SOUTHAMPTON’S council leader was quizzed on a £32.4m plan for ‘improvements’ across the city.

The multi-million pound investment plan from the Conservative administration to roll out a number of measures across Southampton came under scrutiny last week.

Civic chiefs quizzed city council leader Cllr Daniel Fitzhenry over plans to invest £32.4m of public money over the next two years.

It comes as the amended budget proposals are set to be approved by full council on Wednesday.

As reported, the plans include free parking and a series of investments including  £600,000 to clean up roads, pavements and public spaces.

As part of the move Southampton City Council is also planning to invest an extra £10m to  repair roads and pavements and £240,000 to increase fly-tipping enforcement.

The council previously said the money to fund the investment will come from contingency funding and there will not be cuts to frontline services.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee asked Cllr Fitzhenry about the impact of the new budget on future services.

Cllr Matthew Renyard said: “We have just come through a pandemic. That contingency funding is there for a purpose. What are you going to do if there’s a contingency?”

Cllr Fitzhenry was also asked about the evidence behind the decision to scrap evening parking charges until June 2023 and parking charges on Sundays until the end of this year.

He said: “Our objective is to bring people back to the city, 50% of the retail spending in Southampton does come from out of area and most of these people were coming by car. If you come to Southampton, you can come by any means and you can have free parking. What I have not waited for is a lot of metrics.”

As reported, the predicted budget shortfall for the next financial year is  £27.4m.

But Cllr Fitzhenry said the administration will be bringing forward plans to bridge the gap.

He told the committee there is about £38m available in the contingency funding for the next few years and stressed that the authority will be looking at how to reduce costs and increase income.

He said: “If we don’t support job creations we are going to have tens of thousands of people needing our help. What we are trying to do is to get ahead of the curve, put some money to invest in this policy.”