Barry White
The ACE Steering Group in responding to the government’s consultation on local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire has called for the review to be put on hold believing that tacking the climate emergency should be the chief priority. In a submission to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government it also points out that “… currently much of the work of the councils involved in this consultation is firmly focused on helping residents through the COVID-19 pandemic – and this will be their priority for some time. We therefore call for this consultation to be put on hold at the present time…”
The consultation which closes on Monday 19 April asks respondents to choose between two options, both of which would mean the abolition of Craven District Council which would either be swallowed up into a new unitary authority covering the west of the county, or absorbed into a new North Yorkshire unitary authority.
Meanwhile it is still uncertain when the government will publish its long awaited Devolution White Paper which was postponed last September. It was hoped that this would set out just how many powers would be devolved along with additional financial support. Two weeks after this announcement, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government invited councils in Somerset, North Yorkshire and Cumbria to submit proposals to create unitary authorities.
Before it was sent to the government, the submission was discussed at the ACE Green Café meeting on 10 April.
A copy of the ACE submission may be seen at: http://acesettleandarea.org/documents/
