The county council press team have issued a misleading press release that gives the impression that Lib Dem amendments to the Tory budget, were UKIP or Tory ideas. This is untrue.
Lib Dem leader Jeremy Hilton said:
“The government cut the core funding to Gloucestershire by £18 million. Despite the 3.99% Council Tax rise there will be no additional spending for Gloucestershire County Council. The revenue budget will be £420m next year as it this year. Liberal Democrats are pleased that we pushed the Tory administration into reversing the £2m cut in highway spending and that we have prevented cuts to adult social care. We are also pleased that a number of Lib Dem amendments were accepted as these will improve the budget for 2016/17”
Lib Dem budget successes are as follows:-
1) Increasing Highways Local to £30k per member and £7,500 per member for additional road maintenance in their area, £400K taken from the £2.075million extra to be spent on roads.
2) £150k to invest in new cycling schemes from the Barriers to Cycling report
3) £100k investment to pay for a designated Traffic Regulation Order officer and resources to speed up the processes
4) £50k to be match-funded with the district councils to look into air quality and pollution
5) £50k to continue the free visits for all five year olds at SkillZone
6) £25k investment into mental health support for children and young people
7) £20k into support to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
8) 5k to provide free residents parking for all Band A electric vehicles for the first permit only
Cllr. Jeremy Hilton