City council passes more than £100m of cuts

Bristol City Council’s most controversial budget in recent years has been passed – with more than £100m of cuts now due to be enforced across the city. 

Despite Marvin Rees saying that he was “not in politics to make cuts”, it was severe cuts that were made.

Green party group leader Charlie Bolton summed up the mood: “This budget sees cuts to children’s centres, adult drop-in centres, respite services, community meals provision and school travel.

“Cuts to tourism bodies, cuts to services to dementia sufferers, and cuts to the local crisis and prevention fund – which gives support to those most in need.

“This budget will dismantle our libraries, dismantle our parks service and dismantle our neighbourhood partnerships. It is a list which is impressive only in the extent of its awfulness.”

Bolton and his Green colleagues did not vote for the budget to be passed, and saw their amendments such as removing councillors’ and senior council staff’s free parking perks voted down by the other main parties.

The meeting of full council at City Hall was interrupted twice by protesters – with the public barred from attending for the majority of the mammoth session that lasted more than six hours.

Members of the public gallery shouted abuse at Rees soon after the start of the meeting and were removed from the chamber by the Lord Mayor Jeff Lovell.

The public were then not allowed back into the chamber as the meeting continued. Later, the fire alarm was set off and the chamber vacated for a second time.

As the meeting reconvened, well after darkness had fallen, protesters gathered outside. They were audible in the chamber, shouting through megaphones as councillors proposed to cut some services in favour of others.

There was heated debate over some of the proposed budget amendments, particularly those from Conservative councillors.

Former deputy mayor Geoff Gollop proposed an amendment that would see Bristol’s council tax reduction scheme axed to generate £8m revenue annually.

“Let me remind you of the sort of people who receive this reduction: it’s lone parents, homeless families and the most vulnerable,” Labour’s Helen Holland said in her response.

The Green party’s Carla Denyer was equally scathing, directly addressing the Conservative benches as she said they were “obviously not opposed to all tax rises, only to tax rises for the rich”.

As the meeting entered its fifth hour, and councillors browsed Facebook on their tablets, whispered and stifled yawns while others spoke, the Lord Mayor announced that City Hall was in lockdown due to the protests outside.

“It is strange and sad, but necessary for your safety,” Lovell solemnly told the chamber.

Labour councillor Kye Dudd thanked the city council’s security services before the final budget vote was cast, which received some of the loudest applause of the whole meeting.

The main budget recommendations were all carried, with 35 councillors for, 27 against and four abstentions. The chamber also carried votes to use £1m of Bristol City Council reserves to plug the budget deficit and to raise council tax to generate more funds.

A 4.99 per cent increase in council tax will cost £1.42 a week for a Band D home.

Rees said that the budget was “restorative” and said he was “delivering a council that is financially competent”.

The mayor laid much of the blame at the door of previous council administrations for running up debts and not balancing the budget at the time.

“We are not hiding,” he said. “Transparency is a key commitment.”

This budget will make millions of pounds’ worth of cuts, but will also invest in transport and services, Rees and his Labour colleagues maintained.

“We have the unenviable task of choosing the least of two ills,” Rees said. “This is very difficult and many of us would not want to be where we are today, facing this challenge.

“But if we don’t deal with these challenges, they will be compounded in the future. We want to start out of the blocks in March with this budget and go all hands to the tiller.”

Read more: Crucial budget meeting halted by protests