Residents and businesses are being urged to help to shape North Yorkshire Council’s financial plans and outline their priorities for key services amid major financial pressures on the authority’s budget.
The council is responsible for a wide range of essential services from social care, education, housing and leisure to roads, transport, waste collection and recycling.
However, the authority is facing intense financial pressures in a situation mirrored across the local government sector. The deeply rural parts of North Yorkshire mean that providing services to often remote communities increases costs significantly, and there is growing demand for adult social care and support for children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities.
A countywide consultation called Let’s Talk Money has been launched to gather the public’s views and pinpoint the key priorities for the council’s budget for the next financial year and the Council Plan for 2027/28.
North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:
“Our annual Let’s Talk Money survey gives our residents and businesses the opportunity to have a say on what our priorities should be to provide important services to the public.
“We are committed to ensuring we offer the very best value for our taxpayers, and it is vital that we are able to see exactly what people see as the main priorities. I would urge as many people as possible to give their views in such an important consultation for the county.”
Among the greatest pressures on the council’s budget is the need to provide vital support for vulnerable people across the county, with 34 per cent of the authority’s £1.4 billion annual budget being spent on adult social care.
The council’s executive member for finance, Cllr Peter Wilkinson, said:
“We have always prided ourselves on the fact that our finances have been well managed, which has been so important with the challenges we are facing for our budget.
“We will listen and take into account all the views and comments we receive to help us to shape the priorities for the next financial year.”
The Let’s Talk Money survey is asking people to say how important the council’s key priorities of affordable homes, promoting health and wellbeing, providing education and social care support, reducing the impact of climate change, supporting the local economy and transport are to them. This year’s Let’s Talk Money survey is asking for the public’s views on the second homes council tax premium.
The public are also being asked if they are prepared to support an increase in council tax and a precept to pay for adult social care.
The results of the consultation will be included in a report on the proposed budget for the 2027/28 financial year which will be considered by the council’s executive in January before a final decision will be made at a full council meeting the following month.
The online survey is available at www.northyorks.gov.uk/LetsTalk and closes on Thursday, November 26.
Alternative formats of the consultation and supporting information are available on request by emailing LetsTalk@northyorks.gov.uk or calling 0300 131 2 131 and saying ‘Let’s Talk Money’ when prompted. Paper copies will also be available from all libraries in North Yorkshire. More information about the current Council Plan is available at www.northyorks.gov.uk/councilplan
