Scarborough's Christmas light display will go ahead, despite rising energy costs
It comes as other councils in the country cancel Christmas markets and festive light displays as well as bonfires
Scarborough Council has said that it does not plan on making cutbacks to its Christmas lighting scheme as other councils have recently announced they will be forced to scale down.
This year’s Christmas lighting scheme in Scarborough will not be scaled back or be more limited than usual, the borough council has confirmed.
It also said that it will be using “some of the most economical LEDs on the market” in order to keep costs down, in addition to the scheme being more “compact” than in other towns and cities.
Councils across the UK, including in Yorkshire, have said that they will be cancelling Christmas markets and their electric lighting schemes as well as bonfires.
The cutbacks have been announced due to rising costs and a need to prioritise funding for other council services.
This includes Leeds Council which will be cancelling its Christmas market as well as bonfire and firework festivities owing to “significant budget pressures”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a Scarborough Council spokesperson said: “We will not be scaling back our Christmas lighting scheme.
“All the lighting in this year’s scheme will be LED and some of the most economical LEDs on the market.”
They added: “This will enable us to keep running costs as low as possible. In comparison to cities and larger towns, the Scarborough scheme is also more compact.”
Rising energy costs have seriously affected the finances of many households, businesses, and public sector organisations.
Speaking at a council meeting in September, Cllr Janet Jefferson, cabinet member for corporate resources, said that in addition to providing support to residents, Scarborough Council would also be forced to examine its expenditure on energy bills.
She said: “We have to look at it seriously and see whether we can heat all the rooms and how we are going to do it through winter.”
The Ofgem energy price cap increased on October 1 to ÂŁ3,549 per year for dual fuel for an average household.
However, as the scheme sets a cap on the unit cost of electricity and gas, energy bills may be higher than the Ofgem average depending on use.
From October, millions of households across the country will receive a ÂŁ400 non-repayable discount on their energy bills and a ÂŁ150 Warm Homes Discount will also begin to be paid to three million low-income households.