Anglesey budget proposals at a glance after 'better than expected' central government funding package

Following over a decade of dwindling income, council tax rises and over £20m worth of cuts have become almost routine in making up annual shortfalls.

But despite Covid-19 casting shadows over every aspect of council business as well as everyday life, what was described as a “better than expected” central government funding package means that no services face cuts.

Supported by Anglesey Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, the budget will be formally approved on March 4 before council tax bills for 2021/22 start falling through letterboxes later in the month.

3.75 per cent council tax rise

The bulk of the authority’s income is derived from the annual settlement (or block grant) received from the Welsh Government.

With number crunchers proposing what would be the lowest tax rise in four years, it follows a £3.8m (or 3.78%) increase in the settlement as part of an effort to support local government following a difficult year on the front line of the battle against Covid-19.

Allowing for a budget of £147.531m – with £101m coming from central government and the remainder from council tax – Anglesey Council described the plans as “allowing the council to maintain its existing services” but also warning of “new budget pressures” including staffing costs and pay inflation.

Proposing a 3.75 per cent council tax rise, for an average ‘Band D’household it would mean an extra 94p a week or around £49 a year on top of what they already pay.

During Tuesday’s scrutiny debate, efforts by the opposition group to cap the rise at 2.5% failed to gain enough support, having proposed that most of the resulting  £500,000 shortfall should be made up from the authority’s reserves.

The public consultation also found that nine out of 10 respondents did not wish to see such a rise in their annual bills.

But with a previous Wales Audit Office warning of “dangerously low” balances, latest estimations project the authority’s “rainy day” fund will recover to around five per cent of the total  – or approximately £8m – as recommended for a council of its size.

Despite the planned tax rise, it was also said that rural authorities such as Anglesey had generally fared worse than urban authorities in terms of the settlement.

Members of the decision making Executive also stressed that council tax on Anglesey would remain the second lowest in North Wales and well below the Welsh average.

Parking charges

While no changes are proposed for parking charges in town centres, proposals would impact many seasonal coastal car parks after officers concluded that Anglesey’s fees are are “low” compared to other authorities.

With investment also underway to allow for cashless payment methods across the island and more parking enforcement officers being proposed, the new proposed charges at such coastal car parks are:

Up to 1 Hour – £1 (unchanged)

Up to 2 Hours – £2 up to £3

Up to 4 Hours – £3.50 up to £6.00

Up to 12 Hours – £4.50 up to £10.00

Up to 12 Hours (car & trailer) – £6 up to £20.00

The increases are estimated to generate additional income of over £100,000.

Speaking on Tuesday, Cllr Bryan Owen said: “It’s only right that visitors are charged as the fees in some of the big cities such as Chester, Liverpool and Manchester are eye watering.

“What’s being proposed isn’t unreasonable.”

New waste contract

According to the authority, the costs relating to a new waste management contract are the equivalent to a 3% council tax rise of their own.

With the new eight year waste collection contract with Biffa costing an extra £900,000 a year, this is only partially made up by the extra £265,000 a year expected to be recouped from the optional £35 a year garden waste collection service – set to be introduced later this year.

The council has also agreed to fund the purchase of £4.5m worth of new vehicles and plant, which Biffa will use after the current lorries were described as having come to their end of their natural lives.

With the council undertaking unsupported borrowing to fund their purchase, the new contract is expected to cost an extra £1.275m a year.

Professional trainee recruitment

While the authority previously ran a successful trainee programme for those starting a career in local government, the trainee programme was cut during the height of austerity.

But the move now looks to be reversed following an admission that the authority is finding it “increasingly difficult to appoint suitably qualified professional staff in a number of areas across the council’s services.”

The new proposed budget of £250,000, notes the report, would allow the appointment of between eight and ten trainees which would provide opportunities for local people to start a career in local government and go some way to addressing future skills shortages.

Investment in services and equipment

Also proposed is extra cash (£50,000) for the public protection service to increase its capacity – particularly in light of the challenges faced during the pandemic – as well as another £50,000 investment in projects to reduce the authority’s carbon footprint and commitment to tackling climate change.

With another £130,000 to be spent on educational inclusion projects, its also proposed to spend £305,000 to fund 1,672 chrome books for secondary and primary schools, on top of investment already being provided to boost children’s access to IT equipment.

It is also proposed to freeze the price of both primary and secondary school meals for the 2021/22 year.

Other capital projects include the resurfacing of existing grass play areas at Holyhead High School, which are often unusable due to waterlogging, at a cost of £300,000.

With “daily attempts” said to be made to hack into the systems of councils such as Anglesey, an extra £22k is allocated to upgrade its protection from ransomware attacks.

Finally, another £50,000 is earmarked to improve the management of beaches and the foreshore following unprecedented visitor numbers in 2020.

The cash would also be used for improvements in data collection and data analysis in order that future resources could be better directed in the field.

Calls for a change in the taxation system

Despite proposing a 3.75 per cent rise, the portfolio holder for finance stressed that council tax was not the “best nor fairest” way of funding local government.

With the Welsh Government currently reviewing the practicalities of a new local income tax as a replacement for council tax in Wales, Cllr Robin Williams described the current system as “flawed.”

“It certainly wouldn’t be the way I would look to fund local government services, but unfortunately its the system we have in place at present,” he said during Tuesday’s committee meeting.

“Council tax was thrown together in the era of Margaret Thatcher when there were poll tax riots, and in my view the system needs urgent reform to meet the situation we now face.”

He concluded, “I’m more than happy to look at proposals to reduce the council tax rise but its a fine balancing act in terms of keeping down the the tax and protecting and investing in services.”

The budget proposals will be decided by the full council on March 9 ahead of the new financial year.