Council dealing with steel jobs crisis looking for ways to keep services going

The extra financial pressure is due to by a spike in demand for people seeking help from social services and housing, more children and young people needing extra help to attend school and progress with their education plus spiralling costs for goods, food, energy prices and other factors.

And as thousands of job losses are about to be made as part of Tata Steel’s green transition in Port Talbot – with the council having a vital role in helping rebuild the local economy and supporting the many thousands affected – the Welsh Government has issued worrying advice councils should plan for NO increase in Revenue Support Grant (the money given to councils to run services) in the coming financial year.

In July, a financial report identified a forecast £23m gap in Neath Port Talbot Council’s budget leading to Council Leader, Cllr Steve Hunt, writing a letter of “serious concern” to the Welsh and UK Governments appealing for fair funding to allow local councils to run their vital services.

Since then however, the new UK Government has warned publicly that “short term pain” will be needed in order to deliver improvements over the longer term.

Speaking ahead of the Cabinet meeting, Cllr Simon Knoyle, the council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice, said: ‘The cost of providing the essential services people rely on continues to increase as more people look to the council for help and support.

“The Welsh Government has made it clear it does not expect to provide any extra funding to councils across Wales next year to increase our capacity. This means we have another enormous budget gap to address.”

Cllr Knoyle continued: “We know our residents are continuing to be affected by the cost-of-living crisis and obviously the jobs that are being lost in our local economy as part of Tata’s transition are having a big impact.

“Reducing services, increasing charges and cutting secure jobs isn’t where we want to be but I’m afraid we have little choice unless the UK and Welsh governments invest in the vital public services all councils are struggling to maintain.

“I really hope the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, takes note of what councils up and down the country are saying to her.’’

Cllr Knoyle ended by saying: ‘This is one of the most difficult budgets I can remember and there is no doubt that many people will experience serious impacts from the changes we will need to make. By publishing the steps we think we’ll need to take early, we hope to get a full understanding of where the impacts will be felt most before we finalise our plans later this year.”