The leader of the Forest of Dean with his personal insight into the latest council developments
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00:00 [Music]
00:12 I know it's stating the obvious, but the Council provides services.
00:19 That's what it's here for.
00:22 Sadly, chronic underfunding from central government
00:26 means that councils of all types, of all political persuasions,
00:31 all over the country, are currently facing bankruptcy.
00:36 And the Forest of Dean is no different.
00:39 In just three years' time, the Forest of Dean District Council
00:44 faces being £3 million short of what it needs to deliver services,
00:50 unless we take some financially responsible decisions now.
00:57 I'm determined to ensure that we can continue to provide services,
01:02 like the parking service, for years to come.
01:06 By law, the Council has to provide certain services,
01:11 like housing, homelessness prevention, waste collection and recycling.
01:17 When councils run out of money, they're forced to cut the services
01:21 they don't have to provide by law.
01:24 They're forced to stop loss-making activities and to sell things off,
01:29 like car parks.
01:31 In other words, if we don't take responsibility for sorting out the finances now,
01:37 something this administration is determined to do,
01:41 our council car parks will sooner or later be sold off
01:46 and potentially end up run by private companies.
01:50 That would mean no free spaces, no low-cost permits, no proper maintenance.
01:58 The car parks would become a profit-making machine,
02:01 not a thought spared for the needs of local people and businesses.
02:06 That's the future we're trying to avoid by making some difficult decisions now.
02:13 The consultation on the budget is profoundly influencing
02:17 what the final parking charges scheme will look like.
02:21 It's been really helpful to hear about people's individual circumstances
02:25 across the district in relation to parking,
02:28 to hear their concerns and ideas.
02:31 In the light of these responses, I'm hoping we can put together a charging scheme
02:37 which, combined with a massive increase of free spaces,
02:41 will better support local residents and businesses
02:45 and enable us to continue doing so for years to come.
02:50 That support for residents and businesses is the reason the council provides the parking service.
02:57 And that's what it is. It's a service.
03:00 It's not a profits-driven business. It's a service.
03:04 Which is why there are free spaces and cheap season tickets.
03:09 I think it's vital the parking service continues.
03:14 There are councillors demanding there should be no increase in parking charges.
03:19 They say we should continue to run the service at a loss,
03:22 that the money to pay for the service year on year should be found from somewhere else.
03:29 It's argued that the support the car parks provide is so important
03:33 that the service needs to be subsidised.
03:37 I have some sympathy with the idea.
03:40 There's only one big problem with it.
03:44 It could actually be setting up a nightmare for the Forest of Dean,
03:49 which would begin to become a reality in just a few years' time.
03:53 The nightmare of privatisation.
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04:07 (upbeat music)
04:09 (cymbal crash)