Cash-strapped council outlines plans to save £40m

Bradford Council needs to find £40m in savings by 2025/26

Cuts to street cleaning costs and an increase in garden waste charges are among the plans to meet a £40m shortfall in Bradford Council's finances.

The Labour run-authority has put forward 47 savings proposals in a bid to plug the gap by by 2025/26.

A report to be discussed on 5 November estimates it will take the council "at least" another five years to become "financially sustainable", with £40m of savings needing to be found each year over that period.

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: “We have to make significant savings and are doing all we can to achieve them through efficiencies, innovation, finding better ways of working and maximising our income rather than service reductions."

She said the authority would "inevitably still have some very tough decisions to make".

According to the newly published report, the saving measures include:

• Cutting £1.5m from the street cleaning budget

• Raising the garden waste removal charge from £53 to £62 per year

• Reducing spending on agency staff at the Bradford Children and Families Trust

• Further reducing and dimming LED streetlights

• The recent introduction of parking charges for resident parking permits and council car parks

• Cutting library opening hours

• Axing the dedicated bus services to St Bede’s and St Joseph’s and Bingley Grammar School from September 2025

• Introducing charges for short-stay residential care

The document says the council is facing "severe financial challenges, among the most significant in local government nationally".

Earlier this year the government agreed to provide the council with an emergency funding boost of £220m over the next two years.

However, the report suggested it could need up to £575m over the next five years.

It goes on to say the financial difficulties at the council are due to "four fundamental reasons", including "exceptional growth" in the cost of children’s social care and government funding cuts.

Hinchcliffe added: "We’re working hard to ensure a stable financial future for Bradford Council and we are being clear with residents about what we will have to do to achieve this.

“Bringing these savings proposals forward now means we have time to have meaningful consultation with residents ahead of the overall budget setting in February next year.”

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