Plans to create a combined Mayoral Authority taking in North Yorkshire and York wont be a merger of the two councils.
Instead the elected mayor will have a number of powers devolved from central government.
Richard Flinton is Chief Exec of North Yorkshire County Council, he says the North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council will maintain their independence.
The elected Mayor for North Yorkshire and York will have a range of powers over things like economic development and transport.
It's being proposed that the new role be created in the next two years as part of a devolution deal outlined in the Governments levelling up white paper.
Carl Les is leader of North Yorkshire County Council and says the proposed mayors exact powers are not yet firmed up.
There are a number of areas of the country which already have Mayoral Authorities, Richard Flinton says there are a number of models to look at when deciding how things should work in North Yorkshire and York.
A devolution deal for North Yorkshire and York was first announced in July last year and if agreed could lead to a shift in decision-making powers and billions of pounds in funding controlled by a mayor.
Councillor Les, who previously expressed frustration over a lack of speed in the negotiations, said he was now pleased to see some long-awaited progress.
He said:
“We have been talking about devolution for parts of Yorkshire for five or six years and there have been numerous false starts.
“I’m pleased we have now got here to this stage and I’m very excited about moving forward.
“This is an exciting opportunity not just for York and North Yorkshire, but for the whole country because we know there has been a north/south divide for many years.”
The government had stipulated a key requirement of any devolution deal for North Yorkshire was for the current two-tier councils system to be replaced by a single unitary authority.
A new North Yorkshire Council has since been agreed and will launch in April 2023 when the area’s county and district councils will be scrapped.
Elections to the new council will take place this May, while City of York Council will remain as a separate unitary authority.
In December 2020, councils across North Yorkshire submitted a list of devolution requests to government which included £2.4billion worth of spending.
A separate funding pot worth £750million over 25 years was also included, as well as powers over areas such as transport and economic development.
These would come under the control of a directly-elected mayor who would represent both North Yorkshire and York on a new combined authority with further powers on skills, regeneration and energy.
The mayor could also take on the responsibilities of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.
Negotiations towards a deal between government ministers and council leaders are set to take place in the coming weeks.
If successful, a North Yorkshire and York combined authority could be created in 2023 before mayoral elections the following year.
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