North Yorkshire Council has revealed it could be encountering its ‘most severe’ budget round yet.
In a performance monitoring committee meeting on Tuesday, council chiefs warned that ‘without action’, the local authority will need to use roughly £57m of its reserves by March 2028.
Councillors suggested that this will occur before the second fairer funding review that would provide formula changes.
‘Be prepared for the most severe budget round that this authority and its predecessors has ever faced’, chiefs said.
According to the meeting report, the council forecasts a £5m overspend by the end of the financial year’s first quarter, while the ‘cumulative deficit’ faced by the local authority is expected to rise above £57m by the end of 2027/28.
The meeting report also highlights that ‘demand and cost pressures remain prevalent in the people-relate services’, with an overspend of above £10m predicted in the council’s CYPS budget.
