Council structure
Information on the political control of the Council and details of the leadership team and staffing establishment, headed by Stacey Burlet, Chief Executive.
Leadership model of the Council
The Council operates the "Alternative Arrangements" form of political management, with cross-party representation in a series of Committees.
The Council has a Chairman and may appoint a Leader. The Leader of Council is appointed at the Annual meeting of Council in May of each year. The Council does not currently have a Leader (March 2021).
The Chairman is elected at the Annual Meeting of Council in May of each year. The main role of the Chairman is to act as the civic, ceremonial but non-political head of the District of Ryedale. The role includes:
- Chairing meetings of the Council
- Communication with private and voluntary sector organisations across the District
- Acting as official host to visitors to the District
- To represent the District at ceremonial events
- To promote public involvement in the Council’s activities
The Chairman has social precedence within the District, however when the Sovereign visits the District, she is met by the Lord-Lieutenant who then presents the Chairman of Council.
A full list of Councillors can be found here.
The political make-up is as follows:-
| Representing | Number | % |
| Conservatives | 11 | 36.5% |
| Ryedale First Independents | 3 | 10% |
| Independents for Ryedale | 3 | 10% |
| Liberals | 5 | 16.5% |
| Independents | 5 | 16.5% |
| Ungrouped Independent | 1 | 3.5% |
| Liberal Democrats | 2 |
6.5% |
More information on Councillors is available in the Councillors Directory.
Stacey Burlet, Chief Executive
Stacey was appointed Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service in September 2018.
As Chief Executive, Stacey is the Council's Head of Paid Service and the principal policy advisor. She provides the overarching managerial leadership for the Council.
Chief Executive
Stacey Burlet
Executive Support Officer
Julie Bradshaw
| Chief Executive | Stacey Burlet |
| Chief Finance Officer (s151) | Anton Hodge |
| Head of Planning and Regulatory Services | Gary Housden |
| Head of Corporate Governance | Simon Copley |
| Head of Waste and Environment | Beckie Bennett |
| Head of Customer Services and Communities | Margaret Wallace |
| Programme Director for Economic Development, Business and Partnerships | Phillip Spurr |
| Head of Communications, Technologies and Business Transformation | Louise Wood |
| Head of Human Resources | Andrew Ellis |
Customer Services
- Customer Advisors - First line support for all customer enquiries and administrative support, working on day to day queries and helping to resolve matters efficiently and effectively, liaising with colleagues as required
- Customer Services (People) - housing benefit, Council tax reduction, housing strategy, homelessness, housing options and private sector housing
- Customer Services (Business and Democracy) - Council tax, NNDR, income from services, business liaison, financial admin support, finance systems, electoral registration, elections, council meeting admin
- Customer Services (Place) - strategic planning, economic development, environmental health & protection, licensing, Streetscene, private water supplies and health & safety
Specialists Place
- Strategic planning, economic development, development management, conservation and enforcement
Delivery and Frontline Services
- Specialists (People) - housing strategy, homelessness, housing options, private sector housing, housing conditions and decency including fuel poverty, housing benefit, council tax reduction, Derwent Lodge, safeguarding and community safety
- Streetscene - operation inc vehicle maintenance and licensing, waste collection and street cleansing
- Specialists (Environment) - food safety, health and safety, public health, pollution, air quality, private water supplies and licensing
Resources and Enabling Services
- Programmes, Projects and Performance - Corporate programme management, performance management
- ICT - ICT functions including infrastructure application, desktop services, website maintenance, maximising IT usage, digital transformation, channel shift and customer and staff self-service
- Business Development - funded or income generating services
- Revenues - collect and recover Council Tax, business rates, housing benefit, overpayments, rents and sundry debts
- Commissioning - shared services, external spend commissioning, third party relationships
- Democracy - democratic services, local and national elections, referendums, electoral registration, administration of Council meetings, Member development
- Resources - Accounts, corporate and service budgets, financial management capability
Corporate Services
- External Partnerships
- Human Resources - All policy and procedural matters including recruitment and selection, pay, terms and conditions of employment, consultation and negotiations with Trade Unions, equal opportunities, training and development of staff, welfare policies and health and safety
- Legal Services - The Legal team provides a wide range of legal services for the Council, its committees, sub-committees, management and service units. The Council Solicitor also has a role as Monitoring Officer under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, to ensure that Council officers and committees do not act contrary to the law and that no maladministration takes place. Principal areas of work include, conveyancing, criminal litigation, contracts and procurement, planning, licensing, regulatory work and committee support
- Internal Audit - Internal audit and counter fraud services are provided by Veritau, a shared service company part-owned by the Council. Internal Audit gives assurance to managers and members that Council systems and processes are operating efficiently and effectively and provides consultancy services and advice on how to improve them. Veritau’s fraud team assists us on benefits fraud and other organisational matters, as required
- Building Control - Building Control Services at the Council are provided by the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership
In accordance with Sections 38 – 43 of the Localism Act 2011 the authority is required to produce a policy statement that covers a number of matters concerning the pay of the authority's staff, principally Chief Officers.
The Pay Policy (PDF, 14 pages, 325kb) was considered and approved by the Full Council at the meeting which took place on 3 December 2020 .
This policy statement sets out the arrangements and meets the requirements of the Localism Act. It also complies with the guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to which the authority is required to have regard under Section 40 of the Act.
This policy also correlates with the data on pay and reward for staff which the authority publishes under the Code of Recommended Practice for Local Authorities on Data Transparency and the data which is published under The Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations (2011). It should be noted that the requirements to publish data under the Secretary of State guidance, the Code of Practice and the Regulations do differ, the data requirements of the Code of Practice and the Accounts and Audit Regulations are summarised at Annex A to this policy statement.
