York rents to rise by 7% and jobs to be axed as city looks to make £8 million in cuts

Council rents will rise by seven per cent – almost £6 per week on average – under City of York Council’s budget proposals for 2023/24,

As we reported yesterday, the authority is also set to increase council tax by 4.99% as it faces “unprecedented” pressures on its finances.

Record inflation combined with an increased demand for its services – particularly for adult and children’s social care – on top of the pandemic and years of austerity, mean the council faces “tough decisions”, finance chief Cllr Nigel Ayre said.

Cuts and savings of £8.2 million between 2023-2025 have been identified.

Nearly £300,000 will be cut from day support and short stays for carers, more than half-a-million slashed from learning disability budgets and £25,000 from school catering services.

Elsewhere, fees and charges for services like burials and parking are also set to rise.

Jobs are also on the line as the council seeks to reduce its number of chief officers and stop the use of interim and agency staff for senior roles – though bosses have also told staff “every opportunity will be explored to mitigate any compulsory redundancies”.

The council said it would plough an extra £5 million into adult social care and children’s services. This area accounts for around two thirds of its overall spending

Cllr Ayre said: “The impacts of the pandemic, rising costs and increasing demand for services, as well as the Government’s failure to provide what councils need to respond to these challenges, has meant that, as other councils across the country, we are left facing tough decisions.”

He pointed out that City of York Council receives significantly less national funding compared to other councils.

But despite the council tax rise of 2.99 per cent and the additional adult social care precept of two per cent, York still has lower council tax bills than most other places in the country.