Salary savings diverted to help maintain roads and schools

The council got a one-off £3.5m central government rebate and saved millions of pounds by not filling vacant posts.

However, the authority still has to save £30m over four years, with the greatest impact likely in the first two years.

Council leader Stephen Parnaby said: “This is an excellent outcome and I would stress that we are achieving the reductions while still protecting the vital services on which communities throughout the East Riding depend. “I am also pleased to report that the council is on course to achieve its savings target of £14m through our business transformation projects – £4m more than originally forecast.”

The council is set to extend or remodel oversubscribed primary schools in the Welton and Brough area and build 150 affordable homes. Councillors also hope the Beverley southern relief road and A164 Castle Hill/Willerby improvements will go ahead.

Investment is also planned in leisure facilities, economic regeneration and energy efficiency projects which, councillors hope will bring future savings.

Labour councillor Keith Moore said while the council was making improvements, some roads in Goole were in “urgent need” of repair. He said its cuts were “relatively small” compared to one like Durham County Council, which was having to make £125m cuts, but said he’d leave others to decide whether it was because one was Tory and the other Labour-controlled.