Bristol City Council looks to freeze tax and axe 350 jobs

Another 350 jobs are set to go at Bristol City Council as it aims to take another £21m out of its budget.

 

Proposals for the 2012/13 budget, which will be voted on next February, include a freezing of council tax for a second successive year, along with new revenue-raising plans.

 

This is the second stage of a plan to cut overall spending by £70m by 2015, after £28m was cut during the last year – with 390 jobs going at the council.

 

Visitors to Ashton Court could be charged £1 each to park their cars in a bid to raise £210,000 a year.

 

Pest control charges will be introduced to all residents not on benefits, with a visit from the rat exterminator to cost £25.

 

And the council hopes to raise £500,000 from car drivers with more enforcement of bus lanes and an increase in the number of pay and display schemes.

 

But more controversially, the council aims to cut its staffing budget, currently £220m, by £11m - the equivalent of 350 jobs.

 

Meanwhile, residential care for the elderly and some youth services will be reviewed, while the voluntary sector will be asked to help support youth services and libraries.

 

Council leader Barbara Janke said the task of finding cutbacks was harder this year but said the proposals seek to “protect services wherever possible”.

 

“This year, with a net figure of around another £21m in savings to find, the task has been harder,” she said.

 

“The council is slimmer and leaner than it was before. It is changing and, we hope, becoming more responsive to the needs of the people of Bristol. The change will continue. For next year the largest cut – around £8m – has been in the council’s central organisation.

 

“In an uncertain world, though, we know we have to provide stability, where this is possible. For a second year running, we will be freezing council tax. This will be good news to the many elderly pensioners and
families on low incomes who face enough challenges to their own budgets without facing a council tax hike.

 

“However, large numbers of vulnerable people in Bristol are dependent on our services. The proposals seek to protect services wherever possible – even though this may sometimes mean a change in the way services are provided. Nowhere is this more the case than in the areas of social care and children and young people’s services, where society’s needs and government policy are forcing the pace of change.”

 

The Conservatives on the council were largely pleased with the plans, but Labour said the budget showed “the vulnerable in society are having to pay the price for a global economic crisis caused by financiers who should have known better”.

Up to £2m has been taken out of the budget for elderly care, as the council moves to provide care for more older people in their homes, while £1m is taken from youth services.

 

Labour leader Peter Hammond accused the Liberal Democrats of “forgetting” to add in costs for redundancies, adding: “This budget really makes you see what the LibDem administration values and which groups they think it’s al right to let down with budget cuts. As usual it’s older people and young people who get it in the neck.

 

“I think at times like this we need to ask what the council exists for: Labour councillors believe we should look after our elderly and most vulnerable citizens and help those who need a bit of support to get back on their feet.

 

“What surprises me is that the LibDems here are happy to do exactly what the Conservative-led government tells them to do no matter what the consequences for the elderly and the vulnerable and their families.”