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Bridgend Council’s Cabinet has published its final proposals for the 2026-27 budget (pdf).
The total amount of revenue funding available to the council is just over £408.1 million.
This is an increase of 4.6% on the previous financial year, following a budget agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru at the Senedd. This is slightly higher than the Welsh average increase of 4.5%.
Consultation: Schools and road repairs top priorities
A public consultation on the council’s draft budget plans was held in January 2026 (pdf). 1,216 surveys were filled out.
Budget 2026-27 Public Consultation Response
- 61% opposed the introduction of new charges for council services, or increases to existing charges.
- 73.5% supported the principle of reviewing how the council delivers services, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
- 87% supported reviewing the council’s assets and buildings.
- 89% supported reviewing agreements with external partners/outsourced contracts to improve value for money.
- Schools, road maintenance (potholes) and the local environment were given a higher priority over homelessness, youth services, public transport, and community hubs (i.e. local clubs and groups).
- A narrow majority (51.4%) thought the council was either not effective or not effective at all at being “citizen-focused”.
Proposed cuts & savings
BCBC had to find just under £2.35 million worth of cuts and savings this year (pdf). This is slightly less than the draft budget.
- Savings from a review of Home-School Transport (-£417,000).
- Cuts to school catering non-staffing costs (-£300,000).
- Review the level of support provided to adults in supported living (-£370,000).
- Review the level of support offered through direct payments (-£250,000).
- Extra income from a 10% increase to residential and non-residential care charges (-£232,000).
- Review staffing in social services commissioning, possibly redundancies (-£129,000).
- Review day service placements (-£50,000).
- Redeveloping the indoor bowls arena for extra income generation (-£10,000).
- Cuts to property maintenance (-£100,000).
- Extra income from increased opening hours at Rhiw Car Park (-£100,000).
- Cuts to Climate Emergency Response plans (-£50,000).
- Cuts to maintenance and servicing to only critical repairs and to meet legal minimum standards (-£40,000).
- Cuts to cleaning of BCBC assets (-£35,000).
- Increased income from BCBC’s property portfolio (-£15,000).
- Review CCTV services, and request more funding from South Wales Police (-£250,000).
Capital programme
Capital spending is used for one-off projects. The total money available to BCBC in 2026-27 is just under £122 million (pdf).
As is usually the case, most of the money (just under £75 million) is earmarked for new schools. This includes funding for the new Heronsbridge special school, new Mynydd Cynffig Primary, an extension to Coity Primary, the new Ysgol Bro Ogwr and new schools in North Cornelly.
£1.5 million will be available for community sports facilities, and a similar amount of money is earmarked for playground refurbishments.
Just under £3.6 million is available for various highways projects, with around £2.5 million earmarked for highway refurbishment (i.e. filling potholes).
£6 million is available for a new recycling vehicle fleet, with just over £3.1 million earmarked for improvements at the council’s Waterton depot.
£15 million is set to be spent on the renovation of Porthcawl’s Grand Pavilion. £4.2 million is set aside as part of the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme, some of which (£744,000) is set to be used as part of the new Valleys2Coast HQ in Bridgend town centre.
Council tax, precepts & charges
Council tax is set to increase by 4.7%. For a Band D property, this works out to £2,007.96 (+£90.10). This is slightly lower than the original planned increase of 4.95%.
The South Wales Police precept will rise by 6.99% (+£26.47 at Band D), which is similar to last year’s increase.
South Wales Fire & Rescue Authority – which, at the time of posting, is being run by Welsh Government-appointed commissioners – will increase Bridgend’s contribution to its budget by just over £285,000, standing at a little over £9.81 million in total. This is a smaller increase than last year.
Proposed changes to the council’s fees include (pdf):
- A 10% increase in residential and non-residential care charges.
- The fee for emergency road closures will increase from £647.11 to £1,662.93, which brings Bridgend into line with other councils.
- New variable fees will be introduced for training courses delivered by the Shared Regulatory Services. These courses include food safety, allergies, health & safety and age restrictions (amongst others).
- A £46.41 charge to print a hard copy of the Local Development Plan (LDP).
Here are the town & community precepts (pdf):
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