Any changes to Bath’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations will be due to veteran’s wishes, not budget restraints, the Liberal Democrats have insisted.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is planning to stop its funding of the event, which will now be done directly by the city of Bath. They had insisted there would be “no change” to the event itself.
Now they say there could be changes but only to follow veterans’ wishes. A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: “Initial conversations with the military and veterans’ groups have shown that there is a desire to do things a bit differently on Remembrance Sunday.
“As an example, having a split day with a parade in the morning and an event in the afternoon, as has been done previously, may not be the way which suits participants in the future.”
But they insisted that there was the money to fund the event as normal if desired, adding: “If any of the arrangements are changed for Remembrance celebrations, it will be because those changes have been requested, not forced by any reduction in monies available.”
Council cabinet member for resources Richard Samuel had previously insisted: “There will be no change to remembrance events at all. The only thing that will change is the body that funds them.”
He was speaking after a meeting of the council’s corporate scrutiny panel on 23rd January where remembrance events were included on a list of potential budget savings.
It was stated the council could save £27,000 by “removing the Remembrance and Community events budgets to ease budgetary pressures.”
The proposal caused a political spat between Bath Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat-run council.
The council said the event should be taken over by Bath’s charter trustees — a group of councillors which includes the Mayor and deals with the city’s ceremonial duties — which would reflect how Remembrance events were funded across the rest of the council area, where they are the responsibility of parish councils.
But Bath Conservative Association took to Twitter to say that this would be the council “washing its hands of supporting [Remembrance Sunday].”
A Liberal Democrat spokesperson responded that the Conservatives were using veterans as a “political football” and insisted: “There is no cut.”
The charter trustees agreed to take over the funding of the event at a meeting on 24th January.
Tim Ball, the councillor who chairs the charter trustee’s standing committee, said: “We have a proud tradition in Bath of remembering those in all wars who made the ultimate sacrifice and supporting veterans in our area.
“The Mayor’s office has already been responsible for the arrangements for the Remembrance events in our community, and will continue to deliver in their usual impeccable manner.
“The meeting this week reaffirmed our commitment to continue to honour those people impacted by war, and ensure the lessons of history are not forgotten.”
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
