A proposed budget which will see Council Tax in Bath and North East Somerset rise by 4.95% has been approved this week.

The Council is under pressure to save £16 million by 2020, and is already undertaking the process of saving £27 million as the Government withdraws more and more funding. It is likely that Local Authorities across the country are going to need to become self-sufficient in future.

The Council says the new budget, whilst saving money, will see an extra £7 million spent on children and adult care services, investment in road maintenance, transport improvements and affordable housing.

Ways in which it hopes to earn additional money include from its own commercial investments, heritage assets and housing company, whilst growing the economy to generate more in Business Rate income. It is also seeking greater powers from the Government to introduce a local Tourism Levy, and a greater contribution towards local services from the area’s Universities and student accomodation providers. The Council has also announced that it will be shedding 300 full-time equivalent jobs in its 2,000 FTE workforce, which will include a management restructure.

Cllr Charles Gerrish (Conservative, Keynsham North), Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency, said: “These are challenging times for local authorities, but our aim is to make the Council financially self-sufficient, so that in future we do not have to rely on Government funding to invest in local priorities.

“We are making good progress towards this ambition, with millions of pounds saved from increased efficiency and millions more raised from new sources of income. But to go further, we will need greater powers from Government to raise more income locally, and this is something we are lobbying for.

“We recognise that some of these changes will have an impact on our staffing, and this process will be handled with as much care as possible.”

Responding to the implementation of the new budget, the B&NES Labour Group has said that residents will pay more for less. Cllr Liz Hardman (Labour, Paulton), Labour’s spokesperson on Children and Young People said: “These services are being reduced to crisis-driven fire-fighting because of crippling central Government funding cuts. We are seeing reductions to early years support, the youth service and educational psychology.

“The cuts mean that the Council will only get involved once our children and young people have reached crisis point, which then results in more costly interventions, such as being taken into care. The one good thing emerging from the budget is that in future, those leaving care will be exempt from Council Tax. This was a Labour Group initiative, and I’m glad the administration has taken up our idea.”

Cllr Eleanor Jackson (Labour, Westfield), Labour spokesperson for Homes and Planning adds: “Ordinary people want to see their Council Tax wisely spent to the best effect. There is no comprehensive, overarching strategy to deal with the housing crisis. Instead, we have potholes the size of goldfish bowls, and delayed or inappropriate planning developments that include nowhere to park a car. It’s time that this administration woke up to the need that local residents have for smaller, cheaper homes.”

The Conservatives have criticised Labour and the Lib-Dems for not putting forward any ideas on how the Council can save money. In a recent press release, the Lib-Dems claimed they would have provided an additional £578,000 funding for schools, services for children and young people and preventative work, but to do so would see an additional increase in the Council Tax of 0.7%.

Lib-Dem Group Deputy Leader, Cllr Steve Hedges (Odd Down), said: “Council services are being hollowed out, whilst the Conservatives keep their heads in the sand. With all of these challenges, it is no longer realistic to say that front line services will not be affected. The services local people rely on will be damaged by these cuts.”

Cllr Andrew Furse (Lib-Dem, Kingsmead), Finance Spokesperson, added: “Our amendment could have helped to soften the impact of changes to school funding to help children in our least well-off areas; this money could have put youth services on a sustainable footing in the long-term and could have helped to provide targeted preventative measures aimed at reducing inequalities. Cuts to preventative services are incredibly short-sighted, and will only lead to higher costs down the road.”

Cllr Paul Myers, the Chair of B&NES Conservative Group, defended the budget this week. He said:?“It’s clear that Lib-Dem and Labour Councillors offer no solutions to the challenges we face – only higher taxes on hard-working residents. Their only proposal was for higher taxes on residents, including those on the lowest pay, at a time when household budgets are already squeezed. It’s no surprise that the highest Council Tax rises ever seen in B&NES were when the Lib-Dems were in charge locally and Labour were in Government nationally.

“Residents also won’t forget that it was the Lib-Dems who tried to withdraw funding from the majority of our Children’s Centres, axe the Mobile Library and close public toilets when they ran the Council.”

Commenting on the Lib-Dems’ amendment on Children’s Services, Cllr Paul May, the Cabinet member for Children and Young People said: “We are putting record levels of funding into Children’s Services this year, with an increase of £3.1 million in the Children’s Service budget. On top of this, B&NES schools are receiving an extra £3.7 million this year through the National Funding Formula, one of the best funding settlements in the country. As a result, every school will see their budget increase, with schools serving the most deprived communities continuing to receive significant additional funding.”