York City Council unveils “Caring For York” budget

Proposals will be presented to Council Executive on Monday 7 February and then debated at Full Council on Thursday 17 February.

The proposed budget commits over £16m of revenue investment in Council Services, and reflects the Council’s ongoing commitment to accelerating York’s economic recovery from the pandemic, investing in communities, protecting frontline services and taking action to address climate change.

Key to the budget’s investment in Caring For York is the proposal for additional £9.2m funding to support and improve adult social care and children’s services, supported living and services based in the community. This additional investment would provide:

• A further £4.7m for children services, in addition to the £1m agreed last year and £3.2m ongoing since 2019/20, to provide a better start for York’s children and young people, including further funding for children safeguarding, improving school attendance, protecting fostering and adopting support, and providing more resource for teams helping young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Investment of over £4.5m in adult social care, in addition to the £1m agreed last year, to support and care for some of the most vulnerable residents in York. This includes supporting adult social care staff, providing easily accessible services based in the community, supporting services with early intervention, and enabling residents to remain in their homes for longer.

Leader of City of York Council, Councillor Keith Aspden said: “With the continued impact of the pandemic, this is a difficult financial time for all councils across the country. The Government seems unable to provide clarity about our medium term finances and unwilling to provide the pledged resources needed to meet significant increases in demands for social care and other crucial services.

“Despite Government inaction, in York, we are taking a firm stance with a proposed budget focused around caring for York. Caring for residents and communities, including the most vulnerable; for our economy, including businesses hit hardest by the pandemic; for our environment, recognising that we must continue to address the climate emergency.”

In addition to the significant investment in Social Care, the proposed budget will also invest in support for businesses, the city’s infrastructure and for the environment, to accelerate a sustainable long-term recovery. This includes:

• £43m to progress the York Central scheme – key to both the city’s future economic prosperity and to providing more housing the city needs
• £66m to improve the city’s road network infrastructure and accelerate the delivery of flood defences, in conjunction with local and regional flood defence funding
• £11m to progress regeneration schemes in the city, including Castle Gateway and the Guildhall
• £63m to further progress the York Outer Ring Road dualling, including cycling and walking improvements
• £126m to deliver more housing across the city, including affordable housing
• £150k to develop a Local Transport Plan to move the city towards zero carbon by 2030 and tackle congestion and traffic pollution in the city centre
• £50K to support residents with the lowest incomes by extension of the winter fuel voucher scheme
• £30k to continue additional winter gritting of key cycle routes
• £30k to create an Access Officer post to support City Centre Access and deliver measures to improve access for everyone who lives, visits and works in our city.
• £20k – one-off funding to support the independent, inter-sectional Anti- Racist Working Group, to support ‘Making York an Anti-Racist and Inclusive City’ as approved by Full Council on 21 October 2021.

Further, to address continued financial challenges caused by the pandemic, the Council is also investing £1.1million in COVID-19 Recovery.

This includes;

• £200k for Covid-19 recovery efforts in local communities
• £100k for holiday hunger support to children
• £150k for households on the lowest incomes via the York Financial Assistance Fund, helping residents with the pandemic’s financial impact
• £100k extra mental health support
• £100k for education catch-up through reintegration for children who have become disengaged from school
• £50k to support York’s bid for Great British Railways HQ and Devolution to help strengthen our economy and unlock significant investment
• £50k to continue to support local businesses during recovery
• £50k for sustainable travel incentives which support recovery and build back confidence in public transport

Councillor Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader of the Council, added: “Our proposed budget builds on the extraordinary effort of the council’s frontline staff, communities and businesses who did so much during the pandemic to care for those who needed help the most.”

This focus on caring has been key throughout the pandemic across the council services and not least in the sterling work of our Public Health team. We see it in the attention and support frontline staff give to our most vulnerable and elderly, as well as the safeguarding, care, education and support they provide to York’s children and young people.

“It is also present in the steps we take to protect our environment and frontline services – waste collection, street cleaning, road and transport improvement and recycling, as well as in our support to partners and businesses, and our commitment to improving the city’s infrastructure.

“It has become increasingly hard for all councils to maintain the services that are crucial to residents in the face of rising demand and steadily declining Government funding. Despite this, we continue to manage budgets effectively, and as such we are proud to be able to invest in the things that matter most to York’s residents.”

The 2022/23 budget has been developed through resident and business consultation including an online survey, a survey in the resident magazine Our City and an independent focus group. Some 370 residents and businesses responded. Results of the surveys can be found in the Executive meeting reports.