City of York Council notches up first decade

City of York Council is ten years old tomorrow.

You'll know that already, of course. You must have noticed all the preparations being made to celebrate. The bunting in the streets; the skyline fireworks display planned for tomorrow night; the hefty council tax discount we're all being given to thank us for ten years of being good citizens.

No? That's funny, neither have we.

A quick call to the council clears it all up. They're not... er... actually planning to do anything to celebrate at all, a spokeswoman said.

"I think the thinking was that people would not really be that excited. People may not be dancing in the streets," she says.

Council chief executive David Atkinson clarifies that. Some individual staff members are organising their own celebrations, he says. "But in view of the council's financial position it didn't seem appropriate to fund an event to mark the anniversary."

Well, maybe not. The birth of City of York Council as an independent local authority on April 1 1996 was, anyway, mainly an administrative change.

But it could be argued it has had a profound impact on York and everyone who lives in the city over the past decade.

Even in a week that has seen council staff on strike in defence of their pensions and the city council rate-capped by central government, we think that's something worth celebrating.

Here, we look at what has changed, what have been the highs and lows of the last ten years - and speak to two former Lord Mayors who give their own take on how York has done since 1996.

WHAT CHANGED

TWO things changed on April 1 1996. The area administered from York almost doubled in size, and the powers of York council also increased.

The old York City Council covered only central York - and its powers were limited. It was responsible for tasks such as local planning, council housing and bins. But the seat of local power was North Yorkshire County Council, based in North-allerton, which ran schools, social services and long-term planning.

So if you lived in the centre of York and wanted to complain about why your child could not go to the school you wanted, or the inadequate home care received by your gran, you had to go to Northallerton.

If you lived on the outskirts of York - in Huntington, Strensall, Poppleton or Bishopthorpe, for example - it was even worse. These communities were not in the area administered by the old York council. So schools and social services were run by Northallerton, while planning, rubbish collection and council housing were run from Selby, Ryedale or Hambleton, depending on where you lived.

If you lived in Huntington, you would have had to go to Northallerton to complain about your child's school, and to Ryedale to complain about the bins.

Local government reorganisation changed all that. York became a unitary authority - a single, independent local council with responsibility for all local services, including schools and social services. It also expanded, to take in many of the outlying town and villages which had looked to York as "their" city.

HOW IT HAS WORKED OUT

Ken King

LABOUR councillor Ken King was York's first Lord Mayor after the birth of the new council. In the ten years since, says the Clifton ward councillor, York has taken two steps forward and one step back.

The main concerns at the time were how much reorganisation would cost, and how well surrounding communities such as Huntington, Wheldrake and Bishopthorpe could be integrated into greater York.

On both of those, Coun King, above, believes, the council did well. Power was transferred to York at a "very low cost indeed". And, despite a few teething troubles and gripes, many people were surprised at how well the outlying town and villages were integrated.

There was one problem, which was that Tory-run North Yorkshire County Council had traditionally been a low tax, low-spend authority - a legacy which was passed on to York and causes problems to this day. York council is to be rate-capped for wanting to increase council tax by 5.49 per cent - even though this would still leave it with one of the lowest council taxes in the country.

Overall, however, being a unitary authority has been good for York, Coun King says.

"Before, when we were part of North Yorkshire, if you had a problem and wanted to ring someone up, it would be some faceless person in Northallerton," he says.

"Now you can get through to someone in York and even meet them face to face. In that respect, it is a lot better."

What he doesn't like about how York is run now is the way the old committee system of local Government was abandoned in favour of a cabinet system.

This was a change brought in by Labour some time after re-organisation - but even though he is a Labour councillor, he is still not a fan. Decision-making is now much less open and accountable than it was before, Coun King says with much less chance for open debate and proper scrutiny.

Peter Vaughan

MR Vaughan was leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in 1996, and went on to be Lord Mayor from 1999-2000. Today he is no longer a city councillor, but is vice-chairman of Huntington parish council.

York is definitely a better place to live today than it was ten years ago, he says - and that is in large part due to the greater focus and independence that being a unitary authority gave.

It was crazy that someone like him living in Huntington - just a couple of miles from York city centre - had to rely on Northallerton and Ryedale for vital services. Centralising services made much more sense.

York has improved in many ways in the past ten years, says Peter, above. Its schools are among the best in the country, the city is more prosperous than ten years ago, and unemployment is low.

The city's economy and jobs are much more balanced, too, with less reliance on "old" industries such as chocolate, the railways and the Army and more emphasis on white collar and science-based jobs.

"York has become more vibrant and more diverse," he said. "It has a very successful educational service, for every age from two to 22, and it is a much more balanced economy in terms of where the jobs are."

Yes, he admits, there are people who mourn the passing of "old York" - and of Terry's and the carriageworks. But the world is changing. "We depend on brains and skills, and well-educated people," he said.

York having its own unitary local council has helped enormously in the city's transformation, he says. "I believe it has helped both councillors and officers to be focused on the entire city of York and its needs. The challenge now is to continue to preserve the best of old York while recognising that we have a vibrant, vital city that has to change."

Updated: 10:02 Friday, March 31, 2006