NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL

17 May 2023

STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN OF THE TRANSITION

(LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION) COMMITTEE

The Transition (LGR) Overview and Scrutiny committee was constituted back in July 2022 to work alongside the existing five overview and scrutiny committees undertaking their ‘business as usual’ work, with a particular focus on helping to shape the development of the new unitary authority. As part of the new constitution for North Yorkshire Council, the committee has been retained for a further three years (until 31 March 2026) with a review after two years.

Following vesting day on 1 April 2023 and the move to the new unitary authority, the committee have been closely following developments and gathering feedback from residents.

The committee met informally on 27 April 2023 to receive a presentation from the Director of Transformation, updating members on the huge amount of work that took place in the run up to and over the vesting day weekend by the Day 1 readiness team and others. It was particularly interesting to hear about the level of detail that was involved in the change process over the opening weekend with deployment plans, issue logs and twice daily monitoring meetings all taking place to track progress. Since then, the floor walkers initiative at council buildings and continued work of the snagging team were pleasing to hear about to help assist with the reorganisation. Details of internal and external issues that have arisen since the formation of North Yorkshire Council and the next steps as the work to transform services gathers pace were also discussed.

On behalf of the committee, I pass on my thanks to all of the officers involved, particularly those working over the weekend of 1 and 2 April 2023 for their hard work in ensuring the transition to North Yorkshire Council was a smooth one.

At our recent informal meeting, the committee also discussed potential subject topics for the work programme of the committee during this critical phase, with a focus on scrutinising areas such as key customer facing services, how staff from former district and borough councils are being integrated as part of the new unitary authority, and how services such as tourism will be carried out in the future.

The next meeting of the committee will be held on Monday 19 June.

COUNCILLOR MALCOLM TAYLOR

CHAIRMAN TRANSITION (LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION)

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

4 May 2023