Love wasn’t in the air at a meeting of B&NES Councillors at the Guildhall on Tuesday, 14th February, as Councillors in Bath and North East Somerset approved budget proposals that will see them save £14.5 million for the year 2016/17 and has caused rifts across all parties with the opposition accusing the B&NES Tory Cabinet of recklessness. Protestors also gathered outside to campaign against plans to move local libraries into the Council’s One Stop Shops in Midsomer Norton and Bath.

In total, the Council needs to find £49 million of savings to balance the budget over the four years from 2016/17 as a result of reducing Government funding and complex challenges, such as the growth in the number of vulnerable and older people needing social care support.

Out of £14.5 million in savings required for 2017/18, £13.2 million will be delivered through increased efficiency and new and innovative ways to generate income, with £1.3 million to be achieved through changing the way some local services are delivered.

The Council has said: “The budget has been set following a stringent and comprehensive review of all spending carried out over the past year, aimed at finding new ways to increase efficiency and grow income in order to protect priority front-line services as far as possible. This has meant the Council has been able to keep the Council Tax rise at 3.5%, which is expected to be among the lowest in the country. It has also enabled the Council to continue investing in local priorities, such as affordable housing, transport improvements and economic growth to create good local jobs.”

The Liberal Democrat Councillors spoke out about the budget cuts calling them “damaging”, while Labour said the cuts were “reckless in the extreme” accusing the Conservatives of a huge gamble.

Councillor Dine Romero, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group (Southdown), commented: “The Liberal Democrat group rejects this Conservative budget which includes damaging cuts across the range of Council services. We called on the Conservative administration to think again about the very real impacts their budget will have on residents of Bath and North East Somerset.

“Local people have been shouting at the top of their lungs, saying that they do not want cuts to libraries, children and youth services, care and preventative services, the arts and that they do not want to see millions squandered on the park and ride. This Conservative administration is deaf to their voices.”

Following the release of leaked messages suggesting that Tory-controlled Surrey County Council had been offered a deal in return for dropping its plans for a 15% increase in Council Tax, the Labour Group had asked B&NES Council to give itself some breathing space by going back to government and asking for a reversal of cuts to the core grant. The proposal was rejected by the Council.

Deputy Leader of B&NES Labour Group, Cllr Joe Rayment (Labour, Twerton), said: “We provided the B&NES Tory Cabinet with an opportunity to show that it was willing to put residents first by seeking a reversal to Government cuts to Council funding. They declined to do so. Instead they have demonstrated recklessness in the extreme by making huge service reductions with cuts to library services, the youth service and adult social care. They are gambling on other organisations stepping in to provide essential services when there is no evidence that they will be willing do so.

B&NES is a Tory-run council with two Tory MPs. Why aren’t they having a frank and honest conversation with their friends in Westminster and telling them that we too face a financial crisis?”

Leader of B&NES Labour Group, Cllr Robin Moss (Labour, Westfield), said: “By coupling cuts to services with an increase in Council Tax, residents will find that they are paying more for less. The B&NES Tories have decided to cut money for adult social care at a time when we all know that demand is growing. They are gambling on being able to manage the demand by only providing help to those who are most in need. They are dressing up their plans with words like ‘maximising independence’ and ‘reducing dependency’ but we are talking here about very old and very vulnerable people who will no longer be eligible to receive help”.

On the cuts to the Youth Service, Cllr Liz Hardman (Labour, Paulton) said: “This budget should be putting the interests of residents first and investing in our young people. Instead, this plan dismantles our Youth Service and expects it to be provided by community groups and parish and town councils. The Youth Service provides more than just a social space for young people, it provides personal and social development opportunities too. It is currently overseen by professional youth workers who are highly skilled and trained, in the future, we will lose this group of experts. Well-meaning but untrained volunteers provide, at best, a third rate service.”

Councillor Charles Gerrish (Conservative, Keynsham North), Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency, said: “We are currently dealing with the biggest financial challenge in the Council’s history, with £49 million of savings needing to be found by 2020. To meet this challenge, over the past year, we have undertaken a thorough root-and-branch review of all Council spending and income. As a result of this work, the vast majority of the savings we are making are being achieved through either increased efficiency or by generating new income. This includes new capital investments that produce a good return for taxpayers and will provide a long-term income for the Council.

“At the same time, we need to be honest with residents about the changes that will be required in some services to make them sustainable for the future. The approach we are taking aims to find new ways to deliver services, such as libraries and children’s centres, rather than axing or closing them entirely.

“As a result, we have been able to protect the majority of frontline services, with increased funding for social care, whilst at the same time keeping our level of Council Tax as low as possible.”

These savings will be implemented over the next three years to ensure the Council can become more self-sufficient and less reliant on core Government grants which are reducing to almost nothing by 2020.

Councillor Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip), Leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council, said: “By taking the difficult decisions needed to reform local services and ensure the Council lives within its means, we are able to continue delivering investment in important local priorities such as housing, transport and economic growth.

“This includes £3.5 million to support affordable housing schemes across the district, £7 million of highway and transport improvements, and £18.3 million for new and expanded Primary School provision, part-funded through developer contributions and central government grants.

“With the budget plans now approved, over the coming months, we will be working closely with local communities, parishes and public sector partners to deliver services in new and cost-effective ways that ensures we provide the high-quality services residents rightly demand.”

Community leaders in Peasedown St John also voiced their concerns over the budget proposals stating that the budget would be bad for the village. In a recent Parish Council meeting, the Precept went up by 36p per month, which is £3.60 per year.

Cllr Karen Walker said: “The new B&NES Budget is bad for Peasedown. Not only have we seen the pupil premium for schools frozen, we’ve also not seen any funding for the much needed investment in our village’s play parks. The Conservative leadership’s proposals for the next financial year take us back ten years, and show no sign of progress for the future.”

Cllr Sarah Bevan, who leads the local authority’s group of independent councillors, said: “A large number of Peasedown residents have been in touch with us over the past month to raise their concerns about the increase in council tax. Along with the parish council voting to increase its precept, our residents have been really hard done by this year. What, after all, are residents seeing in return? They’re seeing a youth centre that’s played a central role in our community for almost 40 years, now threatened with closure, and infrastructure in the public realm, such as broken bus shelters, not being replaced.”

The 46% cut to the council’s youth connect budget means unless an alternative provider can be found Peasedown’s centre faces closure within the next 12 months.

Cllr Walker added: “Sarah and I are working hard to ensure our much valued youth centre doesn’t close. We already have a meeting set up this week with two local organisations that could be key to saving the youth centre. We’ll be updating the community with news over the next few weeks.”

Some of the main investments and one-off expenditure items within the budget include:

· £4.7 million for highway maintenance and improvements, including additional Government grant as a result of the devolution agreement.

· £2.2 million for transport and safety initiatives, ranging from new bus shelters to Safer Routes to School schemes, including £500k to improve traffic at the A39 Two Headed Man junction.

· £15k for a home to school transport study looking at ways to reduce ‘school run’ traffic.

· Public Realm improvements to Keynsham High Street and Kingsmead Square.

· £3.5 million for identified affordable housing schemes, plus £3 million more available for schemes as they come forward.

· Funding to continue with gull control measures, including the gull-nest removal programme.

· £18.3m of Government funding and developer contributions for new and expanded Primary School provision.

· Up to £30m to support the Bath Quays regeneration.

· A new £92,000 Community Empowerment Fund to support local communities and parishes as they take on a greater role in the provision of local services.

· £1.1m a year for Disabled Facilities Grants.

· £3.6 million for Keynsham Leisure Centre – funded through additional income from the improved facilities.

Some of the main savings included within the budget plans include:

· £2.2 million from new acquisitions to supplement commercial estate income and new income from the local housing and development company

· £2 million by raising additional income from heritage and wider economic growth as well as greater efficiencies in housing services

· £2.5 million earned from the Business Rates retention pilot

· £2.7 million saved from changing the way we make provision to repay borrowings on capital items

· £550,000 saved from departmental underspends and back office efficiencies

· £500,000 secured from lower interest rates and capital savings

· £600,000 by a review of the organisational management and support arrangements

· £500,000 saving by encouraging and enabling local community groups to offer supplementary services for young people

· £100,000 earned in income by introducing a local energy tariff that also reduces residents’ and businesses’ energy bills

· £800,000 saved through modernising the library service

· £2.8 million saving through Customer services/digital transformation improving efficiency

· £5.6 million of cost increases avoided as part of increased efficiency and redesigning services to maximise people’s independence as part of implementing new tailored community health and care arrangements developed through the Your Care Your Way project

· £1.5 million by redesigning transport options for how people get from A to B. This includes moving to more personalised budgets in relation to SEN transport options.

· £500,000 through more efficient services for children and young people – such as ensuring we adapt as legislation transfers some of our traditional responsibilities to academies and others.

· £400,000 saving by consolidation of destination management services.

· £120,000 through increase in bereavement services charges

· £100,000 by the transfer of some Children’s Centre buildings to community organisations who can make better use of them.

These savings will be implemented over the next three years to ensure the Council can become more self-sufficient and less reliant on core Government grants which are reducing to almost nothing by 2020. To put the required savings into context, the Council’s gross revenue spend for 2016/17 is £246.6 million (excluding schools expenditure).

Following the meeting, the Conservatives reacted to the criticism of the budget, with Chairman of the B&NES Conservative Group, Cllr Paul Myers, saying: “Like all councils across the country, Bath and North East Somerset Council is facing a significant financial challenge and it is incumbent upon all councillors of whatever political party to work together in coming up with answers to this challenge.

“Sadly, despite their criticism of the budget, Lib Dem and Labour councillors put forward no alternatives and offered no solutions to the Council’s budget challenge.”

On the Lib Dems’ approach to the budget, Cllr Myers said: “When the Lib Dems ran the Council, they presided over numerous budget fiascos – including cuts and attempted cuts to Children’s Centres, Citizen’s Advice, the Mobile Library, Public Toilets, as well as plans to introduce parking charges in free community car parks.

“The previous Lib Dem Council had to save £33 million – less than we do now – yet still had to plug their budget using one-off reserves, handing over a £1.5 million black-hole to the next administration.

“When part of the Coalition Government, the Lib Dems supported the need to reduce the national budget deficit – now in opposition they offer no solutions to the challenges we face.”

On Labour Councillors’ approach to the budget, Cllr Myers commented: “To see the approach Labour take to running a Council, you only need to look over the border at Labour-run Bristol City Council, which is making far deeper cuts to services than here in B&NES – including library closures, huge cuts to local parks, a £1.5 million cut to Children’s Centres, and half a million pounds taken away from homelessness support.”