Opposition groups on Bristol City Council have revealed how they would spend residents’ money. Greens, Tories, Lib Dems and Knowle Community Party have all suggested changes, called amendments, to Marvin Rees’s budget, with some targeting funding to the mayor’s office and the authority’s public relations to reverse several controversial measures or projects like reopening public toilets.
The Labour mayor proposes £19.5million of cutbacks, or “savings”, to plug a funding shortfall and balance the books in 2022/23, part of £33million of cost reductions over the next five years. Mr Rees insists no frontline services will be cut while huge investments are made in housing and affordable homes in the budget, which will be set at a meeting of full council on Tuesday (February 15).
But the plans have come under fire as they include steeper fees for allotments and parking, such as scrapping the 30-minute free stays, charges to install disabled residents’ vehicle bays, a rehab centre closure, “swingeing” cuts to museums and archives, less money for library books and £5.5million less on council staffing, including redundancies.
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The opposition amendments, to the revenue or capital budgets, have all been assessed by council officers and will each be voted on, becoming part of the budget if they receive a majority of votes and are then accepted by the mayor, who could instead resubmit the original or alternative proposals to a full council reserve date on March 2.
You can read what the Greens are proposing here, the Lib Dems here and Knowle Community Party here. Here’s what the Conservatives would do with residents' money:
The Tories propose trimming £582,000 from the mayor’s office, “paper-generating” mayoral commissions, corporate communications and a remnant Brussels Office, in group leader Cllr Mark Weston’s amendment on revenue, which covers day-to-day expenditure. That cash would be used to scrap plans to charge disabled residents for dedicated parking spaces outside their home, as well as making bulky waste collections cheaper, restoring the library service book budget, reopening unsold public toilet blocks and providing more tree planting.
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On capital investment, Cllr Weston suggests using £4million unallocated infrastructure contributions from developers to improve local shopping centres, upgrade road junctions impacted by the huge Cribbs housing development and boost outdoor sports equipment and facilities. Another £1million would be redirected from corporate contingencies to finally restore the Kingsweston Iron Bridge, which has been shut since being hit by a lorry six years ago.
Cllr Weston said: “Every year, opposition parties face the difficult challenge with extremely limited time and resources available to them to advance their own ideas on alternatives to the administration’s proposed annual budgets. In the light of these constraints we always attempt to give an indication where further savings can be made to promote where we think money can be better spent.
“We do so again, while acknowledging the help given by government to fully cover the loss of income and incidental costs associated with the pandemic. Our revenue amendment seeks to cut down on bureaucracy and wasteful political spin and use these resources to fund things we believe taxpayers would prefer and benefit from like public amenities and infrastructure.
“One of the highlights included in our capital spending is a determination to finally bring an end to the delay in repairing a heritage asset, the Iron Bridge. This is an important project which needs to be sorted out soon before it becomes financially totally out of reach of available budgets.” Officers say cutting the mayor’s office and communications/PR costs would “substantially reduce” capacity to handle enquiries from householders and the media and to support public engagement such as consultations.
Their assessment in the budget papers says slashing the bulky household collection fee for up to three items from £25 to £15 could cost more than the £105,000 indicated in the amendment but could “change behaviours and reduce fly-tipping”, although evidence is “unclear”. The Conservatives’ plan to reinstate unsold public toilets would be funded by £149,000 of reserves in 2022/23 and an ongoing budget element of £78,000.
Officers, however, say some of the old blocks could be converted into micro depots for the street cleaning teams. They were made homeless when their previous base was demolished to make way for the new reuse and recycling centre in Hartcliffe Way, which would save the council having to find money for a new depot. Of the £4million the group suggests using from unallocated community infrastructure levy (CIL) money, £1.5million would be allocated to help local shopping centres survive and improve surrounding streets, with the same amount set aside for outdoor sport.
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Officers say the remaining £1million to upgrade road junctions as a result of the Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood was unlikely to be needed because of “other funding pots available”. A further £1million would be taken from contingencies, such as for project cost overruns and new urgent schemes that emerge, to “fully restore, repair and reinstate Kingsweston Iron Bridge”.
An equalities impact assessment says the work could improve accessibility for older, disabled or pregnant people who find it harder to cross the busy Kings Weston Road safely. Labour deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney recently said detailed proposals for the work would be brought forward soon but added: “Whether we can afford it is another question.”
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