EMBRACING a “culture of commercialism” is helping a council to protect frontline services as it nears completing £180m of cuts.

North Yorkshire County Council’s leadership said investing funds from taxpayers into a variety of ventures had generated an annual income and savings of £1.8m – an extra £1.5m over what it would have received by leaving the funds in the bank.

The authority’s deputy leader, Councillor Gareth Dadd said while some councils had taken a more aggressive approach to making extra funds by borrowing money, the Conservative-led council had adopted a “gradual and cautious” approach, using funds from its cashflow.

He said: “This is about making money from the council taxpayer work that little bit harder. A culture of commercialism has been developed at the council over the last three of four years that will help bridge the black hole we are facing.”

While part of the £1.5m generated this year includes profits from becoming the first local authority in the North to trade legal services and its other firms, including Yorwaste, attention is increasingly being focused on selecting investments from hundreds of opportunities.

It has been proposed the council increases the total fund for alternative investment to £60m, which would generate £3m for public services if the authority’s five per cent return target is achieved.

Cllr Dadd said investments by the council included a bank building in Stafford town centre, while future schemes could include developing a solar farm on its own land.

Cllr Dadd said: “We are looking across all sectors and opportunities. Banks wouldn’t be something we would look at, but in this case there was a long lease and development opportunities should the building be vacated by the bank.”

The solar scheme could enable the council to generate electricity for its own consumption thereby reducing the amount it buys and providing protection from future price rises. Equally, the council could generate power for sale either back to the grid or direct to commercial or domestic clients, which would require the council to launch an electricity supply company.

However, due to the Government cuts to solar power subsidies, a number of local authorities have had to revisit their proposals around solar energy projects and put their plans on hold.  Given the potential land the council has available for such development, the council will revisit the business case for such a venture in the coming year.

Other investments by the council include the purchase of restaurant premises at Harrogate Royal Baths, while market testing has suggested there could be an opportunity for the council to provide loans to housing associations for affordable housing.