Councillor Proposes Axing Top Jobs to Fund Free Clevedon Parking

A council member wanted to cut two jobs. He hoped to fund free parking with that money. Luke Smith proposed this during a budget vote. This vote happened at North Somerset Council on February 18th. He wanted one hour of free parking in some Clevedon locations, where the council plans new parking charges. Smith felt he had to try to ease the parking situation.

The council leader, Mike Bell, reacted to Smith’s idea. He said Smith put his area first but then thanked Smith for his proposals. Bell stated the idea could not work and you can’t just remove executive members because leaders appoint them. This creates a budget gap of £38,000.

All council members get about £9,666 yearly. Executive members get an extra £18,300, bringing their total pay to around £27,966. Council members froze their pay during this year’s budget process. Cuts were made to deal with costs, and 9.1 million came from reserves.

Smith’s plan also cut some other things. He suggested ending the mobile library and Visit Somerset. Additionally, he wanted to bring back transport for Nailsea and give £8,000 to the libraries to help with existing costs.

Future budgets may close some libraries. This would save £433,000, but no library cuts happened in this year’s budget. Smith’s idea was voted down by others. Nine Conservative councillors supported it.

The approved budget increases council tax. It will go up by 4.99%, the maximum allowed, and many services will be cut. One councillor warned services will be stripped bare. The council needed to address a £53 million gap; and the cuts have reduced this to £10 million.

Bell said using reserves was needed, and stressed the budget must be balanced. He cited a lack of help from the government; citing no extra financial help or council tax flexibility.

Bell stated this was the only way to balance things for the future. Ash Cartman said the council had rainy day funds, about £20 to £25 million. He warned that almost half the funds would be gone soon, and the council is running out of money.

Bell noted the council lost £50 million per year through lower government funding and council tax collected. This is a huge problem for them.

Bell warned social care costs put pressure on the budget, impacting this year’s budget by £25 million. Bell said this will keep happening and expressed the need for the government to reform care funding urgently. He explained reforms are needed urgently, and that would allow services to continue.

The council wants to provide more services directly. They aim to avoid higher costs, as outside services prove expensive. Bell stated fixing this situation took too long.