Future of Peterborough Lido, library closures, council tax and staff reductions set to be decided by budget meeting

Peterborough City Council is set to finally decide on its budget for the upcoming financial year.

The budget, which was first announced in December, will decide how the city council will spend its financial resources in the coming year.

The headline proposal, when the budget was first announced was to mothball the city’s Lido, although the pool has since been saved after widespread kickback.

Other proposals that remain on the table are a council tax increase of 4.99%, closing seven of the city’s ten libraries as well as reducing the opening hours of Peterborough Museum.

The proposals have all been put forward as a way to balance the budget and make £23 million of savings over the year.

The final budget proposals are set to be finalised at a meeting of full council on Wednesday evening.

Where the axe is set to fall:

- Reductions to libraries service from 10 static libraries to three static libraries. - Cease funding two speed cameras on the Peterborough network. - Reduce the opening hours of the Museum and Art Gallery from the current six days per week to three days per week, and increase the income generated by Flag Fen Archaeology Park. - Closure of four cafes that all currently operate at a loss, located in the Lido, Flag Fen, Vivacity Premier Fitness, and the Museum and Art Gallery. - Reduce roads maintenance budget by 10 per cent, prioritising works related to safety. - Reducing the cleaning schedule in the Central Park toilets and the city centre hot wash. - Increase cremation and burial fees by 10 percent - Removing the Gladstone lengthsman, and the Itter Park and Central Park winter attendants. - Cuts to staff numbers in some of the council’s departments

But some services cost will rise: - Increasing the income target for parking services because of improved performance, increasing debt recovery activity in relation to unpaid parking fines. - Increasing the number of parking officers enabling them to patrol in more neighbourhoods. - Introducing further Moving Traffic Offence schemes, initially preventing misuse of busways (195) (220) (220) - Increasing the minimum fines we charge for flytipping offenders. - Employing four additional council tax recovery staff at a cost of £150,000 in order to collect outstanding debt.