Bristol City Council required savings rise to £100m

Concessionary bus passes for carers will not be stopped and museum opening times not reduced following a three-month citywide consultation on Bristol City Council’s proposed savings.

The reduction of funding to Key Arts Providers such as the Arnolfini, Knowle West Media Centre and St Paul’s Carnival will also be lowered from half a million pounds to £380,000.

But council tax could increase by more than £6 per month for a Band D household to raise more money for the cash-strapped council, whose required savings to balance the books over the next five years is now expected to be more than £100m.  

Council bosses have pledged that the city’s priorities such as building 2,000 new homes a year by 2020 can still be delivered, but even more savings are required.

These include:

– Increase the amount of money from litter fines (saving £15,000)
– Reducing catering at council meetings (saving £20,000)
– Cease financial support for the Bristol Pound (saving £40,000)
– Garden waste to be collected fortnightly (saving £121,000)
– Reintroduce Sunday charging for on-street parking (saving £200,000)
– Reduce funding for PCSOs (saving £272,000)
– Gradually reduce funding to Destination Bristol (saving £289,000)
– Reduce the number of library buildings (saving £1.4m)
– Reduce road maintenance budget (saving £1.7m)

Instead of deciding on its entire five-year financial plan in one go, the council now intends to set a one-year budget.

Some proposals will need further public consultation about their implementation, with the full five-year financial plan presented later this year.

“Having come in to office and turned over several rocks I feel like the council has – with the best intentions – been trying to avoid taking the bull by the horns for too long,” said Bristol mayor Marvin Rees.

“To be brutally honest this means we have had more work to do and have come to budget setting relatively late, so even these proposals have risk in terms of making all the savings we need.

“Whatever happens we must focus on our top priorities and do fewer things ourselves, with partners, volunteers or community groups taking on other services they want to keep.

“We still plan to spend over a billion pounds on Bristol each year. We will improve the city’s housing situation, reduce congestion and tackle inequality whilst seeking more funding and local powers from the government.

“By working together with our city partners and encouraging everyone in society to do their bit, we can help make sure things are better than the options might initially look on paper.

“Nevertheless this is a really tough position to be in and we must make sure that how we move forward doesn’t have the biggest impacts in deprived areas or on those with the least opportunity.

“With that said I have to be honest and acknowledge that, try as we might, the very nature of council services mean that some of the people we would rather protect are going to be affected.”

A full report on the consultation and the new list of the council’s proposed savings are available to view at www.bristol.gov.uk/corpstrategy

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