Millions of pounds of extra spending on education and social care as well as funding for vital community services like the pioneering free bus initiative and cleansing are planned for the coming year in Swansea.
Schools will get an extra £12m and social services an extra £14m as part of an overall extra £30m being injected into Swansea Council services this year.
An extra £400,000 has been set aside for this year’s free buses initiative that has seen more than 700,000 free rides enjoyed by local residents over the last three years.
Rob Stewart, leader of the council, said: “In the coming year, we are spending record amounts on education and social services – services that matter to the people of Swansea.
“Schools are getting more than £200m for the first time and the increase for social services of 8.9% is more than twice the current rate of inflation.”
Other highlights in the budget agreed by Full Council include:
- A record £232m for schools, including teachers’ pensions support
- A record £171m for care, prevention and poverty reduction services
- Millions of pounds to support local bus services, including £400,000 this year for the free ride initiative
- £11.7m more for place-based services including £3m for potholes and road repairs
Cllr Stewart said: “We aren’t closing libraries, we’re not changing our black bag waste collections or making drastic cuts to services like other councils in Wales and England are having to do. Despite the financial challenges we face we’ve not had to consider harsh measures like other councils in Wales have.
“In fact, what we are doing is investing in social care and our children’s education. We are also spending on our highways and in community services with more funding for drainage and flood prevention in communities and tidy teams to keep our communities clean.”
Cllr Stewart said: “The people of Swansea have told us they want to us make sure their children get the best possible start in life and that the elderly and vulnerable are protected and supported through the cost of living crisis. They are our priorities too.”
Cllr Stewart said: “Head teachers, school staff and pupils are doing great things in classrooms every day. We’re giving them an above-inflation 6.4% rise to help them continue their work in challenging times.
“On top of £227m earmarked for education, a further £5m is anticipated to come from central government to protect school budgets by offsetting teacher pension costs.”
He added: “The people of Swansea enjoyed more than 147,000 free bus rides over the Christmas period alone. This pioneering initiative has been overwhelmingly positive and makes a real difference to families struggling in the cost of living crisis.
“It enables trips in the school holidays that might otherwise not have been possible, which is why we are planning to continue with it in the coming year.
“At the same time motorists, businesses and their staff will continue to see the benefits of some of the cheapest city centre parking anywhere in Wales as there are no plans to increase current charges.”
The budget approved at Full Council on March 6 means council tax will rise by 4.99% – or £1.40 a week for a Band B property. On Band B the council tax in Swansea will be around £180 a year cheaper than in Neath Port Talbot.
Spending on vital community services includes additional as well as existing funding being carried over from the 2023/24 financial year.
The fire service levy will increase the 4.99% council tax charge by a further 1%. This is because the fire service has decided on a 7.9% increase in its levy in the next financial year on top of a 14% increase last time.
