Caerphilly county borough council’s detailed budget plans for 2023/24 have been finalised.
Councillors met on Thursday evening (23/02/23) to consider the final budget proposal following a period of public consultation.
CCBC Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Eluned Stenner said “I am sure residents will welcome the news that our proposals do not include significant cuts to key services and that we have worked hard to protect the community due to our prudent approach.”
“We continue to face huge budget pressures as a result of a number of external factors, but we are managing to successfully navigate our way through some very choppy waters at the moment.”
“The use of our reserves, together with a range of permanent and temporary savings and a proposed increase in Council Tax of 7.9%, means that we have been able to agree a robust budget once again.”
“I appreciate that none of us want to see an increase in council tax, but the reality is that without this modest increase, we would need to consider more unpalatable and unpopular cuts to services. Even with this modest increase, Caerphilly will still have one of the cheapest council tax rates in Wales,” she added.
A number of changes have been made to an original list of savings following feedback from residents. More than £600k planned savings have now been reconsidered including:
- A proposed 20% increase in fees for booking sports pitches will be reduced to 12%
- A rethink on the withdrawal of £10k funding for Markham Community Centre – the subsidy will now be tapered over a three-year period from April 2023.
- A funding programme called the Community Empowerment Fund will be reduced by 30% rather than withdrawn completely.
- A proposed 10% saving for specialist education provision (SenCom) to be postponed pending discussions about an agreed regional approach
- The proposed reduction of 5.5 hours in funding for Community Centre caretaker costs to be changed to 4 hours and tapered over 3 years from October 2023.
Leader of Council, Cllr Sean Morgan said, “We have listened carefully to the views of our residents and, as a consequence, we have had a rethink about a number of our original savings proposals.”
“Caerphilly, like all local authorities across Wales, is facing significant financial challenges at the moment, but we have worked hard to protect the community from deep cuts thanks to our effective financial management.”
