North Yorkshire services to feel pressure of £30m shortfall when new council takes over in 2023

The new unitary authority, which launches on April 1 to cover the whole of the county and take over all Harrogate Borough Council roles, will see an increase of £22 million in additional funding from the Government in the 2023/24 financial year, principally to respond to the massive increase in social care costs and to assist in getting people out of hospitals more quickly.

The Government has also announced that nearly £18.5 million in grant funding will be given to North Yorkshire to ease the pressures on the county’s adult social care services.

But, it is still estimated that there will be a shortfall of more than £30 million in the new council’s overall budget for the next financial year, the majority of which will have to be covered by the one-off use of reserves as well as some savings.

The county council’s leader, Coun Carl Les, welcomed the largest increase in funding from the Government in a decade, but stressed that the additional money would not be enough to counter soaring inflation which has had a dramatic impact on the authority’s finances.

He warned that millions of pounds in savings will still need to be made, although the forthcoming overhaul of local government would help to ease financial pressures by streamlining services.

Coun Les, who will assume the leadership of the new North Yorkshire 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 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.”

Significant overspends are already being reported in each of the county council’s service directorates.

For instance, the health and adult services directorate is being faced with huge pressure from increased demand, especially for adult social care as well as inflation, and its existing £7.9 million in contingency funding has already been allocated.

In the longer term, the financial gap is expected to widen and will need to be met by additional savings.

The new council is expected to work on developing a detailed plan for a major strategy to balance the authority’s books.

Alongside the highest rate of inflation for 40 years, the intense pressures on the country’s finances have been compounded by the aftershock of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the ongoing effects of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The announcement by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, means that councils across the country will benefit from an additional £5 billion – a nine per cent increase on last year’s settlement, assuming that local authorities increase council tax to the maximum level that is allowed.