The politician charged with ensuring a range of key services are maintained for North Yorkshire’s 618,000 residents has warned unless the authority strips back £25m of annual costs its ability to fulfil a range of economic goals will be significantly curtailed.

North Yorkshire Council‘s executive member for finance, Councillor Gareth Dadd, issued the alert as the authority’s executive met to consider pushing forward the recently launched unitary council’s first economic strategy.

The meeting heard the five-year plan was set to be launched next year and aim to support business growth, key sector development, generating inward investment and prioritising regeneration while improving infrastructure and connectivity.

Executive members were told the vision is to be “an innovative, carbon negative economy driven by our productive and entrepreneurial business base and the places and communities that make North Yorkshire distinctive”.

Cllr Dadd, who is also the authority’s deputy leader, said as moves to consider next year’s budget were getting underway, even with grant funding for some of the economic development opportunities the council was pursuing it would still need to financially support the schemes.

Referring to the strategy, he said:

“It is a salutary reminder of the importance of us getting our revenue budget in ship-shape order for us to make choices over some of the priorities that this document will produce.”

After the meeting, Cllr Dadd said the council was set to make “substantial in-roads” into the £25m black hole in the coming months, with authority prioritising making operational efficiencies, while not ruling out cuts to services.

He emphasised while creating the unitary authority had presented savings opportunities, many councils across the country were facing “immense financial challenges”.

He said:

“If we don’t sort the revenue budget out and continue taking from reserves then our ability to fulfil the economic development plan will be rapidly diminished because we will not have the reserves to support it.

“The first station of this train journey has to be to have a sustainable revenue budget which will then lead to council tax cuts or investment in services.

“Clearly that puts us in a great position to make those choices and if we do decide to invest then we need to prioritise that as well. There is no running away from it – everything is underpinned by the revenue budget.”

The authority’s recurring annual deficit is forecast to have fallen by about £5m since the start of the financial year, partly as a result of having increased buying power following the merger of eight councils.

Cllr Dadd added:

“Our priority will always be efficiencies in operations rather than service cuts. We are looking at back office first and the premium from unitary is there to be taken. It won’t all come at once.

“I can’t guarantee there won’t be service changes, but as long as I have a breath in my body and in the position I am, the influence I have got will be used to protect services for vulnerable people.”

Read more:

• Ripon Cathedral wants new refectory to ‘prevent visitors using cafés in the city’, says campaigner
• County-wide zone has damaged taxi businesses, says Ripon councillor

North Yorkshire Council has said it has no plans to sell Harrogate Convention Centre nor has not it received any offers of private investment for the ageing facility.

It comes as a decision day on a proposed £49m redevelopment moves nearer.

The new council inherited a plan to upgrade the facility from the now-abolished Harrogate Borough Council so it can better compete with rival convention centres in the north.

The convention centre opened in 1982 and its conferences and other events have provided a boost to the town’s bars, restaurants and hotels. However, it has struggled to make a profit.

It still remains unclear how North Yorkshire Council, which is looking to slash £70 million from its budget over the next three years, will pay for the redevelopment.

Harrogate Convention Centre.

A decision is planned later this summer. If approved, construction work could begin early next year.

North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said:

“Design work is progressing for the Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment project and we are working towards a decision relating to the construction work early in 2024. We will continue to explore any external funding opportunities that arise in the future and in the interim.

“We have not received any offers of private investment nor have we been considering a sale.”

Economic impact of Harrogate Convention Centre

A council report published this year described the convention centre as the largest driver of economic impact in the district with many venues depending on the business through its conferences and exhibitions.

Using Visit Britain methodology, the report predicted the convention centre will boost the local economy by £31 million during 2022/23.

If the redevelopment goes ahead, it’s hoped the upgrade will increase the centre’s visitor numbers from 147,000 in 2020 to 192,000 in 2040, with profits of £29 million over a 40-year period.

In February, Harrogate Borough Council failed in its £20m Levelling Up Fund bid for the redevelopment but at the time, convention centre boss Paula Lorimer suggested the council would bid again for funding in its third round.

Ms Lorimer warned that Harrogate would “wither on the vine” if its convention centre ever closed.

Read more:

• Warning that Harrogate would ‘wither on the vine’ without convention centre
• Local Tories and Lib Dems urge new council to back £49m Harrogate Convention Centre upgrade