Bradford council approves 'devastating' budget of £40m cuts

Councillors at Bradford City Hall said residents would pay more tax for fewer services for years to come

A cash-strapped council has voted through a "devastating" budget which will see £40m cuts to local services.

Bradford's Labour leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the decision was made "with a heavy heart" but it needed to run a council it could afford.

The cuts were made despite several petitions and thousand of objections from people worried about services.

Opposition councillors blamed the leadership for years of failure, especially around children's services.

The savings include the closure of children's outdoor residential centre Ingleborough Hall and three waste recycling tips - one in Ilkey, Queensbury and Keighley.

There will also be a 5% rise in council tax and increase to parking charges.

Last week, the council was saved from the edge of bankruptcy after the government agreed to grant the authority "exceptional financial support".

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the authority had no new money to pay for services

However, Ms Hinchcliffe said government intervention was not a permanent solution and the authority would have to make further cuts of about £35m a year for five years.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "Looking at the budget that came out from the government, there was no new money there for councils, so if there's no new money, then we haven't any new money to spend.

"It's been done with a heavy heart because we didn't want to make these cuts, but unfortunately needs must.

"We have to run a council that balances and services that we can afford."

At Thursday's meeting, councillors were asked to vote on two options - the Labour budget or a Conservative amendment, that would keep the tips open, but shut every tip in the district for an extra day a week, as well as scrapping a planned new leisure centre in Squire Lane.

The Labour budget passed by 51 votes to 26.

Addressing the petitions and ideas put forward to try to save services, Ms Hinchcliffe said: "We're still considering options to mitigate some of the cuts that we've made and are talking to partners and some of the petitioners about what can happen next."

Judy Wetherell, who led a petition to save the Queensbury tip from closure, said residents felt "totally let down".

"Rather than closing something, look at making the sites more viable," she said.

"We know fly-tipping is going to be a major problem down the line. It's going to be an even greater expense to the council."

Blaming the government for council funding cuts, Labour councillor Chris Hayden described it as "most devastating budget to ever be discussed in this building".

He said: "The taxpayers are paying the price for Westminster incompetence."

Councillor Mike Pollard, finance spokesman for the Conservatives, said the council was "mired in the biggest financial crisis since local government reorganisation over 50 years ago."

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• Government's Budget: Key points at a glance

• Why do councils go bust and what happens when they do?

Referring to the criticism of government, Mr Pollard said even if the council was given all the funding Labour wanted, it would still not balance the budget.

He added: "This is far more serious than just national pressures."

Councillor Brendan Stubbs, leader of the Liberal Democrats group, said: "This budget will weigh heavy on the shoulders of our residents for years to come."

He said the increased debt from the planned borrowing would mean in future "£1 from every £12 raised through tax will be used to pay off Labour's credit card".

Councillor Matt Edwards, leader of the Greens, said: "There is no other way to describe this budget than brutal.

"Bradford residents will pay more council tax for fewer services. Without change there will be more budgets like this next year and the year after."