North Yorkshire (district)

North Yorkshire
Unitary authority area
Ripon, the only city in the district and its third-largest settlement
North Yorkshire district shown within North Yorkshire ceremonial county
Coordinates: 54°10′N 1°20′W / 54.167°N 1.333°W / 54.167; -1.333
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Ceremonial county	North Yorkshire
Combined authority	York and North Yorkshire
Incorporated	1 April 2023
Administrative HQ	County Hall, Northallerton
Government [1]
• Type	Unitary authority
• Body	North Yorkshire Council
• Executive	Leader and cabinet
• Control	No overall control
Area [2]
• Total	3,103 sq mi (8,037 km2)
• Rank	1st
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	635,270
• Rank	3rd
• Density	200/sq mi (79/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [3]
• Ethnic groups	List 96.7% White 1.4% Asian 1.1% Mixed 0.4% Black 0.5% other
Religion (2021) [3]
• Religion	List 55.6% Christianity 36.9% no religion 0.5% Islam 0.3% Buddhism 0.3% Hinduism 0.1% Judaism 0.1% Sikhism 0.4% other 5.8% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode areas	List BD20, BD22–24 DL6–11 HG LA2, LA6 LS17, LS21–25, LS29 TS9 YO7, YO8, YO11–14, YO17–24, YO26, YO30, YO51, YO60–62
GSS code	E06000065
Website	northyorks.gov.uk

North Yorkshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It covers the majority of the North York Moors, the Vale of Mowbray and Vale of York, and the Yorkshire Dales. It does not include the north-east of the ceremonial county or the unitary authority area of York. The largest settlement is Harrogate, and the administrative centre is Northallerton. North Yorkshire is the largest local government area in England, with an area of 3,103 square miles (8,037 km²).

The unitary authority area was formed on 1 April 2023 during a local government restructure. Prior to this, North Yorkshire was a non-metropolitan county containing seven non-metropolitan districts, and was governed by a county council and seven district councils. The creation of the unitary authority area was achieved by abolishing the seven districts and their councils, creating a new district covering the entire area of the non-metropolitan county, and giving North Yorkshire County Council the responsibilities of a district council in addition to its existing county council responsibilities. The county council chose to rename itself North Yorkshire Council as part of the restructure. The first elections to the reconstituted authority took place on 5 May 2022, and it took on district council responsibilities on 1 April 2023.

History

The unitary authority is made up of the following former districts of the former administrative county of North Yorkshire:

The non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority area on 1 April 2023, following the merger of the above boroughs and districts as part of the 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England.

Governance

North Yorkshire Council has 90 councillors which elect a council leader, who in turn appoints up to nine councillors to form an executive cabinet. It replaces the former non-metropolitan county which had a cabinet-style council of 72 councillors.^[12]

Geography

The area is the largest local authority area in England. Larger towns and settlements include Harrogate, Scarborough, Northallerton, Selby, Skipton, Richmond, Malton, Thirsk, Stokesley, Great Ayton, Norton-on-Derwent, Catterick Garrison, Pickering, Helmsley and Knaresborough while Ripon is the only city in the area.

• 
  Harrogate
• 
  Scarborough
• 
  Ripon
• 
  Knaresborough
• 
  Selby
• 
  Skipton
• 
  Whitby

Education

North Yorkshire LEA has a mostly comprehensive education system with 42 state schools secondary (not including sixth form colleges) and 12 independent schools.

References