Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, leader of Newport City Council, said: “Our priority has been to listen and understand what is most important to our residents. Those doorstep issues, the things we all encounter every day, are firmly at the top of our agenda.
“This investment comes alongside a promise of considerable investment in essential services such as education, housing and social services. But we do understand these services are often only ‘felt’ by a relatively small proportion of residents.
“More street cleaning and grass cutting response squads were the first of our ‘bread and butter’ proposals, but I hope that today’s announcements show we understand that people want better roads, a cleaner city, improved lighting and local facilities – and that these changes will make a real difference to for all residents on a day-to-day basis.”
Announcements made at the meeting included:
Protecting libraries and community facilities
In response to local feedback on how community facilities are used, a proposal to close some library sites and community centres will not be taken forward.
Streetlights
Options for switching on streetlights overnight are being developed.
Roads, pavements and bus shelters
Councillor Batrouni also confirmed that further announcements around investment in infrastructure will soon be made: “We know that areas such as roads, bus shelters, pavements and other assets are very important.
“I can confirm that we have an additional £4m capital funding from Welsh Government grants to spend in this area, and in June, when further funding and underspends are finalised, we will be adding to this figure.
“This is likely to be the biggest boost in spending in probably 15 years and is on top of the considerable investment we have already made in our parks and play areas over the last two years.”
Public toilets
£15k will be allocated so we can consider reopening some public toilets to support events, tourism and the use of parks.
Newport Matters
Feedback, particularly from ward meetings, was that the council’s newspaper, Newport Matters, should continue to be produced. Despite improvements in digital communications, this form of communication is currently still valued.
These areas of investment are in addition to those laid out in January, including:
- £11.1m extra in school budgets – an increase in cash terms of around 8 per cent.
- £370k to create response squads within our cleansing and grass cutting services.
- £1.8m to assist the current pressures within housing due to the increased demand for homelessness provision.
- Nearly £2m for children’s social care services to develop residential provision in or close to the city, as part of the Eliminate programme.
- £1.9m to provide extra additional learning need educational spaces and fund the associated transport service.
Councillor Batrouni added: “I’m also pleased to confirm that our investments will also ensure that our partners that provide residential care for our elderly residents will be able to continue to pay the ‘real living wage’, ensuring the local care sector is supported. This is a significant investment of over £3.5m.”
In January, a 6.7 per cent increase in council tax was proposed. This proposal stands and will 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).
Newport currently has the third lowest council tax in Wales and expects to hold this position after all councils have announced their increases.
Public consultation was carried out online, via the local bus Wi-Fi, at public ward meetings and through meetings about specific proposals such as libraries and community centres. Nearly 3,000 responses were submitted online, and hundreds attend face-to-face meetings.
Councillor Batrouni concluded: “We had an excellent response to our public consultation, and I thank everyone who submitted comments or attended meetings for their valuable contributions. We made a commitment to listen, and I hope that the proposals put forward today demonstrate that despite having to make challenging decisions, we have very much listened to our community’s feedback.”
The final approval of the council’s budget and council tax are matters reserved to full council and will be considered at the meeting on February 25, 2025.
