Message from the Chief Executive on Welsh Government funding announcement

Dear colleagues,

On Tuesday Welsh Government announced its draft Budget for 2023/24. As part of this the Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans, allocated an additional £227m for councils across Wales.

The decision by Welsh Government to prioritise funding for local government is very welcome and shows a recognition by decision makers in the Senedd of the vital role councils like ours play in supporting communities.

The increase of approximately 8.9% that we will receive for the next financial year is higher than we had anticipated. Our Finance colleagues are now working to understand exactly what this means for our budget plans here in the Vale. However, we already know it will not meet the combined £38m of pressures on our budget as reported to Cabinet in October.

Unpicking the budget announcement and amending our modelling for next year in line with this will take some time. The settlement figure is the biggest factor, but still only one factor, in producing our budget.

This year’s budget-setting process has already been the most collaborative and forensic we have ever undertaken. It is a weekly item for update and discussion at SLT, workshop sessions have been held with elected members and senior managers, and Directors have led their own directorate level planning sessions. I have also met with all headteachers over the course of recent months. 

A volatile economic climate that has seen energy prices increase significantly along with inflation and interest rates has had a major effect on the Council’s financial position. These short-term shocks have come at a time when the combined pressures of increasing demand for our services and simultaneously increasing complexity in what is required of them had already made planning for the future very difficult. Addressing all of these issues must be balanced in our budget for 2023/24.

If recent experience has shown us anything it is that challenging times bring the best out of this organisation and I know this will be no exception.  Whilst the scale of the challenge is greater than ever, we have been here before and just like before, I have every confidence that we will be able to set a balanced budget whilst continuing to prioritise vital services to those in greatest need at a time when our services are needed more than ever.

I am incredibly grateful to those colleagues who will now be working hard over the Christmas and New Year period to finalise our initial budget proposals. These will then be presented for Cabinet to consider on 19 January. I will keep you all updated throughout.

Thanks as always for your efforts. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Rob.