Bradford Council to cut budgets by a further £30m

Bradford Council is looking to cut a further £30m from its budget by 2019/20.
Since 2010, the council has approved £255.8m of budget savings but a further gap totalling £30.7m by 2019/20 needs to be closed by “further savings.” This will include job losses at the council, understood to effect up to 150 people.
Coun Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: “Government cuts have had a wide-ranging impact on the number and extent of the services the Council can provide since they started in 2010. We will be half the size in 2020 that we were in 2010. In spite of the cuts, I want to thank staff for still delivering high quality public services.
“We firmly believe that we have to generate growth to generate revenue to the council for additional public services but also a better standard of life for all residents. We are including an investment plan in the budget to set us on that path.”
The council’s executive report will update previous budget decisions and Council Tax. It will then seek to update the council’s four-year budget plan which was agreed in February 2017. The council said this was to reflect changes in circumstances such as funding changes, rising costs and pressures on social care.
Some of these savings are a continuation of measures already in place. Others are new, and are proposed for consultation.
The council has had to drastically reduce spending over recent years. This has meant that some activities and areas have had to be scaled back or stopped entirely. Even priority activities will see budget reductions and will have to be run differently.
On Tuesday, 5 December Bradford Council’s executive will consider the proposals before agreeing them for consultation. Consultation will start following the Executive meeting and will continue into Sunday 28 January.