NEATH PORT TALBOT COUNCIL ISSUES PROPOSALS FOR BUDGET CUTS CONSULTATION

NEATH PORT TALBOT COUNCIL ISSUES PROPOSALS FOR BUDGET CUTS FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Neath Port Talbot Council has today (October 25) published a report containing proposals for budget cuts for 2019/20 and beyond which will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet on October the 31st.

The Council has made no final decisions as yet. The proposals issued are for consultation only and may change if the situation improves courtesy of the Chancellor’s Budget next week or the Welsh Government’s final budget and local government settlement expected shortly before Christmas.

However, as things stand today:

• The Council has provided a more or less an inflation proof increase to our schools delegated budgets for this current year. This cannot be afforded next year and will have an impact upon staffing levels in schools, possibly exacerbated by the sharp increase in employer contributions for teacher’s pensions;

• The Council will continue to meet assessed need; but a change in policy is proposed to no longer provide the full range of support to older people where the package of support exceeds the current cost of a residential placement, where it is safe to do so;

• It is proposed to cease providing free taxi transport for certain categories of adult service users, where transport is not an assessed need;

• An increase of £141 in burial charges to move closer to full cost recovery;

• Other fees and charges increasing to meet the costs of the service including a tripling of pest control charges and others;

• With the declining usage of libraries and particularly low patronage in some areas, the whole service is to undergo a review. In the short to medium term, the closure or transfer of four libraries is being considered (Baglan, Cwmavon, Glynneath and Skewen);

• Reductions in the youth service with proposals to close or reduce the operating hours of facilities;

• The medium term future of such facilities as Pontardawe Arts Centre and the Cefn Coed Museum are now very dependent upon bids for capital funding submitted to the Arts Council and the Welsh Government (Valleys Programme) respectively. Meanwhile, the Council’s subsidy is proposed to be reduced further;

• It is proposed to cease maintenance services in relation to bowling greens and ensure full cost recovery for similar work on the sports fields; and

• All across Council service areas, there is a direct impact on jobs. Compulsory redundancies remain an option of last resort; but increasingly they seem to be unavoidable in some areas. Jobs are already in serious jeopardy in the Minority Ethnic Support Services as a consequence of the cut to the Welsh Government grant earlier this year.

Councillor Rob Jones, Leader of the Council said:

“There are some very unpalatable proposals contained in this report; but they reflect the reality of where this authority and others have been left following the publication of the Welsh Government’s draft budget and provisional local government settlement earlier this month. The situation is undoubtedly very difficult as I and many others in local government across Wales have consistently warned”.

Councillor Carol Clement-Williams, Cabinet Member for Finance, added:

“Ahead of their final budget proposals around Christmas, there is still time for the Welsh Government to correct the serious imbalance in their draft budget between the additional resources allocated for the NHS and the major cuts to other vital public services. The Council will continue to work with our communities, staff and trade unions and other stakeholders; but the sooner we start the discussion on difficult choices, the better”.