York council is asking people for ideas about how to save money as it faces having to plug a £30 million budget black hole over the next three years.

The council has launched its Big Budget Conversation which asks residents to tell it what services they think should be prioritised and where they think spending could be cut.

Council finance executive member Cllr Katie Lomas said the authority faced having to make unpalatable choices after years of funding reductions and the impact of coronavirus and recent high inflation.

City of York Council leader Cllr Claire Douglas said they were making an urgent call for people to help them balance the books while the authority remains one of the lowest-funded in England.

The consultation, which is set to run until September, comes as the council is set to begin drafting its budget for the next financial year.

Budget meetings, including whether or not to increase council tax and how much by, are set to take place in February.

The council has already had to save £14 million this financial year which has included cutting £600,000 from York Explore, which runs the city’s libraries, over the next two years.

Cuts worth £50,000 over two years to contracts with Make It York, the city’s tourism body, were also approved in March.

Council officials have also been looking at selling off assets including buildings which have underperformed or been deemed not worth their returns while efficiency savings continue to be sought.

Warnings about York council’s budgets have also come amid mounting concern for local government finances nationally.

A number of local authorities including Birmingham City Council and Nottingham City Council have been forced to issue Section 114 notices in the last year, effectively declaring bankruptcy.

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A council finance director and Cllr Lomas told reporters on Tuesday, July 16 that York was not immediately at risk of having to issue a Section 114 Notice.

Cllr Lomas added they wanted to chart a prudent financial course and avoid the mistakes of other authorities by making risky commercial investments.

But the authority estimates that York’s spending power has declined in real terms by 28.5 per cent since 2010, equivalent to the loss of £43 million.

The authority also estimates that it has £700 less to spend per resident than the average council.

More than four fifths of the council’s budget, 62p in every pound, is spending on children’s and adult social care, one of the services it is legally required to provide.

That compares to the 14p in every pound spent on supporting capital investments like regeneration projects and 10p on environment and waste services, its next two biggest outgoings.

Cllr Lomas said that despite the change in Government, the council would have to join the queue alongside other public services lobbying for more funding.

The executive member said: “We’re not expecting £30 million to wing its way to us tomorrow, though we are more optimistic about the long term now.

“This consultation isn’t about asking residents to do our job for us, we were elected to make tough choices, there’s still things left that we can do though they are unpalatable things.

“We’re not at the point where we’re saying there’s nothing left but we feel confident that if it came to that point we’d be able to say we’ve done everything we can.”

People can take part in the Big Budget Conversation by visiting: https://www.york.gov.uk/OurBigConversation, emailing: ourbigconversation@york.gov.uk or calling 01904 551 550.