Agenda item

Includes Equalities Impact Assessments.

 

The budget report from the Resources Scrutiny Commission will be published separately.

The Full Council considered a report setting out the Mayor’s 2024-2025 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.

 

The Mayor introduced the budget report.

 

Councillor Cheney, Deputy Mayor for Finance, Governance and Performance seconded the report.

 

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

 

Councillors Dyer and Gollop presented comments on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and Resources Scrutiny Commission.

 

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned for 10 minutes

 

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

 

Amendment No.1 – Conservative Revenue Amendment 1

1.1 Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS). Introduce a flat rate 10% reduction in support for working age households with effect from April 2025

1.2 Cost of CTRS Consultation

1.3 Reserve drawdown from the Corporate Resilience Reserve and replenish in 2025/26

1.4 Increase planning (enforcement) capacity

1.5 Increase General Fund Housing Officer Team

1.6 Increase neighbourhood (enforcement) capacity

1.7 Contribution towards commissioning a new Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to supplement existing parking restrictions on Durdham Downs.

1.8 Dedicated parks improvements fund ineligible for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding

1.9 Reduction in bulky waste collection charges

1.10 Create additional supplementary general reserve to cover emerging pressures or new corporate priorities.

 

Councillor Morris moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Michallat.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote on both elements of the amendment, the amendment was REJECTED (14 FOR, 49 AGAINST, 0 ABSTENTION)

 

Amendment No.2 – Conservative Revenue Amendment 2

2.1 Reduce annual budget for the International Affairs team

2.2 Reduce annual budget by proportionally reducing the headcount across each of the three teams: Policy & Strategy, Public Relations & Communications/Consultation

2.3 Reduce annual budget by increasing income and or reducing staffing in Bristol Design (Resources)

2.4 Bring forward to 24/25 planned funding on Theme 1 (supported buses) and reprofile Theme 4 (local transport scheme) to create an additional £3.650m.

2.5 Partially reinstate proposed saving for the Short Care Breaks service

2.6 Partially reinstate the savings aligned to targeted commissioning review for Mentoring/Youth services focused on maximising delivery outcomes through alternative routes, such as application of the Youth Zone

2.7 Remove planned 2024/25 CPI (6.7%) inflationary uplift to allotment charges

2.8 Reprofile and bring forward planned spend on Theme 4 - Local Transport Schemes - into 24/25 over and above that currently planned for (£1m). Prioritsation of spend to be administered by Area Committees

2.9 Increase spend on Theme 1 - Supported Buses in 24/5 (by £1m) and an additional £0.5m spend on Theme 3 - Sustainable Transport Routes and £0.5m for Repairs and Maintenance to infrastructure

2.10 Use balance of transport reprofiling from 27/8 to defer introduction of proposed District car park charges

 

Councillor Smith moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Hucker.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote on both elements of the amendment, the amendment was REJECTED (21 FOR, 42 AGAINST, 0 ABSTENTIONS)

 

Amendment No.3 – Conservative Capital Amendment

3.1 Use or repurpose a proportion of the currently unallocated Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts (GR08) totalling £1.28m

3.2 Use of a specific proportion of unallocated Strategic CIL funding to deliver improvements in city parks and provide (currently unfunded), and refurbishment of children's play areas/equipment.

 

Councillor Goulandris moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Eddy.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote on both elements of the amendment, the amendment was CARRIED (20 FOR, 17 AGAINST, 26 ABSTENTIONS)

 

Amendment No.4 – Liberal Democrat Revenue Amendment

4.1 A "Branch Library Recovery Fund" - to recognise the impact of the recruitment freeze implemented in 2023/24, to provide additional resource for any agency costs incurred pending permanent staff recruitment concluding, with the balance to be used for book buying, and increasing the number of branches with extended access.

4.2 A supplement to the WECA Transport Levy, earmarked to provide supported buses in Bristol and to accelerate planned expenditure (from 205/26) agreed by cabinet in relation to receipts from the operation of the Clean Air Zone.

4.3 Climate and Ecological Reserve

4.4 Communities Resilience Reserve

 

Councillor Brown moved the amendment, seconded by Councillor Kent.

 

Following debate, upon being put to the vote on both elements of the amendment, the amendment was REJECTED (20 FOR, 41 AGAINST, 0 ABSTENTIONS)

 

At the conclusion of the Full Council’s consideration of, and voting on the individual budget amendments, the Section 151 Officer clarified (under section 7 of the procedure) that Amendment 3 had been CARRIED.

 

On the motion of the Lord Mayor, the Full Council noted the Section 151 Officer’s statement regarding the robustness of the budget estimates.

 

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned for 20 minutes.

 

On the meeting being reconvened, the Lord Mayor indicated that the Mayor had decided he was willing to accept the budget as amended.

 

On the motion of Councillor Pearce, seconded by Councillor Jackson, it was RESOLVED that the general debate on the budget as amended be suspended and that Full Council should vote immediately on the recommendations.

 

Full Council NOTED

 

a) The report from Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) and/or the Resources Scrutiny Commission that will be published separately.

b) The budget consultation process that was followed and feedback as outlined in Section 18 and Appendix 6.

c) The categorisation of earmarked reserves and provisions set out in Section 15.

d) That the budget consultation feedback and equality impact assessments have been taken into consideration and have informed the final budget proposals.

e) The feedback provided by Bristol Schools Forum for Cabinet and Council, for consideration in making final decisions on the Dedicated Schools Budget for 2024/25 as set out in Appendix 14.

f) The Section 25 Statement of the Chief Finance Officer (s151 Officer) on the robustness of the budget and adequacy of reserves as set out in Section 17.

 

It was RESOLVED that Full Council REJECTED: (20 FOR, 40 AGAINST with 1 ABSTENTION) recommendations G to O.

 

As Full Council voted against the amended budget, it has resolved to refer proposals back to the Mayor. Under the Policy and Budget Framework procedure rules, the Monitoring Officer shall as soon as practicably possible summons a Second Council meeting to consider the Mayors proposals following this referral. This meeting will take place on Wednesday 28 February at 2pm.

 

The Mayor will have 5 working days beginning on the day after the date of the Council decision, within which the Mayor may: (i) accept the budget as now amended; or (ii) submit alternative proposals to the Council; or (iii) resubmit his/her proposals and provide written reason why. 

 

Conservative Revenue Amendment 1
Councillor	For	Against	Abstain
Don Alexander		X
Lesley Alexander	X
Amal Ahmed Ali		X
Kerry Bailes		X
Jenny Bartle		X
Nicola Beech		X
Marley Bennett		X
Mark Bradshaw		X
Fabian Breckels		X
Andrew Brown		X
Craig Cheney		X
Jos Clark		X
Sarah Classick		X
Amirah Cole
Asher Craig		X
James Crawford		X
Chris Davies		X
Carla Denyer
Kye Dudd		X
Tony Dyer		X
Richard Eddy	X
Emma Edwards		X
Jude English		X
Tessa Fitzjohn		X
Martin Fodor		X
Lorraine Francis		X
John Geater	X
Paul Goggin
Geoff Gollop	X
Zoe Goodman
John Goulandris	X
Katy Grant		X
Fi Hance		X
Tom Hathway
Helen Holland		X
Gary Hopkins		X
Katja Hornchen		X
Jonathan Hucker	X
Philippa Hulme		X
Farah Hussain
Christopher Jackson		X
Hibaq Jama
Tim Kent		X
Ellie King		X
Heather Mack		X
Mohamed Makawi		X
Brenda Massey		X
Patrick McAllister		X
Henry Michallat	X
Yassin Mohamud		X
Graham Morris	X
Paula O’Rourke		X
Barry Parsons		X
Steve Pearce		X
Ed Plowden		X
Guy Poultney
Kevin Quartley	X
Thomas Renhard		X
Tim Rippington		X
James Scott	X
Sharon Scott	X
Steve Smith	X
Ani Stafford-Townsend		X
Lisa Stone		X
Christine Townsend		X
Andrew Varney		X
Mark Weston	X
David Wilcox		X
Chris Windows	X
Tim Wye		X
Marvin Rees		X
TOTAL	14	49	0

 

Conservative Revenue Amendment 2
Councillor	For	Against	Abstain
Don Alexander		X
Lesley Alexander	X
Amal Ahmed Ali		X
Kerry Bailes		X
Jenny Bartle		X
Nicola Beech		X
Marley Bennett		X
Mark Bradshaw		X
Fabian Breckels		X
Andrew Brown	X
Craig Cheney		X
Jos Clark	X
Sarah Classick	X
Amirah Cole
Asher Craig		X
James Crawford		X
Chris Davies	X
Carla Denyer
Kye Dudd		X
Tony Dyer
Richard Eddy	X
Emma Edwards		X
Jude English		X
Tessa Fitzjohn		X
Martin Fodor		X
Lorraine Francis		X
John Geater	X
Paul Goggin
Geoff Gollop	X
Zoe Goodman
John Goulandris	X
Katy Grant		X
Fi Hance		X
Tom Hathway
Helen Holland		X
Gary Hopkins	X
Katja Hornchen		X
Jonathan Hucker	X
Philippa Hulme		X
Farah Hussain
Christopher Jackson		X
Hibaq Jama
Tim Kent	X
Ellie King		X
Heather Mack		X
Mohamed Makawi		X
Brenda Massey		X
Patrick McAllister		X
Henry Michallat	X
Yassin Mohamud		X
Graham Morris	X
Paula O’Rourke		X
Barry Parsons		X
Steve Pearce		X
Ed Plowden		X
Guy Poultney		X
Kevin Quartley	X
Thomas Renhard		X
Tim Rippington		X
James Scott	X
Sharon Scott	X
Steve Smith	X
Ani Stafford-Townsend		X
Lisa Stone		X
Christine Townsend		X
Andrew Varney	X
Mark Weston	X
David Wilcox		X
Chris Windows	X
Tim Wye		X
Marvin Rees		X
TOTAL	21	42	0

 

Conservative Capital Amendment
Councillor	For	Against	Abstain
Don Alexander			X
Lesley Alexander	X
Amal Ahmed Ali			X
Kerry Bailes			X
Jenny Bartle		X
Nicola Beech			X
Marley Bennett			X
Mark Bradshaw			X
Fabian Breckels			X
Andrew Brown	X
Craig Cheney			X
Jos Clark	X
Sarah Classick	X
Amirah Cole
Asher Craig			X
James Crawford		X
Chris Davies
Carla Denyer
Kye Dudd			X
Tony Dyer
Richard Eddy	X
Emma Edwards		X
Jude English			X
Tessa Fitzjohn		X
Martin Fodor		X
Lorraine Francis		X
John Geater	X
Paul Goggin
Geoff Gollop	X
Zoe Goodman			X
John Goulandris	X
Katy Grant			X
Fi Hance			X
Tom Hathway
Helen Holland			X
Gary Hopkins	X
Katja Hornchen			X
Jonathan Hucker	X
Philippa Hulme			X
Farah Hussain
Christopher Jackson			X
Hibaq Jama
Tim Kent	X
Ellie King			X
Heather Mack		X
Mohamed Makawi		X
Brenda Massey			X
Patrick McAllister		X
Henry Michallat	X
Yassin Mohamud			X
Graham Morris	X
Paula O’Rourke			X
Barry Parsons		X
Steve Pearce			X
Ed Plowden		X
Guy Poultney		X
Kevin Quartley	X
Thomas Renhard			X
Tim Rippington			X
James Scott	X
Sharon Scott	X
Steve Smith	X
Ani Stafford-Townsend		X
Lisa Stone		X
Christine Townsend		X
Andrew Varney	X
Mark Weston	X
David Wilcox		X
Chris Windows	X
Tim Wye		X
Marvin Rees			X
TOTAL	20	17	26

 

Liberal Democrat Revenue Amendment
Councillor	For	Against	Abstain
Don Alexander		X
Lesley Alexander	X
Amal Ahmed Ali		X
Kerry Bailes
Jenny Bartle		X
Nicola Beech		X
Marley Bennett		X
Mark Bradshaw		X
Fabian Breckels		X
Andrew Brown	X
Craig Cheney		X
Jos Clark	X
Sarah Classick	X
Amirah Cole
Asher Craig		X
James Crawford		X
Chris Davies
Carla Denyer
Kye Dudd		X
Tony Dyer
Richard Eddy	X
Emma Edwards		X
Jude English		X
Tessa Fitzjohn		X
Martin Fodor		X
Lorraine Francis		X
John Geater	X
Paul Goggin
Geoff Gollop	X
Zoe Goodman
John Goulandris	X
Katy Grant		X
Fi Hance		X
Tom Hathway
Helen Holland		X
Gary Hopkins	X
Katja Hornchen		X
Jonathan Hucker	X
Philippa Hulme		X
Farah Hussain
Christopher Jackson		X
Hibaq Jama
Tim Kent	X
Ellie King		X
Heather Mack		X
Mohamed Makawi		X
Brenda Massey		X
Patrick McAllister		X
Henry Michallat	X
Yassin Mohamud		X
Graham Morris	X
Paula O’Rourke		X
Barry Parsons		X
Steve Pearce		X
Ed Plowden		X
Guy Poultney		X
Kevin Quartley	X
Thomas Renhard		X
Tim Rippington		X
James Scott	X
Sharon Scott	X
Steve Smith	X
Ani Stafford-Townsend		X
Lisa Stone		X
Christine Townsend		X
Andrew Varney	X
Mark Weston	X
David Wilcox		X
Chris Windows	X
Tim Wye		X
Marvin Rees		X
TOTAL	20	41	0

 

Recommendations G H I J K L M N O
Councillor	For	Against	Abstain
Don Alexander	X
Lesley Alexander		X
Amal Ahmed Ali	X
Kerry Bailes
Jenny Bartle		X
Nicola Beech	X
Marley Bennett	X
Mark Bradshaw	X
Fabian Breckels	X
Andrew Brown		X
Craig Cheney	X
Jos Clark		X
Sarah Classick		X
Amirah Cole
Asher Craig	X
James Crawford		X
Chris Davies
Carla Denyer
Kye Dudd	X
Tony Dyer
Richard Eddy		X
Emma Edwards		X
Jude English		X
Tessa Fitzjohn		X
Martin Fodor		X
Lorraine Francis		X
John Geater		X
Paul Goggin
Geoff Gollop		X
Zoe Goodman			X
John Goulandris		X
Katy Grant		X
Fi Hance		X
Tom Hathway
Helen Holland	X
Gary Hopkins		X
Katja Hornchen	X
Jonathan Hucker		X
Philippa Hulme	X
Farah Hussain
Christopher Jackson	X
Hibaq Jama
Tim Kent		X
Ellie King	X
Heather Mack		X
Mohamed Makawi		X
Brenda Massey	X
Patrick McAllister		X
Henry Michallat		X
Yassin Mohamud		X
Graham Morris		X
Paula O’Rourke		X
Barry Parsons		X
Steve Pearce	X
Ed Plowden		X
Guy Poultney		X
Kevin Quartley		X
Thomas Renhard	X
Tim Rippington	X
James Scott		X
Sharon Scott		X
Steve Smith		X
Ani Stafford-Townsend		X
Lisa Stone		X
Christine Townsend
Andrew Varney		X
Mark Weston		X
David Wilcox		X
Chris Windows	X
Tim Wye		X
Marvin Rees	X
TOTAL	20	40	1