LAST minute amendments to the upcoming Bradford Council budget include an extra £600,000 for street cleaning and a decision to abandoned planned cuts to youth services of £500,000.

Councillors will be asked to decide on the coming year’s budget for Bradford Council on Thursday – a budget that could see a five per cent increase in the amount of tax paid by local households.

If voted through, the 2021/22 budget will see a 1.99 per cent increase in Council Tax as well as a three per cent “social care surcharge” aimed at “paying towards demographic growth pressures and better pay and conditions for care workers.”

The Council will also have to dip into its reserves to take out almost £7 million to balance its budget.

But there will be no redundancies or cuts to services, and Council bosses say it would help “encourage the economic growth” needed to help Bradford emerge from the pandemic in a strong position.

At a meeting of the Council’s Executive on Tuesday, members went through the final draft of the proposed budget – which was first revealed in December.

Council tax rise likely, but no major cuts to jobs or services proposed in 2021 budget

During the meeting one members of the Executive spoke hopefully about Bradford’s recovery, saying “cranes in the sky” would soon herald the beginning of work on a number of city centre regeneration projects that are due to progress this year.

Last minute additions to the budget before Thursday’s vote include a decision to scrap a planned £513,000 cut to youth services, which had already been postponed a year, an extra £600,000 to pay for more street cleaning in the District and £600,000 that would be distributed to “ward teams” throughout the District – and be used to tackle issues in individual areas.

A planned cut to welfare advice services of £844,000 will be delayed.

And the Housing First programme, a scheme to help the homeless in the District to find stable accommodation, will get £360,000.

An extra £1m will be invested into Skillshouse – a scheme to train people in Bradford to help find new jobs, and £250,000 will be used to maintain and improve green spaces, public parks and walking routes that have proved a “lifeline” for people during lockdown.

A report to the Executive said that due to the economic downturn the amount of income from Council Tax had fallen “for the first time in living memory” – and was down by £3.5 million.

The proposed increase of 4.99 per cent that will be imposed on households will amount to an increase of £56.22 per year for a property in Band A and £84.33 per year in Band D.

At Thursday’s meeting of the full Council the different political parties that make up Bradford Council will propose their own alternate budgets.

But with Labour having a majority on the Council, it is likely that the draft discussed by the Executive will be the one that is voted for.

Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the budget drew “substantially” on reserves. She said: “You can only use reserves once, and this year we are using £7 million from reserves. That is not something we can do every year. But reserves are there for a rainy day, and this is a rainy day.

“Things will get better, but there is still a long way to go.”

The budget is for one year – usually the Council produces budgets that cover a period of two or three years. The meeting was told that with future funding for Councils not yet set in stone, the authority could only plan for the year ahead.

Cllr Hinchliffe added: “I’m relieved we don’t have to make anyone redundant. Our staff have worked so hard during this pandemic. We have had leisure centre staff working in Covid response units and have made a huge difference in saving lives.

“It has been an extraordinary year and this is a positive budget for growth.”

Major projects due to move forward in the coming year include the building of Darley Street Market, the creation of an office development called One City Park and work on Bradford Live – the restoration of the former Odeon building into a live music venue.

Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, Executive for Regeneration, transport and planning, said: “Encouraging economic growth is key to the recovery from the Covid pandemic.

“Projects like Darley Street Market, Bradford Live and One City Park are all projects that have moved to the next stage and are ever closer to delivery.

“This year will see cranes in the sky as the shape of Bradford changes and we take it into the 21st Century.

“It will move away from older, redundant retail space and bring more culture, leisure and entertainment into the city centre, as well as creating quality housing and business space.”

Referring to the decision to scrap the planned cuts to youth services, the amendment said: “This was a cut we never wanted to make but which was made in response to the national government cuts.

“Through this amendment, the Executive proposes to remove the planned cut altogether and commit to retaining at least the current level of funding for youth services in base budget for future years without the threat of reduction.

“We believe it’s the right thing to do, given the invaluable work of the Youth Service during the pandemic which is likely to continue to be needed in future years.

“This has also shone through in the public consultation which has made clear the value of services for our young people.”

The budget meeting will take place online at 4pm on Thursday.