The report will reflect the fact that Newport was awarded a proposed 5.6 per cent increase in its annual revenue budget grant when Welsh government announced their draft 2025/26 budget in December.
The report sets out a number of proposals to meet budget challenges and invest in key services.
This includes investing just under £13m (over and above an allowance for pay and pricing inflation) in areas including:
- £1.86m to assist the current pressures within housing due to the increased demand for homelessness provision. This will support the delivery of statutory services as the council works to transform the way services are delivered in this area.
- A £1.871m temporary investment to fund the Eliminate programme which is working to eliminate private profit from the care of children looked after.
- £1.9m to provide extra additional learning need educational spaces and fund the associated transport service.
School budgets will also see an increase in cash terms of around 8 per cent, or £11.1m.
£2m of this will support planned school expansions, plus investment in support for pupils with additional learning needs, based within mainstream schools.
Around £370k will also be used to create response squads within our cleansing and grass cutting services to help deliver on residents’ priorities.
As part of the latest round of budget consultation, a 6.7 per cent increase in council tax will be proposed. This proposed increase would ensure that council tax in Newport remains one of the lowest in Wales, with most households seeing an increase of between £1.29 and £1.72 per week (Bands A – C which account for over half of Newport’s chargeable properties).
At its meeting back in November, cabinet approved around £4m worth of budget savings for 2025/26. Two proposals totalling around £128k of savings went out to public consultation, and the results of these will be considered by cabinet when it sets the final budget in March.
This latest report sets out five more savings proposals which will go out to public consultation. These include:
- A review of community centre provision, with a proposal to offer community groups the opportunity to take over the running of some centres via a community asset transfer.
- A proposal to reduce the number of physical library sites in line with a reduction in demand for physical visits. Under the proposal, the libraries at Tredegar House and Caerleon would close but could retain library access points. The community centre review also includes an opportunity for members of the community to take over Caerleon community centre, including the library.
- To end production of the council’s Newport Matters newspaper. This is currently distributed to every house in the city six times a year.
Public consultation on the next round of proposals will open on 14/01/2025 at www.newport.gov.uk/budget where you can also read more information about the council’s budget and how we spend our money.
Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, leader of the council, said: “This latest report reflects an improved situation since we met in November to consider the first round of proposals.
“We were pleased that Welsh government acknowledged our case for additional funding with the highest draft settlement in Wales.
“As I have previously stated, our commitment is to feed that back into the services our community rely on.
“While we do still have to make some tough decisions to ensure we deliver a balanced budget, I’m pleased that we have identified areas where we can invest in our essential services, and our people, to ensure they continue to deliver on residents’ priorities.
“As well as considering these savings and investment proposals, we continue to work on how we can modernise services and be more efficient. Finding innovative solutions to the challenges we face is the key to putting us in a good place long-term.
“I would encourage everyone to take part in the consultation on the latest proposals. We need to hear your voices to ensure we deliver on your priorities. ”
