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23
Oct 2023
North Yorks Council warns action to plug £25m black hole is essential
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:
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:
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:
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