Bristol City Council Archives - The Bristol Cable

Fear of 'cover-ups', bad decisions and squandering taxpayers' money

Damning report condemns council's ‘inadequate’ decision-making process for Bristol Energy

Further £15 million of public money 'lost' to Bristol Energy

Bristol Energy lost another £14.8million last year, latest financial data shows. Now a public interest report is being sought to find out what went wrong.

Ideas and Action

How helping people take drugs safely will save lives

Martin Powell

Regional row: Mayor Marvin Rees accused of blocking West of England Combined Authority expansion

Locals call for answers on fuel leak at St Pauls development site

Photos: Save the M32 Maples Developers have started to build 31 homes on the site of a former filling station in central Bristol from which...

James Garrett and Howard Ogden

Bristol ‘highly likely’ to see Tier 2 Covid restrictions soon, with local NHS now under 'extreme pressure'

Meanwhile both of Bristol’s hospital trusts have declared internal critical incidents amid rising demand and more Covid patients.

Matty Edwards and Lucas Batt

New Covid measures for Bristol, as city announces Tier 1+ in response to rising infections

The council is taking action after infection rates continued to rise sharply, including among working age adults, not just university students.

Amanda Cameron (Local Democracy Reporter) and Matty Edwards

Bristol Council questioned over social media ‘spying’

Councillors are asking whether the “surveillance”, which they say was “covert”, needed authorisation.

City

Council approves major new development plans in Lawrence Hill

The Council approves the building of hundreds of new homes, offices, shops, student accommodation and a new school in Lawrence Hill. But flooding objections from the Environment Agency could override the decision.

£17 million could be wiped off value of Bristol Energy

The Labour-run council is trying to sell Bristol Energy, which has soaked up £35 million of council tax payers’ money and posted official losses of £32.5 million since it was set up five years ago.

Fight For Fair Air

Watch: Lessons from lockdown - how can Bristol battle air pollution?

As traffic on Bristol’s streets returns to normal following lockdown, air pollution levels have returned to illegal levels. What can we do about it?

Patch de Salis

£37.7 million later: Council announces sale of debt-ridden Bristol Energy

The announcement comes after Labour councillors last week blocked an inquiry into the saga, which has cost the local authority millions.

Council will have to make spending cuts, as cost of Covid-19 passes £100 million

Bristol City Council has repeatedly called for more funding from central government, because the current level of support leaves a black hole of £86 million.

'More work to do' on institutional racism at Bristol City Council

The council has been tackling the problem following a damning review into the death of Bijan Ebrahimi and complaints of racial discrimination by council staff.

Bristol Energy inquiry blocked by Labour councillors

There will be no independent inquiry into why Bristol City Council continued to pump millions of pounds into debt-ridden firm Bristol Energy.

City

Councillors say City Hall officers ‘unduly influenced’ by reporting direct to Mayor

Councillor Clive Stevens says he cannot always trust what officers say because they are ‘fearful of pressure from their boss’.

Opinion

Analysis: How £35 million of public money was ‘lost' to Bristol Energy

Old Sparky, Private Eye’s energy specialist, dissects what went so wrong for Bristol’s energy company in this long read special

Old Sparky

City

Council owned Bristol Energy put up for sale amid controversy

Opposition councillors are demanding a full inquiry into loss-making Bristol Energy after the city council put it up for sale.

Mayor Rees calls for Government bailout to plug £82m blackhole

Mayor Marvin Rees is pleading with the Government for an NHS-style bailout for local authorities as he warned it will take Bristol years to recover from the coronavirus.

Temporary coronavirus mortuary to open as council prepares for 'worst case scenario'

The new mortuary will increase Bristol City Council's capacity to deal with deceased people by two-thirds.

Councillors give themselves a pay rise

Bristol city councillors have awarded themselves a pay hike costing council tax payers an extra £180,000 a year while freezing the salaries of top officers....