CCBC budget plans approved
Posted on : 28 Feb 2024
Councillor Eluned Stenner, Cabinet Member for Finance
CCBC Councillors met on Tuesday evening (27/02/24) to agree the council’s budget for 2024/25, following a period of public consultation.
Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Eluned Stenner said “We are facing significant financial challenges over the next few years – the likes of which we have never experienced before.”
“It is clear that very difficult decisions will need to be made and our focus must remain on looking at how we deliver sustainable services that meet the present and future needs of our communities in an extremely challenging financial environment.”
At the meeting, Cllr Stenner helped set the scene about the scale of the challenge that lies ahead, “Since 2008, the council has delivered savings in excess of £111million. However, in the next three financial years we face a further savings requirement of circa £65m.”
In order to achieve this, the council is embarking on a major transformation programme called Mobilising Team Caerphilly. Much work is being done at all levels across the organisation to reshape and reconfigure the way the council operates to identify efficiencies, and this work will become even more critical over the coming years.
The key elements of this year’s budget include:
- A 2.5% uplift in the Financial Settlement from Welsh Government for 2024/25
- A range of permanent and temporary savings totalling £31million
- The use of £10.6 million from the council’s reserves
- A 6.9% increase in Council Tax which will see the Band D precept rise from £1,353.01 to £1,446.37(an annual increase of £93.36 or £1.80 per week)
“I appreciate that none of us want to see an increase in council tax, but the reality is that without this modest increase, we would need to consider more unpalatable and unpopular cuts to services.”
“It is important to remember that, despite the modest increase, we are still likely to have the lowest council tax in Wales in the forthcoming financial year,” added Cllr Stenner.
The full budget report and recommendations can be found here:
https://democracy.caerphilly.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=127&MId=13986&LLL=0