Council facing £14.8 million budget shortfall
Growing demand for Social Care and provision for school pupils with Additional Learning Needs (ALNs) are contributing to a projected Vale of Glamorgan Council funding gap of nearly £26 million for the next financial year.
The Council’s monetary position is highlighted in a report to be considered by Cabinet this week.
It reveals that the Authority is facing cost pressures of £34.325 million, with estimates suggesting funding will only cover £7.825 million of that, leaving a shortfall of £25.948 million.
A thorough review of these underlying pressures has been necessary to give the Council a realistic target for its transformation and savings programme to bridge the gap.
This management intervention has reduced the headline pressures to £23.2 million, giving a residual gap of £14.8 million.
Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council said: "There is no disguising the fact the Council remains in an extremely challenging financial position.
“Local Authorities have seen consistent real terms funding cuts for more than a decade and when combined with rising costs, it is becoming harder and harder to balance the books.
“The obstacles facing us are huge, but the Council has an ambitious transformation agenda that we are confident will bring efficiency savings across the organisation, while careful use of reserve funds can also help address the problem.
“Even so, this is an extremely testing situation, one that will mean further difficult and unpalatable decisions lie ahead as we look to protect the services relied upon by our most vulnerable residents.”
This year Schools and Social Care account for 70 per cent of the Council’s budget, up from 68 per cent in 2023/24, and that share is set to increase further in the future.
That emphasises the fact that, even with a Reshaping Programme to redesign how Council functions operate, services in other areas cannot be sustained at current levels.
The UK Government set its first budget on October 30 outlining its desire to ‘fix public services’ with a range of tax-raising measures.
There is more money for health, schools and social care at the UK level with £1.7 billion of money heading to the Welsh Government.
However, this includes both 2024/25 and 2025/26 with the resources covering already agreed annual pay increases and a significant share likely going to the Health Service.
The Welsh Government’s decision on how this £1.7 billion is to be allocated will be known at its budget announcement on December 10.
A rise in the number of pupils with ALNs and the school transport implications this brings, alongside increasing numbers of people requiring either adult or children’s Social Care have created the most significant cost pressures.
Dwindling resources have been compounded by high energy prices, inflation and interest rates.
Budget working groups are currently operating across all areas of the Council to identify savings.
These will be presented to the Council’s Cabinet as part of the budget-setting process which concludes with the final document being agreed at a meeting of all councillors in March.