Report which recommended splitting North Yorkshire in two put to councillors after bitter row over release

The publicly-funded papers were produced to see how unitary authorities could be created in the county as part of a government request for council reorganisation ahead of devolution.

There were several calls for the report to be released over the last month as plans to abolish the current two-tier council system regathered pace - and it is now being shared with councillors and published online today, 23 October.

Councillor Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council, questioned why the "secret" report had been withheld until now.

"This report has been purchased with public money," she previously said.

"The leaders and officers of all the councils in North Yorkshire have seen it and have recommended that North Yorkshire be split geographically into two authorities.

"So why the secrecy? When did paid officials get the power to decide which people see a report paid for out of public money? What is there to hide?"

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Backed by North Yorkshire's seven district councils - including Harrogate - the independent report was produced by consultancy firm KPMG and gave 10 options as to how North Yorkshire's councils could be rearranged.

It comes after the government said in July that for devolved funding and powers to be transferred to North Yorkshire, the current two-tier system of local government would have to be replaced with unitary authorities.

A bitter row has since ensued, with North Yorkshire proposing just one authority for the whole county, while district council leaders are pushing for two councils either side of the A1.

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Councillor Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said councillors will now examine the plans ahead of a vote on whether to progress further.

He also accused councillor Marsh of "pretending there is something being hidden" and said the main reasons behind the proposals to split North Yorkshire into two have already been widely debated.

Councillor Cooper said: "The officer report outlining our options in respect of the proposals detailed in the local paper, on the internet and in briefings to councillors will come to a meeting of the local authority towards the end of this month or the beginning of next.

"Councillors will then take a decision on whether to submit the proposals to government based on that report. This is no different than the way these things have been done in the 25 years she has been a councillor."

Councils have been invited to submit an outline bid for unitary authorities to government by 9 November.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter