News / Politics
Labour councillor blasts meeting as ‘farce’ made through ‘backroom deals’
An exasperated councillor branded the annual Bristol City Council budget-setting meeting a “farce” made through “backroom deals” as her proposals for three new community hubs in deprived neighbourhoods were thrown out.
Labour’s Zoe Peat was heckled by the Greens as she tried to defend her group’s budget amendment to spend £1.7m on Avon Youth Hub serving Avonmouth & Lawrence Weston ward, Eagle House in Knowle West, and a replacement community-led housing and community centre at the former Tenants Hall site in Barton Hill.
But the suggestion that this could be funded by borrowing and a cut to staffing support for policy committee chairs sparked a backlash at the four-and-a-half-hour meeting.
Moving the motion, Peat said: “I appreciate why policy chairs want to use this money for extra admin support. However, we really must weigh this against the needs of our residents.
“Running a city is a tough job but the legal and democratic services budget for 2023/24 was £14.4m whereas the department’s budget for this year is £20.4m.
“That’s an extra £6m a year and a lot of that has already gone towards the committee system.
“How about now that we put some of that money we have left towards supporting our city’s youth?
“This amendment is about giving young people safe spaces to build relationships and develop skills. It’s about prevention rather than crisis management.
“So we have a choice: investing in the futures of our children or more admin support for eight councillors.”
Bristol City Council deputy leader Heather Mack said: “The previous (Labour) mayor’s support cost over half a million a year; the current leader’s office is half that.
“So a suggestion that we are overspending must mean they had real issues with the way their mayor ran the council.
“We have a lean team who help coordinate our committees and our chairs.”
Mack said the Green-led administration was already investing heavily in community and youth facilities, and was already exploring funding and options for the community hubs proposed in the amendment.
Mack called the Labour amendment “a financially illiterate fairytale”.
Green group leader, Emma Edwards, said: “We’re proud that once again we haven’t needed to propose any redundancies in setting the budget for 2026/27.
“So why does Labour want to create redundancies with their amendment? I thought theirs was a party for workers? My mistake.”
Lib Dem councillor Stephen Williams said the three community hubs were worthwhile but accused Labour of not actually wanting other parties to support their own proposal because it would “spoil what they want to say in their political leaflets”.
Addressing Labour councillors, Williams said “this is worse than what you’ve done before which is political knockabout”.
“But the way you’ve chosen to finance the interest you will need to finance the capital expenditure on this is worse than political cynicism.
“It’s politically maligned to single out the very small staff resource that supports the committee chairs.
“Some staff resource has been put in place. You know who these individuals are.
“You haven’t named them in your amendment but you know who they are. So this isn’t just politically maligned, it’s personally spiteful.”
Responding to the comments, Peat said that the Labour amendment would not make people redundant.
“This is not the case,” Peat said. “This is a budgetary pressure for the next year that would imply recruitment. We’re just arguing against that additional recruitment.”
As senior Greens continued to heckle her, Peat said: “You know what? I’m so tired of all of this. This is a farce.
“This entire thing has been made through backroom deals to make each other look good.
“None of this is actually voting. This is not a real debate.
“We have put amendments that we really care about, about children. But you are really making this political.
“There are no personal attacks in this amendment. We just want to help youth services and I don’t think that’s controversial.”
Councillors voted down the amendment by 39-19, with eight abstentions.
Main photo: YouTube / Bristol City Council
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