The scrapping of some free services and charging more for others has made £651,000 for Craven District Council.

The council hoped its list of 26 measures would save £733,700 for the council – either by charging for previously free services or raising the price of others.

But a combination of bad weather, miscalculations, the recession and objections meant that not all savings could be achieved.

At the council’s overview and scrutiny committee, councillors were told that the council had achieved savings in 23 out of 26 areas identified last year.

The measures, introduced from April last year, ranged from charging for previously free dog waste bags to savings made by changes in council procedures. But in three cases, predicted income was not met because of the economic downturn.

The scrapping of free refreshments for council staff and withdrawal of some catering staff resulted in a £19,000 saving, while charging for dog waste bags made the council £8,400.

Increasing town hall hiring fees by 10 per cent brought in £7,000 – £500 more than expected – and an increase in leisure services fees brought in £64,000 – £30,000 more than expected.

But the closure or passing over of public toilets to parish and town councils resulted in £6,000 less than the anticipated £32,000.

And the predicted new income from charging in previously-free car parks at Bentham, Gargrave, Embsay and Cross Hills, came to nothing after proposals were rejected either by Craven councillors themselves or by North Yorkshire County Council.

Assistant chief executive Paul Ellis told councillors the council had achieved almost 90 per cent of its predicted efficiency savings.

He explained that car parking charges at the currently free Bentham Car Park were on hold – but could return if objections from North Yorkshire County Council and the police could be resolved.

The predicted £32,000 saving from the closure of public toilets had been £6,000 less because the council had to pay grants to parish and town councils wanting to take them over.

Bad weather in the winter had meant increased parking fees had made £163,000 since April last year instead of the £190,000 predicted on previous year’s usage.

A predicted £5,000 for the introduction of staff parking fees at the council’s new offices at Belle Vue Mills had also come to nothing as the expected move-in date had been delayed until next year.

Withdrawal of CCTV cameras in the town centre had also resulted in £26,000 less savings than the £51,000 predicted because of extended negotiations over funding.

Mr Ellis said that the cameras had now been removed as it was felt better to take them down than leave them up and give the impression they were in operation.