North Yorkshire Council has decided not to pursue a judicial review over the way York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith allocated road maintenance funding, but has warned it will not hesitate to challenge future decisions if they disadvantage residents.
The authority had threatened to take legal action against the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority after claiming the county was set to lose millions in funding to fix potholes and resurface roads.
Council leader Carl Les told colleagues that he had recently held talks with the mayor about the controversial distribution of highways funding.
But following the meeting, Cllr Les said he concluded there was little prospect of changing the mayor’s position.
“It was clear that he would hold his line about proportions, improvements and the mayor’s pothole fund,” the senior councillor told colleagues at the recent full council meeting.
“It was also clear to me that this is actually his privilege, and this privileged position is only going to grow in time, especially with the likely new Prime Minister.
“As such, I saw little point in spending money on a judicial review process.”
Instead, Councillor Les said the council would seek to work with the mayor rather than engage in an expensive legal battle.
He revealed the two sides had agreed for their respective officer teams to meet to discuss the emerging Local Transport Plan ahead of key decisions expected later this year.
“However, in a spirit of wanting to work together rather than against each other, we have agreed that our officer teams will meet to discuss the Local Transport Plan to see if we can come up with some more common ground before the decision-making time in October,” he said.
Despite stepping back from legal action, Councillor Les stressed that North Yorkshire Council would continue to scrutinise the mayor’s decisions closely.
“But I can say that if the mayor uses his privileged position to disadvantage the residents of North Yorkshire in our view, then we reserve the right to call it out at that time.”
Earlier this year, North Yorkshire council chiefs accused the region’s mayor of “highways robbery” amid claims the county was losing millions in funding to fix potholes and resurface roads.
While the mayor said the unitary authority would receive a record-breaking £268m over the next four years to fix roads, thanks to an increase in government funding, the council said it will actually receive around £20m less over the four years from changes planned by the mayor than it would if the money came directly from the Department for Transport.
Senior councillors said a new calculation devised by the mayor would mean £4m redirected from North Yorkshire Council to City of York Council.
Around £30m is also being set aside to use for repairs to the major roads network, with another funding pot being allocated for minor improvements such as dropped kerbs and new crossings.
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