DRAFT
City of York Council Budget Consultation no2
This draft consultation addresses the specific budget proposals developed in response to earlier feedback, allowing residents to engage directly with options for revenue generation, efficiency measures, and service prioritisation. It also emphasises transparency and partnership, aligning with the feedback from earlier phases. Target reading age of 10.
York’s Budget Proposals – Shaping Our City’s Future
We want all York residents to take part in our new budget consultation. This is your chance to have a say in how York’s money is spent. We want to make sure the services you need continue, even though we have a £30 million money gap.
Why your voice matters
Since May 2024, we have been talking about the budget, referred to as Our Big Budget Conversation. This process will finish when this consultation closes on 31 December, leading to more public involvement in January 2025 and a council meeting in February 2025. This step-by-step approach helps everyone understand how budget decision might affect different people and groups. It also looks at how partners, businesses and residents can work together to achieve shared goals for the city.
This consultation builds on what you have already told us. You told us that York is a safe and fun place to live, and you care about its quality of life. But there are some issues, like traffic and how busy the city can get, which affects our city’s streets and services. We also know that some people, especially younger ones, might not know exactly what the council does. We need to work together to find a fair plan that raises money, saves where we can, and only cuts services when we really have to.
Our plan so far
Our budget plan has these goals:
· Protecting services: We want to keep important services running, like social care, housing help, waste collection, and fixing roads. We’ve tried hard to plan so these services are not affected too much.
· Raising money: We are thinking about ideas like raising council tax, adding a fee for tourists staying overnight, and charging for traffic in the city centre. We also want to look at things like green waste collection and parking fees to bring in more money.
· Saving money: We are finding ways to work better and save money, which might mean having fewer staff. We know this is hard, and it could affect some services.
We need your help
This consultation explains our 2025/6 budget proposals based on feedback from the last budget consultation. We want to know your views on our plans to raise money, save costs, and keep key services running. Your feedback will help shape the final budget. Your responses will inform decisions but are not votes to adopt or reject a measure. We’ve aimed for clear communication to ensure that everyone can understand and take part.
City of York Council wants to know your thoughts on our budget proposals.
Please take a few minutes to respond and help us plan for York’s future.
Section 1: Understanding the budget challenge
1. Before this survey, were you aware that City of York Council is facing a £30 million budget deficit?
· Yes
· No
2. We are planning to address the £30 million budget gap through a combination of raising money, cutting costs, and making some changes to services. Do you agree with this combined approach?
· Strongly agree
· Agree
· Neutral
· Disagree
· Strongly disagree
Why do you say that?
Section 2: Ideas for raising money
We have some ideas to help us raise more money. Tell us what you think about each one:
3. Council tax:
We are proposing an increase in Council tax of 4.99% in 2025/26, and the next two years. [example]
The reason for the 4.99% rise is to help us cover raising costs, like higher prices for the things we need and more people using our services. This increase will help us keep important services running without making big cuts.
How supportive are you of this measure?
· Strongly support
· Support
· Neutral
· Oppose
· Strongly oppose
Why do you say that?
4. Parking fees:
We are thinking about ways to raise money from parking in York to help support the city. We know that more visitors use our car parks than residents and we could make changes like increasing weekend charges, adding costs for special events, and removing some discounts. This would protect the services that you told us in the first consultation that you value – directly helping those who need it most.
Here’s how we could raise money:
· An increase in parking fees could raise £1M.
Here’s what we are planning:
· Parking rate changes: The cost for the first hour in premium and standard car parks would be £5.30, the same rate for the second hour. If you stay longer, the hourly rate would drop to £4.10 after the first two hours.
· Saturday rates: There would be an extra 10% increase in charges on Saturdays.
· Residents with Minster Badges: Residents who have a Minster badge will still get a 10% discount on these rates. However, the cost of a Minster badge would go up from £30 to £45 for two years.
This approach would help ensure parking costs are fair and make family bus tickets a better value option for longer trips to the city.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Parking fees that are increased for visitors to events like the Christmas Market, could bring in £230,000.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· A 5% increase for residents’ parking scheme (first car) and 10% for second and third cars could add £50,000.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Reduce the level of discount for low emission vehicles to a 20% discount for residents parking and season tickets could raise £120,000.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
Section 3: Saving money and cutting costs
The Council has some ideas for saving money. Please share your views on these:
5. Changing services and reducing staff:
We are thinking about changing some of our services to save money. This might mean fewer staff in some areas. Here are some of the changes we are considering:
· Consulting with the Access Forum to determine whether we can install additional accessible CCTV cameras instead of using external contractors to enable city centre access. (£70,000 saved in 2025/26).
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Changing how we run community safety without reducing the frontline service, which could save £65,000 each year starting in 2025/26.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Removing some local recycling containers, usually sited in car parks, to focus on household recycling and save money (£88,000 saved in 2025/26). We would retain those local recycling sites which serve a specific community need.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Making “Make It York” who run the tourist information centre, some city centre events and the market on behalf of the council pay for itself through event and market fee income, so it doesn’t need money from the council.
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
6. Transport, planning and waste reductions
Our transport team oversees transportation, highways and planning to ensure the city remains accessible and well organised. Services include maintaining the highways, environmental health, waste collection and regulatory services including public health and safety.
We are looking at ways to save money by changing some services related to transport, planning, and waste. Here are some ideas:
· Spending less on road improvements which will mean less money is spent on maintaining the roads and filling potholes (£60,000 saved each year from 2025/26).
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Reducing the traffic light replacement programme which aims to replace old traffic lights (£60,000 saved each year from 2025/26).
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Removing some bus subsidies which the council do not have to statutorily provide, which will need more discussion (£720,000 saved in 2025/26).
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
· Reducing CCTV coverage, which may affect traffic and safety (£100,000 in 2025/26 and £120,000 in 2026/27).
Do you support this change to save money?
o Strongly Support
o Support
o Neutral
o Oppose
o Strongly Oppose
Why do you say that?
Section 4: Investing in the future
We are planning to invest in new projects based on your feedback to help the city in the long term.
7. New team for change:
The Council will create a small team, of new and existing staff, to make changes and save money over the next three years. This team will help find ways to:
· Save money in the long run
· Make services better for everyone
· Help the Council adjust to new challenges and changes in the future
Do you agree with this idea?
· Strongly support
· Support
· Neutral
· Oppose
· Strongly oppose
Why do you say that?
8. Better contract management:
We will add staff to help manage contracts, get best value for residents and meet legal rules.
· The council needs to follow new rules, i.e. new legislation.
· Additional support will help us continue to find the best deals and strengthen contract management.
· This will result in saving money.
Do you support this idea?
· Strongly support
· Support
· Neutral
· Oppose
· Strongly oppose
Why do you say that?
Section 5: Additional suggestions
If you did not agree with two or more of our suggestions, please tell us which services you think should be reduced to save money. We would also like to hear your reasons for these choices.
As a reminder, the budget is made up of the following areas of spend:
(insert pie chart if possible)
o Adult social care and public health - older people, disability, mental health
o Young people and education - Children, young people and education incl family support, safeguarding, fostering, adoption
o Culture and leisure - libraries, sport and leisure, parks and open spaces
o Environmental, waste and regulatory services - environmental health, waste services incl collection and regulatory services incl public health and safety
o Housing and homelessness - Support and services to ensure all residents have access to safe and affordable housing
o Transport, highways and planning - Overseeing transportation, highways and planning to ensure the city remains accessible and well organised
o Supporting capital investment - promoting long-term economic growth and community development incl public facilities, economic growth and sustainable development as well as repayment of borrowing
o Council support and public engagement - a range of services to support and engage York residents and ensure that residents needs and views are at the heart of decision making
(free text)
Section 6: Feedback on communication
10. How well has the Council explained the budget challenges and proposed solutions?
· Very effective
· Effective
· Neutral
· Ineffective
· Very ineffective
If neutral to very ineffective, how could this process be improved?
11. How would you like to get updates from city of York council? (Select all that apply)
· Council website
· Council newsletters
o Resident updates
o Business update
o Family
o Climate
o Health updates
o Waste Update
o Ousewem updates (flood resilience)
· Social media
o Facebook
o Instagram
o X (formerly known as Twitter)
o LinkedIn
o Nextdoor
· Public meetings and consultations
· Collaboration with local media (e.g., radio, newspapers)
· Other (please specify)
Section 7: Add usual demographics here – please tell us a little about who you are
Thank you for your time and input. Your feedback is crucial in ensuring that we make informed and balanced decisions for York’s future.