Long-term challenges remain for authority

THE LEADER of North Yorkshire County Council says it still faces long-term challenges paying for its services despite getting a funding boost from the Government.

The authority covering England’s largest county has been told it will get £3.2m in extra funding from the Rural Services Grant, which recognises the cost of services in sparsely populated areas.

It cancels out the loss of the £3m in ‘transitional relief’ the council received in 2017, which was due to run out this year. The local government funding settlement approved this week also increases North Yorkshire’s core spending power by £12.2m for 2018/19.

The change was welcomed by Julian Smith, a North Yorkshire MP and the Government’s Chief Whip, who said it was “great news for our area”.

North Yorkshire leader Carl Les said the loss of the transitional relief was raised with Communities Secretary Sajid Javid via North Yorkshire’s MPs and the County Council Network.

He said: “What Sajid Javid has done is come up with increases to the social care element of our funding and the rural services grant, both of which are big issues for us. It costs more to deliver services in rural areas and social care is our biggest ticking time bomb.”

Coun Les said the extra funding “does not alleviate the fact that we have some big challenges to face”, adding that the authority still had to find £16m in savings next year. He said: “We don’t have the £3m gap challenge to face but we still have a growing population over 65, with the challenges that brings.”