Conservatives want to reinstate controversial Bristol council tax benefit cuts

Next week, Bristol city councillors meet to agree the annual budget. The focus so far has been on the Green-led administration’s proposed £43million of cuts, savings and ways to bring in more money to balance the books for 2025/26, which have already seen several major U-turns where some original options from a long list have either been dropped or pushed back.

These include halving the libraries budget, ending lollipop school patrols, mothballing three museums, stopping funding for cultural groups and removing £3.4million from council tax benefits for the poorest households. Now it’s the turn of the other three parties in the chamber who have all submitted alternative suggestions, called amendments, to a full council meeting of Bristol City Council on Tuesday, February 25.

The Greens are asking for a 4.99 per cent council tax rise, including two per cent for social care. The current £4.7million libraries budget would have been slashed by £2.4million, with councillors told last month that this could leave just seven to 10 of the 26 branches open, plus the main Central one.

But the authority will instead use reserves to plug the gap for the financial year from April and set up a cross-party taskforce to review the future of the service. The proposed temporary closure of Blaise Museum, Georgian House and Red Lodge and phasing out all £635,000 of grant support to cultural organisations over the next three years have been postponed by 12 months so a working group of councillors can seek alternative funding options.

A £3.4million cut from the £44.1million Council Tax Reduction Scheme has also been removed from the cost-saving measures for 2025/26, with another task group to consider how best to support low-income families overall. And charges for disabled car parking bays have been abandoned completely.

But fees for meals on wheels are still in line to be hiked by 15 per cent, while a £1million saving for waste services would be met by reducing the frequency of black bin collections, with a consultation ongoing into options for three- or even four-weekly, along with larger recycling containers and soft-plastic recycling. The three other political groups have their own ideas on how to raise and save cash.

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Here is what the Conservatives want to do with your money.

The Tories have a wishlist that would be paid for by controversially reinstating the £3.4million cuts to the CTRS from 2026/27.

At present, the poorest households can claim relief up to the full amount of council tax, but the Conservatives say this means these families make no contribution to local public services. They say this is unfair and financially unsustainable because Bristol is the only Core City that still offers a 100 per cent discount on bills, putting it out of line with other authorities.

Group leader Cllr Mark Weston’s amendment would reinstate the cuts that were removed from the original draft budget. He said this represented a 20 per cent minimum payment for working-age adults, with the income directed towards museums, libraries, retaining free district car parking, a £10 reduction in bulky waste charges, free replacement recycling containers, bolstering the council’s planning and neighbourhood enforcement teams, more community safety including bleed kits and defibrillators, and £1million of road improvements.

Commenting on the proposed CTRS cuts in the amendment, council officers said that unlike other authorities, Bristol had not changed its scheme since 2013. They said: “Reviewing and considering changes to the scheme could lead to a more affordable CTRS which continues to provide support to residents unable to afford their council tax.

“Any changes would be subject to public consultation and approval from full council. This consultation would happen in 2025/26 with changes starting the following year.

“Maintaining this support requires other savings elsewhere, which may also have a disproportionate impact.” The Tories would restore the £142,000 funding for Blaise Museum, Georgian House and Red Lodge for two additional years, from 2026/27.

Officers said: “This could be used entirely to further defer the mothballing of these three museums. Alternatively, it may be possible to marginally reduce opening hours in order to use that staff time to find another source of funding.”

A proposed £200,000 annual investment would keep district car parks across the city free of charge, while £120,000 would fund a reduction in the bulky waste fee from £25 to £15. Officers said this could lead to increased demand for the service and higher disposal costs.

They said: “Any reduction in charges could benefit low-income households and those who find reuse and recycling centres less accessible on the basis of their protected characteristics, such as disability, and other circumstances such as caring responsibilities or lack of access to a motor vehicle.” A further £80,000 would scrap charges for replacement waste containers.

The neighbourhood enforcement team would receive an extra £100,000 a year to recruit more staff to prioritise tackling fly-tipping and other waste issues. But officers said: “Past budget amendments have shown that these personnel do not collect sufficient income from fines to meet staff costs.”

The same amount could fund two more officers in planning enforcement. Officers said: “However, higher profile cases are unlikely to be resolved more quickly because the constraining factor with these is the Planning Inspectorate and courts system.

“Alternatively, the funding could be used on increasing legal support or updating the enforcement plan more quickly.” The Conservatives also want to create a £450,000 museum investment fund.

Officers said: “There are a variety of ways this funding could be used, including improved booking services, marketing and a more commercial public programme. Alternatively, the funding could leverage National Lottery Fund grants.”

Another £300,000 could extend access to libraries through a swipe card system in three or four branches, allowing more people to use them. Five new CCTV cameras would be installed at “vulnerable locations susceptible to crime and antisocial behaviour” through a £150,000 investment in 2025/26 and an additional £81,000 the following year.

Officers said: “However, all camera installations have to be in response to demonstrable public need with evidence that the cameras would address the issue.” A total of £100,000 would pay for up to 50 defibrillators and bleed kits.

And £1million in both 2026/27 and 2027/28 would go towards road safety improvements at accident blackspots where there is currently no funding, with the cross-party area committees administering the fund. Officers said they would recommend that any projects were aligned with wider area projects to make them most effective.

See what the Labour party would do here.

And here’s what the Lib Dems would do.