Proposals for Bridgend County Borough Council’s budget for the 2025-26 financial year have been revealed, with plans for a potential council tax increase of 4.5%. The plans show how the authority will look to set a balanced budget for the coming year despite what it says are a number of “existing and new” cost pressures, alongside limited council resources.
The annual revenue budget covers the day-to-day running costs of the council including staff salaries, building maintenance, pensions, and operational costs. The plans will be presented to cabinet members on Tuesday, January 14, ahead of a public consultation designed to gain feedback from residents, as well as scrutiny from opposition.
It comes after the Welsh Government’s provisional settlement was published in December, giving the authority an increase in funding of 4% for the next financial year. Despite this rise, it was noted that, due to increased demands on services such as homelessness and social care, cuts would still have to be made to address the “challenging financial situation”.
The proposed net budget for Bridgend is made up of a total of £383m, which includes pay and price pressures of £10.6m, service budget pressures of £14.4m and budget reductions of £9m. If eventually approved, it could see more than £150m given to the education, early years and young people directorate, along with £115m to social services and £33m to communities.
It could also see a number of proposed saving measures and reductions considered, such as the “cessation” of the meals-at-home service, as well as further reviews of home to school transport, and a reduction in counselling services. It could also see efficiency savings of 1% made against school delegated budgets which the report said had the potential to result in “some teacher and other staff redundancies”, along with the withdrawal of the music allocation funding to schools.
Elsewhere, there could be a review of the CCTV service, potentially reducing it to night-time or weekend cover only, as well as increased bulky waste charges from £30 for three items to £35, and a 20% increase to fees for bereavement services such as burial charges.
A section of the report reads: “A major challenge for the council is how to continue to meet public expectations for many highly visible and tangible services when a reduction in the available overall council budget inevitably means the council will be less able to deliver these services to the same level and frequency.”
Council leader John Spanswick added: “Despite having received a higher than expected settlement from the Welsh Government, we still face having to find multi-million pound savings while making further difficult choices for the year ahead. Our consultation asks the public to consider which council services they think should be prioritised for funding in 2025-26.” For the latest Bridgend news, sign up to our newsletter here