Agenda item

The Presiding Member invited the Leader of the Council to present the report to Council.  No alternative budget proposals had been put forward following Cabinet’s recommendation earlier this month,  therefore this was the final and only budget for consideration.

Extensive public consultation had taken place, the views of which were reflected in the budget, such as reversing the proposed savings regarding libraries and community centres. Almost 3000 responses from the public had been received.

The Leader outlined the key aspects to Council colleagues:

§  Newport had received the highest revenue budget grant from Welsh Government at about £25 million.

§  The Council Tax rate was increased by 6.7%.

§  School funding was increased by over £11 million; this was an increase of 8%.

§  The budget proposed an additional £1.8 million to help with the issue of homeless families and individuals.

§  The Council proposed to invest nearly £2 million in children’s social care services towards developing residential provision in or close to the city and nearly £1 million in developing local education provision for pupils with additional learning needs (ALN).

Other proposals could be found in the accompanying appendices within the final budget report.

Councillor D Davies seconded the report and requested a recorded vote. This was supported and moved.

Councillors debated the budget proposal.  The Leader closed with responses to comments before the recorded vote was taken.

To access a full recording of the debate and comments made please refer to the Council’s YouTube channel. Democratic Meetings / Cyfarfodydd Democrataidd

Resolved:

Council resolved to:–

Revenue budget and Council Tax 2025/26 (section 2 - 6)

1         Note the Cabinet’s final budget proposals for 2025/26 (Appendices 7 and 8), resulting Council Tax levels and the formal Council Tax resolution, noting that an extensive consultation exercise has been completed on the 2025/26 Cabinet’s draft budget proposals and noting that the Cabinet have taken this into account in recommending final details of their budget.

2         Agree the Council’s budget for 2025/26 (Appendix 1) as proposed by the Cabinet, including fees and charges (Appendix 11), Council Tax increase and Council Tax resolution (Appendix 3) for Newport City Council which incorporates the precepts levied by community councils and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent.  

3     Note the Head of Finance’s recommendations that minimum General Fund balances should be increased as earmarked reserves reduce, but for 2025/26, can be maintained, at a level of at least £6.5million, the confirmation of the robustness of the overall budget underlying the proposals, subject to the key issues highlighted in section 5.

Medium term financial plan (MTFP) (section 3)

4     Note the MTFP, the current uncertainty over medium term funding levels and the likely significant financial challenges over the medium term in the context of increasing demand within service areas.

5     Approve the implementation of the three-year financial plan, including all budget proposals, as summarised within the medium-term financial plan (Appendix 4), noting that financial projections are subject to on-going review and updating.

6     Note and approve the Council’s reserves strategy and transformation fund protocol (Appendix 6). Approve the planned use of earmarked reserves, as set out in Appendix 5a, including the proposed use of the Transformation Fund.