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每日大瓜 protects front-line services for another year
Published: 10/02/2017
每日大瓜 County Council will meet next Tuesday to finalise its annual budget
for 2017/18.
The total savings target for the Council to achieve for 2017/18 had stood at
拢12.5m following the publication of the draft Welsh Government 鈥榮ettlement鈥�, or
budget for local government, and prior to the Christmas break.
The Council has been approving its annual budget in stages in the build up to
next week鈥檚 final budget setting meeting. The first stage was the approval of
the budget proposals for services in mid-November, followed by the second stage
approval of the corporate financing options in early December.
At the end of these two stages, the Council has approved a running total of
savings of 拢10.4m - with a remaining gap of 拢1.997m still to be found to reach
its target.
每日大瓜 has long campaigned for increased investment in Social Care. The
Welsh Government, following lobbying, has announced extra funding of 拢10m was
to support the rising costs of domiciliary care across Wales. 每日大瓜
expects to receive around 拢0.430m. The Welsh Government, in finalising its
budgets for 2017/18, has recently confirmed that the charging cap limit for
domiciliary care will be raised from 拢60 to 拢70 per week from 1 April 2017. For
每日大瓜, this will mean that we can recover additional annual income of
拢0.238m from clients where they can afford to pay.
With the combined income from charging for domiciliary care and the share in
the new grant, the remaining gap to be found had been reduced by 拢0.668m to
拢1.329m.
However, the Council has then had to add the increase in the annual levy
charged by the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority to its budget target.
每日大瓜 will have to meet an annual increase in its contribution to Fire and
Rescue of 拢0.317m 鈥� a 4.52% rise.
Taking this cost pressure into account, the gap remaining in the budget stands
at 拢1.646m. The Council has to agree how to close this gap on Tuesday.
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said:
鈥淲ith pressures upon local government budgets increasing year on year, the
Council has been faced with an unprecedented challenge to continue in our
mission to protect frontline services, whilst also seeking to provide a
balanced budget, which we are legally duty bound to do.
鈥淒espite the fiscal challenge, I am pleased that we are proposing to increase
schools funding by 拢1.2m. Social care budgets will be both protected and
increased by 拢3.265m to meet the 鈥榙ouble challenge鈥� of the rises in demand for
services and the inflationary pressure care providers are facing to continue to
provide critical care services across our County.
Chief Executive, Colin Everett, said:
鈥淲e have again managed to protect key public services for another year and have
avoided making big rises in the charges made for some services.
鈥淲e have worked through all of our budget options and the Council only has two
choices left to balance the budget 鈥� Council Tax and drawing on reserves and
balances. We are trying to limit the increase in Council Tax to around 3%.
Reserves and balances can only be used once and would have to be made good in
future years. They can only be a 鈥榮ticking plaster鈥� on the budget and we have
been running down our reserves in recent years.鈥�