AN almighty battle will be waged in York tonight.
Tucked away in the spectacular Guildhall, the city's councillors will try to agree a budget for next year.
It may not sound exciting at first glance, but it affects a huge raft of services across the city. If you pay council tax and care about schools, libraries, roads, swimming pools, social care or any other council-funded services, tonight matters.
Here's a quick guide:
What is tonight all about?
Every February, the city council must agree a budget for the following financial year. The 2015/16 budget should be agreed tonight.
What's at stake?
Everything! The council has a revenue budget for next year of £119,760,000. That covers everyday services, such as road maintenance, libraries, social care, bins etc.
It also has a capital budget of £187,019,000. That covers spending on major (and typically one-off) projects, such as building a new school if needed.
It also expects to collect £72,736,000 in council tax next year, from all us residents.
That sounds a lot!
It does, but the Government has allocated the council less to spend next year than this year. The council says it must save £11.9m for next year.
And do the parties agree on what's best for York?
Far from it. On a lot of that budget, there's no debate. But there are some big sticking points. The opposition parties took issue with some of Labour's plans.
Such as?
Well, for example, the Liberal Democrats say senior management should be cut back and borrowing reduced, so basic services can be better protected. The Conservatives also want more spent on core services, and less on what they call "vanity projects". The Greens say the proposed council tax freeze is a cynical election move, that will create more problems later. And the Independent Labour pair say want protection for Burton Stone Community Centre, Yearsley Pool and Castlegate.
So how will they reach agreement?
That's the 300-million-pound question! If any party has a majority, it can usually bank on its plans being voted through. But Labour has lost its majority through defections, so the council is now hung. That means they need to compromise, which isn't always easy for politicians. Assuming all 47 councillors turn up tonight, any budget will need the support of 24 or more.
Is that likely?
It's certainly plausible. Labour has 21 councillors. There are 9 Conservatives, 9 Liberal Democrats, 2 Greens, 2 Independent Labour and 2 independents. So if Labour can win the support of three other councillors, they should be able to get most of their budget approved.
Most of it?
Well, the other councillors won't side with Labour for nothing. They'll demand some concessions in return for support.
Dare we ask, what happens if the parties can't agree!
The nightmare scenario! The meeting starts at 6.30pm and councillors have until after 10pm to reach agreement. But if they can't, the agenda says they'll all be called back next Wednesday to try again.
- Visit thepress.co.uk/news again late tonight, or early tomorrow for the first reports.
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