Council’s borrowing rose to more than £980m last year

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Cardiff Council built up debts totalling more than £980m at the end of last year, according to data compiled by the BBC Shared Data Unit.

As the council of Wales’ largest city, Cardiff Council is perhaps unsurprisingly the local authority that had the largest amount of debt in the country at the end of 2024/25.

According to data made up of statistics from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the level of borrowing by Cardiff Council went up by 1.39% from £895,869,000 to £980,043,000 from 2023/24 to 2024/25.

The total amount of debt per person in Cardiff, worked out using the latest mid-year population estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), went up from £2,335.81 at the end of 2023/24 to £2,555.28 at the end of 2024/25.

‘Investment programme’

Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for finance, modernisation and performance, Cllr Chris Weaver, said: “The increase in external borrowing during 2024/25 is part of the agreed Council Treasury Management and Capital Investment Strategy agreed and budgeted by the Council.

“This is part of a long-term investment programme designed to create jobs, build more council homes, improve public transport options and work with partners to secure investment alongside many other measures to improve the city.

“Capital Expenditure and investment in our assets not only bring improvement in service provision, but also ultimately can reduce the need for significant costs for ongoing repairs over the longer term.

“The Capital Strategy and Treasury Strategy are reviewed and published annually and are an integrated part of the Council’s annual Budget and Medium Term financial plan which considers affordability of investment in the short as well as long term.

“This includes any incidental income from the investment such as housing rents, annual government grant that supports borrowing and also operator income.

“Demand for council services is increasing due to several factors.

Cost-of-living crisis

“The cost-of-living crisis has led to more people presenting as homeless in the city, from families who can no longer afford rents or mortgages to single individuals facing similar challenges.

“Additionally, Cardiff’s ageing population means more people require our support each year, including those needing dementia services.

“We are also seeing a rise in the number of children with Additional Learning Needs who need specialist support.

“These are vitally important services, and we have to do our best to ensure people get the help they need and deserve.”

Behind Cardiff, in terms of the local authority area with the highest level of borrowing at the end of the last financial year was Swansea Council.

The total debt at Swansea Council at the end of 2023/24 was £640,963,000, but at the end 2024/25 it went down to £636,065,000.

When it came to the level of debt per person in Wales however, it was other parts of the country that had the highest amounts.

The total amount of debt per person in Denbighshire was £3,370.02 at the end of 2024/25 and in Wrexham it was £3,825.80, a rise of £229.39 from the year before in this local authority area.

Debt

A total of 16 of the 22 Welsh local authorities saw an increase in debt from 2023/24 to 2024/25.

The councils that saw the biggest increases in debt over this period were Torfaen (26.8%), Newport (22.34%) and Merthyr Tydfil (21.2%).

A Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) spokesperson said: “Councils spent around £2.3bn in 2024-25 on long-term capital investment like schools, housing and roads.

“Some of this requires additional borrowing and it is no surprise that levels are going up.

“All capital projects are carefully budgeted for and guidance is strictly following to ensure that all new borrowing is affordable.”