transition period. York will remain as it is as a stand alone unitary authority.
It is estimated that the direct financial benefits for the North Yorkshire option are £31.9m per annum with transition costs of £18m. This compares with savings of £32.5m per year for the East-West option with transitional costs of £29.1m.
A wide-ranging consultation process took place over eight weeks with 4,200 responses in total. These came from MPs, local councillors, residents, parish councils, businesses and other public sector providers including the police and fire service and the University of York.
It is expected that the draft structural changes Order will come before Parliament at the end of the year and this will provide for appropriate transitional arrangements including elections in May 2022. The new authority will resume responsibilities on 1st April 2023 when the existing councils will be abolished.
