Harrogate MP speaks up about North Yorkshire's deepening financial deficit after Budget

Tom Gordon, Lib Dem MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough told the House of Commons that, being the largest geographic council in the country, North Yorkshire Council deserve additional government support to meet the area’s specific needs.

"It’s essential that the Government recognises the unique challenges faced by North Yorkshire as the largest geographic council in England,” he said.

"The funding provided to North Yorkshire Council must account for these difficulties, which other councils simply do not face

"Services like home-to-school transport are essential, yet the strain on resources is unsustainable without additional support.”

Following the launch of North Yorkshire Council in April last year, the Tory-led authority already faced a huge budget shortfall after years of austerity by central government.

Council leaders had drawn up plans to achieve more than £40 million in savings – although this has still left a predicted £58 million annual deficit by March 31, 2028.

But, in the aftermath of the new Government’s first Budget in October, the council’s deputy leader, Coun Gareth Dadd, said North Yorkshire Council finds itself with an additional shortfall in funding of nearly £6.5 million

And Coun Dadd is warning that the financial settlements confirmed by the Government will leave many councils covering rural areas in a far more perilous financial state when compared to urban local authorities.

“We are extremely disappointed with the financial settlement which we have been awarded by the Government,” he said.

“It seems that rural councils are being left at a distinct disadvantage to their counterparts in more urban areas as ministers have taken the decision to target more funding towards towns and cities.”

North Yorkshire Council says its financial position has been worsened by the Budget in two significany ways:

The axing of rural grants worth £14.3m per year in North Yorkshire.

Increases in employer’s National Insurance costs from April 2025.

The Chancellor announced in the Budget in October that the rate that employers pay in National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent on workers’ earnings from April next year.

The decision has left North Yorkshire Council facing an estimated £7 million shortfall, even with an estimated £5 million grant from the Government to cover the rising cost of National Insurance contributions.

North Yorkshire Council says the shortfall has been compounded by the unrelenting demand for care of older people, working age adults, and children and young people.

In addition, the county’s sparsely populated communities increase the costs but diminish potential economies of scale compared to more urban counties.

North Yorkshire Council spends more than £50 million each year on home to school transport and the policy has had to be revised after costs have more than doubled since 2018/19 when it was last reviewed.

It’s a problem also being highlighted by Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon.

The MP pointed out that the expense of SEN home-to-school transport in North Yorkshire has risen sharply in recent years.

Despite that, North Yorkshire Council ranks 148th out of 151 local authorities for high-needs funding per head of population.

"Services like home-to-school transport are essential, yet the strain on resources is unsustainable without additional support,” Mr Gordon said.