Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have welcomed the Council's proposed policy on Sky Lantern releases, which bans them from, over and on Council land and premises. It also confirms that any releases are considered potential littering and may be met with enforcement action.
The latest weekly coronavirus snapshot for Bedford Borough has been published.
Mayor Dave Hodgson has announced the Council will invest millions into the Schools Capital Programme in 2024. This will fund two new primary schools in Wixams and Sharnbrook and around 40 new classrooms through expansions to Wixams Academy, Bedford Academy and schools west of Bedford. The investment will make sure that there is strong education infrastructure across the Borough.
I have written before about the financial challenge facing Bedford Borough Council, but as consultation begins on the first set of proposals to modernise Council services and make them more cost-effective, it is worth considering the figures involved in order to really grasp the full scale of that challenge. Bedford Borough Council has to save £36 million over four years in order to balance the books. That's an awful lot of money by any reckoning, but the fact that it represents over a quarter of the Council's current total net budget of £129 million brings the size of the task ahead into even greater focus (the bar chart on the right provides a graphical illustration). There is no escaping this; the Council is legally required to deliver a balanced budget, and cannot make a policy decision not to make all the savings, for example. What we can do, however, is to work with all parties on the Council, with staff and crucially with residents to make sure the savings are made carefully and in the fairest way poss
Earlier this week Mayor Dave Hodgson visited the Warm Space at St Mary's in Goldington. You can see a video at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2156108827908595
Over £4,400 has been stolen from parking machines in Bedford Borough in 2019, across over 50 criminal attacks.
