NORTH Yorkshire County Council's leader has welcomed additional funds for the authority's priority services following a year of intense lobbying.

The one year spending announcement by the Chancellor Sajid Javid has addressed the two greatest funding pressures for the county council – services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and adult social care.

The announcement, made on Wednesday, will see an additional £700m nationally for SEN services as part of the extra £7.1bn allocated for schools as well as an additional £1bn for adult social care.

For North Yorkshire this could mean up to £17m in extra cash for these priority areas.

Council leader Carl Les described the funding as 'hugely significant'.

He added: “This shows that the Government has listened carefully to the pressing case we have made loud and clear in recent months alongside colleagues in the County Councils Network.