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Single Unitary Bid For North Yorkshire Fails

Plans to create a single unitary council to cover the whole of North Yorkshire have been halted - central government announced on July 25 that North Yorkshire County Council's proposal will not be implemented.

It paves the way to continue with greater partnership working between all levels of local government in the county - from the parishes upwards as well as with partner organisations. And it will allow us to build upon proposals agreed last year on how local government as a whole can work better together.

District Council leaders from Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby welcomed the Government's decision after the period of uncertainty that the review has created - saying it is the 'best possible solution' for all the communities of North Yorkshire.

The District Councils had worked together on their response to the Government. They undertook extensive consultation with local people, businesses and partners. All opinions - both for and against the proposal - were used and we want to thank all our consultees for their input, those who wrote or spoke to us with views and opinions as well as the thousands who wrote to Government direct.

In the end the Secretary of State agreed that due to the large geographic areas involved a county wide unitary may have difficulties effectively representing its electorate and would be seen as remote by most of its citizens. She also said that the neighbourhood arrangements to mitigate the effects of size are so complicated - operating at a number of spatial levels - that there is a risk they will prove unworkable. Whilst recognising points where the proposal had a reasonable likelihood of meeting the government criteria, the overall conclusion was that 'there is not a reasonable likelihood that if implemented the proposal would meet the outcomes specified by all the criteria set out in the invitation'.

Over the coming months the District Councils will be in discussion with the County Council on how we return to the agreed proposals on 'enhanced two tier working' and use this as a platform for future improvement. This work was effectively suspended during the review period - we will keep you informed of developments.

In all ten new unitaries were sanctioned by the government - for Bedford; Chester (two authorities);Cornwall; Durham; Exeter; Ipswich; Northumberland; Shropshire and Wiltshire. Six proposals were rejected including North Yorkshire County Council - from Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Cumbria and Somerset County Councils and Northumberland Districts.