Budget proposals include more spending on school meals and highways

Extra spending on care homes and £2.5 million of extra funds on the county's roads are among Monmouthshire County Council's top spending priorities for next year.

Cabinet members presented an update for councillors at a meeting of Cabinet today (18.02.09), where they outlined changes they are considering to the council's budget for 2009/10.

Among proposals are £2.5 million more spent on highways maintenance and an extra investment of £40,000 on fees for foster parents.

There will be £90,000 more for special educational needs and £40,000 extra on school meals.

Other recommendations made in the draft included a £150,000 increase in spending on raising standards at Key Stage 4.

The cabinet also talked about other plans which included a total of £712,000 spending on social services including £191,000 on residential and nursing care homes.

Cabinet said they were especially mindful of the pressures being faced by children's services and not only will they reinstate the £50,000 that was originally proposed as a cut but they will also supplement this with a further £74,000 of revenue spending.

Following consultation, MCC's cabinet have made several alterations to the budget. The following proposals will no longer take place:

Reduction in school meals expenditure - £56,000
Increase in fees and class sizes in adult education - £10,000
Reduced Leisure Centre equipment budget - £5,000
Reduced SEN expenditure - £60,000
Reduced expenditure on Children's Services - £50,000
Reduced response based highways maintenance - £70,000
Charging for green waste - £50,000
Part Night Time Operation of Rural Street Lights - £50,000
Reduction in the number of Select Committees - £14,000
Communications Unit Savings - £30,000
Car Park Charges increase - £150,000

Leader of MCC, Peter Fox, said:

"With these new budget proposals, we have responded to the voices of the people in Monmouthshire."

Councillor Phil Murphy, cabinet member for finance, said:

"We've made amendments to our proposals after listening carefully to what residents and councillors have told us. Our Welsh Assembly settlement has provided more funding than had been expected and we've had additional grants that have allowed us to go ahead with projects that we originally proposed that we might lose.

"We're really pleased that the consultation process gave us a clear indication about people's views on our proposals. A number of responses were made by residents after we publicised the proposals. Members made comments at a seminar and the proposals were also considered by three select committees and the schools budget forum.

"We hope that people see that we are listening to them - however, it's worth emphasising that these budget proposals are by no means set in stone".

"This year's budget has been another difficult one to set and, all of cabinet's proposals will have to be reviewed at some time in the future dependent upon the settlement from Welsh Assembly Government."

The changes, which would have saved the council £545,000, come after councillors and residents raised a number of concerns about the proposals for the 2009/10 budget announced in December.

MCC will get £147,000 in unexpected funding from the Welsh Assembly Government along with a £45,000 Schools Energy grant and a £147,000 Special Educational Needs grant. Some costs will be met from the council's reserves.

The draft will be put before a full council meeting for final approval in March.

MCC's financial resources provide for the following examples:

Education. MCC educates 12,593 pupils in 40 schools
Adult Social Services. MCC works with approximately 3,500 people in Monmouthshire
Highways, Traffic & Development. MCC maintains 1,600km of roads, 850 bridges, 11,000 street lights and 3,400 car parking spaces.
Community Learning and Leisure. MCC provides a range of leisure, cultural and learning opportunities through 6 libraries, 1 theatre, 4 museums, 4 leisure centres, 9 adult learning sites and 12 youth clubs and many parks and open spaces.
Cleansing and Waste Management. MCC carries out kerbside refuse collections from every household every week. Their street cleansing fleet comprises 3 large and 5 small sweepers plus 6 manual sweepers. MCC also operates 4 litter response crews.
Children's Social Services. MCC deals with approximately 700 people each year and receives over 2,000 contacts.
Revenues and Benefits. Tax collection, benefits, technology and audit service the needs of approximately 9,500 benefit claimants, 39,200 council tax payers and 2,900 business rate payers.
Fire Service. MCC and other local authorities in South Wales fund the South Wales Fire and Rescue Services.
MCC also contributes to the funding of the Coroners Service, the Brecon Beacons National Park and the Lower Wye and Wentlog Drainage Boards for flood defence work.