Cardiff Council Budget Consultation
The Cardiff Council 2024/25 Budget consultation is now open, and in the words of Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Modernisation, Cllr Chris Weaver it will be “the most important one we’ve ever done.”
You’ll find it here: Why so important?
Well, we’re in the middle of a public sector funding crisis.
Due to inflation, demand pressures, and expected pay increases for teachers, carers and other public sector workers, we’re expecting it to cost 56m more next year to deliver day-to-day services than it did this year.
But the 4.1% grant uplift announced by Welsh Government will only bring in an extra 25.5m.
That leaves us with a budget gap of 30.5 million to fill and some extremely tough choices to make.
Right now 66.4% of our budget goes on schools and social services, while 21.9% goes on other services like street lighting, libraries and transport.
You can read more about the Budget in our quick explainer: here
But to put it simply – in order to balance the books, some of the services people rely on and have come to expect will have to change or go, and charges will have to increase if we are to maintain many others.
Nothing has been finalised yet, but things being considered include:
- Charging for garden waste collections (as most other councils in Wales do).
- Collecting black bin/bag waste once every 3 weeks instead of every fortnight to save money and help boost recycling rates.
- Restricting opening times of Hubs & Libraries & using more volunteers to help run them but not closing any library in full.
- Increasing residential and pay & display parking charges.
- Increasing the cost of sports pitch hire.
- Increasing the price of burials/cremations.
- Making small savings by changing how parks are managed, incl. reducing maintenance on sections of parks & green spaces, reducing the number of floral displays and re-wilding some areas.
- Increasing the cost of school meals (although continuing to subsidise the service).
We’ll also be looking to generate as many savings as possible through back-office efficiencies e.g. driving down the running cost of our buildings, reducing the amount of office space we need, and using new technology where it can save us money.
In fact, the majority of savings will be through changing the way we work and back-office savings rather than cuts to front-line services. But sadly, these alone won’t cover the real terms cut to our funding this year.
Which brings us to Council Tax. A 1% rise only brings in 1.7 million, so although we know the cost-of living-crisis is affecting residents, there’s little doubt it will have to rise. Right now, we can’t say by how much.
Firstly, we need to hear what you have to say, and understand which services you want to see delivered in future, and which you are willing to pay more for.
So please, take the time to have your say in the Budget consultation. It really is important.
Take part today: https://online1.snapsurveys.com/Budget_2024-25_Cyllideb
Hard copy formats are available city wide in Hubs/Libraries in English, Welsh, Arabic, Polish and Bengali.
Deadline, please submit your response before Sunday 4th February 2024.
If you have difficulties in completing the questionnaire, please e-mail:- consultation@cardiff.gov.uk
