The election of York and North Yorkshire’s first-ever executive Mayor on May 2 offers a ‘glimmer of light’ after more than a decade of austerity, York council boss Claire Douglas says.
The new Mayor will have £540 million to invest in the region over the next 30 years – money we simply wouldn’t be getting otherwise, Cllr Douglas said.
“We need to grasp that opportunity and make the most of it,” she told The Press.
Voters across York and North Yorkshire will go to the polls on May 2 to elect the new Mayor. The votes will be counted on May 3 – and the new Mayor will take office on May 7.
It is an election that could affect the lives of every one of the 800,000 people living in the region.
The new Mayor will oversee a Combined Authority made up of delegates from both City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council – the two local authorities that operate in the region.
And he or she will have money to spend – lots of it.
The establishment of the post of Mayor of York and North Yorkshire is part of a process of devolution that will bring with it a 30-year, £540 million ‘Mayoral Investment Fund’.
He or she will also have the power to borrow more funds if needed, to invest in things like region-wide transport, new housing, adult education and tourism.
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A spokesperson for the fledgling Combined Authority which has been paving the way for the election of the new Mayor said the £540 million ‘Mayoral Investment Fund’ would be ‘just a start’.
They said: “The Mayor will work with local leaders to bring more money into our region to invest in the things that matter to us.”
Cllr Douglas – whose own York council is struggling to cope with a projected £40 million ‘black hole’ in council finances over the next four years – said it was an opportunity that must not be wasted.
She told The Press: “Devolution offers a glimmer of light in an otherwise very challenging climate for local councils after over a decade of austerity. We need to grasp that opportunity and make the most of it.”
Nevertheless, the new role will bring challenges – not least because the new ‘Combined Authority’ over which the Mayor will preside will see predominantly urban, Labour and Liberal Democrat York having to get into bed alongside largely rural and Conservative North Yorkshire.
Both York’s Labour leader Cllr Douglas and North Yorkshire’s conservative leader Cllr Carl Les have vowed to make it work, however.
“The two councils have developed good working relationships despite our political differences,” Cllr Douglas said.
“We both understand that the other has to see genuine benefits from devolution to make it work and where one benefits, the other does too.”
Cllr Les agreed. “We will cooperate about spending more money that is coming into the region,” he said, speaking at York’s Guildhall on February 1 at the official launch of the region’s new Combined Authority.
“You cannot deny that there will be political differences, but actually, those differences will come out in the election for the Mayor – we will be tribal in that – but once the Mayor is elected we will come together to deliver improved services for the people we both represent.”
ANALYSIS: what powers will North Yorkshire's new Mayor have?
The new Mayor of York and North Yorkshire who takes office on May 7 will preside over a ‘Combined Authority’ made up of equal numbers of delegates from both City of York and North Yorkshire councils.
The new authority will NOT replace the two councils, however. Instead, it will work with them.
“City of York and North Yorkshire councils will continue as they are, working at a local level to deliver vital services for residents,” said a spokesperson for the Combined Authority, which was formally launched at York’s Guildhall on February 1 so as to pave the way for the election of the new Mayor.
“The Combined Authority will deliver at a sub-regional scale, working in partnership with the two unitary authorities to deliver the devolved investment.”
The new authority will be a legally-recognised single body whose role will be to ‘use some of the money and powers that up to now have been held by central government’ and to ‘work with local leaders and communities to invest in ways that will help to make York and North Yorkshire a better place … to live, work and do business’.
It will be led by the Mayor, who will chair a Combined Authority Board which will include two councillors from York and two from North Yorkshire.
The new Mayor will serve an initial four-year term. He or she – and the Combined Authority over which they preside – will have powers devolved to them by central government, including:
• responsibility for 30-year Mayoral Investment Fund and the powers to borrow against funds
• full devolution of the Adult Education Budget
• powers to improve the supply and quality of housing and secure the development of land or infrastructure
• powers and funds to improve transport through a multi-year transport settlement
The new Mayor will also have the power to appoint a deputy to carry out many of the duties currently held by the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.
The Mayoral Investment Fund that the new Mayor will be able to administer is worth £540 million over 30 years.
During his or her first year in office, up to March 2025, the Combined Authority will receive the first tranche of this - more than £56 million of funds to invest across the region.
According to a spokesman for the new authority, this includes £12.7 million for housing, to deliver more than 700 new homes on brownfield sites, and a further £10 million to ‘support transition to net zero, unlocking economic opportunity, empowering business growth and creating new and better paid jobs’.
An adult education budget will also be devolved to York and North Yorkshire.
Initially, the Combined Authority will employ 54 staff – many transferred across from the existing York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership or the office of the police, fire and crime commissioner - at a cost of £4.5 million a year
Once in post, the Mayor will be able to appoint more staff.
As to where the new Mayor will be based: the Combined Authority’s staff will be based both in York’s West Offices and in county hall in Northallerton. The new Mayor is expected to divide their time between York and Northallerton.
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