Council plans to fill massive budget hole include cutting services

Early engagement has been approved for next year’s budget setting process at one Welsh council as it predicts a £23 million “black hole” in its finances with difficult decisions ahead.

Neath Port Talbot Council approved the move at a recent cabinet meeting held on October 2, in order to seek feedback on savings proposals which could include cuts to services such as waste collection and highway maintenance, as well as possible reductions in council staff.

The report given to members highlighted how, on latest assumptions, a number of savings would have to be made with the authority’s costs expected to increase by a total of £22.6m million, made up from £12.9 million of inflation and £9.7million of service pressures.

Pressures

A council spokesperson had previously said plans to balance the books will have to be looked at, due to current pressures caused by an increase in people seeking help from social services, housing, education, and spiralling costs for goods, food, and energy prices.

Early reconsiderations which have been put forward for review include cuts to waste collection services with three weekly collections, as well as cuts to council staff, highway maintenance budgets, and the dimming and switching off of street lights across the borough at certain times.

Officers added that even after the £11.8 million of savings that had been identified so far, there would still be a “big problem” to solve going forward with more than £9 million left to find on top.

The report read: “Over the course of the summer, Directorate management teams have been working to identify savings and income generation proposals equivalent to a total of 5% of each Directorate budget. To date £11.8m of proposals have been identified.

It went on: “The purpose of reporting these to Cabinet at this early stage is to enable early engagement to be undertaken with staff, our communities and wider partners. Early publication of the proposals also gives scrutiny committees more time to assess proposals and contribute to the overall exercise.”

“Drastic choices”

Cllr Simon Knoyle, cabinet member for finance, performance and social justice, previously said without any additional funding from Welsh Government the local authority would likely face “drastic choices” such as job losses, cuts to services, and increases in costs and charges.

At the latest meeting he added: “It’s a good start but we need to keep going because we haven’t balanced this budget yet, so a lot of hard work to do between now and March of next year.”

The preliminary proposals will now be shared with council members, heads of services, town and community councils, as well as trade unions and the workforce to get feedback early in November of 2024.