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Survey - Let's Talk Money 2022
Let's Talk Money
From 1 April next year, North Yorkshire Council will replace the eight councils currently delivering public services across the county. The new council will deliver services including adult social care, housing, waste collection, transport, planning, community safety, children’s services, education, leisure and many more.
For all eight councils, demand for services has exceeded central government funding. There are other significant financial pressures too, with inflation – the rate at which the price of things rises – reaching double figures for the first time in over 40 years. These cost issues, along with staffing challenges, also affect partners and suppliers.
All of these factors combine to make a very challenging financial environment for North Yorkshire Council. However, the new council will meet this challenge head on to protect vital services and continue delivering the help and support that people across the county rely on.
We want to know which front line services are most important to you. Use the slider to decide how you would prioritise the new council’s budget.
North Yorkshire has the highest number of second homes in the Yorkshire and Humber region, which affects the availability of housing for local people. In September, senior councillors on North Yorkshire County Council’s executive backed a proposal to introduce a 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes within two years. This would mean that council tax bills are effectively doubled for second home owners.
If the plans are agreed, the extra funding that would be raised by increasing council tax for people who own second homes is estimated at around £14m a year. This financial boost would help to fund key priorities for the new council such as tackling the affordable housing crisis. The 100 per cent council tax premium on second homes would not be introduced until 1 April 2024, if the Government’s proposals to make these changes become law.
The plans will be considered and an initial decision made at a full council meeting on 16 November 2022. Your feedback and the results of this consultation will then be included in the budget report, which will go to the county council’s executive on 24 January 2023 and to full council on 22 February 2023 when a final decision will be made.
By law, North Yorkshire Council must set a single base level for council tax. Currently, the seven borough and district councils all charge different amounts.
The Government will allow the new council to make council tax levels the same over a period of up to eight years. To get the right balance of fairness for everyone, the recommendation is that council tax levels are made the same over a period of two financial years starting from 1 April 2023.
This avoids the sharp and sudden increase that would happen by making council tax the same in a single year, but means that people are paying the same amount for the same services more quickly.
For people in some areas this will mean an increase in their council tax bill and for others it will mean they pay less. If the proposals are agreed, the first change to the base level of council tax will take effect from 1 April 2023 and the second from 1 April 2024. This means that the base level of council tax for the financial year 2024/25 will be the same for the whole of North Yorkshire.
The plans will be considered and an initial decision made at a full council meeting on 16 November 2022. Your feedback and the results of this consultation will then be included in the budget report, which will go to the county council’s executive on 24 January 2023 and to full council on 22 February 2023 when a final decision will be made.
The table below shows how much the base level of council tax will go up or down over the next two years for the average Band D household if the proposals are agreed.
This information only relates to making the base level of council tax the same across North Yorkshire, it is different to any general increase.
| Current Band D council tax charge by area
| Proposed year one difference | Proposed year two difference | Proposed total difference over two years
|
Craven
| £1,654.56 | Up £10.88 | Up £10.88 | Up £21.76 |
Hambleton
| £1,586.83 | Up £44.75 | Up £44.74 | Up £89.49 |
Harrogate
| £1,723.27 | Down £23.47 | Down £23.48 | Down £46.95
|
Richmondshire
| £1,692.35 | Down £8.01 | Down £8.02 | Down £16.03 |
Ryedale | £1,675.56 | Up £0.38
| Up £0.38
| Up £0.76
|
Scarborough
| £1,712.10 | Down £17.89 | Down £17.89 | Down £35.78 |
Selby
| £1,650.57 | Up £12.88 | Up £12.87 | Up £25.75 |
As well as making the base level of council tax the same across North Yorkshire, we also need to decide if we increase council tax before setting a budget for the new council on 22 February next year.
We know that many people are struggling as the cost of food, energy and other essentials continues to rise, so any decisions on council tax will be considered very carefully. Supporting people during the cost of living crisis is a key priority for the new council, and the proposed new scheme for council tax reduction will give the maximum level of reduction for the people most in need.
Council tax is now the most important source of funding for the council and each one per cent increase would raise £4m towards meeting rising costs and demand.
Uncertainty around future funding and the wider economy means that it’s difficult to plan ahead. The rise in energy rates alone will cost the council over £9m extra next year.
Each one per cent increase in council tax would add:
- £17 to the average Band D household bill for the year; or
- around £1.40 per month.
How far council tax can be raised is, in part, controlled by the Government. In recent years they have set a ‘referendum limit’ which means any increase above that rate has to be voted on locally. The cost and practicalities of doing that means that this limit acts as a cap on council tax increases.
At the time of launching this consultation it was unclear whether the Government would impose a referendum limit for the coming year and how much that might be. In his Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022, the Chancellor announced that local authorities in England who provide social care will be able to increase council tax by up to 5 per cent without holding a local referendum, with a 3 per cent general increase and 2 per cent to fund social care.
North Yorkshire County Council spends more than £275m on adult social care services every year, but there are significant pressures in the market and in North Yorkshire one in four of the county’s total population is aged 65 or over.
In recent years, the Government has allowed councils to levy a special charge on top of general council tax called the adult social care precept.
Each one per cent increase in this charge would add:
£17 to the annual bill for a Band D property; or
around £1.40 per month.
This would raise approximately £4m towards funding these vital services.
The adult social care precept is an extra charge on top of general council tax and is set aside specifically for services such as supporting people to live independently in their own homes as well as residential and nursing care.
Please remember that how much extra you are willing to pay is on top of general council tax referred to in the previous question.
By creating a single council for North Yorkshire there will be opportunities for transformation and savings in the future. There will be:
- fewer councillors;
- a smaller senior management structure; and
- less duplication by joining up services.
The larger organisation will also be able to buy goods and services in the most cost effective way. In the longer-term, bringing together services, for example waste collection and disposal, will potentially give further opportunities for efficiencies. We expect that many of these changes will happen over several years.
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