Council leader is accused of being undemocratic over devolution deal

THE LEADER of a North Yorkshire council has been accused of undermining democracy in the way key decisions were taken over the devolution deal to shift powers away from Westminster.

The deal is set to give political leaders in North Yorkshire the opportunity to shape the county’s destiny for issues such as public transport, housing and skills.

However, Harrogate Borough Council’s leader has been challenged over a decision to approve the district’s devolution requests.

Coun Richard Cooper last month held a leader’s meeting to approve the submission of the requests to the Government, with hopes to bring £ 2.4bn of funding to North Yorkshire and York.

However, there were complaints that opposition councillors did not get a chance to question it and the decision was called in for debate at a meeting.

Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Aldred accused the Conservative leader of making the decision “behind closed doors” and pointed towards neighbouring councils which voted to approve the same requests – or “asks” – in different ways.

Coun Aldred said: “Had I not taken the decision to call in this matter for discussion, then these asks and the theory behind them, would automatically become the policy of the council, with in effect only one councillor, the leader, voting for them. That can not be right.”

Coun Cooper hit back at the claims, describing them as a “complete fabrication” of the truth, and said: “You can come to my meetings, the public can come to my meetings, any councillor can come to my meetings.

“We have a scrutiny process which we are in now to call these decisions in.

“We have had briefings. We have had group meetings. There are many, many ways the public can take part, and you can take part.

“To say it was a decision made behind closed doors with no input available to anybody but me is a complete fabrication.”

Coun Aldred said he still had concerns over why Harrogate was in the “minority” of councils in the way it took its decision.

Jennifer Norton, the council’s head of legal and governance, said there were no issues in the way the decision was made and that different councils are taking different approaches.

She added: “In Harrogate Borough Council’s constitution, within the leader portfolio, there is a specific delegation to the leader to lead on the development of regional and sub- regional policy and strategic partnerships.

“We are happy the correct legal process has been followed for the taking of this particular decision.”

Approval of the requests to the Government means Harrogate can now press ahead with its final devolution bid.

Council leaders across the region were told that to unlock a devolution deal, North Yorkshire’s eight county and district councils must be scrapped for one or more unitary authorities.

North Yorkshire County Council is behind proposals for one single unitary authority for the whole county, while the seven district councils are proposing the two east/ west authorities either side of the A1.

The leaders have until the end of this month to submit final proposals before top- level discussions begin. If a deal is agreed, the new unitary authority or authorities could be formed by April 2022.

To say it was a decision made behind closed doors is a complete fabrication. Coun Richard Cooper, Harrogate Borough Council’s leader, responds.