£114-A-YEAR INCREASE ON THE CARDS FOR COUNTY
COUNCIL tax bills on Anglesey look set to rise by 10% due to concerns over a planned £1.7m cut to the island’s education budget.
The Corporate Scrutiny Committee voted to recommend a rise of more than the officers’ 6% suggestion due to headteachers’ fears that cuts in school budgets would lead to substantial job losses and a reduction in standards.
If ratified by the full council later this month, it would see bills for the average ‘Band D’ household rise by £114.03 a year or £2.19 a week - bringing in an extra £1.44m to make up at least some of the proposed education cuts.
Following another 0.3% drop in the Welsh Government settlement - which makes up three quarters of the authority’s income, decision makers had identified substantial cuts to make up a £7m shortfall.
The challenges facing the authority were described as “a perfect storm” due to other outside factors including a rise in the fire service levy, inflation, the national living wage and pension costs – with officers keen to stress that Anglesey currently has the second lowest council tax rate in north Wales.
Admitting that some services may have also been “under budgeted” in the past, more money will also need to be made available for social services due to both Children’s Services (£2m) and Adult Services (£1m) expected to exceed their budgets by the end of the current financial year due to being demand-led services.
But committee members heard evidence from education representatives who urged a rethink over the slashing of the education budget, citing an expected increase in class sizes and job cuts if the budget went ahead in its current form.
Mr Alan MacDonald, the chair of the Federation of Anglesey Primary Headteachers, said that while they understood the “difficult decisions” facing councillors, he felt a need to present the concerns of school staff across the island.
“If these cuts go ahead, 90% of primary teachers feel they will have to spend more time in the classroom from September, while 61% see teacher job losses as inevitable and 58% expect to lose support staff,” he told committee members last Monday.
“We’re not dismissing the challenges you face as councillors and as an authority but there are substantial concerns within the sector that this could have a real effect on the front line.”
Mr Clive Thomas, the head of Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni, added that four of the five secondary schools would fail to achieve a balance budget, with his school facing a loss of “three or four” members of staff if the £1.7m cut were implemented.
The committee’s recommendation will be considered when the full council meets on February 27 to ratify the budget.