Parking fees set to rise by 5% in East Yorkshire (From York Press)

Parking fees set to rise by 5% in East Yorkshire

8:24am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in News By Mark Stead, Political Reporter

CAR-PARKING charges and burial fees in East Yorkshire are set to rise as council bosses aim to save £15.5 million next year.

Budget proposals for 2012/13 also include cutting funding for sports, arts and play schemes, opening times for waste recycling sites being reduced by an hour, an increase in the cost of some adult social care, and community education grants being axed or lowered.

The proposals will be debated at a special meeting of East Riding of Yorkshire Council this week.

The authority said no council facilities, such as libraries and leisure centres will close and £22 million will be pumped into the voluntary and community sectors, while funding for schools will also be maintained at its current levels. The authority hopes to raise £20,000 through selling advertising space on the side of its buses and at Beverley and Bridlington bus stations.

As reported by The Press yesterday, council tax bills in East Yorkshire are set to be frozen next year, with the council accepting a £3.6 million Government grant. However, parking prices would go up by five per cent and cemetery fees and charges are in line for a six per cent rise, while spending on markets would be cut alongside a six per cent increase in stall rents.

A two per cent rise for adult social care services commissioned by the council is aimed at bringing in an extra £489,000, while the pedestrian cycle training budget is earmarked for a £97,000 cut, £128,000 will be saved through more energy-efficient street lights, and the council’s annual £73,000 allocation to help community and voluntary groups provide activities for young people could be reduced and removed.

Temporary family support posts may also be axed to save £148,000.

In a report which will go before Thursday’s meeting, corporate resources director Malcolm Sims said careful budgeting in previous years had allowed £13.7 million to be placed into an “efficiency fund” to ease the impact of future funding cuts.

The council’s Government grant will fall by £8.8 million next year and Mr Sims said the financial picture was “much more uncertain” for 2013/14 and 2014/15, although next year’s proposals were a “sound basis”.

He also said the council was protecting its £631 million “capital programme” for major schemes up to 2015.