Earlier this week Bradford Council released its latest financial report, which showed that although the Council still faces years’ of borrowing and asset sales before it is able to stabilise its finances, it has actually underspent by over £10m this year.
The figures mean the authority will not need to borrow as much as initially thought.
But taxpayers still face a 4.99 per cent Council Tax rise in April, and Bradford Council is planning on raising fees for services like leisure facilities and licensing applications by around six per cent.
In response to the report – published on Monday, Councillor Mike Pollard, the Conservative Group’s spokesman for Finance & Projects said, “At a glance the figures for the year so far and projected into next year look encouraging and there are indeed positives in there, for which senior officers of the Council and Bradford Children and Families Trust deserve credit, but it isn’t all rosy, the Council still has a very steep hill to climb.
“Some of the savings being made and hoped for show that the new Chief Executive, the Interim Strategic Director of Corporate Resources and other members of senior management team, including those at the Children & Families Trust who were brought in to rescue the Council’s failing Children’s Services, are hopefully proving their worth.
“However, it is clear that the residents of Bradford District are going to be presented with Council Tax rises significantly above inflation for many years to come and if the proposed six per cent increase in charges for council services next year is anything to go by, there could be problems ahead.
“We are in a time when people are concerned about how to make ends meet and people have to make decisions regarding what they stop spending on, so it is possible that the Council may lose custom when prices rise, partially offsetting the intended income increases. Further, future increases in parking charges could harm footfall for local businesses and thus damage the local economy; business closures cost the Council a lot.
“I cannot stress strongly enough at this point, that the positives in these reports are in no way indicative of how the Labour Executive Committee is performing. It is the competency of key officers and the intervention of government that have brought the positives.
“It would be disingenuous to say the least for a Leader of Council who refused to invest in recruitment and retention measures, which were requested by the Strategic Director in post at the time, in order to prevent a chaotic and hugely expensive collapse of Children’s Services and ultimately the finances of the Council, to claim much credit for the crisis mitigation measures now starting to close the still critical Budget funding gap.”
Councillor Matt Edwards, Leader of the Green Party in Bradford, said: ““Last year the new Labour government promised change, but this proposed five per cent council tax rise shows little has changed for Bradford residents. People are still being asked to pay more for less, while vital local services continue to be stretched.
“For over a decade, Labour has mismanaged Bradford Council’s finances, and now residents are bearing the cost. It’s clear that the problems run much deeper than a single year’s budget. We need honest leadership that focuses on long-term financial responsibility, not short-term fixes.”
Councillor Neil Whitaker, Green Party Finance spokesperson, said: “Over the last 15 years, cuts by the previous Conservative government have meant all councils have not been funded properly – but some like Bradford are in a worse position because of how badly they have been run.
“More and more is coming to light about just how poorly this Labour administration has handled the district’s finances. Only in the last few weeks have opposition councillors finally been given access to the information we need to put forward genuine alternatives to Labour’s budget.
“Bradford residents deserves a council that is open, transparent and willing to work across parties to fix the damage done. Greens will keep pushing for a fairer approach that doesn’t put all the pressure on local people.”
