Skipton and Ripon Labour Party has viewed with dismay government proposals to reform local government in North Yorkshire, moving away from the mix of a county council and seven districts to one of unitary authorities.

Whilst not opposed in principle to the change from a system where services- are provided by different authorities and residents are often unclear as to which authority is responsible for instance for recycling services, we do not believe that now is the right time for a major shake-up which will require considerable resources that would be better devoted to dealing with Covid 19 and the regulations introduced to tackle the pandemic. We also believe that the consultation, which precludes any moves to engage with neighbouring unitary authorities is far too narrow.

We further regret the uncertainty about whether the 2021 county council elections will take place.