BRISTOL City Council is set to make some tough decisions this month in the face of a funding crisis.
Suggested ways to make savings include closing museums, reducing the library service, raising fees for meals on wheels, charging for disabled parking spaces and cutting council tax benefits for the poorest families.
A proposal to axe school crossing patrols across the city provoked widespread cross-party protest and looks unlikely to go ahead.
The budget options were discussed by two finance sub-committees in January before being put to the strategy and resources policy committee on February 3 ahead of a final decision by full council three weeks later.
Council leader Cllr Tony Dyer wrote in a blog on the council’s website that a crisis in local government finances had been driven by rising costs, a lack of government funding, a national failure to reform the country’s health and care system, a national housing crisis, and a growing need for vital safeguarding services for vulnerable children and adults.
He said: “Bristol is no exception and will face bankruptcy if we can’t close a £52million funding gap over the next five years.
“This needs to start straight away. There is no doubt that it means difficult choices, more taxes and charges, and we recognise that the money we raise does not go as far as it once did.
“We don’t like that any more than local taxpayers do, but it is the reality we must contend with.
“We need to take a bigger, bolder, and more politically courageous approach to our budget.
“We cannot keep salami-slicing public services, nor can we pretend that words like ‘efficiency’ and ‘productivity’ hold all the answers. These approaches have been tried before. Too often the savings haven’t been made, the can has been kicked down the road, and we have overspent our budget.”
Cllr Dyer (Green, Southville) said it would “not be a perfect or painless process”.
At a finance sub committee meeting last month, councillors spoke up in support of the city’s lollipop men and women.
Members heard that removal of the patrols would only save £314,ooo a year.
Cllr Ed Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill), chair of the transport and connectivity committee, responsible for crossing patrols, said: “If they are removed, more people may choose to drive and that could increase the danger for those, particularly deprived people, who may not be able to afford a car and will still be travelling actively.
“One way to reduce the impact of taking out school crossing patrols is to install zebra crossings where possible but often the patrol is there specifically because it’s not a simple site to do this and it’s not the same as a proactively attended patrol.”
“We can also review the need for them on an ongoing basis as we roll out school streets and liveable neighbourhoods and as we put in other measures to try to improve road safety overall.
“On disabled bays, the saving is so negligible, it would be a pity to take it forward.
Libraries network at risk
SOME of Bristol’s 27 libraries face closure as part of Bristol City Council’s efforts to balance the books.
Draft proposals offer a range of options from keeping the current provision unchanged to halving the authority’s £4.7 million annual libraries budget.
Following discussions at a finance sub-committee last month, it is probable that the most drastic proposed cuts – £2.4 million – will not go forward. However, doing nothing is also unlikely to be an option.
The chair of the public health and communities committee, Councillor Stephen Williams (Lib Dem, Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze) says he wants to modernise the library service, which he believes has suffered from years of “stealth cuts”.
But this is not a simple process, he told councillors.
“Usage of our libraries has enormous variations across the city. Avonmouth library has about 3,000 visitors a year.
“Henleaze library and Bishopston on the Gloucester Road have about 70,000 visitors a year – an absolute massive difference.
“We need to think about what sort of library service we want.
“I would like, whatever the network is, for it to be open for when people find it convenient to go to the library, so that will require some evening openings, and can we deliver other council services from this network of buildings as well?
Cllr Williams told the finance sub committee that cuts of £40 million were needed across the council so the library service had to make a contribution.
He said: “While we have 27 [branch] buildings across the city that have the word ‘library’ across their door, we do not have a comprehensive service.
“Across a given day, quite a lot of those libraries are closed.”
He said Bristol had more libraries than any other city, citing Liverpool, which has 16.
Councillor Kelvin Blake (Labour, Hillfields) said library buildings were not used only for library services but were a community asset. Keeping them open would mean services could be increased when finances improve.
Previous attempts to reduce the number of libraries in Bristol in 2018 and 2022 were dropped after a public outcry.
Museums could shut
THREE museums might have to close because of swingeing cuts to the council’s culture budget.
Among the options being considered are closure of Blaise Museum, Georgian House Museum and Red Lodge Museum as well as the reduction and closure of the Cultural Investment Programme and reduction of hours at the Archives Search Room.
Members of the Equity union have written to Bristol City Council warning that cuts would do significant damage to jobs and cultural activities in Bristol, which is a UNESCO City of Film.
Council leader Cllr Tony Dyer (Green, Southville) said the plan was to temporarily close the three museums, whose visitor numbers are a fraction of those of M Shed and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, and mothball the collections while work took place to explore other ways of running and funding them.
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service