Council freezes Ripon parish precept for third year running

Ripon’s parish precept, which is charged to council tax payers in the city, is being frozen at its current level for the third year in succession.

It means Ripon residents living in a Band D property will pay a parish precept of £70.77 for the financial year 2023/24. People in Bands A to C properties will pay less and those in Bands E to H will pay more.

Final council tax bills for the year ahead are calculated by adding the parish precept to the amounts also charged by the new North Yorkshire Council and the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. The latter two have yet to finalise their amounts.

Ripon City Council unanimously approved its draft budget for 2023-2024 at its January full meeting after independent council leader Andrew Williams told members:

“Because of the increased number of new houses built in Ripon, there are more properties over which the precept will be charged and we are able to raise a levy of £420,000 at no extra cost to the charge payer.

“This is an increase from the £411,000 raised in the last financial year and will enable us to fund, among other things, the programme of public and civic events throughout the year, further improvements  to the city’s Christmas lights infrastructure and refurbishment of Hugh Ripley Hall to increase its earnings potential.”

In the new financial year that comes into effect from April, monies will also be earmarked from reserves to pay for any professional advice required arising from double devolution and negotiations on matters including the transfer of assets such as Ripon Town Hall, Hugh Ripley Hall and Market Square, to the city council

Cllr Williams said:

“These are very difficult times with the cost of living crisis putting families under greater financial pressure through increased food, fuel, mortgage, rent and other costs.

“Faced with these circumstances we thought it only right and proper to freeze the precept charge for the coming financial year.”

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Police commissioner given power to hike council tax by £15

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has been given the power to increase the police’s share of council tax by £15 this year.

Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative commissioner, is currently consulting on her budget plans for police and fire services for 2023.

The government has given commissioners the power to increase the force’s share of council tax by £15 before a referendum has to be held.

It has also set a £5 limit on the fire service precept.

A £15 hike in the police precept would be the equivalent of a 5.34% increase and see the force’s share of council tax rise to £296 for a band D property.

Ms Metcalfe has previously warned North Yorkshire Police needs £12 million in extra funding to tackle rising costs, including salary increases and rising cost of fuel and utilities.

She said previously:

“One of my roles is to set the precepts for North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, something every commissioner has to do every year.

“It is never easy asking for more money, and I know that many individuals and families are facing financial pressures, but our emergency services are also dealing with rising costs as they continue their vital work to keep us all safe.

“This year is particularly challenging as I have to balance the burden on taxpayers and the growing demands for services from our police and fire and rescue services, so it’s vital that I hear your views.”

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A £15 increase would see an additional £4.7 million in funding compared with last year’s precept level.

The commissioner’s office says the force has a budget of £191 million — 45% of which comes from council tax payers.

Meanwhile, a £5 increase for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue would equate to a 6.6% increase in its precept.

It would raise £1.5 million and “would lead to no reductions in planned levels of service delivery”, according to a report by the commissioner’s office.

Ms Metcalfe is expected to outline her budget plans for fire and police services in February 2023.

The consultation into police and fire precepts closes on January 16, 2023. You can take part in the survey here.

Just 3.5% responded to Harrogate town council consultation

Just 3.5% of homes sent information packs as part of a consultation on creating a Harrogate town council bothered to respond.

Letters were posted to each of the 35,431 households on the electoral register in the unparished area of Harrogate inviting them to have their say on the subjects. Only 1,250 did so.

A total of 75% favoured setting up a town council but the low response rate triggered concerns about the validity of the response.

Establishing a town council, wit yet to be determined powers, would create an additional annual council tax charge for the 35,431 homes affected.

A report to North Yorkshire County Council‘s Conservative-controlled executive on January 11 recommends it proceeds with moves to create a 19-person town council in April 2024. But it says:

“There was some concern raised about the apparent low response rate and whether this gave a sufficient democratic mandate to create new town councils.

“It is further noted that whilst the rates are low, it is not unusual with the background of similar reviews and the Association of Electoral Administrators consultant has advised that it is sufficient to proceed with the response rate at this level based on previous reviews.

“The decision being requested is whether to proceed with a further set of consultations on a preferred proposal and the response rate and details of that consultation can be considered before a final decision is made.”

No referendum

The county council is also likely to ignore a plea by Harrogate Borough Council to hold a referendum.

On September 21, the borough council unanimously passed a resolution:

“This council calls upon North Yorkshire County Council to hold a binding referendum of Harrogate town residents who could become constituents of a new Harrogate Town Council to determine whether such a council should be formed.”

The resolution also said information should be made available prior to the referendum as to which services a new town council could provide, together with an indicative level of investment required to give “democratic legitimacy” to the process.

But the report to the county council quotes leader Carl Les saying:

“it should be noted that it is not legally possible to hold a binding referendum to create a town council as the legislation does not provide for this and the council cannot fetter its discretion in this way.”

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Cllr Les adds the consultation, which will now proceed to a second stage, should merely “take into account” the views of the borough council. The report added:

“It is not clear that a referendum would elicit a different response. There is no requirement under the law for a referendum to form part of a community governance review to provide democratic legitimacy to the outcome.

“The additional cost of a referendum may not be justified if the outcome is likely to be the same as writing to all households.”

Revealed: the Harrogate areas set for new council tax charge

Large parts of Harrogate, including Bilton, Starbeck and Jennyfields as well as central areas, look set to be hit by a new council tax charge.

North Yorkshire County Council said last week it would press ahead with plans to create a Harrogate town council after the results of an initial consultation revealed 75% in favour of the idea.

Areas covered by the new council, which will have 19 councillors, will face an additional charge on their council tax bills to pay for its services.

The sum is not yet known but Ripon City Council and Knaresborough Town Council currently charge £70.77 and £24.27 respectively for a band D property.

The areas facing new charges are:

A report on the consultation gave short shrift to calls by three respondents for Starbeck to get its own parish council. It said:

“No justification or detail was provided.

“It is considered that due to the small size of the area considered to be Starbeck, less than 6,000 electors, any parish council would not be in a position to provide services or amenities on the scale that could be provided by a much larger neighbouring Harrogate town council, potentially leading the the residents of Starbeck missing out on the opportunities to be provided by a larger town council.”

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How is council tax calculated?

Council tax bills in the Harrogate district are calculated by adding the sums charged for services by North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council, North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, plus any parish precepts.

Harrogate residents do not currently pay a parish precept because it does not have a town council.

This year’s Harrogate district Band D bill, minus any parish precept charges, rose by £72 to £2,079.59. This is how it was broken down.

The abolition of Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council on April 1 means the charge for their services will no longer exist.

However, the new North Yorkshire Council, which will replace them, has indicated it will charge Harrogate district households £23.47 less than the amount currently paid to the two councils.

The new Harrogate town council charge could mean devolution, hailed as a cost-saving exercise, could actually result in higher council tax bills.

However, a Harrogate town council is unlikely to be formed until May 2024 so any precept it charges will not feature in the calculations for council tax bills in 2022/23, which will be finalised in the new year.

Harrogate town residents have been spared a parish precept because they do not have their own town council, unlike other towns in the Harrogate district and the city of Ripon.

So the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council and likely creation of a Harrogate town council will affect them more than residents in places such as Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Masham, which already pay a parish precept.

In a report to the Conservative-controlled North Yorkshire County Council’s executive, Barry Khan, assistant chief executive (legal and democratic services) has recommended opening a second, eight-week consultation on creating a Harrogate town council on February 20.

The executive will meet on January 10 to decide whether to accept the recommendation.

 

 

North Yorkshire Council warns of cuts amid £30 million shortfall

The new North Yorkshire Council is set to face a £30 million shortfall in its first year, despite increased funding from government.

Michael Gove, Levelling Up Secretary, unveiled £60 billion worth of funding for councils across the UK on Monday — a 9% increase on last year.

The council is set to receive an additional £22 million from government as part of the announcement.

However, soaring inflation and the impact of the covid pandemic is still set to leave a blackhole in the authority’s finances.

A council press release said the shortfall would be met “by the one-off use of reserves as well as some savings”.

Cllr Carl Les, Conservative leader of the council, said:

“We are faced with the biggest financial pressures which I have witnessed in all of the time I have been a member of the county council since I was elected more than 20 years ago.

“While the extra funding from the government is extremely welcome, it will still not be enough to alleviate the extraordinary challenges which we do need to tackle in the coming financial year.

“The pressure on budgets will be felt across all of the directorates which provide key services for the hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in North Yorkshire.

“However, we are committed to ensuring that we can continue to provide the best possible services to the public in the face of these immense financial challenges.”

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The new council, which comes into force on April 1, is set to inherit £18 million in deficits from the seven district authorities which will be abolished, including Harrogate Borough Council.

However, increased costs from inflation and growing demand on council services such as adult social care is expected to add an additional £50 million.

Authority officials estimated that, once government funding, council tax and savings are factored in, the council will have a shortfall of around £30 million.

In order to plug that gap, it is expected that the council will have to dip into its reserves and find savings from streamlined services.

A budget for the upcoming North Yorkshire Council is expected to be set in February.

Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: ‘I shouldn’t need this – but it’s a lifesaver’

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky finds out how a series of life events left one woman unable to afford food.

Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help. 

 

“I feel guilty every time I go to Resurrected Bites. I keep saying I shouldn’t be here. I work full-time for the NHS. But it’s a life-saver.” 

Lara Rundle is a single mum to four grown-up children. 

For the last three years, she has lived in Burton Leonard, having moved up from the south-east following the death of her father. 

It was the first in a string of events that left her struggling to cover all her outgoings – even before she tried to buy food. 

“I had lost my dad and he was helping me pay my mortgage. Even a rabbit hutch in the south-east is mad money.  

“When he passed, he said to me and my brother that he had left the money to clear our mortgages. We found out after that his partner had accidentally lost the will and she took everything.  

“My house was on the point of being repossessed and I had a breakdown.  

“I had only been in Harrogate twice in my life and had a midlife crisis and said I was moving to Yorkshire.” 

With some savings in the bank and a small, fixed-rate mortgage, Lara had enough money to get by. However, a reaction to the covid vaccination left her leaving hospital treatment and unable to work for some time.  

As she recovered, Lara received some devastating news: 

“The second of my four children was in a car accident in Sussex. She broke her back in two places.  

“Her friend was killed, and another friend was in intensive care.” 

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Lara spent many months travelling up and down the country to visit her daughter, eating into her dwindling savings. 

She began to look into ways to cut her costs and find some money. 

“I’ve got this big, flash car that I can’t afford, but because it keeps breaking down, the garage won’t take it back. It’s in negative equity. If it wasn’t for that, I would probably be OK. 

“I’ve got equity in the house – I’ve got a very small mortgage, but the building society won’t let me release any equity because they said I don’t earn enough to repay it.” 

Lara had been in receipt of some benefits, but that changed when her youngest daughter went away to university. She was given an annual pay rise of £90 a month, which meant she was no longer entitled to the £180 a month she had been receiving in Universal Credit. 

At £90 a month worse off than before, she then received a letter saying her council tax was going to increase because the valuations office believed her house should be in a higher band. 

Lara simply didn’t know what to do. 

A volunteer stacks the shelves at the Resurrected Bites community groceryShelves full of products at Resurrected Bites’ community grocery

She was helped by her GP practice, which put her in touch with Resurrected Bites.

She became a customer of the community grocery at Gracious Street in Knaresborough, paying £3 for a shop worth many times that amount. She said:

“When my kids were small, I was on my own with four kids and we did have to use a foodbank.  

“Now they’re grown up, I never thought I would be in this situation again. 

“I had never heard of Resurrected BItes before.  

“You feel you are paying something, so it’s not a hand-out. It’s fresh fruit and vegetables. They’re the kind of things I can’t afford to buy.

“If I go to the supermarket, the only thing I have to buy is cheese and butter, sometimes meat. There’s stuff there I could never have afforded to buy even if I wasn’t in this situation.” 

With her daughter well on the road to recovery and the support of Resurrected Bites when she needs it, as well as welcoming neighbours in her new home, Lara feels much more positive about the future. 

She said: 

“It has made such a massive difference. I know I don’t have to worry.

“If you have an extra fiver you put it on your account so you don’t have to worry about paying next time.

“I just can’t thank them enough. They’re angels. The service is a life-saver.”

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas. 

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it. 

Click here to contribute now. 

Government grants needed to help finances, says county council leader

More measures are needed to help North Yorkshire County Council’s finances despite support from government on council tax, says the leader of the authority.

Cllr Carl Les said the council needed grants from central government in order to help balance its books.

His comments come as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce an increase in the threshold in which authorities can increase council tax by without a local referendum.

Currently, the threshold is 2.99% – but Mr Hunt is expected to hike this to 5% in today’s autumn statement.

Cllr Les told a meeting of the county council yesterday that while the measure would be welcomed, more support would be needed.

He said:

“It will give us flexibility, but I don’t think that it’s the only leaver that we need to pull.

“Government grants has got to be part of that answer as well.”

The move comes as county council leaders warned in June that the upcoming North Yorkshire Council could face a blackhole of £50 million in its finances.

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Cllr Gareth Dadd, executive member for finance at the county council, said the situation was largely due to deficits it will inherit from district councils and high inflation.

The new unitary authority will replace Harrogate Borough Council, the county council and the remaining six districts.

Although he did not estimate the total structural deficits that the seven second tier authorities, including Harrogate Borough Council, would have accumulated by the time the new council is launched in April, he said it was believed it would be “substantial”.

It has been estimated the combined ongoing deficits of the district and borough councils could be in the region of £10 million.

In addition, ahead of the recent increasing inflation rate the county authority had been prepared to cover a deficit of up to £20 million.

With inflationary pressures, which include the council’s gas and electricity bill rising by some £3m, it is believed the total deficit could nearly reach £50 million.

Cllr Dadd said at the time:

“That is a frightening figure, but nonetheless, I think we are right to raise that at this stage.”

North Yorkshire to tackle housing crisis with second homes charge

North Yorkshire is set to become the one of the country’s first areas to adopt a mandatory 100% council tax premium for second homes as part of efforts to tackle the housing crisis.

The groundbreaking move, which has been approved at a full meeting of Conservative-led North Yorkshire County Council today, will see the premium introduced for council tax bills on second homes from April 2024, should Royal Assent be given to legislation to give local authorities extra powers.

The county has the highest number of second homes in the region, and concerns have been voiced that the trend is undermining the availability of housing for local communities as well as inflating property prices.

The North Yorkshire Rural Commission, which was established to look into a host of issues affecting countryside communities, last year highlighted the affordable housing crisis as among the greatest challenges to resolve.

The meeting today heard an impassioned debate in which numerous concerns were raised over whether the levy would tackle the issue and the housing crisis blamed on Conservative governments selling off council housing and not building sufficient homes to replace them.

As some opposition councillors described the levy as “far from perfect” and “a serious and credible start” to trying to resolve the lack of affordable homes in areas such as Harrogate, the North Yorkshire coast, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, leading members of the authority nodded in agreement.

The meeting was told it is hoped the premium will provide a £10m boost to finance council priorities, including to help introduce more housing in areas particularly affected by the affordability crisis.

Research has shown the Harrogate district, along with the Craven and Ryedale areas, could each provide about £1.5m in extra revenue through the premium.

‘We feel we are being penalised’

While the authority has claimed the measure is “ultimately aimed at bringing second homes back into use for local communities”, the meeting heard from second home owners in Nidderdale who told councillors the move would create financial difficulties for them.

One couple told the meeting they had converted a chapel, increasing the housing stock in the dale for future generations, but were now facing a penalty for having done so.

The residents stated: 

“We feel we are being penalised for something that is not of our making.”

Independent Cllr John McCartney said the tax premium would amount to “tinkering at the edges”, while Independent group leader Cllr Stuart Parsons said “penalising those who aspire” was the wrong way to deal with the problem.

He called on the council to buy houses and put local occupancy restrictions on them and said there were still simple loopholes for second home owners to avoid paying either council tax or business rates, so the authority looked set to “cut its own throat”.

However, Upper Dales member Councillor Yvonne Peacock said the policy was vital as many people could no longer afford to rent or buy properties in her division.

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The council’s executive member for finance, Cllr Gareth Dadd, said the premium would be levied consistently regardless of second home owners’ circumstances, so the authority could do all it could to incentivise people not to own second homes in the county.

He said there would always be exceptional cases and officers would have the ability to grant reductions if certain criteria were met.

Cllr Dadd said the overwhelming majority of second home owners would be faced with either releasing their properties into the rental market or providing funds for key council services.

Ahead of a majority of members passing the levy, he said while he did not support greater taxation, he was absolutely committed to the move which “would help local people to live and remain in the county”.

Levelling up council tax charges over two years is ‘best compromise’

A move to harmonise council tax payments across North Yorkshire “provokes a whole host of issues around fairness”, a meeting has heard.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s executive was told residents in Hambleton district were facing having to pay significantly higher bills to bring their charges into line with those being levied by second tier authorities elsewhere in the county.

However, leading members highlighted that many Hambleton residents were also facing significant council tax charges from parish councils for services such as public toilets that in other places were being charged for by district councils.

In addition, concerns have been raised that under proposals to level up council tax charges across the county, residents in districts such as Harrogate, Scarborough and Richmondshire would end up paying more for the same services from the unitary council for the next two years.

Councillors were told while Selby and Craven district residents faced paying relatively modest increases in their council tax to bring their payments up to the average, Hambleton district residents were currently paying £89 less than the average district council charge across the county.

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The meeting heard a cross-party group of councillors representing all seven districts had agreed while it was necessary to bring council tax charges into line across the county as part of devolution, the authority would not seek to increase the funds it generated from the levelling up exercise.

Corporate director Gary Fielding told the meeting that councillors had achieved a consensus that levelling up the charges over two years would be the best compromise.

He added:

“The group did recognise that this does provoke a whole host of issues around fairness. Fairness is perhaps in the eye of the beholder, but this was recognised as an appropriate way forward.”

The authority’s executive member for finance, Councillor Gareth Dadd, said there was no easy way for the council to harmonise council tax charges and that there would be “winners and losers”.

He said while Hambleton residents paid less council tax to the district council than other areas, they paid council tax charges to town and parish councils that residents of other areas did not.

Coun Dadd said:

“In some of the ‘winning’ areas there currently isn’t a town council that picks up some of the services.”

After receiving the approval of the authority’s executive, residents will be consulted over the proposal, which will also be considered at a full meeting of the council next month.

Cost of North Yorkshire unitary authority’s new council tax system soars

Council bosses in North Yorkshire are facing calls to explain why a new council tax system will cost taxpayers millions of pounds a year more to run than the current system.

North Yorkshire County Council has revealed the cost of administering the unitary authority’s council tax scheme is expected to be £37m, £2.4m more than the current structure run by North Yorkshire’s district and borough councils.

A cross-party group of councillors has proposed unifying council tax bills across the seven districts over the next two financial years as some areas are paying higher rates than others.

Yesterday the Stray Ferret reported on how the Harrogate has the highest council tax in North Yorkshire.

The move would mean Harrogate’s average bills for a band D property would fall by £23.47 during each of the two years on a current bill of £1,723.27 whilst other areas might see a rise.

The proposed increases and cuts in council tax charges do not include what increases the new unitary authority, police and fire services and parish councils may levy from April 1.

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The county council’s executive member for finance, Councillor Gareth Dadd said the authority was acutely aware of the financial pressures which everyone is under with rising inflation and the cost of energy and food soaring.

He said:

“A great deal of work has gone into the proposed scheme to harmonise council tax bills across all seven districts, and we believe that the plan that has been drawn up to introduce the changes over the two years represents the fairest way forward for everyone involved.”

As part of the proposals, the executive committee will consider providing up to 100 per cent reductions on council tax bills for households on the lowest incomes.

However, opposition politicians said the rising cost of administering the new council tax system raised a red flag, particularly after as the county council had estimated savings brought about by creating abolishing the district and county councils and establishing a unitary authority should reach £252m over its first five years.

Councillor Andy Brown, the authority’s Green Party group coordinator said:

“We were assured that combining into one council would be simple and would reduce costs. We are already seeing how complicated it is and how hard it is to achieve the cost savings.”

Leader of the council’s Independent group, Councillor Stuart Parsons added:

“Big is supposed to be better. One is supposed to be cheaper than eight and this is an area where one is certainly not cheaper. How many other areas will there be.

“This is against all the logic of the massive savings that they claim would result from unification. What other extra costs are envisaged as a result of local government reorganisation and what savings are envisaged to come up with the magnificent £50m a year they have claimed would be found.”

Cllr Parsons said it would take many years for the new authority to iron out inequalities between services in the seven boroughs.

He added:

“I would like a full explanation of how the council has come to this £2.4m figure and how they are going to make it cost neutral. Eventually they should be able to make savings on staff as they establish a single team, but it’s going to take a long, long time.”