North Yorkshire Council's millions of pounds in debt
New data has been released today
Last updated 16th Jan 2024
New analysis has revealed councils in York and North Yorkshire are £677 million pounds in debt.
New data reveals across the UK councils owe a combined £97.8bn to lenders, equivalent to £1,141 per resident, with North Yorkshire having a total debt of over £400 million.
For City of York Council - the figure was nearly £300 million, as of September 2023.
North Yorkshire Council’s deputy leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd, said:
“We are extremely conscious as a council of ensuring that every pound of taxpayers’ cash is used as effectively as possible to ensure the maximum financial benefits.
“The latest forecast of our debt is £377.7 million, of which £353.7million is borrowed from the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB) and the remaining £24m from the money market.
“This debt represents past decisions on funding of capital expenditure and management of our cash flows and should be seen in the context of our Capital Financing Requirement (CFR), which is the underlying need to borrow to fund capital expenditure."
The government say they have made available a funding package for councils worth over £64 billion for the year ahead, an above inflation increase of 6.5 per cent.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said:
“Councils are ultimately responsible for their own finances, but we are very clear they should not put taxpayers’ money at risk by taking on excessive debt.
“The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act provides new powers for central government to step in when councils take excessive risk with borrowing and investment. We have also established the Office for Local Government to further improve accountability across the sector, which will help detect emerging risks and support councils to continue delivering key public services.”