Council bosses in Bridgend say this year's budget proposals have been the hardest the authority has ever had to put together, ahead of the council's final budget talks at full council, on March 1.
The proposals for the budget come during the current financial crisis which left the authority tasked with finding £2.6 million worth of savings this year, with a further £17 million needing to be found over the next four years. The final budget for 2023-2024, will consist of a gross revenue budget of £485 million, a net budget of £342 million and an additional capital investment programme of £69 million.
After approval at cabinet, council bosses will now prepare for final talks with members, discussing what they describe as a "balanced budget", which includes a 4.9% increase in council tax, along with a 2% cut to school funding in the borough. While an increase in council tax of 6% was originally proposed in the draft budget, this has now been reduced to the new figure of 4.9% following concerns raised from both members and the public in the budget consultation process.
Read more: Improvements still needed at Bridgend children's social services
Some services that looked set to lose all of their funding under the proposals have also been removed after scrutiny by members, with cash secured for the next year for the RNLI lifeguards in Porthcawl, home to college transport, and the council's fly-tipping enforcement team.
Chief Executive Mark Shephard said: "We find ourselves in a position where most of the things we have to put forward we'd rather not do, as they're largely undesirable in terms of savings and cuts.
"The severity of the budget this year is caused by high levels of inflation and lots of volatility with things like energy costs, and cost and service pressures across the board. What all that does, and I think the leader will agree, is to probably make this the toughest budget that he and I have been involved in.
"The reality is we're forced to make difficult decisions, and our priorities are informed by our set of guiding principles. We're very clear that protecting vulnerable people is our major priority, and I think that has consensus across the council."
Council leader Huw David added: "I certainly would agree that the budget is one of the most difficult we've had because of the pressures we're facing in terms of the demands on our services. We have valued the contributions from across the chamber, and we certainly have taken on board their views as well.
"We have committed more than £8m additional funding to social services and well-being, which has had full support across the chamber, but providing that level of support does come at a cost. We'll have to increase council tax because you can't find that level of growth without having to look at the income from that, but each and every area of growth in social services is essential."
While there have been some significant changes to this year's budget following scrutiny, plans to reduce the school's budget by 2% still look set to go ahead, with potential cuts of around £2 million for Bridgend's 60 schools, largely drawn from staffing budgets.
Cllr Hywel Williams, cabinet member for finance, said that while the whole budget process was a challenge, asking schools to make a contribution at this time was one the most difficult parts. He said: "Throughout this difficult journey of austerity cuts, we've protected schools continually over the last 10 years. While we've now been forced to ask them to make a contribution, we are still increasing the overall net budget to schools.
"This has been a difficult decision as the schools have made a very robust defence of their budget, but we've had to balance that against the alternative of potentially a much higher rise in council tax, which we think would be unfair as we need to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis as best we can ."
Other savings put forward will include switching street lighting to LEDs across the county, saving a potential £100,000, commercially letting two wings of Ravens Court to a partner organisation or business for a saving of £120,000, and charging blue badge holders for parking in council-run car parks for around £40,000.
Council costs on printing could also be reduced to save £40,000 with further funds saved by closing local recycling centres for one day per week, and reduced funding to the road marking budget. While there will be additional costs to a number of council charges such as bulky waste collections, the council’s contribution to South Wales Fire Service will also increase by 12.9% this year, along with an increase to the south Wales Police Precept of 7.4%.
The budget proposals for 2023-2024 have now been endorsed by the cabinet of Bridgend County Borough Council, though they will be discussed again by all members at full Council on March 1, before a final decision is taken. You can read more of our stories from Bridgend here or subscribe to our dedicated newsletter here.
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