Blows traded over almost £10m black hole facing York Council

City of York Council is facing an almost £9.65m budget gap in 2027/8 (Image: Supplied)

AN almost £10 million black hole facing City of York Council has seen politicians trade blows.

Opposition Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Cllr Paul Healey said Labour failed to stand up for York amid fears it could lose £38.4m on top of 2027/8’s £9.65m forecasted budget gap.

York’s Conservative group leader Cllr Chris Steward said residents had not seen anything of extra funds raised through maximum 4.99 per cent council tax hikes made under Labour.

But ruling Labour’s finance executive member Cllr Katie Lomas said Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were posing as defenders of council finances after imposing austerity and cuts while in Government.

It comes after council finance lead Debbie Mitchell said York was facing significant cost pressures following BBC analysis of local authority finances.

RECOMMENDED READING:

• Warnings as almost £10m black hole facing York Council
• £38m 'abyss' warning prompts call for help from chancellor - who studied in York
• New home tax should not leave councils 'out of pocket'- York leader

York looks set to have to plug the £9.65 million next year after planning £10.92 million-worth of savings in 2026/7 and hiking council tax by the maximum allowed.

The broadcaster’s Shared Data Unit found councils across the UK faced having to plug budget gaps worth a combined £3.8 billion in the coming financial year.

Changes to how councils get cash from the Government could also see York lose £38.4 million by 2029 and leave it as the lowest-funded authority in the country.

A Government spokesperson told the BBC they were making £78bn available to local authorities through this year’s funding settlements.

Ministers have said Fair Funding reforms are needed to ensure money goes to the most deprived parts of the country where it is needed most.

City of York Council is facing a £9.65 million budget black hole next year

(Image: LDRS)

But Liberal Democrat Cllr Healey said it would take a council tax rise of 13 per cent to close looming budget black holes, equivalent to £295 for a Band D home.

The Liberal Democrat said: “York’s Labour Council, York and North Yorkshire Mayor and two MPs have abjectly failed to stand up for a fair deal for our city.

“Liberal Democrats are stepping up to try to salvage the situation, we recently wrote to the new Chancellor John Healey asking him to put right the decision to press ahead with the Fair Funding Review and deliver York the fair deal it deserves.

“Having got elected on a promise to freeze council tax, hiking it would represent a new low for this incompetent administration.”

Conservative leader Cllr Steward said Labour had promised to get more money that they said was needed for York but had instead delivered the worst funding settlement ever seen.

He said: “Sadly, York Labour councillors and MPs would rather tolerate this situation than criticise their government.

“The problem for York is how appallingly bad the current Labour administration has been at spending money.

“Despite huge failures in house-building, delivering free school meals for all children and the crumbling of the city’s roads the administration has had been hiking council tax by the maximum allowed but residents are not seeing anything of it.”

Cllr Lomas said neither the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats could pretend they had nothing to do with the pressures facing councils.

She added speculating about hypothetical council tax rises was irresponsible when people were already worried about their bills.

Cllr Lomas said: “It takes some nerve for both opposition parties to suddenly present themselves as the defenders of council finances when the Conservatives were in government nationally for 14 years, including five years in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

“Here in York, the Liberal Democrats ran the council for eight years, including four years in a joint administration with the Conservatives.

“Since Labour took over, we’ve balanced the books every year while protecting the services people rely on.”