The Chief Executive and Leader of Harrogate Borough Council had both been told that the council could be scrapped as part of the government's wider devolution plans the day before a big vote on the shake up of leisure services - yet failed to make councillors aware of it.

Cllr Chris Aldred, chair of the overview and scrutiny board, told the Stray Ferret he and fellow councillors should have been told about the government's position on devolution before they agreed to support the leisure project.

He and fellow councillors voted on July 8 to spend £300,000 on creating a new company called Brimhams Active to run leisure facilities in the Harrogate district. They also voted to borrow £26 million to invest in centres in the district.

But they had not been informed council leader Richard Cooper and chief executive Wallace Sampson, along with other local authority leaders had met local government minister Simon Clarke the previous day.

Mr Clarke told the leaders that any devolution bid would be dependent on a reduction in the number of councils, which could ultimately lead to HBC being replaced.

Cllr Aldred said councillors should have known about this when they made such a key financial decision.

But he said they were not told about the outcome of the Clarke meeting until late at night on July 9.

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A spokesman for HBC said the two issues were entirely separate and it will take several years before services can be fully integrated once a local government structure is agreed.

The spokesman said:

Brimhams Active, a local authority controlled company, will run 11 leisure facilities in the district.

HBC is proceeding with several costly projects despite uncertainty over its future.

It is spending £1 million on consultants to draw up plans for a £47 million renovation of Harrogate Convention Centre.

But the decision to reduce the number of councils across the county as part of the government's devolution agenda has thrown the future of public services into uncertainty.

Both district and county leaders are expected to propose different models to ministers this month.

It could see the seven district councils, including Harrogate, scrapped and replaced by one or two super-authorities.

District officials are already consulting with residents and have proposed that an east/west council organisation should replace the current structure.