‘Unavoidable cuts’ on the horizon for council facing £40m budget gap

A report to the council’s Executive Committee said delivery of the council’s Medium-Term four-year Financial Strategy would be “extremely challenging” for residents and for the council, with services to be reduced or scrapped altogether, or service charges being introduced.

That report identified a budget gap of £40m over the next four years.

The council’s main budget report – its Financial Strategy 2024/25 to 2028/29 – includes detailed revenue budget proposals for 2024/25 and asks senior councillors to make budget recommendations to a meeting of all councillors next month for approval.

The Financial Strategy delivers a balanced budget for 2024/25 with savings proposals totalling £14.3m – equivalent to cutting almost £1m in every £10m of the council’s revenue budget.

City of York Council leader, Councillor Claire Douglas said: “We’ve been clear from day one that the budget we inherited after 13 years of central government funding cuts, combined with the depletion of council reserves, meant making some very tough decisions.

“My Executive colleagues and I are not happy about the need to take these decisions and feel deeply uncomfortable about the harrowing impact of the budgetary position we find the council in.

“Unlike other public sector organisations, we have a legal responsibility to set a balanced budget and that’s what we publish today.”

Councillor Katie Lomas, executive member for finance, performance, major projects and equalities, said: “Every year we see the increasing impact of Government funding reductions on local councils, pushing more and more closer to the brink.

“York is currently operating on a budget around £40m below what it should be. Our historically low funding base means we are forced to make deeper cuts than other comparable councils.

“High inflation, increasing demand for high-cost services the council must legally deliver, national funding reductions and restrictions on income all combine to leave us having to remove almost 10% of the council’s budget.

“The reality is the Government has chosen to shrink councils and what they can deliver and to a large extent, local decisions makers are left to manage those national decisions.”

Key savings proposals include: introduction of charges for garden waste collection; changes in the council’s contract with Explore to deliver library services; increases in parking charges across the city; and a city-wide review of personal care and support services.