Liberal Democrats Welcome City’s Draft Budget Proposals
Bristol’s Liberal Democrat Councillors welcome the City Council’s draft budget, published today ahead of a meeting of the Council’s Strategy and Resources Committee.
The budget is the first to be drawn up after the controversial mayoral system, previously controlled by Labour, was scrapped in favour of the collaborative committee system. Under the new governance arrangements, Liberal Democrat Councillors have been working cross-party with colleagues to ensure that Bristolians get a fair deal from this year’s Council budget.
Years of financial mismanagement by Bristol Labour and local government underfunding by the previous Conservative Government have left the city’s finances in a precarious position. Now that Labour are in Government, they had the opportunity to rescue local government finances. Instead, they have upped the cost pressures facing the Council by announcing their jobs tax, increasing employer’s national insurance contributions. While the Council is partially protected from incurring the costs on its own employees, it will still apply to the companies that the Council hires to deliver services in the city. This means that everything from social care to bin collection will cost more for the same service.
With a £52 million black hole in funding needing to be filled, Council Officers put forward a wide-ranging list of savings options for consideration by Councillors. The group raised concerns regarding proposed cuts to school crossing patrols, museums, and the library service. Following their strong opposition in public, as well as internal representations, Lib Dem Councillors warmly welcomed the discarding of these proposed cuts from the draft budget proposals.
On the development of the budget, Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Jos Clark (Brislington West) said “The former Labour administration has spent years cutting services by stealth, promising impossible savings, and kicking the can down the road. I welcome the transparent approach to developing the budget that has been adopted as part of the committee system, and that the papers published today take into account the feedback provided by my group – and residents – over the past few weeks.”
Speaking to the abandoned cuts to the library service, Cllr Stephen Williams (Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze), who chairs the Public Health and Communities Policy Committee, said “Originally, we were presented with the option of the library service taking up to a £2.4 million cut. From the start, I made it very clear, in all of our internal discussions, that this option did not have the support of me or my fellow Liberal Democrat councillors.
“I am pleased to see that, in the final budget proposal, all cuts to our libraries have been removed. That this could be agreed with Green Party administration colleagues, too, is testament to how the committee system can work for Bristol when councillors approach collaborative working in good faith.”
Cllr Tim Kent (Hengrove and Whitchurch Park) added “I am delighted that the Council is not pressing ahead with cuts to our school crossing patrols, museums, and libraries. Many residents reached out to me expressing their concerns about the potential cuts to school crossing staff, which are essential community assets and keeping our children safe on our often busy roads.”
The draft budget will be presented at Strategy and Resources Committee on the 3rd of February, to seek the committee’s approval to submit it as the budget recommendation to Full Council on 25th February.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Papers for the Strategy and Resources meeting: ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk
- Lib Dem press release on the initial savings options and library cuts: Bristol Lib Dems fight against proposed library closures - Bristol Liberal Democrats
- Lib Dem group response to Local Government Finance Settlement: Local Government Finance Settlement Response from Bristol Lib Dem Councillors - Bristol Liberal Democrats