Governance arrangements
Our aim is to establish our Combined Authority as a ‘thin tier’ of strategic leadership and in the most cost efficient and effective way.Both Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire Councils will retain their current functions and powers except for transport, where the Mayoral Combined Authority will take the responsibility, working with the councils.
There is no intention to grow the Mayoral Combined Authority into a large and unwieldy additional organisation. Legislation requires Mayoral Combined Authority's to have four Statutory Officers -
- Monitoring Officer
- Section 73 Chief Finance Officer (for finance)
- Scrutiny Officer
- Head of Paid Service
With the exception of the Scrutiny Officer, these statutory roles could be fulfilled by officers from the two Constituent Councils with the Mayoral Combined Authority being staffed and/or supported by officers from the constituent councils and any partner organisations.
As Upper Tier Unitary Authorities, both councils are confident in their strong governance and strategic leadership credentials. In addition, we already have a formal Joint Leaders’ Committee for the area that will act as the Shadow Combined Authority through the Mayoral Combined Authority’s implementation phase.
We propose an Mayoral Combined Authority consisting of -
- a Mayor
- 4 Members - 2 from each Local Authority and up to 4 non-constituent (non- voting) members, which will include one to represent the business community and one will be the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)
- decisions will be based upon a simple majority with each Member having one vote, including the Mayor. In certain circumstances, for example, where a decision may have a material effect on 1 Council area, such as a financial or planning matter, that Council must vote in favour
- the Mayor will hold certain powers related to housing and planning, economic development and regeneration, finance, adult education and skills, transport and health. These powers are held concurrently with the councils, apart from the powers relating to transport. This means that, other than transport, the Mayoral Combined Authority will work concurrently with both councils
- the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority will be accountable to its residents and will provide high profile leadership. It will have its own scrutiny and audit arrangements which will ensure that the Combined Authority is fully transparent and properly held to account for its decisions
The implementation of the Mayoral Combined Authority will require the Government to pass the requisite legislation to create the Mayoral Combined Authority. The constituent councils will have to appoint Members to the Combined Authority. The constituent councils themselves will remain as independent local authorities.