Council Cabinet to consider budget proposals
The Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Cabinet will consider budget proposals next week as the organisation looks to balance the books following Welsh Government’s funding announcement in December.
The Council will receive just over £223 million for 2025/26, a figure that accounts for around two thirds of its income, with the rest made up of Council Tax, charges for services and a share of business rates from across Wales. This figure is an increase of 3.3% from last year.
Additional money will be raised from Council Tax and receipt of a share of business rates from across Wales. The Council’s total net budget for 2025/26 is forecast to be £331.40m.
71% of this is earmarked for schools and social care, spending on which is being increased by £8,914m and £10,346m respectively. This is a larger proportion than ever before and part of the Council’s financial strategy to protect the services used by the Vale’s most vulnerable citizens.
The initial budget proposals have been produced in a financial context that sees demand for certain critical Council services continue to grow rapidly, alongside the cost of delivering many other services.
Protecting these vital services means that the Authority is facing a significant budget shortfall so changes are needed in other area’s of the Council’s work to bring expenditure in line with income.
Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “We have now been operating within incredibly challenging financial constraints for several years. Despite this we have a track record in the Vale of continuing to deliver our most vital services to a very high standard.
“Prioritising investment in social care in recent years means that the Vale has the fewest delays in hospital discharge in Wales and we are able to source home care for those who need it in an average of three days.
“Continued investment in our schools means our pupils learn in some of the most modern facilities and those that need additional support can access excellent provision.
“This year’s increased settlement from Welsh Government is better than we had expected. It is encouraging to see the pressures on local authorities being recognised by both the Senedd and Westminster Governments.
“However, the additional resources whilst appreciated fall well short of what is needed to sustain essential local services.
“It is also the case that the Vale is one of the lowest funded councils in Wales. We are actively lobbying ministers to address this.
“As Leader I have always tried to be very clear with residents about the seriousness of the situation and the issues we must balance when spending public money.
“The reality is that our costs are increasing much faster than our funding. This makes it impossible to maintain services at current levels.
“The Council Tax increase proposed is one that offers the best balance between increasing what we are asking residents to contribute and protecting the services we know matter to them. If any additional funding becomes available we will prioritise reducing the proposed Council Tax increase alongside investing in critical services.
“Once again this year we will be taking difficult and unpalatable decisions in order to reach a balanced budget for the year ahead. To enable this we will continue to find new and innovative ways to deliver our services and better serve our residents.
“In line with recent years our absolute priority will be maintaining services for those in our communities that need them most."
The Vale of Glamorgan Council, in common with councils across both Wales and England is experiencing significant financial pressures across
both children and adults social care, in school finances especially Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision, and in providing school transport.
Suggestions on how the funding gap can be bridged are included in a report to be reviewed by Cabinet on 16 January.
These include a Council Tax increase of 6.9 per cent which will generate an additional £8.543m and proposals for £9.026 million in savings from Council budgets. These savings proposals are set out in full in the report. They include increased charges for certain services and implementing new ways of working to reduce costs and generate income in line with the Council’s new Reshaping strategy.
Linked to the Council’s Regeneration Programme and the successful Levelling Up bid that will see the creation of a marina in Barry, there is a plan to rent office space in the nearby Dock Office.
Charges for some services could rise and if the proposals are agreed, more sports and community groups would have the opportunity to gain greater independence by taking over the management of their facilities, an arrangement that has already proved extremely popular among bowls clubs and other organisations.
A review of how some social care services are provided is another of the ways in which the Council could save money. A number of unused buildings could also be sold or transferred to community groups.
Once considered by Cabinet, savings proposals will be discussed by scrutiny committees and there will be public consultation to gather residents’ views before the budget is considered further and finalised at a meeting of all councillors in March.
The consultation launches on 20 January 2025 and will run for four weeks.