At the beginning of July, when district councils were in the midst of supporting local businesses and residents through lockdown and into the ‘new normal', a bombshell was dropped in North Yorkshire.
Simon Clarke, the then minister of state for housing, communities and local government, told us that in order to unlock devolution in the region, local government reorganisation was a prior necessity. In other words, we wouldn't get the benefits of devolution unless we created unitary authorities within North Yorkshire and York. And we were likely to be asked to submit proposals by early September.
Since then, the seven district and borough council leaders have been working to develop the best possible model for local government reorganisation across these areas, while maintaining crucial services for residents and businesses and supporting them through the ongoing pandemic.
The leaders have pulled together and put us in a strong position. If we are asked to submit proposals for reorganisation we have a model that is better than any of the alternatives and the evidence to back that up. Now, the minister has resigned and been replaced; we haven't yet been asked to submit proposals. It's also unclear when exactly the devolution White Paper will be published. One can hope that the Government recognises what we have known all along: this is not the best time to put local government through upheaval.
We're trying to help our communities out of lockdown and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic while dealing with the spectre of local spikes, a second wave, and winter, not to mention Brexit. There is never going to be a good time for local government reorganisation. There is definitely a really terrible time and this is it.
We recognise that devolution is important for our region. Local councils, together with the Local Enterprise Partnership, have drawn up plans to improve crucial areas, including transport, town centres, housing, digital infrastructure, business growth, and low-carbon projects. But we shouldn't have to reorganise local government in order to unlock these benefits. District councils are at the heart of the COVID-19 response and recovery. Devolution shouldn't mean a dilution of localism and it should not be dependent upon reorganisation. That's not the way to achieve the Government's levelling-up agenda.
Paul Shevlin is chief executive of Craven DC. He writes in a personal capacity
