Revealed: Key questions answered on how launch of new North Yorkshire Council will impact Harrogate shortly

Residents in the soon-to-be abolished Harrogate district have lived under this two-tier system of local government since 1974.

Harrogate Borough Council has provided services such as collecting bins, dealing with planning applications and looking after parks whereas North Yorkshire County Council has dealt with matters like schools, public health and roads.

When residents wake up on April 1 a new unitary authority called North Yorkshire Council will have been created — but what will change?

We try and answer some of the most pressing questions.

Why is it happening?

The reorganisation was the decision of central government with an aim of streamlining structures and cutting costs.

Some of the savings are coming from a reduction in senior staff including the eight current chief executives from the district councils and county council.

The change should make things simpler for residents with all services provided by the one council.

A common gripe of the current system is that Harrogate Borough Council is blamed for things that are the responsibility of North Yorkshire County Council and vice versa.

The reorganisation is also linked to a £540 million devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire that is set to see the election of a mayor in May 2024.

They will take control of a new combined authority, like Tracy Brabin and Ben Houchen do in West Yorkshire and Tees Valley.

What changes will I see?

Officials have promised that bins will still be collected, grass will still be cut and residents shouldn't notice any major differences.

Richard Flinton, who currently leads the county council and will become the first leader of North Yorkshire Council, told businesses in Harrogate in January that he wants the transition to be like the millennium bug in 2000, when there were fears that electronics would stop working but instead everything carried on as usual.

The staff delivering services will also be the same, as almost every employee that works for Harrogate Borough Council will automatically transfer over to the new council.

Perhaps the most visible change for residents will be branding.

A new logo has been created for North Yorkshire Council and adding this to bin lorries, libraries, registrar offices and various other places used by the authority.

The changes will cost an estimated £400,000.

From April 1, all current Harrogate Borough Council councillors will stand down, meaning residents will have one councillor instead of two.

The boundaries for each North Yorkshire Council division are larger than the wards used by HBC.

You can find out who your councillor is here: https://maps.northyorks.gov.uk/connect/analyst/mobile/#/main?mapcfg=444444

Will my council tax go up?

Residents will no longer pay council tax to Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council.

Councillors who will sit on North Yorkshire Council agreed last week that there will be a 4.99% increase on last year's bill.

This equates to an increase of £83.64 for an average Band D property.

At the moment, residents in the seven district councils pay different levels of council tax but North Yorkshire Council will "harmonise" bills so the amount will be the same wherever you live in the county.

Council tax is also made up of payments to the fire and police services as well as to parish councils but the decision on whether these payments will rise is up to those organisations.

Where will decisions be made?

North Yorkshire Council's decision-making group of councillors will be the same as the current North Yorkshire County Council executive.

It's Conservative-run and currently meets at least twice a month at County Hall in Northallerton.

The leader of the new council will be Carl Les, the Conservative councillor for Catterick Village & Brompton-on-Swale who is also the current leader of North Yorkshire County Council.

Councillors based in the current Harrogate district area will be invited to attend full meetings of the new council in Northallerton around four times a year.

Committees will also be set up to discuss matters such as transport, schools and health.

Harrogate Borough Council's £13m Civic Centre, which only opened less than five years ago, will be retained by the new council for staff to use.

However, most key meetings involving councillors are set to take place in Northallerton.

Councillors based in Harrogate and Knaresborough, as well as in Skipton and Ripon, will continue to meet every few months in Area Constituency Committees and it has been suggested by senior officials at the new council that it will look to hand these committees more powers.

Planning committees will also be created based around constituency areas to make decisions on key applications. These meetings are likely to take place locally.

Will there be a Harrogate Town Council?

One concept behind the case for reorganisation was that parish or town councils could be handed more powers if they can make a successful business case.

If one were created and if it wanted them, Harrogate Town Council could make bids to take control of assets such as the Royal Hall or the Stray.

But a second round of public consultation will take place before the new authority makes a final decision on whether the town council is created.

There was an initial consultation held by NYCC over last summer where 75% of respondents backed setting a new council up — but questions have been raised over its low turnout rate and how much the new council would cost tax payers in Harrogate.

Ripon City Council and Knaresborough Town Council have both shown interest in taking control of assets in their areas.