NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL
21 MAY 2025
STATEMENT OF COUNCILLOR CARL LES
New town councils
Congratulations to the newly elected members of the two new town councils for Harrogate and Scarborough. This completes the rich jigsaw of local representation across North Yorkshire that we pledged to introduce in our successful proposal for local government unitarization (LGR). Harrogate Town Council is certainly the largest (by population) parish council in North Yorkshire, and possibly England.
Restructures
Since April 2023 there has been a priority focus on getting through restructures in bring teams together across the organisation. Going through any restructure is quite complex to ensure fairness and transparency and we have worked very closely with Trade Union colleagues on this.
There have been around 4000 staff directly affected by a structure over the past 2 years which is significant, and except for a handful of areas they are all complete.
This has been a successful exercise with minimum disruption and challenge, and this is to the credit al all officers involved.
We will continue as business as usual as we evolve services, we are constantly looking at efficiencies and effective practices which often result in structural changes across the workforce.
Customer centre
As part of the property rationalisation following LGR, we have declared Stone Cross surplus to requirements and relocated staff and functions. One of these has been the customer contact function.
North Yorkshire Council has opened a new customer service hub in Northallerton, the first of its kind for the council. This initiative is part of our property rationalisation efforts and addresses the unique needs of customers in Northallerton. It has allowed us to design spaces more efficiently and consolidate services in one location, making it more accessible for everyone and ensuring that residents can easily access the services they need.
The new hub combines various services, providing a more streamlined experience for customers. For example, if you come in to renew your blue badge, you can also receive assistance with Council Tax, housing, and other services. Our staff are available to support you through both in-person meetings and video technology. While many services can be accessed online, we also offer face-to-face help for those who prefer it. Our staff are trained to provide tailored support, ensuring that everyone receives the help they need.
Tariffs
One unknown impact both on our own costs, but also on the economy and businesses in North Yorkshire is the imposition of tariffs by President Trump. The blanket tariff imposition which was applied on self-styled Liberation Day has now been replaced in part by a trade deal. It is too early to predict the impact both on our cost base and supply chain, but particularly on the North Yorkshire economy, but our officers are scanning this. The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire set up a Business Board to advise on economic initiatives. He has asked this group of well-connected and successful business operators, many of whom run North Yorkshire based businesses, small and large, to use their connections to assess the impact of tariffs, and now the trade deal.
I am pleased that the Mayor has publicly stated his welcome for the deal`s “firm commitment to protecting our high food standards” and “that (they) must remain a red line in all future talks” and that he will “continue to press the Government on it”. Engineering supply chains are important parts of any negotiations, but for this County so too are our food supply chains.
Future funding
There is much speculation about the upcoming Spending Review. What is known is that defence spending will rise, and rightly so. Inevitably it is likely that local government will suffer a downturn in financial support, and we must prepare for that. This is why we have started the budgeting process earlier than ever before. The withdrawal of Rural Services Support Grant is very difficult for us, and the reasons for it were perverse so worth challenging. However, as I have been offered a meeting with the Local Government Minister where we can make our case about rural costs and funding, there is little point in continuing with this Judicial Review. At the end of the day the Government can make decisions however much we disagree with them. We need to ensure that they are based on sound evidence. We will brief our MP`s on this as well.
Supreme Court ruling
On 16th April 2025, the UK Supreme Court in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers considered gender reassignment and sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The judgement did not look to set policy and was solely looking at the definition of how “sex”, “man”, “woman”, “male” and “female” should be interpreted in light of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 which allows a person to change their legal sex by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate. In a lengthy judgement, the Supreme Court held that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, the references to man and woman was a reference to ‘biological’ sex and not ‘certificated’ sex. However, the judgment also emphasised that Trans individuals remain protected from discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010 based on gender reassignment and can bring claims for direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
The judgement with regard to interpreting sex as “biological sex”, has implications on the interpretation of anti-discrimination law and public authorities need to consider the distinct needs and disadvantages of biological women and men and trans people separately. This is to ensure that practices aimed at promoting equality and eliminating discrimination is based on clear and consistent definitions.
Due to the judgement being so recent, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission that is the statutory body with responsibility to encourage equality and diversity are currently working on updating their statutory and non-statutory guidance on equalities in this area which will provide further clarity. They seek to carry out a public consultation and then provide an updated Code of Practice by the end of June and submit it for Ministerial approval. The Council will take this guidance into account when it is published and review our policies in that regard. This is a national issue, and the Council will consider our policies in line with best practice and guidance.
However, in the meantime I am proud to repeat the message of the Council’s equality, diversity and inclusion policy which states that North Yorkshire Council seek to create an inclusive culture with sense of belonging for everyone.
This is a hugely complex issue, but we will need to follow the law and work accordingly.
COUNCILLOR CARL LES