On Wednesday afternoon, Bridgend Council met to debate and vote on the council’s budget for 2023-24.
You can read the full details here, but the main proposals are:
- A £2.12million cut to the school budget, which will largely come from staffing budgets.
- No cuts to social services.
- Protection for several services that faced losing all of their funding in the draft budget including fly-tipping enforcement, Porthcawl lifeguards and home-college transport.
- Blue badge holders will be charged for parking at council-run car parks.
- Council tax will increase by 4.9% – lower than originally proposed (6%).
“Full consultation” on blue badge proposals
In response to a question from Cllr. Freya Bletsoe (Ind, Oldcastle), Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr. Hywel Williams (Lab, Blackmill), confirmed a full public consultation will take place in due course on the proposal to charge blue badge holders parking fees – estimated to generate an additional £40,000-a-year for the council.
Cabinet Member for Communities, Cllr. John Spanswick (Lab, Brackla West Central), couldn’t provide a figure to Cllr. Tim Wood (Ind, Bridgend Central) on prosecutions for fly-tipping.
Cllr. Spanswick noted that fly-tipping is on the increase in Bridgend and a need on the council’s part to do better – especially when compared to the county’s good recycling rates.
Cllr. Steven Bletsoe (Ind, Bridgend Central) called for the number of Cabinet positions to be cut from seven to six and for no Cabinet meetings to be held outside the civic offices (a Cabinet meeting was held at a local hotel earlier in the term).
Council Leader, Cllr. Huw David (Lab, Pyle, Kenfig Hill & Cefn Cribwr) said Bridgend’s Cabinet was one of the smallest in Wales.
Cllr. Ian Spiller (Ind, Bryntirion, Laleston & Merthyr Mawr) raised questions about plans for a new £8.1million highways depot, which was to be partially funded by the sale of land as part of the cancelled Parc Afon Ewenni development. The development was withdrawn from the Local Development Plan due to new guidance on flood risks.
Corporate Director for Communities, Janine Nightingale, confirmed the council is scoping out sites for a new depot on a reduced budget – possibly at Brynmenyn Industrial Estate.
School staff lay-offs not guaranteed, but increased risk of redundancies accepted
Cllr. Mark John (Ind, St. Bride’s Minor & Ynysawdre) wanted assurances that possible school redundancies won’t end up costing the council more than it’ll save from the budget cut. Cllr. Tim Thomas (also Ind, St. Bride’s Minor & Ynysawdre) was concerned about the impact possible staff cuts would have on pupils with additional learning needs.
Corporate Director for Education, Lindsay Harvey, accepted an increased risk of school redundancies, but there will be a presumption against redundancies if alternative savings can be found. Those alternatives could include changing how schools are managed and cutting professional development for staff.
Alternative budget proposals blocked from reaching the floor of the chamber
Cllr. Ross Penhale-Thomas (Ind, Maesteg West) said “the cupboard was bare” and that with the “low-hanging fruit” cuts made, he was disappointed that a low proportion of cuts and savings have been found from policy changes when that needs to be focused on more.
Both himself and Cllr. Simon Griffiths (Lab, Brackla East & Coychurch) praised the work of scrutiny committees for seeing through the overturn of certain decisions and the Cabinet for listening and reacting.
There was some criticism from the opposition benches for a seeming lack of involvement in the budget process – which was disputed by Cabinet members and officers alike.
Cllr. Amanda Williams (Ind, Coity Higher) confirmed that the opposition’s alternative budget proposals were rejected. The alternative proposals (in summary) included:
- Cutting the proposed increase to council tax from 4.9% to 2.9%.
- Scrapping plans for a new highways depot and moving the £8.14million budgeted for it to reserves.
- Using £2.44million in capital reserves to fund BCBC’s contribution to the Cardiff City Region and protect the schools budget.
- Cancel proposals to charge blue badge holders for parking at council-run car parks by scrapping a proposal to spend £35,000 on converting Kier recycling vehicles to biofuel.
- Protecting road marking budgets by reducing the number of Cabinet positions from 7 to 6.
- Raising revenue through the installation of electric vehicle charging points (with the council setting fees).
- Complete heat recovery at Coychurch Crematorium to cut running costs.
- Ensure school bus contracts allow the council to charge for “paying places”.
The Council Leader claimed he hadn’t seen these alternative plans.
However, the council’s Finance Officer, Carys Lord, confirmed that alternative proposals were submitted by the deadline of 23rd February. She didn’t believe the proposals complied with the council’s long-term financial planning criteria so it wasn’t brought to the council for consideration.
In the end, the budget was approved by 26 votes to 20 with 2 abstentions.
