You currently live in an area that has both a county council and a district council. This is known as two tier local government. However there are already many areas in England, especially the larger towns and cities, where single tier local government exists, with all local government services being provided by the one authority.

Your county council provides large scale services across the whole of the county and is responsible for transport, minerals and waste planning, highways, education, consumer protection, refuse disposal, libraries and personal social services. Your district council has a more local focus, providing services in its own area and is responsible for environmental health, housing, most planning decisions and refuse collection. Both county and district councils can provide facilities such as museums, art galleries and parks.

If an elected Regional Assembly is established for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, local authorities in your area will be reorganised. This means that your county and district council will be replaced by a single tier local authority which will deliver all local government services.

You are asked to help decide how the current pattern of two tier local authorities in North Yorkshire would be reorganised into a single tier.

You have two options to choose from. Please express a preference for either Option A or Option B on the ballot paper titled “Referendum on Options for Single Tier Local Government”.