COUNCIL bosses are writing to the Government in an effort to try and ensure York gets the best budget grant deal.

Council leader Steve Galloway said the authority would be submitting "detailed views" on the process to Whitehall chiefs by Monday.

The Lib Dem chief will be taking up the Government's "failure" to distinguish between the costs of providing for day commuters and tourists in York which he says the council has to meet.

He also said proposed changes in funding for social services and to give more cash to deprived areas could seriously affect what is left for York.

The Evening Press reported on Wednesday how the city was facing a budget shortfall next year of nearly £10 million and was set to overspend this year by nearly £1 million.

Coun Galloway called on the MPs who represent York to put the city's case to ministers "most vigorously".

"There are some indications that they are prepared to do so," he said.

Coun Galloway told a full council meeting that the authority was "entering a period of belt tightening" and that some "very hard decisions" could lie ahead when the budget is finally agreed next February. He said the council was planning on a council tax rise of less than five per cent.

In his speech, he revealed the Government was failing to recognise the difference between day commuters and tourists in York, arguing it was unlikely the additional costs the city incurred in meeting the needs of day visitors would be recognised. He also revealed the authority could lose about £2 million in grants if proposals for changing personal social service funding for children and adults were pushed through.

The timing of the budget decision is also likely to cause the council problems. He said: "The consultation ends on October 10, but it seems likely that we will not now have the first indication of our grant for next year until the second week in December. This would be a major blow to our budget planning process."

Coun Galloway said school funding was also a concern as the Government had decided to allocate grants direct to schools in the future. "It remains to be seen whether this (the new system) will be viewed as fair and adequate by local head teachers and school governors. Given the pressures on their budget triggered by decisions on - for example - staffing issues which are largely outside their control," he said.

Coun Galloway will be writing about York's funding situation in the near future in the Evening Press.

Updated: 10:17 Friday, October 07, 2005