Tories To Prioritise Toilets, Buses And Women's Services At Brighton & Hove Budget Meeting

Conservative councillors plan to put forward a range of measures to protect services that people have been vocal about, with the council due to set its annual budget this week.

Among their ideas are longer opening hours for public toilets, reducing the proposed cuts to services aimed at reducing violence against women and girls and continued support for bus services.

Their budget proposals would means scrapping a planned school counselling service and the dropping the council’s anti-racism strategy.

In the draft budget for Brighton and Hove City Council, a funding cut of £178,000 for public toilets would mean later opening times.

Out of the 36 toilets that are currently in use, 31 would open at 10am rather than 8am as presently.

The Tories want to reduce the cut to £58,000 by using £120,000 from the £200,000 saving that could be made by scrapping a £200,000 pilot project for in-school counselling for Year 9 pupils.

They want the other £80,000 that would be saved to go towards fully funding the Youth Grants Programme. It was originally due to be scrapped but is now earmarked for a £40,000 cut.

The Conservatives said that the counselling scheme was not needed because the government planned to recruit mental health support teams across schools in April.

All state schools would be offered funding for a senior mental health lead by next year, making counselling for a small group unnecessary, the Tories said.

Conservative leader Alistair McNair said:

“Labour have made a big claim of saving public toilets repeatedly at meetings. But what they don’t tell you is that is only the case if you need the toilet after 10am.

“The council’s own ‘equality impact assessment’ on the proposal states that they will have greater impact on people who need to use facilities more frequently, those with limited mobility and those with limited alternative means for accessing facilities such as older people, small children and their carers, disabled people and individuals with some health issues and rough sleepers.”

Councillor McNair added:

“Labour should stop celebrating the alleged saving of public toilets and be honest with residents that they are cutting the availability of public toilets by thousands of hours a year.”

Another package of cuts and savings the Conservatives want to reverse at the “budget council” meeting on Thursday (22 February) are

• a £23,000 cut in the home-to-school transport budget
• a £30,000 cut to school grounds maintenance
• a £10,000 cut in bowls maintenance

They also want to restore £41,000 to the budget for services aimed at reducing violence against women and girls which is currently slate for a £120,000 cut.

The Tories want to fund this £104,000 package by ditching the council’s anti-racism strategy which currently costs the same amount.

Councillor McNair said:

“The vast majority of residents in Brighton and Hove will not even know that the council has an anti-racism strategy, let alone that those seconded to it are paid £104,000 a year for their advice.

“At a time when the council is proposing a budget that cuts services used by some of the most vulnerable in our communities such as the elderly, children and women and girls facing violence, we do not feel that £104,000 can be justified to be spent on advice for the council.

“This is not a statutory service and it does not provide good value for taxpayers.”

The Conservatives also want an extra £65,000 to be spent on extra gully clearing to reduce flooding across Brighton and Hove.

The party said that such an investment would clear the maintenance backlog and mean that a regular programme of removing leaves at high-risk sites could be brought in during the winter.

Councillor McNair said:

“As a group, we have been raising the issue of flooding and the need for additional gully clearances across the city for a very long time.

“At our last full council meeting we had a resident from Woodingdean telling us of the flooding problem in his area. We have seen it in our wards and across the city.”

The Conservatives said that this could be funded by drawing on money that was originally expected to be kept for contingencies but could now use to keep services running – or ease cuts. They want to

• restore £200,000 to the community grants programme
• reverse the £87,000 proposed cuts to community transport, Shopmobility and the Disability Advice Centre
• keep the £58,000 subsidy for the 77 and 79 buses
• use £100,000 for three full-time equivalent jobs for staff to support councillors in the three largest political groups

Councillor McNair said:

“Community grants allow fantastic local community groups to receive vital boosts to their funding. Keeping almost two thirds of this pot of money will be welcome news to these organisations.

“The 77 and 79 bus services that Labour would see cut provide cheap and easy access to the downs from the city during the holidays for families.

“It gives them a chance to get out of a busy polluted city and into the countryside to enjoy all of the physical and mental health benefits of our wonderful South Downs National Park.

“Reversing cuts to community transport, Shopmobility and the Disability Advice Centre speaks for itself.

“These are cuts hitting the most vulnerable in our city, without even a consultation or any engagement. It is shameful. It should be stopped. And we in the Conservative group have shown how it can be done.”

The budget council meeting is due to start at 4.30pm on Thursday (22 February) at Hove Town Hall and is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.