Vale of Glamorgan Council
Cyngor Bro Morgannwg
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Budget Consultation 2022/23

The Vale of Glamorgan Council is consulting on its budget proposal for the next financial year.

 

Our position

The Vale of Glamorgan Council currently faces many financial challenges after a decade of austerity and the significant impact of Covid-19.

 

Many steps have already been taken to reduce costs, such as charging for services, delivering services in partnership and collaborating with other councils. However, the cost of delivering services is still rising and causing more pressure than in previous years. This year's cost increase is projected to be £27m and this is having a major effect on budget planning, as not all will be able to be met.

 

The Council's budget comes from three sources:

 

  • Council Tax paid by residents (33% of the total budget).
  • Business Rates paid by businesses (18%).
  • Financial grants from Welsh Government (49%).

Though we don't yet know what the Welsh Government settlement will be, even the best case scenario will still leave a big shortfall. This means that council tax payments from residents will need to increase so that we can keep delivering services.

 

In the last year, additional funding has been given to us by Welsh Government to help with the costs of the coronavirus pandemic, but that is not expected to continue. Other factors are also expected to negatively affect the Council’s financial position.

 

The Vale also has an aging population and an increasing number of children with additional needs. These groups typically rely more heavily on our services.

Council Tax increases

Our projections have prepared for a range of possibilities in Welsh Government funding, from a 1% reduction in settlement to a 4.42% increase, which would be the same rise as last year.


In each of those scenarios, the predicted impact of Council Tax increases of 3.2%, 3.9%, 4.2% (October CPI) and 7.05% - which would bring the Vale in line with average cost for Wales - have been factored in. Even with these rises, there would still be a shortfall in funding that would require the Council to make reductions in spending in some areas.

 

Per month, the increase for each band property would look like:

 

Budget Consultation - Council Tax increases
   Band A Band B  Band C  Band D  Band E        Band F  Band G Band H Band I 
Increase of 3.2% £2.43   £2.84  £3.24  £3.65  £4.46  £5.27 £6.08 £7.29 £8.51
Increase of 3.9% £2.94  £3.43  £3.92  £4.41  £5.39  £6.37 £7.35 £8.82 £10.29
Increase of 4.2% £3.17 £3.69 £4.22 £4.75 £5.80 £6.86 £7.91 £9.50 £11.08
Increase of 7.05%  £5.32  £6.20  £7.09  £7.98  £9.75  £11.52 £13.30 £15.96 £18.61

 

 

 

Have your say

The Council is consulting with residents on what their preference would be to address the budget shortfall. Please fill in the short survey to indicate what change you'd rather see, and the services that are most important to you.

 

This consultation is now closed.


If you are unable to complete our online survey or you would like to submit more detailed feedback, please email:

consultation@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk or call 01446 700111.

  • Why can't the Council use its reserves to top up the shortfall?

    The Council holds a few different types of reserves.

     

    The General Fund is usually maintained at around 5% of the base budget and is held to be used for unforseen expenses.

     

    Earmarked reserves are held by services and are held to fund specific risks or costs.

     

    The Council also holds some categories of reserves that are grants carried forward and can only be used to fund specific types of expenditure in line with the terms and conditions of the grant.

     

    An example of the types of schemes the Council funds from its reserves are large investment programmes such as 21st Century Schools Programme, the Waste Transfer Station and local regeneration schemes.

     

    The Council also sets aside funding from underspends to fund project work such as Project Zero Digital Improvements and Invest to Save schemes.
     
    Of the projected reserve balance at 31 March 2022 a large proportion is ringfenced to support statutory services and capital schemes.

     

  •  What are statutory vs non-statutory services?

    Statutory services are the services that the Council is required to provide by law. These are things such as schools, education and care for vulnerable adults and children.

     

    Non-statutory services are the services that the Council is not required to provide by law, but may choose to do so due to resident demand / popularity. Examples of these would be waste and recycling collection, libraries, leisure centres and grass cutting.

  • What is Capital funding? Can this be used to address the shortfall?

    In addition to the Welsh Government funding that the Council receives for running its services, it also receives a capital allocation to invest in long-term assets i.e. roads and buildings that will typically last longer than 12 months.

     

    This funding can be supplemented by grant funding, income from the sale of assets and contributions from reserves and developers and external borrowing.

     

    Examples of the type of schemes that the Council funds are:

     

    Resurfacing roads, 21st Century Schools programme, the waste transfer station, country parks and play areas, flood risk management schemes, decarbonisation, active travel and tree planting schemes, regeneration schemes and digital infrastructure.

     

    The Council must, by law, prioritise Health and Safety and Statutory schemes first. 

  • Why can't you reduce the number of Councillors or Councillors' pay / expenses to save money?

    Both Councillor pay and expenses account for just 0.4% of the Council's budget.

     

    The Vale of Glamorgan Council does not decide on the number of Councillors in the Vale, nor the financial allowance set for members.


    The Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW) is responsible for setting the pay for Councillors. The IRPW have issued a draft report setting out proposals to increase member allowance by 17% in 2022/23.


    The number of Councillors in the Vale is set to increase from 47 to 54. This is after Welsh Government's decision to accept recommendations of a reform of the ward boundaries, as set by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.