# North Yorkshire Council

North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county council which also performs the functions of a district council. The council is based at County Hall, Northallerton, and consists of 90 councillors. It is a member of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The council has been under no overall control since 2023, having initially been under Conservative Party control following the 2022 North Yorkshire Council election. The council was previously under Conservative control from 1974 to 1993 and from 2003 to 2023. Between 1993 and 2003 it was under no overall control. The leader of the council is Conservative councillor Carl Les, appointed in 2021, and the Chief Executive is Richard Flinton.
The council was created in 1974, when local government in England was reformed and the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire was created, governed by a county council and seven district councils. On 1 April 2023, the districts were abolished and the county council took on their responsibilities, becoming a unitary authority.
The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire; the ceremonial county additionally includes Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, York and part of Stockton-on-Tees.

## History

The non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and its county council were formed in 1974 from the county borough of York, the majority of the administrative county of Yorkshire, North Riding, the northern part of Yorkshire, West Riding, and the northern and eastern fringes of Yorkshire, East Riding. The headquarters of the new council was County Hall in Northallerton, previously the headquarters of the North Riding County Council.
The non-metropolitan county originally had eight districts: York, Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby. In 1996 a new York was formed as a unitary authority area and removed from the non-metropolitan county; the existing district was abolished and replaced with a larger district and coterminous non-metropolitan county, both also called York, which took in parishes from the adjacent districts of Harrogate, Ryedale, and Selby. The new City of York Council was unitary, with the powers of a district council and a non-metropolitan county council.
A further process of reorganisation began in October 2020, when the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government invited the councils in the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the City of York Council to submit proposals for reorganisation into unitary areas. North Yorkshire County Council proposed a single unitary authority for the non-metropolitan county and no change to York. The other councils, with the exception of Hambleton and York, jointly proposed an eastern council, combining the areas of Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby and York; and a western council, combining Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate and Richmondshire. Following a public consultation, in July 2021 the Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced that the county council's proposal would be taken forward and the first elections for the new unitary authority would be held in May 2022.
The reorganisation was approved by parliament on 17 March 2022. It was effected by abolishing the seven districts and their councils and creating a new district with the same area and name as the non-metropolitan county. North Yorkshire County Council became a unitary authority, with the powers of both a non-metropolitan county and non-metropolitan district council. As part of the reforms, the county council was given the option to omit the word "county" from its name, which it took, becoming North Yorkshire Council.
A combined authority was established in 2024 by North Yorkshire Council and York City Council, called the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. It is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire.

## Governance

Since 2023 the council has provided both district-level and county-level services. Between 1974 and 2023 the council provided only county-level services. Legally, it is a county council with the powers of a district council. Most of the non-metropolitan county is covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government.

### Political control

The council has been under no overall control since June 2023, being led by a Conservative minority administration with support from three of the independent councillors.
The first election to the county council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:
North Yorkshire County Council
| Party in control | Years |
| Conservative | 1974–1993 |
| No overall control | 1993–2001 |
| Conservative | 2001–2023 |
North Yorkshire Council (unitary authority)
| Party in control | Party in control | Years |
| | Conservative | 2023–2023 |
| | No overall control | 2023–present |

### Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2001 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| David Ashton | Conservative | | 20 June 2001 |
| John Weighell | Conservative | 20 June 2001 | 20 May 2015 |
| Carl Les | Conservative | 20 May 2015 | |

### Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to June 2024, the composition of the council was:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Conservative | 44 |
| | Independent | 16 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 13 |
| | Labour | 10 |
| | Green | 4 |
| | Liberal | 1 |
| | Reform UK | 1 |
| | Social Justice Party | 1 |
| Total | Total | 90 |
Of the independent councillors, three sit with the Conservatives as the "Conservatives and Independents" group, which forms the council's administration, nine sit as the "North Yorkshire Independents" group which also includes the Reform UK councillor, and the remaining four independents are unaffiliated to any group. The Liberal councillor sits in a group with the Liberal Democrats. The next election is due in 2027.

## Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the area has been divided into 90 electoral divisions, each electing one councillor. An election on the new boundaries was held in 2022, prior to the change to being a unitary authority. The next election is due in 2027, after which elections will be held every four years.

## Premises

The council is based at County Hall on Racecourse Lane, Northallerton (the building is just outside Northallerton's parish boundaries, being in the parish of Romanby). County Hall was completed in 1906 as the headquarters for the North Riding County Council. It is a Grade II* listed building. It transferred to the North Yorkshire County Council on local government reorganisation in 1974.