• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

News and entertainment worth sharing – York and North Yorkshire

  • News
  • Radio
  • Hero Awards
  • Things to do
  • Community
  • More
    • Food & drink
    • Business
  • About
    • Comments
    • Advertise
    • Contact us
    • Corrections & complaints
  • Radio
  • WIN
  • Vouchers
  • Listen live »
York Theatre Royal

‘Once it’s gone, it’s gone’ – York council’s money worries blamed on repeated raids on its reserves

Thu 14 Sep 2023 @ 10:41am - News
Adam Laver - Local Democracy Reporter

Debbie Mitchell, York's chief financial officer. Photograph: City of York Council

York’s chief financial officer has said continuously borrowing from reserves has led to the city’s difficult financial situation.

Cuts are planned by City of York Council to deal with its forecasted £11.4m overspend that would exhaust its reserves.

The Labour administration and the opposition group of Liberal Democrat councillors have, subsequently, pointed fingers at each other.

Cycle Heaven
Cycle Heaven #Ad

Liberal Democrats accuse Labour of causing the damage since coming into office in May.

But Labour says the Liberal Democrat and Green coalition managed council finances without considering long term implications of their decisions when they were in office.

To get an apolitical point of view, the Local Democracy Reporting Service asked two of the council’s most senior officers for their assessment of the situation.

Debbie Mitchell, the chief financial officer, said: “If you look at our history, in terms of our budget position, our pressures and areas of overspending are recurring and they’re national issues, predominantly adult and children social care.

“But our mitigations to balance our budget have been one-off [payments].

“We need more government funding; we do very badly out of any government grants and government funding.

“But if you look at our last three years, for example, we overspent by just under £5m last year and that was funded by contingencies and other one-off reserves.

“We overspent by £2.5m the year before and we overspent by £1.3m the year before that.

“So you can see it’s gradually been getting to a position where the overspend has been increasing.

“So now we’re at a position where we’ve used spare money, one-off money.

“But once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Difficult decisions

York chief operating officer Ian Floyd. Photograph: City of York Council

This appears to echo finance executive Cllr Katie Lomas’ recent comments.

“The old Liberal Democrat administration managed the council’s finances as though they wouldn’t be around to worry about the consequences, which has proven to be the case,” Cllr Lomas said.

Ian Floyd, the council’s chief operating officer, feels confident the situation will be properly handled.

York Theatre Royal

“It’s a very difficult financial position but it’s not one that we can’t manage, I would say,” he said.

“That will require difficult decisions to be made and a number of those decisions will require political leadership.

“What I’ve seen so far demonstrates the ability to take that political leadership.”

Liberal Democrat leader Nigel Ayre defended his party’s record, however.

“Only two months ago they laid out their new budget, splurging on new council officers and pet projects that were never affordable,” he said.

“Attention to detail is the bedrock of sound financial management.”

Cllr Ayre added: “Under the leadership of the Liberal Democrats over the last four years the council came in on budget, every year.

“Whether through the Covid pandemic, through the Liz Truss economy crash, through the sky-high inflation following the Ukraine war, without having to make the sorts of drastic in-year cuts that have been threatened, despite similar in-year pressures.”

Thu 14 Sep, 2023

Footer

YorkMix
News 01904 848 766
Email YorkMix news »
5-6 King's Court, Shambles, York  YO1 7LD
YorkMix Radio
General enquiries 01904 375 029
Studio/competitions 01904 375 030
Email YorkMix Radio »
Selby Superbowl, Bawtry Road, Selby  YO8 8NA
YorkMix is a trading name of YorkMix Media Ltd
Registered in England
Company number: 07814727
VAT number: 154 0364 34
© York Sound Ltd

Copyright © 2023 YorkMix Media Ltd

  • Privacy policy
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT