‘Raising the costs for hard-working families will cause problems’
Be careful where you park your car and maybe consider packed lunches for your kids as council plan to dish out more fines and raise the cost of school meals to help save £3m of their budget
“I encourage the people of Anglesey to read the proposal and get in touch” Cllr Ieuan Williams
ANGLESEY Council plans to hand over its public toilets, issue more parking fines, raise the price of school meals and increase council tax bills as it seeks savings of almost £3m.
The authority has outlined its draft budget for 2017/18, which is aimed at saving £2.9m and will go to public consultation this month, but has come under criticism for announcing more cuts.
Among the more controversial proposals are an increase in the cost of school meals and pupils’ daily transport for those not entitled to free bus travel, although the exact costs are yet to be revealed.
Other income-generating schemes, in addition to the 3% council tax increase, will see an increase in care home fees and in rent for council-owned smallholdings.
Finance portfolio holder Cllr Hywel Eifion Jones said that, despite a small increase in the cash it receives from the Welsh Government next year, it remains a difficult time for North Wales councils.
“The increase we’ll get is 0.3%, and that figure has largely been swallowed up by the new Apprenticeship Levy, which means all employers with a wage bill of over £3m have to contribute 0.5%,” he said.
“The new living wage also means increased costs and the uncertainty over Brexit could also see interest rates increase.”
Among other proposals in the draft budget are an increase in the number of parking fines handed out, with traffic enforcement officers given more time out on the beat.
This comes after the revelation that the authority issued the fewest tickets of all of the North Wales councils - 3,162 between April 2013 and January 2016, raking in £86,652.
Meanwhile, the 17 public toilets that remain under the council’s control will be offered to town and community councils, and could close unless agreement is reached.
Council leader Ieuan Williams said that protecting front line services had been a priority, with education, social services and highways amounting to around three quarters of the authority’s spend.
He added that the average council tax bill on Anglesey would remain the lowest in North Wales.
But Cllr Peter Rogers of the Revloutionist group was critical of some aspects of the proposed budget.
“I wish those making the decisions would consider other ways instead of cut, cut, cut every year,” he said.
“We all know these are difficult times financially, but raising the costs for hard-working families will cause problems, despite the costs on Anglesey being lower than most other authorities.
“We’re an asset-rich authority. We should be more business- savvy in how we make the most of what we have and be slicker about it.”
Among a raft of other savings is surrendering the lease of the Ty William Jones training facility in Llangefni, as the authority continues its “smarter working” scheme to close a number of satellite offices, with more staff working from its main headquarters under a “hotdesking” arrangement.
Posts within the transformation service will also go unfilled, although leisure centres will remain unaffected for now, following a noted increase in their usage over recent months.
Cllr Williams reiterated that some of the council-run tourist facilities, including Melin Llynnon and Beaumaris Gaol, could shut unless suitable private groups were found, with similar arrangements also being investigated for some libraries.
He added plans are also in the pipeline to invest in new flood alieviation schemes in Pentraeth and Beaumaris, as well as plans to transform the Garreglwyd care home in Holyhead into a dedicated dementia care facility.
“It’s important for the public to let us know what they think, so I encourage the people of Anglesey to read the proposals and get in touch,” he said.