Bath's Conservative councillors in the B&NES have this week approved a strong, well-researched, rigorous and balanced budget - making savings, increasing the Council's commercial income, and keeping Council tax rises down, while giving more money to frontline services, and to transport, housing and the environment - helping build an even better Bath.
Thanks to Conservatives, our local Council is NOT facing a financial crisis, like some others. The Conservatives resisted attempts by the LibDems to put Council Tax up further - which hits the poorest residents hardest - but still made important investments in our area, including:
- an extra £3.9m for Adult Social Care
- an extra £3.1m for Children's Services
- an extra £3.1m for Highway Services
- an extra £3m for Affordable Housing
- an extra £3.7m for schools across B&NES
A perfect example of the innovation which Conservatives have driven? The new household bin collection, which is both saving money AND INCREASING recycling rates by 30%. Proof that there are better ways to deliver services which can save money - and only Conservatives have the desire and strength to drive these changes through.
In their final B&NES budget in 2015 the LibDems left a £1.5m black hole in the Council finances, using one-off reserves to fund on-going spending. Unlike the wayward LibDems, Conservatives are balancing the Council budget, avoiding the risk of big tax rises in the future, and protecting - and keeping viable - the services we Bathonians all rely on.