Bridgend Council will be undertaking a review of its partnership arrangements with other local authorities as part of preparations for next year’s budget.
It follows a motion for debate (Item 10) tabled at this month’s full council meeting by Cllr. Steven Bletsoe (Ind, Bridgend Central).
The motion called for BCBC to review the Cardiff City Region agreement and for all 10 member local authorities to agree to suspend or reduce their city region payments to help councils protect services in what’s likely to be a difficult budget for 2023-24.
Before and during the 2022 local elections, the Bridgend Independent Group took a strong anti-city deal line. Some members – now elected as county councillors – have been outspoken on what they perceive to be an arrangement that hasn’t benefited Bridgend residents to any great degree.
“Not a motion on the merits of the city deal”
Cllr. Bletsoe opened by saying that his motion wasn’t to debate the merits of the city deal itself or Bridgend’s membership.
It comes against a backdrop of austerity, high inflation, high interest rates and the impact of the Ukraine war. Residents were “in genuine fear” for their short-term financial position, while the council was facing financial pressures that are “the worst in memory”.
The easiest choice would be to cut spending, but all avenues need to be explored to avoid this wherever possible – including reviewing Bridgend’s expected £4.4million contribution to the Cardiff City Region in 2023-24.
Cllr. Alex Williams (Ind, Pencoed & Penprysg) asked for clarification on what a review would mean in practical terms. He highlighted the Penprysg Road bridge and level crossing project – which is part of the city deal investment programme. Would a review of the partnerships delay this?
Partnerships and collaboration will be reviewed to find possible savings
In response, Council Leader, Cllr. Huw David (Lab, Pyle, Kenfig Hill & Cefn Cribwr), described it as the most serious financial situation he’s seen since becoming a councillor. The council’s corporate management has already been asked to review all partnerships and collaborations – including the city region.
As a result, he agreed to the motion as it was because it was effectively already happening behind the scenes. He believed all councillors would agree that there needs to be a review.
Picking up on Cllr. Williams’ question, BCBC Monitoring Officer, Kelly Watson, clarified that the motion asked for a review of future spending and wouldn’t impact anything that’s already in the pipeline.
The motion was unanimously agreed.
