COUNCIL tax bills are on course to rise in York, after senior councillors backed a budget deal for the year ahead.

The three percent council tax increase was supported last night, alongside a raft of funding cuts that will wipe £6.5 million off council bills in the coming year.

The city council's ruling Executive met to take the first steps in setting a budget for the year ahead.

Some £6.5 million is being cut across all the council departments, with bus subsidies in the firing line along with parks maintenance, but campaigners have voiced most concern about prevention and early intervention services in children's services.

Green councillor Denise Craghill urged them to at least consider easing some of the cuts to early intervention prevention services, saying that work is good for the people they, adding avoiding expensive care fees through early intervention is “the only way we can square the circle in future” of scarce funding.

While both the Conservative leader Chris Steward and Lib Dem deputy leader Keith Aspden said the council tax plan was the “right balance”; the council’s Unison representative Andrea Dudding said implementing the biggest increase possible – of four percent – could mitigate the ongoing cuts.

However, Cllr Steward said it was right for the council to try and keep bills down for York’s residents.

The meeting also heard about the £781,000 transitional grant announced by Ministers this week, and Cllr Steward the budget would be amended before its next stage at a full meeting of the council later this month, to take into account the extra cash available.

Councillors confirmed that there would be a four week consultation on plans for a split site extension of Scarcroft school.

Parents and ward councillor Johnny Hayes all urged them to make sure all other options had been fully investigated before opting for the annex, which they feared could damage the outstanding education and much valued community spirit that exists at Scarcroft.

Education director Jon Stonehouse told the executive he welcomed the chance to look again at the option of extending at the current Scarcroft site, but added that the split site extension was the preferred option of the school, and the other schools in the cluster.