City of York Council warns of cuts due to financial position

York is one of the lowest funded councils in England

A senior councillor has warned cuts to services in York are inevitable, saying the Labour-run authority was in a "very difficult financial position".

Katie Lomas, executive member for finance, said the council was "amongst the worst-funded areas" and called on government to address the issue.

Were the city to receive average national funding levels per person she said there would be an extra £16.5m.

The BBC has contacted the government for a response.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service in August, the Institute for Fiscal Studies released data showing that £3,642 is spent per person in York on all public services.

This is 15.5% below the national average of £4,310 and the lowest out of all 150 local authorities in England.

York is also the second lowest funded for schools per person, third lowest for the local NHS, eighth lowest for local government and 24th lowest for public health.

"York being amongst the worst-funded areas nationally for its local council, for its local NHS and for its schools, tells its own story," Ms Lomas said.

"Were York to receive the average, it would have another £16.5m per year added to an existing annual budget of around £141m, highlighting just how vital this extra funding is."

She said lower funding for the NHS and schools added to the pressures on council services.

"We will always do well with what we have, but significant cuts to services are inevitable while York remains in this very difficult financial position."

Labour leader of the council Claire Douglas said they were ensuring support went to those hit the hardest by the cost of living crisis

Labour took control of the authority following elections in May, having previously been run by the Liberal Democrats in coalition with the Green Party.

The Liberal Democrats have criticised Labour already over the reallocation of funding for certain council wards.

This included suspending the ward committee highway funding and moving the money into the central highways repairs fund.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Hollyer said it was a "devastating cut to our communities".

"Not only have York Labour failed to follow through on their pledge to deliver further help to York's residents, they have made the situation even worse by slashing funding for local communities to tackle the issues being faced in their own areas," he said.

Council leader Claire Douglas said the new administration had made changes to ensure more support was directed to those "communities most impacted by the cost of living crisis".

"We have also taken swift action to allocate £1.3m over two years on work to make council homes more energy efficient, helping to combat fuel poverty," she said.

"And starting next Monday, up to three children travelling by bus with a fare-paying adult will travel for free, while those up to age 16 travelling unaccompanied will pay no more than £1 per journey."