String of amendments planned ahead of B&NES budget vote
Labour will table a string of amendments to Liberal Democrat-run Bath and North East Somerset Council’s budget tonight
Last updated 20th Feb 2024
Labour will table a string of amendments to Liberal Democrat-run Bath and North East Somerset Council’s budget as it goes to a vote tonight (February 20).
Local councils must — by law — deliver a balanced budget. Bath and North East Somerset Council is proposing controversial cuts to local charities, an end to free parking in Midsomer Norton and Radstock, and a 4.99% council tax in order to offset exploding costs in social care — an issue almost all English councils are facing — and close a budget gap of £16.4m.
But Labour will urge the council to “spend to save,” with several amendments proposing new spending to save the council more money in the long run, but its amendments are not expected to pass. The group is the official opposition and second-largest party but has just seven members on the 65-seat council, while the Liberal Democrats have 41.
Among their proposals, Labour want to spread the planned £802k cut to community services delivered by local charities across four years. The cut — which local homelessness charity Julian House has warned will push more people into rough sleeping — has already been spread across two years by the Liberal Democrats following the outcry when it was announced.
The group is also proposing a different way for the council to make money out of its car parks. Plans in the budget to introduce charges in the free car parks in Midsomer Norton and Radstock have been criticised by councillors and shopkeepers, who have warned the move will “kill the town.”
Group leader Robin Moss said: “They are really fragile retail centres.” He added: “They won’t make the money they think they are going to make anyway.”
The Labour group will instead propose borrowing £280k for digital advertising boards at council car parks, which Mr Moss said would pay for themselves in four years and deliver a return of £47k a year for the rest of their eight-year life.
Mr Moss also wants the council to spend another £244k on supporting rural buses. He said the money could restore cut routes for a year to determine the need for the buses and boost demand.
Most of the buses in rural North East Somerset were cut last year amid a funding row between Bath and North East Somerset Council and Labour West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris. The council insisted Mr Norris should use government bus funding to pay for the services, rather than the council paying him the funding to commission the services.
The group will also call for a new tourist tax. Mr Morris said this would be similar to the one introduced by Andy Burnham in Manchester and would be ring-fenced for improvements around Bath’s tourist centres such as street cleaning and security improvements. Among the other amendments planned is a £56k investment into foster carers, and granting them 100% council tax relief, and a look into how more council-owned buildings and assets can be used to generate money for the council, or provide residential and day care for older and younger people.
The council is already working on converting buildings it owns into social housing and temporary housing for the homeless, but Mr Moss said: “It’s the fifth year of a Liberal Democrat administration. They should have started a while back.”
Setting out the budget at the council’s cabinet meeting on February 8, the council’s cabinet member for resources Mark Elliott said it had been “one of the most one of the most difficult that the council has ever had to pull together.”
But he insisted: “It protects the most vulnerable, delivers on our manifesto commitments, and sets out a firm foundation for the future of the council.”
A full meeting of Bath and North East Somerset Council will take place tonight (February 20) and councillors will vote on whether to approve the budget. The meeting begins at 6.30pm in Bath’s Guildhall.