Political pot shots taken as council budget approved

More than once, Tuesday’s full council meeting was likened to the film Groundhog Day, as debate and amendments took on a familiar ring and party political pot shots traded.

Ultimately, at the end of more than five hours, the Labour administration passed what it is dubbing a “no cuts budget that protects Bristol from austerity” by a majority vote.

It failed to gain the backing of the three opposition parties, with the Green group – which abstained from voting – branding it a “no new cuts” document that lacks meaningful action.

Conservative and Lib Dem groups voted against the budget, which includes a council tax increase of 3.99 per cent – one per cent of which will help fund adult social care. This ensures there are no new cuts to frontline services, but legacy savings will continue.

Outlining the situation for Bristol, mayor Marvin Rees said: “The challenge that covers everything we do in city government remains Government-imposed austerity.

“Our funding is decreased year-on-year by Government cuts. Meanwhile, demand for children’s services and adult social care has continued to rise – for every £1 of council tax collected in 19/20 across the UK, as much as 56p could be spent on caring for the elderly, vulnerable adults and children. This figure is even higher in Bristol.”

He reminded the chamber that Bristol has been forced to make £120m in cuts, calling the “no cuts” budget an “incredible achievement” and listing the services protected under Labour; including children’s centres, libraries – which will remain open until at least 2020 – accelerated house building, the council tax reduction scheme and making the council a living wage employer.

The main sticking point for the Tory group centred around the loss-making Bristol Energy Company.

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Read more: Bristol Energy reports £11.2m loss

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“We don’t believe the tax payers of Bristol should be putting more money into the energy company,” said Tory group leader Mark Weston, saying he and colleagues have raised concerns privately in the past and are now putting them in the public sphere.

Bristol Energy reported a £11.2m loss for the 2017/18 financial year in January and the council has ploughed almost £30m into the firm to date – prompting Weston to say it should “stand on its own two feet”.

Of the seven amendments put forward, three were voted through.

The Tories put forward an amendment to partially-restore closed public toilet provision

The Tories proposed to partially-restore public toilet provision and improve the A4018 road infrastructure with funds taken by closing the council’s Brussels office, cutting money from the mayor’s office and scaling back on press and PR.

While there was some sympathy from other opposition parties for the call to scale-back spending from the mayor’s office, the amendment was ultimately voted down.

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Read more: ‘Council has lost the plot’ over proposed Westbury-on-Trym road changes

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The Lib Dems put in a failed bid to fund a youth travel card for Bristol buses, bus franchising, improve safety on streets and develop a bus and sustainable transport fund by taking from the corporate capital contingency coffers. A plan that Labour councillors labeled “irresponsible”.

The Greens’ amendment to increase funds for foster carers was not carried – on the basis that the amount proposed is less than being considered as part of an overall package.

Proposals to secure additional funding for adapted accommodation for adults with disabilities, to adapt and increase capacity in council homes and to develop clear plans to help the city meet it’s carbon neutral target by 2030 – all put foward by Green councillors – were voted through.

The Greens’ call to fund a better bus service through the introduction of a congestion charge met with a less favourable response and was voted down.

Proposing the amendment, Jerome Thomas, a Green councillor for Clifton, said: “The public indicate again and again that a good bus network would transform how people travel in the city with all the attendant benefits to health, the economy and our environment.

“It is the transport system that encourages equality for all from the poorest to the wealthiest in Bristol.

“This is a bold and vital step towards solving our transport problems and creating a city for the future.”

The Greens’ amendment to introduce a congestion charge was voted down

But Rees called the bid “mistaken and seriously flawed”, arguing it will worsen poverty in the city.

Commenting on the budget overall, Lib Dem leader Anthony Negus: “We support a lot of what this administration is trying to do. Maybe not the pace, but some of the aspirations.”

But he urged Labour to stop “whinging about central government, saying: “Just get it done and do not whinge about it. The solution to Bristol’s problems lies in Bristol, it lies with all of use and we should all be doing our very best to do that.”

Green group leader Eleanor Combley criticised Labour for claiming this is a ‘no cuts’ budget.

“Suggesting this is a budget which balances the books without making cuts, just because those cuts were announced last year, looks to me like sleight of hand, rather than an honest attempt to communicate with the people of Bristol,” she said.

“It doesn’t stop those cuts being there, and it doesn’t make them any less worrying to me.”

After some five hours of debating, Labour got the budget through with a majority vote, butt without the support of the Tory and Lib Dem councillors, who voted against it, and the Greens, who abstained.

Speaking after the meeting, Labour group leader Marg Hickman said she was proud of what the administration has achieved and accused the opposition of a “blinkered approach”.

Read more: Bristol’s hard choices budget