South Gloucestershire Council tonight (22/2) passed a Liberal Democrat amendment to the ruling Tories’ budget proposals, which challenge the administration to devolve more money and power to communities, while protecting front line services.

Cllr Ruth Davis said: “We wanted to vote for the 0% increase – so we wrote principles into the budget to make sure we could.  We trust local communities, and think they know best for their area, because they live in it.  South Gloucestershire is an incredibly diverse area – what works in Yate doesn’t necessarily work in Kingswood, or Thornbury, where local people will have different priorities and needs. 

“Our amendment gives more money, and more responsibilities to the existing Area Forums.  We’ve moved money from an existing fund to pay for their extra meetings that these extra responsibilities will involve.  We’ve asked the administration to ensure a minimum of 30% of New Homes Bonus money goes to the communities affected – and for that to be considered every year when a new tranche arrives, so sometimes they could get even more.  We’ve pushed the administration to send chunks of highways funding to communities, who know better than our bureaucrats which roads and pathways need repair.  If the administration follows through on these, communities will have much more say over events in their local areas – so we’ll be watching them closely to make sure they follow through on their promises to trust residents.” 

Cllr Claire Young added: “People have stated concerns about the lack of information and detail in the budget – and I share them.  We spent a great deal of time fighting to get the information we needed from the administration.  More is required.  Because of this uncertainty, we’ve made clear in our amendment that the priority is protecting front-line services, and if the administration make front line cuts, residents are going to want to know why.  In terms of giving communities more power, this is a starting point – councils elsewhere have devolved far more power and money to area committees.  At this point, we’re devolving parts of some budget headings – but we’ve also pushed for the information to be published so we can all work towards greater devolution of decision-making, giving local communities even more of a say.”

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