NORTH Yorkshire councillors are accusing the government of penalising rural areas and giving more cash to inner cities.

County council bosses have spoken out again over the shock budget settlement from central Government, saying they are facing bigger than expected cuts in the next year while urban districts have had their financial pain eased.

County Councillor Carl Les, the council leader, said they were "concerned" at the unfairness which sees people in North Yorkshire pay double the council tax of their counterparts in Westminster.

He said: "This settlement leaves us with the immediate challenge of making more savings more quickly than expected in the short term – a very tough challenge indeed.

“The settlement does not properly reflect need in North Yorkshire, where the sparse, rural nature of the county makes the cost of delivering services higher than in more condensed urban settings."

Although his councillors "understand and accept" the need for austerity, Cllr Les said, they are worried about the severity of the cuts in North Yorkshire and want to see the budgets put through a "rural proofing" test.

He said: “Historically, Government funding has targeted areas of deprivation, which tend to be urban, providing more grant support there, meaning council tax rates in counties have needed to be higher to deliver similar services. However, North Yorkshire has areas of deprivation, just as inner city boroughs do.

“A council tax payer of North Yorkshire will pay twice as much as one on the same banding in Westminster, for example, where the highest rate of council tax is less than the average band D rate in North Yorkshire. The average salary per head in Westminster is about £39,000 a year, compared to about £25,000 in North Yorkshire.”

The council is now making urgent representations to Government and is making its case to locals MPs.

The Government's budget announcement redistributed funds according to areas’ ability to bring in money from council tax. It left North Yorkshire needing to find an extra £11 million in savings in the next financial year and a further £9 million more than anticipated in 2017/18.

The council is now having to consider taking money out of the reserves - usually kept to deal with emergencies like flooding - to buy time to make the long term savings.