Rebel Labour councillor blasts party for freezing council rents in speech against colleagues

A rebel Labour Bristol city councillor tore into her party for freezing council rents in a bombshell speech attacking colleagues.

Councillor Nicola Bowden-Jones told the annual budget meeting the reason the cabinet did not want to increase them was because of the looming local elections and that the group’s hierarchy warned members they would be deselected from standing if they voted against it.

Her claims were dismissed as “untruths” and “unfair slurs” by deputy mayor councillor Craig Cheney, who insisted council housing rents were being frozen because of hardship caused by the pandemic.

The issue has been the most controversial in this year’s budget, which was approved along with a 4.99 per cent council tax rise at a full council meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday, February 23.

It has divided the Labour group over the last few weeks with some backbench members and election candidates demanding that tenants – including themselves – should pay more to raise millions of pounds for house-building, repairs and upgrades.

………………………………….

Read more: ‘Vote for the future of our city’s council housing and not its decay’

………………………………….

They argued the Government would cover the cost for most residents through housing benefit or Universal Credit. But cabinet disputed this and agreed earlier this month to maintain current levels.

Councillor Nicola Bowden-Jones gave a bombshell speech in the budget meeting. Photo: Bristol City Council

Bowden-Jones’s blistering comments came as she seconded a Green budget amendment to reverse that decision and impose a 1.5 per cent rise, equal to £1.22 a week.

She told Tuesday’s remote meeting: “This council rent freeze is nothing to do with coronavirus or helping people on low incomes, let’s be honest.

“I’ve been at the Labour group meetings where speaker after speaker supporting the freeze starts by saying ‘Ooh, we shouldn’t raise rents in the run-up to the election’.”

Bowden-Jones, who was Labour’s candidate for Kingswood MP in the 2019 general election, said rent was income that created borrowing power “without which we restrict our ability to repair, regenerate, retrofit and build houses”.

She said: “We are happy to put up council tax for the same people by five per cent, yet apparently a 1.5 per cent rent rise is too much for people to take, even though the benefits system for both is the same.”

The Frome Vale ward councillor singled out cabinet members for criticism, highlighting difficulties with their support for the plan.

“Difficult for Helen Godwin as cutting the social rented housing programme means she is voting today to leave families in temporary accommodation for longer,” Bowden-Jones said.

“Difficult for Nicola Beech, our staunch advocate for strong planning policy – she is voting for a form of shared ownership which doesn’t meet the planning department’s definition of affordable.

“Difficult for Afzal Shah because he is voting to take over £100m from the spending power of the housing department when there is a bill of £500m to retrofit homes to meet our carbon reduction targets.

“Difficult for cabinet members who have lived in council housing to remove an opportunity for those who now have that same need for a home they once had.

“Difficult for some of my colleagues who have been told they will not be able to stand in the May elections if they vote to save our council housing.

“We should not put votes before ensuring our tenants have warm, safe and well-maintained homes.”

Cheney, who is responsible for finance, governance and performance at the council, said: “Excluding the last speech which contained various untruths and some unfair slurs on certain members of our group, I want to thank everyone for what was actually a reasonable debate in the circumstances.

“For us this has been a very difficult judgement to make and it has been based absolutely and entirely on what we think is morally the right thing to do.

“That decision can fall on either side, it’s not an easy one for anyone to make. Taking £4 out of someone’s income, we are taking a meal away from people. I find that very difficult in the pandemic to countenance.”

Labour councillor Jo Sergeant joined Bowden-Jones in voting in favour of Green councillor Carla Denyer’s amendment, while Labour councillor Olly Mead, Tim Rippington and Lucy Whittle abstained.

When Mead became the first party member to cast an abstention, an exasperated voice could be heard to say: “Oh for God’s sake.”

Referring to it later in the meeting, Lib Dem whip councillor Tim Kent told Labour group leader councillor Marg Hickman: “I sympathise with your Handforth Parish Council moment – I myself am going to have to reprimand several members of the group afterwards for voting against the whip.”

Conservatives joined the other Labour councillors in voting down the amendment which fell by 42-19 votes, with four abstentions.

Later in the meeting, the original budget, with a Labour amendment for seven additional litter and fly-tipping enforcement officers, passed by just one vote 33-32, with Bowden-Jones the party’s only member voting against.

Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.

Main photo: Bristol City Council

Read more: ‘Vote for the future of our city’s council housing and not its decay’