Council Tax freezes look good in headlines but leave budgets at risk of falling behind - Carl Les

I do hope that we will not have to use the reserve date. Not only will it suggest a complete lack of consensus within the Council that I don’t detect exists. We are more likely to disagree around the margins, but not the fundamentals.

But also as the NHS tries to reduce its waiting lists at least by one, they are sending me to a private hospital for an eye operation. I don’t want to miss that opportunity in case I go back down the list.

I`ve used the word increase deliberately as it has been some time since we considered a freeze in Council Tax, let alone a decrease.

Freezes sound good in headlines, and certainly are popular, but the risk is that if costs are rising and can’t be contained, then next year`s budget will fall behind what’s necessary, and it becomes harder to catch up. If we look at the Fire and Rescue Service in York and North Yorkshire, government grant funding has produced a low financial base for two decades.

This puts a disproportionate pressure on Council Tax to fill the gap – we have long argued that it is not right that we have to pay more in Council Tax than other areas in the country. The stark example is Westminster. But when Council Tax increases are then constrained by law, the cash produced by that low increase is inadequate to produce the service we want. We have made the point to successive Ministers.

This is exacerbated this year by the government’s increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, and the withdrawal of the support given by the previous administration to service delivery in rural areas. Interestingly since I made this point last week, I have had correspondence disagreeing with me. From those resident in a city. I think that makes my point, although I repeat this should not be a contest between rurality and deprivation.

Consequently (and however necessary this government says its actions are) there are consequences, as the cap has been lifted, the Fire precept has risen by 29 per cent. Absolutely necessary, and supported by the Mayoral Combined Authority of which I am a member, the cross-party Police, Fire and Crime Panel and the cross-party Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as the withdrawal of RSG has taken £700,000 out of a service already strapped for cash.

The impact on North Yorkshire Council is equally severe, as we face the biggest hit in the country, not in thousands but millions, and with no time allowed to transition to the new circumstances.

The hidden impact is that this year, for the first time, we could have considered the savings made through Local Government Reorganisation as an opportunity to review Council Tax levels. That opportunity has been blown out of the water.

More worryingly, the rhetoric behind the withdrawal of RSG, and the practice behind not offsetting the NI increases by 100 per cent, does not bode well for the future Fairer Funding Review or finance settlements.

Savings and efficiencies are fundamental parts of the budget. The other side of the coin is the demand for services, and here we are facing two distinct pressures.

The first, in adult social care, is welcome as it means that more people are living longer, much to their relief and their loved ones. Nearly 40 years ago, my parents died at 68 and 76, ages which appear quite premature today.

The second is the pressure with the number of children, and young adults, with SEND – Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. The National Audit Office confirms this is unsustainable, and that there is no current solution from the government to manage the deficit arising from SEND, and that every council has overspent its allocation since 2016, principally because of transport costs. In NYC’s case our transport costs have risen from £20m pre-Covid to £50m+ today. Efficiencies made, we can only look now at non-statutory elements such as nearest school for all, however unpopular.

Finally, I want to record that this month The Yorkshire Post has lost a very loyal reader. Today my wife’s family will be laying their father to rest. A long life lived to the full until the age of 95, he took The Yorkshire Post every day since marrying at the age of 25, and read it cover to cover. Rest In Peace, Doug. Today you are in the paper, sadly not just reading it.

Carl Les is the Leader of North Yorkshire Council.