A LOCAL authority has approved the submission to Government of the devolution proposal for North Yorkshire and York, more than 15 months after the area’s eight other councils.

Leaders of Hambleton District Council said agreeing to support the submission would authorise the authority to enter into discussions about the powers of the combined authority and elected mayor set to govern North Yorkshire and York from 2024.

While the Government had stipulated a key requirement of any devolution deal for the area was the two-tier councils system be replaced by a single unitary authority, Hambleton also stood alone in refusing to support a local government reorganisation proposal for the area, saying the status quo benefited its residents.

Hambleton’s decision to approve the submission also comes more than two months after the Government published its Levelling Up the United Kingdom white paper, which includes details of a new devolution framework for England.

In December 2020, all the councils except Hambleton submitted a list of devolution requests to Government, which included £2.4bn worth of spending.

A separate funding pot worth £750million over 25 years was also included, as well as powers over areas such as transport and economic development.

In February, the leaders of the county and York councils welcomed the Government’s commitment for levelling up and devolution and have since begun talks with ministers about potential powers for the combined authority.

 

Following negotiations with the councils, the Government will respond with a formal offer to the local authorities for a devolution deal, which it is hoped will unlock significant, long-term, investment for the region, driving growth and contributing to a stronger economy.

Each authority will then formally consider whether it wishes to accept

the offer. If all authorities reach a consensus, the councils will carry out a consultation with residents and launch the statutory process for creating

a combined authority with an elected mayor.

Devolution supporters believe it has the potential to bring improvements to areas such as public transport, infrastructure such as roads, support for businesses and education.

Councillor Mark Robson, Hambleton council’s leader, told a meeting of its cabinet the authority had decided not to pursue authorising taking part in the devolution talks “until we got a copy of the white paper to get a better understanding of what the asks may or may not be going forward”.

He said: “We have always supported the principle of it. However, we needed to understand what the asks were going to be. At the time we were told that this would not involve reorganisation, but then it would, etcetera etcetera and it went on.

“So that’s the reason the decision was taken then, but because things have moved on to where we are today we need to bring the paper back to get formal approval so that we can be represented, along with the other districts, and the county, to look at moving this forward.”