Bristol Greens Oppose Labour-Tory Cuts Budget 

At the Council’s second budget meeting yesterday (28th Feb), Bristol’s Green councillors voted against the outgoing Labour Mayor’s final budget.

In a private deal ahead of the meeting, the outgoing Mayor adopted Conservative changes, and the budget passed with support from their group.

The Green Group still believes the budget neglects impacts on essential services and have also cast doubt on the feasibility of implementing the new amendments. They have expressed hope that a new committee-led administration, who will be responsible for implementing the budget after May, will put communities at the heart of any future budget setting process. 

Cllr Heather Mack, Shadow Cabinet Lead for Finance, Performance and Governance, voiced her concerns about the original budget, saying, “Make no mistake, the Labour and Conservative parties have worked together on a backroom budget that works against the people of Bristol, continuing austerity and the degradation of our frontline services. 

“In the meeting, the Mayor said that we have no choice but to work within the fiscal context we’re in. Of course – but if their party hopes to run the country, they will have the power to change this context. Yet both locally and nationally, Labour has said that they would not provide any more funding for local councils than the Tories have done: Labour complicity in Tory austerity.

“We still have huge concerns about this budget, including the overspend of the Direct Schools Grant and the impact this has on children and their families in trying to access SEND provision. A Labour cabinet member claimed that no child would suffer, and I find this hard to believe. On top of this, we have concerns about the squeeze on adult social care, especially at a time of increased demand, and how this will affect those that rely on the council to provide this essential service.”

“We hope that the Bristol Labour and Conservative Groups will join us in lobbying their national party leadership for the funding necessary to protect these crucial areas.”

The Green Group also voiced their concerns about the new Tory amendments. Cllr Martin Fodor, who has been speaking to allotment holders and site reps across the city regarding the recently proposed changes to rules and rent increases, said,

“The chaos and confusion continues for allotment holders. The recent consultation process was a complete mess, and speaking to allotment holders from across the city, I have seen the negative impact that these proposals have had on their lives. 

“The allotment amendment means there will still be no inflation rise in allotment fees this year, just as there hasn’t been since they were frozen in 2018. It’s clear from Cabinet papers that they will still rise in 2025 and again in 2026 to what was originally proposed, as always planned by the Labour administration. This short term relief for plot holders does not address the fact the service has been cut by austerity and suffered as a result. The inflationary increase agreed in 2018 and never implemented by this administration would have reduced the decline in these vital facilities. 

“This is another neglected service being left for the next administration to try and rescue with a proper stakeholder dialogue and process.” 

On the amendment to bring forward and spend proceeds from the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) to subsidise car parks and road repairs, Cllr David Wilcox, shadow cabinet lead for Transport and Active Travel said, 

“Spending CAZ money on subsidising car parks and road repairs, which will incentivise car use and increase air pollution, does not fit in with the strict government rules on what this money can be spent on. So this amendment will not be implemented. On top of this, bringing the spending of CAZ money forward as proposed will probably not be possible because it relies on extra staff resource that simply doesn’t exist. 

Speaking on what Greens would do differently in any committee-led administration, Green Group Leader Emma Edwards said, 

“After eight years, the outgoing Labour administration has run out of ideas. The Bristol Green Party manifesto will lay out our clear, innovative policies for the city that we desperately need. Part of this will be securing more funding through measures that can also tackle the climate crisis directly, like a corporate parking levy and investing money to save.” 

“In May, Bristol will be introducing a collaborative, committee-led system. This will allow the budget process to work with Councillors from all parties throughout the year, to prioritise essential services, care for the most vulnerable in society, and work hard to protect people from austerity. 

“We are also starting to sit down with officers to discuss ideas they may have not been able to implement under this administration, and we look forward to working with them to find innovative solutions to the problems that Bristol faces.

“Having got rid of the Mayoral role, the people of Bristol can now choose to put communities first and foremost rather than bailing out big businesses, funding failed vanity projects, and chasing a failed model of economic growth that led us into this mess in the first place.”

“While this budget has been passed today, the real vote on how Bristol’s finances are spent in the future will come when the people of Bristol head to the polls in May.”