Parks cuts reversed

PROPOSED cuts to Bristol's parks, libraries and the council tax reduction scheme, which helps the poorest families, have been shelved following a backlash.

The city council originally proposed £45.7 million of cutbacks in its original draft budget, which included £1.5m less for parks, a £1.4m cut for libraries, including the potential relocation of Bristol Central Library, and £3m savings on the council tax reduction scheme.

All three have been reversed following a public consultation, and with some more money announced from the government to help the worst-off.

A further £8.8m will be used from reserves over the next three years to balance the books.

Despite the extra income, the authority still faces a £20.3m budget gap in 2023/24, going up to £40.2m in four years, with cabinet papers saying the worst-case scenario by 2027/28 is a £125m black hole.

The council has now proposed savings totalling £16.2m in the 12 months from April, and £30.2m overall.

Mayor Marvin Rees said: "The consultation showed that people felt particularly strongly about the proposed savings for parks and libraries. Central Library will remain in its current home and we will not move ahead with the other aspects of those savings proposals. Instead, we will work with the city to find ways to sustainably run these departments with less government funding in the long term.

“This budget protects funding for all of our 22 children’s centres and all of our 27 libraries. We remain the only core city to maintain the 100 per cent reduction band of the council tax reduction scheme.

“Likewise, the Local Crisis Prevention Fund – which provides cash grants to the worst-off for emergencies – is unchanged for 2023/24.”

Includes reporting by Adam Postans and Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service