York leader wants city to ‘dominate’ devolution deal as councillors vote in favour
York councillors voted overwhelmingly in favour of a devolution deal which will see new powers and cash transferred down from London after hearing it was “the only game in town” if the city wanted more investment from the government.
It will see York join forces with North Yorkshire to create a new mayoral combined authority (MCA) overseen by an elected mayor.
Council chiefs will send the results of a public consultation to ministers to progress plans to create the MCA after North Yorkshire county councillors also backed the deal on Friday.
It is set to bring £540 million to the region over 30 years for local priorities such as economic growth, transport and the fight against climate change, with an extra £50 million for York Central also up for grabs.
“The proposed deal will secure investment on a much larger scale than we are currently able to access,” said council leader Keith Aspden.
Cllr Aspden said he shared concerns raised about power being concentrated in the mayor, who would likely be elected in 2024 and be a Conservative due to regional demographics.
But he added: “We must be pragmatic to achieve the best for York and quite simply, to secure that needed investment in our city, devolution is the only game in town.
“Those councillors that are involved in the future have the task of making sure that York doesn’t just get a fair share, but very much dominates because of the economic driver that York has the potential to be across the wider sub-region.”
Small majority
A total of 54 per cent of respondents to the online consultation either strongly supported or supported the proposed governance of the MCA, while 32 per cent were opposed or strongly opposed with the remainder not expressing a view or stating they did not know.
Labour group leader Claire Douglas said: “Following cuts of over 40 per cent of government funding to local authorities since 2010, devolution is unfortunately one of the only games in town concerning bringing new money into our city.
“The expected £4.5 million per year is only 3.5 per cent of our annual budget – not in any way sizeable, but what option do we really have?”
She said her party had concerns about democratic oversight of the mayor’s office and governance of the MCA.
She added: “Will York’s priorities and desperate need to reduce congestion and improve air quality have an equal weighting to the isolation issues experienced by rural North Yorkshire communities?”
All councillors present voted in favour, apart from independent councillor Dave Taylor, who abstained, and Cllr Mark Warters, who voted against.
Cllr Warters said: “If you’re so happy and keen to hand over the powers of governance of this city council to some remote entity yet to be elected, what possible need is there for so many members in this chamber, in the executive and so many of the corporate management team to be remaining as a drain on pockets of council tax payers when much of the functions will be carried out quire remotely from York?”
Cllr Aspden said Cllr Warters was “misunderstanding” and that City of York Council would continue to exist, with the mayor and MCA working together on some regional responsibilities.
Concerns were also raised about the number of consultation responses, but Lib Dem councillors said the region’s response rate compared favourably with previous consultations carried out in West and South Yorkshire.