No further improvement to council settlements expected from Cardiff – Wrexham’s budget set for final debate this week

An increase in Council Tax and the £250m council budget for the next 12 months is set to be given the go ahead this week.

All 52 councillors will have the chance to vote on the proposed budget and Council Tax increase of nearly seven per cent at the full council meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

In the document due to be debated by councillors it is stated that the budget “delivers cuts of £1.636m” and that “shortfall of around £6m is projected for the two year period from 2021/22 to 2022/23.”

The proposed budget also includes an increase of just over four per cent to the schools budget, a £1 million extra investment into the council’s highways service and £1.5 million for children’s services. We have documented how the new spending has been described as being carefully allocated via ring fenced budgets.

Council Tax is also set to increase by 6.95%, which Leader of Wrexham Council, councillor Mark Pritchard said last month will “help address the pressures the council has, and take the council forward.”

Speaking at the time Cllr Pritchard said: “It is important that we understand the constituents and residents Wrexham, and take a council tax forward that people can afford and as less hardship for individuals.

“We have had a difficult ten years or more on settlements (from Welsh Government) and we have had a little bit more, and I obviously welcome the extra money.

“What we’re hearing on the ground, but it’s not always factual, that there’s going to be more money from both governments. If that’s the case, we will make a decision where to continue to invest that in services.”

The increase is expected to raise £65,949,113 from Council Tax which, equates to an increase of £1,233.27 for Band D properties in the area.

The report documents that have been public for a few days states: “The Local Government final settlement was published on 25 February 2020 which indicated an increase in the Council’s grant support of 3.5% compared to the Wales average increase of 4.3%”, as we reported that is the third lowest settlement in Wales. As today is the 24th that document is not yet published, however we understand that a further increase has not emanated from Cardiff Bay, nor has the ‘funding floor’ been reinstated (more here on that and the budget process).

The Chief Finance Officer for Wrexham Council concluded in his report to councillors, “A much improved financial settlement for 2020/21 has allowed the Council to make modest re-investment in some service areas which have been cut over the last ten years as well as prioritise schools and the most vulnerable.”

Previous years have seen alternative budgets put forward by opposition parties, however this year not the case at last year’s full council meeting.

The revenue budget and council tax setting will be voted on by councillors on Wednesday 26th February at 4pm. The meeting will also be available to watch on the council’s webcast system.

(Up the road in Flintshire the rise is 4.75% however with warnings if a £8m ‘dividend’ from the Clwyd Pension Fund did not happen they would be looking at 8-9%! More here via Deeside.com )