North Yorkshire Council is calling on the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire to act as an advocate for the region in its ongoing dispute with the government over the withdrawal of a £14.3 million rural services delivery grant.
Councillor Gareth Dadd, the council's executive member for finance and resources, has stated that it is "absolutely vital" for the council to formally seek the Mayor's support, emphasising that the Mayor's role should extend beyond usual mayoral functions to include being an ambassador and advocate for the region, particularly with a government of the same party.
The council claims that the loss of the grant, along with an increase in employer national insurance contributions, has left the authority with a £5 million shortfall, even with a planned 4.99 per cent increase in council tax and that the authority is £22 million worse off than it was last year as result of changes in government funding and the increase in National Insurance contributions.
The council has already taken the first steps toward a legal challenge against the government's decision to axe the £14 million grant, sending a "letter before action". According to Council Leader Carl Les, the letter was sent to the government and the county's MPs, challenging the decision on three points: the consultation process, the rationality of the decision, and the impact on the council's public sector equality duties for the rural population.
The council argues the government's decision was unsound, as the government stated there was no evidence that services in rural areas cost more to deliver, that rural areas are more affluent than city areas, and that councils just use the grant to bolster their reserves, which is not the case in North Yorkshire.
Councillor Dadd wants the council to deliver a copy of their letter to the Government to the MAyor at a meeting later today
In response to the council's concerns, Mayor David Skaith acknowledged the challenges faced by local authorities and in an interview with This is the Coast stressed his primary loyalty was to the people of York and North Yorkshire.
He also noted the difficult financial situations that all local authorities have faced for over a decade, and pointed out the cuts other authorities like York have had to make.
While the government has said that councils with a significant rural population would receive around 5% more in their core spending power, ministers have argued that the rural services delivery grant did not properly account for rural need and many rural councils received nothing from it.
Mayor Skaith has indicated that the government is prioritizing investment into areas with high deprivation and that the government has faced difficult decisions and underinvestment for many years.
The council plans to formally deliver a letter regarding this issue to the mayor at a meeting this afternoon.
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