YORK’S council leaders are to unveil an emergency budget they say will reverse almost £1 million of cuts.

The Labour group which now controls City of York Council has pledged to restore funding for short breaks for disabled children, youth services and day care transport, as well as the city’s Holocaust Memorial Day, all of which were reduced when the authority’s 2011/12 budget was set.

Among the measures the party says it will take to achieve this are cutting spending on recruitment agency staff and increasing recycling rates to avoid being hit with high landfill tax bills, partly through introducing smaller recycling boxes for single-occupancy city centre terraced houses and flats.

The emergency budget, which goes before a full council meeting next Thursday, also involves moving £222,000 for road repairs from the council’s revenue budget to its capital budget.

But Labour’s political opponents said this would mean more borrowing.

Coun James Alexander, the council’s leader, said: “There were a lot of unfair cuts to services agreed in February, such as to day care services and transport for the elderly, meaning charges were more than doubled.

“Respite care and budgets for short breaks and play equipment for disabled children were scythed, once again unfairly targeting the vulnerable.

“Many of these cuts were unnecessary, but were implemented to fund a £1.4 million new council office in Acomb.

“We will reverse many of these cuts where we can and also ensure we focus on young people’s services which have been cut. We will also focus resources in the areas of health and disability assessment and on Holocaust Memorial Day.”

If the budget is approved the reduction in agency staff, some of which may focus on administration roles within the communities and neighbourhoods directorate, and making more use of the authority’s own “recruitment pool” is earmarked to save £125,000. Boosting recycling rates should save £55,000, with £22,000 coming from increasing savings in car park maintenance and anti-skid tarmac.

Labour also said it would use a £200,000 underspend in the council’s 2010/11 budget to provide extra money for “essential” services for vulnerable people, and reaffirmed it would scrap the Acomb council office project.


New rulers accused of ‘living beyond their means’

OPPOSITION parties accused Labour of “living beyond their means” after details of their emergency budget were revealed.

Liberal Democrat leader Carol Runciman said: “Labour’s pre-election claim was they would reverse £1 million of cuts, yet their proposed changes are some way short of living up to that promise and, in fact, contain more than £300,000-worth of new spending commitments.

“The only way they are able to pay for these is by using a £200,000 underspend they inherited from the Lib Dem administration.

“A further £220,000 of their proposals are funded by taking money out of the road repairs budget and borrowing money to pay for the work instead. This may be a short-term solution for this year, but what about next year?

“The roads will still need repairing and presumably Labour will want to maintain funding for projects.

“Are they planning to continue borrowing, or are they going to admit the council cannot live beyond its means?”

Coun Paul Healey, the Conservative group’s deputy leader, said: “I’m concerned Labour appear to be raiding the budget for capital schemes to pay for today’s spending, when what should be looked at is making the council more efficient.

“I’m also struggling to see their plan for saving £15 million from next April.”