Some services to be cut in North Yorkshire's Council Plan 2016-2020

The county council will be forced to save £50m from its revenue budget budget by 2019/20 - £14m of which still remains unplanned for.

Coun Carl Les, leader of NYCC, said that the Council Plan 2016-2020, approved on Wednesday, February 24, will examine how the council meets the austerity challenge.

The plan will also set out the council's priorities for the next four years but Coun Les admitted they will no longer be able to provide some some services.

He said: "We need to be absolutely clear on the level of support that we are able to provide.

“For example, we have already transferred a number of libraries from being run by the council to being run by communities.

"More of this will happen and we will need to be clear with our community partners about how we will work with them to help community services to thrive."

However, Coun Les stressed that the county council were making 'every attempt' to protect vital front-line services despite plans to cut spending by around £170m by 2020.

Around £116m has already been completed with some services already deeply affected but the council said changes have been mainly in the 'back office'.

Despite the cuts on spending, Coun Les said he was confident the strategies outlined in the Council Plan would help manage the future of these services.

He said: "Our Stronger Communities team is working with communities to support those who can and want to run services better and more cheaply than the council.

"We are also working with communities, families and individuals to help older and vulnerable people live independently and well for longer.

“We are in a significantly better place than many councils because of our strong financial planning and because we have reserves that we can use to help us approach the budget in a realistic and sensible way,”

The council are almost halfway through their 2020 North Yorkshire change programme which aims to make themselves more flexible and agile despite becoming smaller.

NYCC said their plans focus on helping children and young people have a great start in life, strengthening the county's economy and protecting its environment and heritage.

Coun Les added: “Our priorities must focus on where we can provide leadership and where intervention is needed to overcome some of the on-going issues that affect the lives of people within the county.”