NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL

18 MARCH 2026

STATEMENT OF EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR FINANCE AND ASSETS

Revenues & Benefits

The annual Council Tax billing process was successfully completed over the weekend of

28 February to 1 March 2026.

In total, 309,206 properties have now been billed, generating a gross debit of £762 million for the financial year. Of these accounts, around 30,000 currently carry arrears, approximately 230,000 households pay by Direct Debit, and 14,000 residents have opted for electronic billing.

This year’s Council Tax bills include clearer information to promote e‑billing and to support residents in moving to more efficient payment methods. They also highlight the new Council Tax account numbers, introduced as part of the recent system consolidation work. The wider use of these new references will support more streamlined and reliable payment processes for residents going forward.

Turning to Business Rates, Members should note that the annual billing run was, at the time of preparing this update, scheduled for completion on 7 March 2026, covering around 33,000 non‑domestic properties.

I want to draw particular attention to the challenges faced this year as a result of very late national legislative changes. These include new transitional arrangements, revised relief schemes, and the introduction of additional supplements. Many of these changes were confirmed only shortly before billing preparation began, adding significant complexity to the process.

Officers have worked intensively to ensure that all national requirements are correctly reflected, so that businesses receive accurate bills that fully comply with the latest legislation. Further detailed guidance on the range of reliefs and transitional measures will be made available to businesses via the Council’s website, alongside additional information issued directly with the bills.

I would like to thank officers for their continued hard work in delivering both Council Tax and Business Rates billing at scale, while managing system change and late national policy updates.

Property

Progress against the ambitions and objectives set out in the Corporate Property Strategy 2025–2026 continues to move forward strongly, with several notable achievements:

• The Property team is actively advancing the disposal of approximately 70 sites that have been identified as surplus to service requirements.
• As at the quarter ended December 2025, £7.4 million had been achieved from asset sales in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total capital receipts generated since vesting day to £17.7 million.
• A Strategic Sites Programme has been established to identify sites within the Council’s portfolio with potential for housing development. This programme has the long‑term potential to deliver more than 3,000 homes alongside substantial capital receipts.
• The Council is on track to deliver over £1.8 million in revenue savings per annum from planned asset‑rationalisation savings.

A Member Seminar on property has been arranged for 1 April 2026, and all Members are encouraged to attend to learn more about these achievements and future plans for the portfolio.

COUNCILLOR GARETH DADD