Harrogate Green Party calls for halt to devolution in North Yorkshire because of Covid

Doubts over next year's Bed Race in Knaresborough as organisers put preparations on hold

As part of its support for a national statement by the Green Party, Harrogate Greens are also calling for the Conservative government in London to ensure that any future reorganisation should follow a genuine public consultation which is guaranteed to result in the devolution of power, resources and training to a more local level such as town and village councils.

Shan Oakes, Parliamentary candidate for Harrogate has said: “At a time when the public’s faith in politicians is at an all-time low, the Green Party wants to make sure that our local authorities serve the residents of North Yorkshire as effectively as possible.”

“That is why we want to make sure that councillors are elected using a fair voting system which means that the make-up of any new authority reflects the views of local residents.”

“We are really concerned that the Conservative government in Westminster is trying to force through these changes whilst the public are more concerned about the global pandemic and instead of enhancing democracy, it will lead to the opposite.”

What happens if devolution and local government reorganisation proposals do proceed?

North Yorkshire Greens call for:

A meaningful public consultation on any proposed new local government structures. Such a consultation should be conducted fully within communities; to include a postal mail leaflet at the very least and not just an online consultation.

This is to ensure inclusion for those who are on low income or vulnerable and who might not have access to the internet.

Those who are service users of adult social care, help at home, reliant on buses etc could be disproportionately affected by any council re-organisation.

Any new Council must underpin its activity with the commitment to address the climate emergency on the lines of the Green New Deal.

Any new Council should have no fewer elected Councillors than currently exist in the current District Council arrangements to ensure proper representation for communities.

The Single Transferable Vote should be used to elect both Councillors and the Mayor as is already the case in Scotland.

This would ensure the Council/s are more representative of what could be much larger wards/divisions.

The Mayor’s Business Plan and Budget needs to be agreed by a majority vote of the whole Council to be enacted in the same way as happens with the London Mayor needing the approval of the Greater London Assembly to proceed.

A nominated Deputy Mayor should be part of a Joint Ticket with the Mayoral Candidate in the elections.

Deputy Mayors should not be appointees. It is crucial that those in powerful positions are directly accountable to citizens.

Only Elected members should be part of the Mayor’s Cabinet. There should be no unelected appointees.

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