Elections for new North Yorkshire authority to take place this year
January 17, 2022

Councillors elected in the North Yorkshire County Council elections in May will go on to serve in the country's largest unitary authority in 2023 as North Yorkshire's already-large district authorities are scrapped.

A "single-tier" unitary authority will from 2023 have responsibility for all the present functions of the North Yorkshire County Council plus those of the seven district authorities of  Craven,  Richmondshire,  Hambleton,  Harrogate,  Ryedale,  Scarborough and  Selby. It will stretch its budget across 3,341 square miles, an area about 92 miles wide and including around 500 towns and villages and North Yorkshire's one small city, Ripon. Around 600,000 people are spread across the North Yorkshire county, which includes parts of the former North, West and East Ridings of Yorkshire.

While the county authority already looks after functions such as roads, schools and libraries, district authority activities including bin rounds, maintaining parks and gardens and running local museums will become swallowed-up as the responsibilty of the one county-wide authority.

The setting of more unified council tax bills as the county starts to cover what are currently district functions will also see residents in some districts paying more, while those in districts that have maintained higher expense in the past may pay less. At present a Band D property in Hambleton district pays just over £114 towards the district authority's functions while in Harrogate district the equivalent district authority cost on the council tax bill is currently over £250.

North Yorkshire County Hall in NorthallertonThe councillors elected in the North Yorkshire County Council election in May 2022 will serve a year on the existing county council and then, from 2023, for four years as councillors of the North Yorkshire unitary authority. District authority councillors will continue in office until 2023.

While combining the upper two tiers of local government, the new North Yorkshire council cannot truly be described as a single tier as there is near-blanket coverage across North Yorkshire of hundreds of small local parish or town councils. These have elected councillors but have limited responsibilities. Scarborough and Harrogate are the only towns currently without such councils, but there are moves there to create them.

More about the North Yorkshire council changes from our archives.

 North Yorkshire   

Also in Yorkshire.guide

 New    Places to visit    Gazetteer   



Yorkshire.guide - a dotguide.co.uk website. Made in Yorkshire UK   |  Terms of use  |  Privacy policy  with  No cookies  |  Contact  |