DOUBLE-digit rate increases were agreed this week when:

senior North Yorkshire county councillors voted for a county council tax rise of 11.5pc;

the North Yorkshire Police Authority voted to increase its precept by 76pc.

The councillors and the authority both promised improved services and blamed the Government for budgetary difficulties. Both said that public consultations had concluded that the public was willing to pay more for improved services.

Members of the police authority voted unanimously for the increase. Last year, the increase in the police precept was 41pc.

Members of the authority were told that a big increase in precept was required to plug a budget "funding gap" of £8.2m blamed on a combination of rising police pension costs, historic under-funding, the rising costs of providing a modern police service and a "miserly" 3pc increase in the Government handout to the force this year.

Chief Constable Cannings said: "I want to make sure that I drive the force forward. People are asking us for more but to enable us to deliver we need platforms put in place to make that happen."

She laid out a number of improvement proposals which will come into force with the rise. They include:

police station improvements;

advances in technology and IT, including an automatic number plate recognition scheme;

more officers on the streets;

extra staff.

The budget approved by the police authority amounts to £118,380,000, meaning the chief constable will have just over £21m more next year than the police currently spend, an increase of 22pc.

Authority chairman Jane Kenyon said the budget was agreed "only after very careful consideration ... we recognise that inflation is very low and that there are a lot of people in this area who are seeing their incomes diminishing and who may find it very difficult to pay any extra money. However, we know, because many people tell us, that the fight against crime and the fear of crime is at the top of their public service priorities."

She said the authority wants "to deliver real quality of life improvements and to expand the service - and so does the public. Unfortunately, this will cost more money, an extra £1.30 per week for an average council tax payer, but we think it's a price worth paying."

At County Hall, the proposed council tax rise of 11.5pc will mean an extra £84 a year on a Band D property from the current level of £733.

It was explained that a new Government formula for calculating how much councils should spend is being used for the first time this year. Working on the new formula, the Government believes that North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) should be spending about £35m extra for 2003-2004.

The Government is giving North Yorkshire an extra £15m this year. But that leaves a gap of more than £19m.

Even with the proposed rise, which must still be agreed by the full council, North Yorkshire will still have one of the lowest council taxes for shire counties in England.

Coun John Weighell, the leader of NYCC, said: "The Government's new funding formula has moved money away from the shire counties to urban areas. We estimate to have lost about £10m from our funding share."

But he added: "We've listened carefully to what people have said to us. They've given us a clear message that they don't want services cut. I can assure people that value for money and high quality services remain at the heart of our approach."

He said that the increased levy will fund:

improved prevention work with vulnerable children;

increased investment in road improvements and flood-prevention work;

maintaining planned improvements in public libraries;

increased investment to prevent bed-blocking.

Updated: 10:05 Wednesday, February 12, 2003