Opposition Amendments Dismissed As Labour Passes Budget In Brighton & Hove

Council tax in Brighton and Hove will increase by 4.99 per cent after Labour councillors voted through an unamended budget.

Greens, Conservatives and Brighton and Hove Independents tried to make changes to adjust proposed service cuts and spend an unallocated £500,000.

However, with its majority of 36 out of 54 councillors, Labour could push through its agenda without input from the opposition parties during the five-hour budget council meeting this evening (Thursday 22 February).

Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, the party’s finance lead, presented the £1.1 billion gross budget which includes £211 million in capital spending.

Much of the focus was on the net budget – or the council spending that is directly financed from council tax, business rates and the government’s revenue support grant, totalling £246 million.

Due to increasing costs and demands the council had to make £30 million in cuts and savings.

After stating how the council had managed to convert a forecast in-year overspend into an underspend Councillor Taylor laid out the reasons behind cuts and savings.

Councillor Taylor said:

“This is the hardest budget that this local authority has ever had to face – and I’ll be honest with members, the hardest thing I’ve ever had to undertake professionally in my life.

“We take zero pleasure in this Labour administration having to find savings – quite the opposite. We obviously want to be expanding and developing local government in this city.

“And I want to directly address our brilliant staff at the council. I am sorry we are in this position. I am sorry that some staff members are facing uncertainty about their jobs.

“None of this is your fault. None of this is a reflection on the job that you do, on the service that you provide to residents.

“This is only happening because the Conservative Party doesn’t value local government.

“Well, we do and we’re hoping to get a Labour government very soon that can provide sustainable financing to local authorities.

“Our starting point was, of course, to try to protect as many frontline services as possible. And we have done everything humanly possible to explore creative alternatives, to find efficiencies and deliver differently as a council.

“We have proposed a re-organisation of the council structure, to try to remove silos, but also achieve savings of £2.5 million.

“We have made changes to the capital programme to achieve savings of £2.5 million in financing costs.

“And we have released some reserves for projects that won’t be happening in this immediate financial year. All of these actions have meant we have significantly minimised the need to cut frontline services.

“We have spent months and months developing and refining these proposals, to try to protect what matters to residents. And to a large extent, we have done that.”

Councillor Taylor concluded by announcing how an unallocated £307,000 and a forecast underspend would be used to create a £614,000 Brighton and Hove Fairness Fund, to support those most in need with food vouchers, discretionary payments, and support for foodbanks.

Labour council leader Bella Sankey described setting the budget with £30 million of cuts as a “gut-wrenching process” that followed a £100 “real terms” cut in funding for Brighton and Hove.

Councillor Sankey said:

“In an ideal world as well as adequate funding the government would have given us time to consult on our budget proposals however the Tories are now in such a state of free-falling chaos this has not happened.

“But despite this, I’d like to thank every resident and community organisation who has been in touch with feedback on the budget.

“I’m proud to hail from and live in a city which is active and political and which knows it’s getting a raw deal from this government.”

Leader of the opposition, Green group convenor councillor Steve Davis said he had written a speech outlining the case for the Green amendments which would protect the vulnerable in society from the worst of the cuts.

Councillor Davis expressed his disappointment that the day before the meeting, the opposition was told none of their amendments would be accepted without the administration hearing the debate.

He said:

“Labour’s next step is to move to a cabinet system. By the time this council sets a budget next year, all major decisions will be taken behind closed doors by a handful of Labour councillors.

“Despite receiving less than half the votes at the last election Labour has decided it has a mandate to do whatever it wants.

“It doesn’t need to listen to councillors. And it doesn’t need to listen to worried charities or concerned campaign groups.”

Councillor Davis laid the blame for the cuts at the door of the Conservative government, and his disappointment they were being implemented by a Labour administration.

He added:

“Labour’s cuts will push local services and charities to breaking point and ultimately place more pressure on council services and future budgets. So, this budget is not only cruel, but simply is not sustainable.

“Its cuts to local organisations will save money today but create additional need for council services as a result tomorrow. Compassionate and competent politics this is not.”

Conservative group finance spokesperson and leader councillor Alistair McNair said times are hard but the council had wasted £10 million in recent years on bringing housing repairs in-house and £1 million on weed removal.

Councillor McNair said:

“Would the Labour administration have easier choices to make with more money? Yes.

“But Labour makes the wrong choices – cutting services used by the most vulnerable people in our community.

“The elderly, the disabled, poorer people, women and girls facing violence and domestic abuse.

“Labour should not be using these vulnerable people to balance the books while spending money on things we don’t need.

“The council received more funding from the Conservative government than anticipated, meaning that some of the choices can, and should, be reversed.”

Brighton and Hove Independents leader councillor Bridget Fishleigh pushed for a single amendment to the budget for a scaled-down version of the Valley Gardens phase three.

Independent councillors Bridget Fishleigh, Mark Earthey and Peter Atkinson at Brighton and Hove City Council budget 2024

Councillor Fishleigh wanted to see the £6 million from the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership used for what is currently a £13 million project.

Her suggestion would see the £1.813 million from the Local Transport Plan Grant used for road maintenance. The financing costs of the £5 million borrowing could then be used to support community services.

Councillor Fishleigh said:

“Just a few weeks ago we were told that Valley Gardens phase three would be a success because stages one and two had been.

“What is the evidence of this success? Is it the flooded pavements? Is it the seasonal planting that we have no resources to maintain?

“Is it forcing vehicles to make convoluted journeys to reach the North Laine creating more congestion and pollution?

“The biggest benefit has been to create a bus gate that does nothing to improve bus journey times but continues to confuse generates £5 million and rising for the council to spend and rising.

“Comparing these first two stages to the third is like comparing a leisurely stroll to a marathon.”

After the nine amendments from the Greens, Conservatives and Independents were lost, the council voted by 36 votes to 11 to approve the Labour budget.

Councillor Fishleigh abstained.

The approved budget sees a 4.99 per cent increase in council tax including two per cent which is ring-fenced towards adult social care, which forms the bulk of the £256 million general fund element of the council budget.

Council tax generates £185 million on the council’s revenue.

Together with the Police and Fire elements of the council tax, the overall increase for most residents of Brighton and Hove will be 4.94 per cent.

an average band D council tax property would pay £2,338.06 a year in council tax from April, with £1,977.66 going to Brighton and Hove City Council.

The rest of the bill is made up of £252.91 for the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner and £107.49 for the East Sussex Fire Authority.

The proposed council tax charges for each band – excluding Rottingdean parish and three “enclosed areas” – are

A* – £1,298.93
A – £1,558.71
B – £1,818.49
C – £2,078.28
D – £2,338.06
E – £2,857.63
F – £3,377.19
G – £3,896.77
H – £4,676.12

Additional council tax charges are paid by residents of Rottingdean parish – and by those living in Hanover Crescent, Marine Square and Royal Crescent, or the enclosed areas, for the maintenance of gardens.

The gross budget for next year to deliver public services is £925 million, with £211 million allocated for capital investment.

The city receives £445 million in government grants, including £224 million in “dedicated schools grant”.

Included in the £445 million is £98 million for housing benefit and £122 million in other grants.

Fees and charges generate about £200 million, including £48 million in parking income, £76 million for the Housing Revenue Account, primarily from tenants’ rents, and £75 million in other charges.

Council tax is expected to generate £185 million towards the revenue budget for general spending.

A breakdown of the budget is published on the council’s website.