THERE was something of a plaintive note in the air as the leader of North Yorkshire County Council, councillor Carl Les explained the latest financial position to members of Bedale Town Council this week.

And Spectator can quite see it's a balancing act of monumental proportions juggling the multi million pound budget. After years of austerity North Yorkshire has made revenue savings of around £142m but Cllr Les explained they still expect to have to find another £44m up to 2022.

So he emphasised "austerity isn't over yet." But according to the county council's website they've already identified £33.6m of that. And there is incoming, Cllr Les said they had received £3.7m for adult care, £1.7m for safeguarding children, and £13.7m for potholes which was the second highest award in the country, next to Devon. Presumably that's an acknowledgement that as North Yorkshire is the biggest county geographically potholes are big in more ways than one.

There had been concern apparently that the Department of Transport were keen that the money should be spent by the end of the financial year, ie by the end of March and with before and after photographic evidence of pothole repairs. However after recruiting the help of Richmond MP Rishi Sunak it's understood the Department of Transport is going into reverse on the pothole pics scenario.

So balancing the books and sorting out the potholes in a race against time seems tricky for North Yorkshire County Council. They've brought in new schemes such as stronger communities and extra care to help people help themselves. And they do have an army of accountants and experts in house to lend a hand when necessary.