After years of austerity followed by Covid, local authorities are millions short on budgets. What has happened to ‘levelling up?’
Craig Cheney sits slumped in his chair, with a look of dejection in place of his usually cheery demeanour. Bristol’s deputy mayor, who is also chair of the city council’s finance committee, needs to save £23m from next year’s budget – on top of almost £100m of cuts three years ago – to balance the books.
“We have ways of swallowing our own smoke if the only problem is inflation, but there are so many other extra costs that we need to cope with,” says the former business consultant turned Labour councillor. “It’s tough.”
