City of York Council response to Local Government Finance Settlement 2013/14
Issued by City of York Council
City of York Council today has confirmed that its grant from government will be cut by 10.3 per cent (£4 million) in 2013/14 and is expecting to see a further cut of 14.3 per cent in 2014/15, following the Local Government Finance Settlement announcement by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles.
The settlement sets out a new regime for financing local government, which reduces grants and introduces local retention of a small proportion of business rates.
Cllr Alexander, leader of City of York Council said: “The settlement announced by government yesterday means that we are now looking at a cut of £4 million from our budget next year. We have already seen a 31 per cent cut in our funding since the general election. These cuts go way beyond making efficiencies, into service cuts that will unavoidably have a huge impact on the most vulnerable people in our society. The announced cut of over 10 per cent from our Council Tax Support, for those who need it most, demonstrates this clearly.
“There are still significant gaps in the information we have been provided, such as the Public Health figures now due to be issued in January. This gives us just one month in which we have all the information we need to make decisions on future services – hardly enough time to consult with our residents in the way they would expect. In light of these ongoing government funding reductions, all of our services are now under consideration”.
Kersten England, chief executive of City of York Council said: “The impact of these cuts cannot be underestimated. Since the general election we have already cut 40 per cent of our senior management costs and 33 per cent of our administration costs. We have made all of our services more cost efficient, saving £42 million over the last three years.”
“The leader and I took part in a teleconference this morning with 200 other council representatives and Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis MP. We have requested a meeting with the Minister in the New Year to discuss York’s settlement and our concerns with this.”
City of York Council’s government grant and business rates funding total £58.1 million in 2013/14.
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