THE Government has launched an investigation in to the increased costs and difficulties of providing essential public services to people living in rural areas of North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire County Council has been chosen to take part in a major inquiry, by the department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, into the unique financial pressures which apply to local authorities serving predominantly rural areas.

More than 90 councils volunteered to take part in the inquiry, and North Yorkshire – one of the most sparsely populated counties in England – was chosen as a case study after making forceful representations to the Government about how its rural character impacts on its budgets.

Cllr Carl Les, NYCC’s executive member for strategic services, said: “Providing services to people in rural areas like ours can be much more expensive in many ways.

“There are not the economies of scale scale economies available to authorities with a more concentrated centres of populations, and of course with North Yorkshire the sheer physical distances involved present financial challenges in themselves.

“We hope very much that this inquiry will translate into tangible financial assistance to help the council to continue to delivering excellent services to its communities.”