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21
Jan
Revealed: Where is North Yorkshire Council making budget cuts?
North Yorkshire Council has revealed where it intends to make millions of pounds' worth of cuts this year.
As part of its budget plans, the council has drawn up a plan to make £52 million in savings over the next three financial years.
The move comes as the Conservative-run authority has blamed Labour, saying the government has awarded it “the fourth worst core funding settlement in the country”, behind Herefordshire, Rutland and Shropshire.
It said the settlement had left it with a £5 million budget deficit and it would therefore propose the maximum council tax increase, as reported by the Stray Ferret here.
According to its proposed budget, the council is set to make sweeping cuts across multiple services and propose other income-generating measures to help balance its books.
This coming financial year, £27.5 million worth of savings will be made in areas such as planning, property reviews and locality budgets.
Officials at the council ordered each department to come up with a list of potential cost-cutting measures, which will be put before councillors as part of its budget proposal in February.
The Stray Ferret has analysed some of the cuts being made this financial year and what it means for the council.
Reducing agency staff
The council plans to cut its planning agency staff further this financial year, which it estimates will save £300,000.
According to its budget proposals, the authority’s planning department also intends to pool “technical and plans processing teams” with anticipated cost savings of £75,000.
The council also expects a growth in “pre-application income” of £61,000.
Locality budget halved
The council has announced that councillors’ locality budgets will be slashed as part of its savings plan.
North Yorkshire Council currently awards all 90 elected councillors £10,000 a year to spend on specific activities that promote the social, economic, or environmental wellbeing of the communities they represent.
But it has proposed reducing each councillor’s sum, known as a locality budget, to £5,000 in a move that could save £450,000 a year.
Councillors usually allocate their locality budgets on several projects within their divisions rather than spend it all on one activity.
Reviewing costs of care
The council’s health and adult services department has proposed reviewing how it approaches the cost of adult care, specifically the “very highest cost packages of care”.
The authority estimates that it purchases more than two million hours of care for people in their homes each year.
Each hour of social care in North Yorkshire’s rural communities can cost £5 more than in other parts of the country because of the travel costs and the longer journey times between clients.
As a result, the council intends to work with organisations including the NHS to bring down the cost of care and “ensure care matches need at more affordable rates”.
According to the authority’s proposal, the move could save £3.5 million over the next three years.
‘Quick win’ property rationalisation
The council intends to rationalise its estate further this year as part of an ongoing review of its properties.
This past year, Jesmond House in Harrogate was vacated in February 2024 as part of a bid to save £600,000. In November, the Stray Ferret reported that Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust was set to move its mental health services for adults, adolescents and children into the building.
The council now plans to review its extensive property portfolio further in a move which could help to save money on running costs.
The proposal is described as “quick win” rationalisations, which could save £2.2 million over the next three years.
The report adds:
The council’s extensive property portfolio remains under review with on-going property rationalisations planned which will lead to savings on running costs but also generate capital receipts, which can be used to reduce our overall borrowing costs or retained to generate treasury investment returns.
Income from roadworks
Aside from cuts, the council’s highways department intends to make money through charging for lane rentals.
The Stray Ferret reported on the policy in November 2024, which would see the council charge companies up to £2,500 a day for carrying out highways work. Firms could also be fined if projects overrun.
Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways, said previously that he wants the county to be the first in northern England to introduce the lane rental scheme, which already operates in London and Kent.
The authority has estimated that the move could raise £500,000 in the 2025/26 financial year.
You can read more on the council’s savings plan in its budget report here.
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