North Yorkshire County Council has said it is well prepared to meet the current financial storm according to its latest budget monitoring report.
The county council has been praised by external auditors for its financial processes and continues to exercise rigorous budgetary control in order to find the required £69 million in savings to meet Government cuts.
Indeed the report, which goes before the county council’s Executive next week, shows that the council is on the front foot in delivering savings and is currently running at £8 million ahead of schedule in the first six months of the year.
Given the risks ahead this means the county council is better placed to weather increasing economic pressures expected in coming years and to continue to deliver quality services.
County Councillor John Weighell, North Yorkshire’s leader, said:
It is only through making this level of saving that we can protect the needs of service users in the months and years ahead.
We face increasing costs in social care and the winter is yet to come with its potential impact on the county’s roads, the largest roads network in the country.
The financial prudence and good governance shown in this report is reassuring given the trials ahead and current economic volatility.
We understand that these are very difficult times for everybody but we believe that our financial vigilance means we are in a better position to meet these challenges and to continue to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.
