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11
Apr
Senior councillor rejects plea to ringfence Harrogate Spring Water income in Harrogate
A senior North Yorkshire councillor has rejected calls for income raised from Harrogate Spring Water to be ringfenced for Harrogate.
For years, the French-owned company has paid a 0.5% levy on net sales for the use of the town’s name.
The levy historically went to Harrogate Borough Council but since it was abolished in 2023 it has gone to North Yorkshire Council.
For the financial year ending March 2024, Harrogate Spring Water paid £176,806 to North Yorkshire Council.
Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon called for the funds to be returned to the town this week rather than "lost in the bureaucracy of a much larger council". He said it would increase the new Harrogate Town Council budget by 49%.
But Cllr Mark Crane, the Conservative executive member for open to business at the council, rejected the idea.
Cllr Crane told the Stray Ferret:
All monies received by North Yorkshire Council are spent across North Yorkshire and we are not ringfencing any of them.
It is worth noting that North Yorkshire Council spends millions of pounds within Harrogate and will continue to do so.
The new town council will have the opportunity to raise a precept which will enable them to decide priorities for the town.
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