Agenda and draft minutes

The Lord Mayor welcomed all attendees to the meeting and issued the safety information.

Apologies for absence were heard from Councillor Morris.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

Councillor Don Alexander declared an interest as an allotment tenant.

Councillor Jonathan Hucker declared an interest as a Director of the Bristol Waste Company.

Councillor Barry Parsons declared an interest as an allotment tenant.

Councillor David Wilcox declared an interest as a Non-Executive Director of Goram Homes.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

On the motion of the Lord Mayor, seconded by Councillor David Wilcox, it was

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on the 14^th January 2025 be confirmed as correct record and signed by the Lord Mayor.

To note any announcements from the Lord Mayor

Full Council noted that Councillor Graham Morris had experienced serious illness recently and wished him a speedy recovery.

Full Council noted that Alderman Iving Rogers had recently passed away. A minute’s silence was observed in his memory.

Under the Council’s constitution, there is no provision for public forum at the Budget Council meeting. However, in consultation with the Mayor and other party group leaders, the Lord Mayor has determined that public petitions and written statements will be accepted for this meeting on the following basis:

 1. Petitions and statements for this meeting must be about the budget/reports included on the agenda.

2. The wording of all petitions and all written statements must be submitted by the deadline of 12 noon on Friday 16 February. Petition details / written statements should be sent to www.bristol.gov.uk/publicforum

3. Questions are not permitted on this occasion.

4. Details of all petitions and statements submitted will be sent to the Lord Mayor, Mayor and all councillors as soon as possible after the above deadline.

5. The Lord Mayor will ask Full Council to receive and formally note all petitions and written statements received.

Public Petitions:

There were no public petitions received.

Public Statements:

The Full Council received and noted the following statements:

Recommendations

1.         For Council to consider and approve the Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee’s 2025/26 Budget recommendations for the General Fund as follows:

a)         The Bristol City Council levels of Council Tax increase by 4.99%; which includes 2% precept to support Adult Social Care, noting the precepts of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset and the Avon Fire Authority.

b)         The council’s General Fund net revenue budget for the year 2025/26 as £571.449 million and expenditure allocations as set out in Appendix 1; subject to any budget amendments properly notified to and approved by the council in line with the Constitution.

c)         The Capital Strategy 2025/26 – 2034/35 as set out in Appendix 2a.

d)         The council’s capital budget and programme for the years 2025/26 – 2034/35, totalling £1.2 billion for the General Fund and Housing Revenue Fund as set out in Appendix 2b.

e)         The strategic Community Infrastructure Levy allocations in Section 13.

f)          The proposed Treasury Management Strategy for 2025/26 in Appendix 4, incorporating the Minimum Revenue Provision policy and the prudential indicators and limits.

g)         The strategy for the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts as set out in Appendix 5.

h)         The Reserves Policy 2025/26 as set out in Appendix 14.

2.         For Council to consider and approve the Chair of Strategy and Resources Committee’s 2025/26 Budget recommendations for the Housing Revenue Account as follows:

i)          A rent and service charge increase of 2.7% effective from April 2025 to Full Council, applicable to HRA dwellings (general needs accommodation, supported housing and temporary accommodation).

j)          The introduction of a new service charge for Grounds Maintenance, and to approve the implementation of a service charges Management Fee of 15% levied against applicable service charges.

k)         The one-year revenue budget of £154m for 2025/26 set out in section 11.

l)          To authorise the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration (to be replaced by the Executive Director of Housing in due course), in consultation with the Chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, to increase service charges by 2.7% with the exception of Heating and Water service charges which are to be increased by 10%, and garage rents by 10% and to approve the recalculated service charges and service charge statement based on actual costs for issue in September 2025.

m)        The five-year capital programme 2025/26–2029/30 as detailed in HRA Appendix A1.

n)         The termination of the current contracts for the HRA to acquire homes from Goram at Dover Court and New Fosseway.

o)         The HIP and Development Programme set out in HRA Budget A2 and A3, subject to the following recommendations referenced (p) to (t) below.

p)         Authorises the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration (to be replaced by the Executive Director of Housing in due course) in consultation with Chair of the Homes and Housing Deliver Committee and s151 Officer to submit appropriate funding applications (including Homes England grants for development and any over the key decision threshold) to support the HRA  ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

The Full Council considered a report setting out the 2025-2026 budget recommendations.

The Lord Mayor drew Members attention to the budget procedure to be followed. At this point, on the motion of the Lord Mayor, it was:

RESOLVED That the relevant standing orders be suspended, noting that the procedure to be followed at this meeting is at variance with the Council’s standing orders.

1.      Councillor Tony Dyer MOVED the budget report as Chair of the Strategy and Resources Committee.

2.      Councillor Caroline Gooch SECONDED the budget report as Vice-Chair of the Strategy and Resources Committee.

3.      The leaders of each party group, Councillors Edwards, Renhard, Clark and Weston each responded to the budget proposals.

4.      Councillor Abdul Malik presented comments on behalf of the Finance Sub Committee. Councillor Tony Dyer gave his response.

5.      Full Council then considered and debated each of the proposed budget amendments as follows:

Amendment No.1 – Liberal Democrat Revenue

1.1 Allocation of existing general policy resource to a feasibility study on a visitor charge/visitor levy.

1.2 Reducing the general budget for the Policy, Strategy and Communications service to allow for a specific allocation of funds.

Councillor Jos Clark moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Caroline Gooch.

Following debate, upon being put to the vote the amendment was CARRIED (59 FOR, 6 AGAINST, 2 ABSTENTIONS)

Amendment No.2 – Labour Revenue

2.1 Drawn down 0.75m from the £1m earmarked reserve for supported bus funding.

2.2 Spend up to £.0.45m of this reserve on new 'night bus' routes, to operate between 6pm and 6am, supporting Bristol's night time economy.

2.3 Spend up to £0.3m of this reserve on a feasibility study for a municipal bus company.

Councillor Tim Rippington moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Kas Self.

Following debate, upon being put to the vote the amendment was REJECTED (20 FOR, 47 AGAINST, 0 ABSTENTIONS)

Amendment No.3 – Labour Revenue

3.1 Remove 'Generative AI Pilot' to save £175,000 of revenue spending in 2025/26.

3.2 Delay 'Rebase of budget on Domestic Abuse services to align to spend' to ensure the budget is compliant with the motion 'Ending Violence Against Women and Girls' passed unanimously be Full Council.

3.3 Delay 'Reduce the opening hours of the Archives Search Room.’

3.4 Reduce legal team budget or identify additional revenue raising measures

Councillor Lisa Durston moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Carole Johnson.

Following debate, upon being put to the vote the amendment was REJECTED (26 FOR, 40 AGAINST, 1 ABSTENTIONS)

Amendment No.4 – Labour Revenue 

4.1 Review Councillor allowances through the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) to identify savings for re-investment into council services.

4.2 Allocate funding towards the purchase of new books for Bristol's libraries.

Councillor Louis Martin moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Patrick McAllister.

Following debate, upon being put to the vote the amendment was REJECTED (28 FOR, 34 AGAINST, 5 ABSTENTIONS)

Amendment No.5 – Conservative Revenue 

5.1 Restoration of the proposed change to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

5.2 Temporary use of the balance of resilience reserve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.