Conservative-led group loses 13 seats on North Yorkshire Council committees

A full council meeting at North Yorkshire Council.

The Conservative and Independents group on North Yorkshire Council is having to give up 13 seats on the authority’s committees after it lost its majority.

The political make-up of committees has been reviewed following the departure of Councillor John Mann from the Tory-led group to become an unaffiliated independent councillor in November.

The change meant the Conservative and Independents went from having 46 out of 90 councillors on the authority to having 45.

The review also factors in Councillor Rich Maw’s decision to join the Greens and Independents group after previously being an unaffiliated independent member.

Officers have used a complex formula to work out how many seats each political group should get on the authority’s various committees, with 210 seats available in total.

Under the reshuffle, the Conservative and Independents lose 13 places to be left with 105.

The Liberal Democrats and Liberal and Labour groups get one extra seat to give them 33 and 24 in total, respectively, while the North Yorkshire Independents get two extra seats giving them 16.

The biggest winners in the reshuffle are the Green and Independents group, which get four more seats — meaning they have 18 — and the unaffiliated independents who go from two seats to seven thanks to five extra places.

Reform, who have three councillors, do not get any extra seats.

The formula also sets out whether the extra seats are on scrutiny or ordinary committees, with the leader of the council, Councillor Carl Les, having a say on which group gets a seat on which committees.

The changes will be discussed at full council meeting on Friday next week.

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