The year’s budget marks a watershed moment for Bath and North East Somerset Council, its Finance Chief has said.

In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Richard Samuel and Leader, Dine Romero, said the Liberal Democrats are delivering on their manifesto pledges to invest in housing, transport and the climate emergency.

“When you inherit a budget from a different administration you can’t do everything you want to do straight away. We’ve made some quick changes of direction,” said Cllr Samuel, the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources.

“This is an optimistic budget. The Council spent four years stopping doing things.

“Some recent cuts have been small, but really unpopular.

“Our spending on street cleaning has made a huge difference. We’re going to repeat that, because it works, and North East Somerset won’t be forgotten in that.

“There are no cuts this year, no redundancies.

“It’s all about investing in things people tell us they value. I think that marks a watershed in the approach this Council is taking.

“We’re investing in transport, building social housing, the climate emergency and how we tackle pressures in areas like children’s services.

“The Council wasn’t spending significant money on these things before. Carving out the cash needed has been a task in itself.

“We’re putting the Council’s finances on a stable footing, so we’re balancing the budget each year.

“Against all that is the uncertainty about what the Government is going to do – it’s in a big mess.

“We’ve had to absorb more and more lost spending power. Adult Social Care isn’t being addressed at all. There’s a big structural problem.

“There’s a limit to how much you can expect the Council Tax payer to take the burden of this kind of expenditure.

“There’s a massive lack of confidence from Council leaders that Government will fix this problem.”

There will be a 3.98 per cent jump in Council Tax – half of that sum will go on on Council services, with the rest ring-fenced for Adult Social Care.

The average Band D property will pay £55.76 more than last year, equiva- lent to £1.07 extra per week.

The Clean Air Zone is set to start charging the worst polluting vehicles, except private cars, in November.

It will be one of the biggest expenses this year. The Council has asked central Government for more than £18 million to fund it and is waiting for a decision.

Cllr Samuel said: “We’re expecting to hear in the middle of March about the Clean Air Zone funding. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

“If they cut the money in half we would have to have a fundamental rethink. I don’t think we could deliver the legal requirement with half the money.

“If it was a small adjustment we would have to see if we could absorb it.”

Council Leader, Dine Romero, added: “We would want to look at the whole thing again.”

In terms of new spending, Cllr Romero said: “I’m most excited about what we’re delivering for our local residents – things we know have been bothering people, like street cleanliness, litter picking and our woodland strategy.

“We are putting in an extra £42,000 to bring empty homes back into use.

“We are spending £323,000 on addressing the Climate Emergency. We will work with partners and show leadership. There’s a lot of work we cannot do on our own.

“We are also spending £2 million on alterations to Bath Studio School.”

The school will close at the end of the summer. The investment will create a “specialist educational provision for children with autism and complex social, emotional mental health needs”, according to the budget papers.

Cllr Samuel said: “When we started to have pressures in children’s spending, one thing we realised was that we are sending a lot of children out of the area.

“If we provide more here, it’s better for the kids and transport costs are cheaper. Bath Studio School was closing – we thought maybe we could fit the two things together.”

Bath Central Library will undergo a £300,000 refurbishment, and the Council will put £250,000 towards creating a new centre for its internationally significant heritage collections.

On the subject of transport, Cllr Samuel said: “There is a lot more money going into transport. There will be funding for low traffic neighbourhoods and residents’ parking zones [£200,000 in total].

“Cleveland Bridge is being funded externally [the Council has asked the Department for Transport for £3.9 million].

“We will see the beginning of city centre road closures to make it a safer and more secure environment and will engage with businesses and residents on how that would work.”

The budget includes £640,000 this year and more over the next five years on city centre protection measures. The money will be spent on “security rated vehicle access restrictions” in York Street, Lower Borough Walls and Hot Bath Street. There will be sliding and rising bollards, to be operated by CCTV, along with fixed bollards at various locations.

The budget also features £150,000 to improve walking and cycling infrastructure.

Cllr Romero added that electric bikes are “being looked at” – the Council previously went out to tender for an electric bike rental scheme for Bath but no one wanted to provide them.

The recently published joint local transport plan has set out the West of England’s infrastructure vision for the next sixteen years. There were ambitious proposals, but also a £6 billion funding gap. Congestion charges for Bath and Bristol were among the idea to raise some of the funds needed.

Cllr Samuel said: “I don’t think a congestion charge is the way to plug the gap.

“The big issue for the West of England Combined Authority is its revenue-raising powers. At the moment it can’t levy a Council Tax precept.

“If it did, they would be able to spend money on things like supporting the bus network. It can’t have escaped the Mayor’s notice that the bus network needs support, particularly in rural areas.” Stephen Sumner, LDRS