Bristol City Council cabinet meets on Tuesday (January 18) to recommend its annual budget to full council next month.
Mayor Marvin Rees insists it is a “no frontline cuts budget” and that 89 proposals outlined in papers to the meeting to make savings and plug a £19.5million gap focus on the authority’s internal costs.
But they include hikes in fees for allotments and parking, less money for library books, museum entrance fees, a rehab centre closure and many more ways to claw back the deficit.
Read more: Bristol City Council proposed budget hits motorists hard
Here are 28 of the most eye-catching:
Increase allotment plots annual rent by 25 per cent, raising £55,000.
Reduce two non-staffing library budgets permanently by £50,000 each, including the material fund budget which pays for books and e-resources.
Introduce rooftop bar at M Shed, bringing in £85,000.
Bring forward £250,000 annual reduction of grant to Bristol Music Trust by six months to October 2023 when the Bristol Beacon is set to reopen following a refurbishment whose costs spiralled.
Introduce adult admission fees for Red Lodge and Georgian House museums and increase income of Bristol Film Office and Site Permissions service to make it self-financing, raising £21,000.
Meals on Wheels, officially called Bristol Community Meals Service, to become a cost-neutral, self-funded service earning an extra £210,000 by finding new customers through a review of how it is run and increasing deliveries from 261 to 350 meals a day.
Close Concord Lodge, a short-term assessment residential unit with seven self-contained flats for adults with learning difficulties and complex needs, and transfer to a strategic partner, with the 33 staff to be TUPE’d over, saving £350,000.
Shut South Bristol Rehabilitation Centre and transfer both the service, for older people leaving hospital before they return home, and employees to Sirona, saving £500,000.
Prioritise people with adult social care needs on the council‘s housing waiting list, saving £4million.
Introduce a nominal charge for pupils fined for not attending school and referred to education welfare, bringing local authority maintained schools in line with academies, earning £20,000.
Council to slash staff numbers
Reduce workforce costs by £5.5million through voluntary redundancies and leaving vacancies unfilled.
Cut customer services budget by £165,000 – five per cent – “while making sure those who need phone or face-to-face support can access it”.
Slash budget for trade union facility time, where an employee takes time off from their normal role to carry out union rep duties, from £195,000 to £50,000, which the council insists “will not in any way affect the statutory right of trade union and safety representatives to paid time off to carry out their duties in accordance with the ACAS code of practice”.
Halve international twinning work to £23,000.
Decimate the council’s investment in a dedicated Brussels Office, which currently supports the authority’s policy development and relationships with key European networks and funders, from £30,000 to £3,000 and share the work instead with other Core Cities or close the office.
Increase revenue from bus shelter advertising to £1million.
Harbour review
Produce a delivery plan for public consultation following completion of a harbour operations review, due next month, with £450,000 savings earmarked, including from possible rises in cost of leases and licences to “better reflect commercial value”.
Halt plans to extend “wayfinding” signage – distinctive blue displays with maps and directions – across the city, saving £30,000.
Reduce council-owned property in light of new ways of working following Covid-19, reducing office floor space by at least 50 per cent, saving £3.5million.
Expand cafes and kiosks in parks to raise an extra £75,000 from catering.
Review the pest control service, potentially reducing or ending the current provision.
Track down hard-to-reach debtors who have left the area with no forwarding contact information and collect payments totalling £50,000.
Scrap the 30-minute free stay at Residents’ Parking Zones, raising £500,000.
Continue Bristol Bridge restrictions enforcement, earning £700,000 from drivers’ penalty notices.
Expand car parking charges at parks and green spaces to the 13 other car parks managed by the parks service, recouping £80,000, following introduction of fees at Blaise Estate, Oldbury Court and Ashton Court.
Introduce charges at council’s 15 free car parks, gaining £120,000.
Charge disabled residents for installing dedicated parking bays outside their homes, saving £100,000.
Full review of charges across all car parks owned by the local authority and on-street parking spaces with potential increase in fees totalling £800,000.
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