Proposed Budget Amendment Would See Free On-Street Parking Introduced Or Extended Across Isle Of Wight
- Rufus Pickles
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Free on-street parking for one hour could be introduced or extended across all Isle of Wight towns under a budget amendment tabled by an independent councillor.
Very Broad Church group leader Geoff Brodie said the move would ‘create a level playing field’.
His plans also include £300,000 for grants to existing community pantries and larders and an increased uplift for all adult social care providers.
The Pan and Barton representative said the council should “prevent pain” as much as possible now, adding that there will be no relief from “all-encompassing pain” in a year’s time.
Last week, a proposed budget described by council officers as the ‘most challenging’ considered by the local authority in ten years was revealed.
It included staff cutbacks of at least £641,000, the Island’s new waste contract doubling in cost, and another 4.99 per cent council tax hike.
Cllr Brodie’s revised budget amendment includes removing a proposed general reserves increase of £4m, reducing the annual deficit to £8.9m, releasing all of the council’s Transformation Reserve – amounting to £12m, cutting out all proposed recurring savings (£6.3m) and introducing or extending free on-street parking for one hour into all Island towns, including Newport (£1.2m).
The council’s budget report says the £12m Transformation Reserve is to support the delivery of future savings opportunities.
Other proposed changes include allocating £300,000 for grants to the existing community pantries and larders which are set to lose access to government Household Support Fund allocations from April, and increasing the uplift for all adult social care providers to six per cent which Cllr Brodie says will more properly reflect their increased costs – representing £2.8m.
Lastly, he proposed any remaining balance be allocated to general reserves.
Cllr Brodie said:
“After 15 years of austerity and £100m cuts to government support for the Isle of Wight Council, I am of the view that very little, so-called ‘transformation’ is achievable by this council in the future – £20m in 12 months and £65m in four years – and a S114 is inevitable next year.
"So why waste £12m on transformation when it can at least be used for a greater good this year.
“Therefore, we should prevent pain as much as possible now, given there will be no relief from all-encompassing pain in a year’s time.
"That is just not going to happen without a massive government rescue package….and pigs might fly past my window.”
A section 114 notice is a report from a council’s finance officer which says they believe their authority is about to incur spending which is unlawful under the Local Government Finance Act 1988, according to the Institute for Government.
Expenditure can be unlawful for a variety of reasons.
The main rationale behind why most councils issue a section 114 notice is because they expect their spending to be higher than their income for a particular financial year which is not allowed by the 1988 Act.