Members of B&NES Council’s Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet are proposing an alternative budget this week as the Council begins the process of setting the Council’s budget, spending priorities and Council Tax for the next year.

Budget proposals were made in the first place to the Corporate Performance and Resources O&S Panel, which met on the 2nd Feb 2009.

Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown), Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said:

“The Conservative budget is a budget with only limited ambition for our area. It does not seek to solve the pressing problems and issues affecting residents, but rather concentrates on stashing away funds in reserves, building new Council offices at vast expense and delaying essential service improvements.

“We recognize that at these times of uncertainty the Council must cut its coat according to its cloth. We are proposing a lower Council Tax level than the Conservative budget – a 3.25% increase in contrast to the Conservative 3.5% proposal.”

Councillor Caroline Roberts (Newbridge), who is the Shadow Cabinet member for Customer Services, said:

“Residents across B&NES tell us time and time again that street cleaning is one of their top priorities, yet the Conservative administration has allowed this service to get out of control. We are proposing a substantial increase in the street cleaning budget, to concentrate on the neglected areas outside Bath city centre.

“The Liberal Democrats are committed to the Zero Waste policy which we initiated. Under our plans from the last Council kitchen waste collections would already be in place, along with same day collections of waste and recycling. The Conservatives have repeatedly delayed these essential service improvements, however under our proposal they would start in Autumn 2010.

“We also want to see a reprioritisation within the Transport department to focus on cycling, pedestrians and 20 mph speed limits to improve the safety of our residential roads. A change in the travel to school policy so that the Council will organise transport for all children living farther than a mile from their school would get traffic off the roads and reduce the need for unpopular projects like the Middle Bristol Road.”

Councillor Andrew Furse (Kingsmead) who shadows the Children and Young People portfolio said:

“Our youth service is rated as ‘good’ by OFSTED – that is great news, but OFSTED only looks at what the service is currently delivering. With more funding the youth service could deliver better engagement with disaffected young people – this is what residents across B&NES are asking for. By engaging directly with young people not currently involved in our youth provision, we can make a real difference to our communities.”

Councillor Colin Darracott (Walcot) shadows the Enterprise and Economic Development portfolio. He said:

“We are suggesting that, to help our local businesses in the current economic climate, the Council should be paying its suppliers within 14 days. The cost to the Council would be minimal, but it could make a big difference to some local companies.”

Councillor Ian Gilchrist (Widcombe), the Energy Champion for the Council, said:

“I would like to see this Council do something concrete and practical to help residents reduce their carbon footprints and save money on fuel. That is why we are proposing a pilot project whereby residents would be able to apply for small grants from the Council for energy saving projects such as insulation.”

Councillor David Dixon (Walcot) is the Shadow Cabinet member for Resources. He commented:

“This isn’t the do nothing budget that the Tories are proposing, it’s a budget that over the coming years will shift resources between Council departments to deliver the services and improvements that matter the most to our residents.”

 Let us know what you think of our proposals…

 

PS: Please see below a copy of Cllr Paul Crossley’s speech to the Corporate Performance and Resources O&S panel on the 2nd Feb:

The Conservative budget is a budget with limited ambition for our area. It does not seek to solve the pressing problems and issues affecting residents and it takes money from people at a time of uncertainty to continue stashing money in a Council nest-egg.

We oppose the continued expense on further plans to build new offices. We believe that the Council should be present in all three urban centres. We believe that many of the journeys of staff travelling around the area can be solved by the use of inexpensive modern technology. We believe the £XXX million would be better spent on introducing Neighbourhood working with the devolution of real budgets to Neighbourhoods and the Neighbourhood Councillors being accountable for service delivery and performance.

We oppose the transfer from Council tax payers of £1m per year for the next three years to build up reserves for the Council pension fund. We support the efficiency savings to provide a buffer on pensions but do not think that residents’ money should be taken for this reason.

We propose that the street cleaning budget should be doubled over the next three years. The Conservatives have presided over a period of increased litter on our streets and let it lie. Our hardworking cleansing team now need the money and commitment to enable them to deliver the service that our residents expect. The streets of our Bath suburbs, towns and villages need better cleaning. An improved clean environment is good for everyone and has a proven effect in reducing anti-social behaviour. For Bath city centre we believe the correct approach is through a business improvement district.

We propose that with the transport department the amount of money spent on cycle and pedestrian provision should be doubled over the next three years and that this should come from a reprioritisation of the highways budget. We also want to see 20mph zones given high priority in the transport department. Again this should be done by reprioritisation within existing budget. These measures will fit in with what residents want, reduce congestion and help reduce the need for a grandiose plan to build a ‘Middle Bristol Road’.

We propose that a solution to our congestion problems is to eliminate the school run. Our long term ambition is that all residents under 18 should have access to public transport schemes that enable them to get to school and training without having to be driven their by parents. Until this has become a universal provision we realise that issues around fair entitlement need to be resolved. We appreciate also that this is a big budget commitment and will take many years to implement fully. However we wish to see a start and so are proposing that for this year we put £1.5M into the project. This will reverse the loss of transport suffered by St Gregory’s and also reintroduce it in a way that is fair to all pupils and schools. As part of this project we propose that the travel to school limit is reduced from 3 miles to 1 mile.

Under the Conservative Administration the previously healthy growth in recycling rates (which was due to Liberal Democrat initiatives) has now started to flat-line as all the projects initiated by our previous administration are up and running. However the introduction of same day collection has been delayed compared to the plans we established and kitchen waste collection has been delayed even further. It is our view that the introduction of same day collection and kitchen waste collection will raise recycling rates to 60%. The time for action is now not at some time in the future. Our budget will see kitchen waste added to same day collection next Autumn.

We propose the creation of a £½ million fund for a pilot project for residents to bid for home insulation or energy saving improvements. This will enable households in Bath and North East Somerset to reduce their carbon footprints and their energy costs as well as contributing to this Council’s aim to reduce carbon emissions in the district. The rules for applications would need to be created and a key consideration should be to help alleviate fuel poverty. This would be a local addition to Government initiatives such as ‘warm front’.

Liberal Democrats have consistently argued against the Conservative Administration’s year on year cuts to the Youth Service. We wish to reverse the latest set of cuts. We wish to provide a fund through the CDRP to address anti social behaviour. These two measures will help to solve many of the problems facing many of our residents from Westfield to Walcot and from Kingsmead to Keynsham.

But most importantly at these difficult times we believe that it is paramount that Council cuts its cloth according to need and ability to pay. Many residents who only get state pensions only get a small annual increase in income. Our Council Tax should respect the restricted incomes of our most vulnerable residents. I would remind you that the discredited Council Tax system is a Tory Tax and one which would be scrapped under Liberal Democrat national policy on tax. However it is the system we have to work with. We therefore propose that this year the Council Tax rise would be only 3.25% with projections of 3.0% and 2.75% for the next two years.

In these times of economic difficulty we think the Cabinet should look carefully at moving to a commitment to pay its invoices to local providers within 14 days – this will be a minimal cost to Council in terms of lost interest.

We have presented our three year budget proposal which has been signed off by officers. We have identified a series of savings to balance the books and recognise that if all savings cannot be met in year one that any shortfall should be taken from the exceptional risk and contingency reserves.

I therefore ask the O&S panel to consider the detail of our proposed budget amendment and to recommend it to Cabinet.