Councillors considering charge for city’s popular Discovery Cards

Bath & North East Somerset Council could soon begin charging for its Residents’ Discovery Card.

Cllr Kevin Guy and MP Wera Hobhouse receiving their Discovery Cards in 2022 | Photo © B&NES Council

The cards, which are currently available for free to residents of the council area, grant free admission to some attractions such as the Roman Baths and a host of discounts across the area.

But now the local authority is considering introducing a “small charge” for them.

The council estimates it could save £50,000 from the change. It is one of a host of proposed savings and new ways of generating money which are being consulted on for inclusion in next year’s council budget.

The budget consultation said: “We will explore levying a small charge for the discovery card to cover the council’s overhead costs.”

The consultation is open until 19th January.

Some of the other proposals being consulted on include changing recycling centre hours, introducing new parking charges, cutting the council’s in-house pest control service, increasing park and ride fares, and increasing its enforcement of traffic violations – particularly drivers failing to adhere to yellow boxes.

Once again, council tax is also proposed to rise by a maximum of 4.99%. Two of those percentage points will be ring-fenced for spending on adult social care.

Announcing the consultation in December, council cabinet member for resources Mark Elliott (Lansdown, LIberal Democrat) said: “At a time when many councils have been forced into cutbacks, we are committed to protecting and investing in frontline services, including adult and children’s services, as well as maintaining spend on our roads, culture and keeping our environment clean and green.

“The government has not yet told us what our funding looks like for next year, but we are pretty certain it will be less. Its funding calculations also assume that all councils will raise council tax by the maximum level of 4.99%.

“We don’t agree with these changes and believe that ministers should ensure no council faces a budget cut.

“But we take our responsibility for managing taxpayers’ money very seriously and have used the best available modelling and advice to put together a set of proposals we are considering bringing to council in February.

“We believe this will allow us to achieve a balanced budget once the government settlement is confirmed.”

You can respond to the consultation here.

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter