News and views from our city councillors

West of England Combined Authority. I was recently re-elected as Chair of the WECA Audit Committee. The challenges of that role are enormous. WECA has a lengthy list of problems and a Transformation Programme that is challenging in the extreme.

WECA has published its draft accounts on its website. These have not been approved by anybody yet, but they show that WECA employed 2 Chief Executives since December 2022 and appears to still be doing so. I am pressing to find out how much this whole process is costing and when the issue is going to be resolved.

Bristol has its own problems. We are still waiting for a further update on the Bristol Beacon, not to mention a long-term resolution to Bristol Waste's management problems and ongoing staffing problems

I chair the finance task group on the City Council and we have been involved in the back bench scrutiny of the proposal to charge an additional £3m of Council Tax for up to 23,000 of the most financially vulnerable families in Bristol. The Consultation runs until late August, so please take your opportunity to respond. (Search for CTRS Consultation).

Meanwhile, we are making progress on the new Committee system that will replace the Mayor in May next year. There will be 8 committees covering all the main policy areas of the City. Committees will make all the decisions currently made by the Mayor and Cabinet but will be voted on by all members of the committee rather than just one person making the decision. The decision will be taken by a vote of each committee made up of Councillors from across the city.