Leading parties unveil plans for Bradford Council budget for year ahead (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Leading parties unveil plans for Bradford Council budget for year ahead

9:10am Wednesday 10th February 2010 in

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Bradford Council’s leading political groups have unveiled their budget proposals for the forthcoming year, with the ruling Conservatives committed to a freeze in council tax.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all propose a rise in council tax bills of slightly under two per cent.

Unveiling the Tories’ plans, Councillor Kris Hopkins said their priorities were £2.5m of extra funding to support adult services, creating a £5m strategic reserve to help the authority respond to changing economic circumstances and drive greater efficiencies.

New initiatives come in the form of creating a city cycle race and an Imagination Library – a book-gifting scheme for under fives.

Coun Hopkins said: “We have been very conscious of the ongoing financial restraints not only on the Council but, on local residents and that is underlined by our desire to see a freeze in council tax for the next 12 months.”

Labour’s priorities are to protect frontline services from cuts and to build ongoing pressures into the base budget – rather than relying on one-off funding pots or reserves.

Their plans include putting £1m into street cleaning and £700,000 to maintaining the network of neighbourhood wardens, which would release £1.7m of Working Neighbour-hood Fund money for one-off priority investment, including £200,000 to set up a public sector employment agency, led by the Council, to reduce the use of external agency staff.

The Labour proposals would also see more than £2.65m extra for services to people with learning or physical disabilities and £1.5m to meet the care needs of vulnerable older people.

These measures would require a council tax increase of 1.98 per cent.

Deputy group leader Coun Imran Hussain, said: “The Labour group’s proposals are sustainable, responsible, deliverable and real.”

The Liberal Democrat proposals would result in a council tax increase of 1.87 per cent and include increases of £1.4m for children and young people, including £250,000 to fund a pre-school language development programme. A total of £1.5m would cover the additional demands on adult services.

They would also propose charging council tax on empty homes and holiday homes to provide a windfall of £3m, to be used for a scheme to return empty homes to use.

Group leader Coun Jeanette Sunderland said: “The key priorities for our budget are focused on key areas – education, care for vulnerable people and using regeneration to improve people’s life chances.”

The Greens propose rolling over all carbon funding and funding for the Environment and Climate Change Unit which has not yet been used to the next financial year. They also want to create a capital investment plan for carbon by borrowing £3m next year and the following year and invest this in renewables.

Green group leader Councillor Martin Love said they also wanted to put a one-off £50,000 towards generating and implementing a district food strategy. The proposals would require a tax rise of 1.95 per cent.

The £440m budget is due to be discussed further at subsequent meetings in two weeks’ time.