Have your say on 2024-25 budget proposals
Posted on Thursday 11th January 2024
Newport City Council has considered its budget and set out a number of proposals for delivering services in 2024/25.
A public consultation will now run from 11 January to 9 February 2024.
Councillor Mudd, leader of the council said: “The rising demand for services continues to be our biggest challenge. The cost of delivering those essential services significantly outweighs the funding available to us.
“We continue to see increased need for children’s social care and homelessness provision, with legacy issues of Covid and the current cost of living challenges impacting on both.
“Newport’s population has also grown considerably and rapidly over recent years which puts additional pressure on all services.
“The council provides over 800 services for approximately 160,000 people living in more than 65,000 households. Our main aim, as always, is to ensure the most fundamental of services are maintained for residents and that is reflected in this year’s budget proposals.”
The proposals include an 8.5 per cent increase in council tax. The money raised through council tax accounts for less than one quarter of the council’s overall budget.
Councillor Mudd added, “This may seem high, but a few key points should be considered.
“Our starting point is lower than nearly all other councils in Wales and the UK. In cash terms, the increase is much lower than the percentage might suggest.
“The majority of Newport homes are in bands A to C, so most households would see an increase of between £1.50 and £2.01 per week. It will still be one of the lowest council tax rates in Wales and the UK.
“The council also supports those that need and are eligible for financial assistance with their council tax bill. Households suffering financial challenges will not pay this increase as the council tax reduction scheme will still support them.
“I would ask everyone to look beyond the headline percentage change and focus on the comparatively low increase in pounds and pence, to know that those who require help with their bill will continue to receive it, and that this increase protects essential services for our most vulnerable while still being one of the lowest council tax rates in Wales and the UK.”
As well as proposed savings, the proposals also detail areas that will receive additional investment.
These include priority areas including social care, homeless provision and schools.
The demand for social care for both adults and children continues to rise, so £3million is proposed to help manage that demand and provide support for some of our most vulnerable residents.
Likewise, homelessness and the demand for temporary accommodation continues to rise, so an extra £600,000 has been proposed to support the service.
The budget also recognises the pressure on schools and has prioritised significant funds for staff pay, increasing demand resulting from rising pupil numbers, and for support for those with additional learning needs.
Councillor Mudd also explained at the cabinet meeting why this year’s budget consultation has started later than in previous years: “Like many councils across Wales and the UK, we have started our budget consultation later than normal so that we have a certainty around the funding we will receive from Welsh government, and in turn better understanding of the true budget gap.
“Although Newport received the highest percentage increase of Welsh councils, in real terms we are still well behind where we need to be.
“We are facing sizeable cuts to many of the grants we receive, and the impact of these reductions is certain to be substantial.
“For years, the UK government has underfunded local government. Since the start of austerity, councils in Wales have lost over £1billion from their budgets.
“We’re calling on the UK government to increase the local government settlement to Welsh government in its March statement to make more money available to councils to spend on vital services. The current draft settlement provides only £305 million extra for the Welsh government over a two year period.
“This means Welsh government has around £160 million next year to meet all of the pressures in the NHS, local government all other services it provides for the people of Wales.
“The Welsh government’s draft settlement for Newport does not reverse the extreme pressure on services or eliminate the gap between our available budget and the actual cost of delivering services. But it does give us some opportunity to consider how we deliver a balanced budget.”
Have your say
Proposals for 2024/25 are available to view at www.newport.gov.uk/budget where you can also find out more about where the council’s funding comes from and the general budget challenge.
Representations can also be made in writing to Freepost POLICY AND PARTNERSHIP TEAM, Newport City Council, Civic Centre, Newport NP20 4UR.
The public consultation will run until 9 February 2024. All representations will be considered ahead of the cabinet meeting on February 14 when they will make their final recommendations on the overall budget for 2024/25.