Council answers your questions
RHONDDA Cynon Taf council leader Andrew Morgan has spoken candidly about the local authority’s finances in reflecting upon the past 12 months and looking forward to 2017.
He has answered eight questions – ranging from whether council tax will rise in 2017, if more service cuts are on the way, and how RCT council is able to fund major projects when facing a budget deficit.
Starting with the major challenges of 2016, here’s what the council leader has had to say on a number of key issues facing the local authority.
What have been the biggest challenges for you and the council in 2016?
“It is not an easy time to be in local government. I can remember when the council used to receive increases in funding of well over 5%, but austerity has meant we have needed to consider a number of difficult decisions in recent years, in circumstances which are not of our making.
“I have always made clear that I want to protect frontline services from these cuts and while that is not always possible, we have been extremely successful in shielding the impact of austerity here in RCT, compared to other councils.
“Only around £500,000 of the savings we made last year came from services changes, with the rest coming from efficiencies. Finding those efficiencies without impacting on the frontline and without resorting to massive job losses is the biggest challenge and something we have been successful in achieving.”
What do you consider to be the positive achievements of 2016?
“We have been hugely successful in 2016, thanks to the proactive response to the challenges we have faced in managing the council’s finances, back probably from 2013, when austerity arrived to now have the flexibility to invest in the way we have with the RCT Invest programme this year, delivering £200M to take forward key projects.
“I do not intent to be modest on this point – this kind of investment is simply not happening elsewhere in Wales.
“This funding is delivering major investment in leisure facilities, roads, parks and key infrastructure which would simply not be possible without that swift proactive approach we have taken.”
The council previously used the term ‘Armageddon’ to describe the impact of public spending on local government and services – how then is the council spending on a number of significant projects?
“The burden of austerity has been with us since the Conservatives took office in Downing Street with the Lib Dems back in 2010 and it was following that, I think in 2013, that this statement was made by then-council leader Anthony Christopher.
“In response to dra- matic cuts in our funding early on, we had to take difficult decisions to respond proactively to the situation we were facing and what we were likely to face in future years – those decisions were not ones we would ever wanted to have taken.
“But, a question which continues to arise is how, when our funding has been cut so dramatically, are we able to take forward such as massive programme of investment?
“As a result of the proactive approach we took to austerity during this period, and through decisions such as restructuring the council’s borrowing and addressing our budget gap early, one-off cash savings have been generated.
“It is correct that the council does face a £2m revenue budget gap for the next financial year, despite the protection afforded to local government funding by the Welsh Government.
“However, this funding shortfall is recurring and cannot be solved by oneoff funding.
“If £2m of this one-off funding was used to address next year’s budget gap it would simply increase the size of the following year’s gap – it would not in any way address the ongoing reduction in funding we face.
“One-off cash savings can only be invested or spent once and that is why we are spending this money wisely in key projects which will make a big difference to our community, and in some cases can help us deliver savings into the future, for example spend on roads and bridges to avoid significant maintenance costs.”
Why is such a huge focus being placed on the City Deal?
“In simple terms it means that by working collaboratively, RCT will gain the maximum economic benefits from its proximity to the capital city economy.
“Locally this will include a major focus on transport connectivity, making it easier and swifter for residents to access the employment opportunities which exist in and around Cardiff.
“To the same effect, the massively-improved transport links, which the investment has the potential to deliver, will make RCT more attractive to inward investment.
“A future big name company should in these circumstances look at Pontypridd in the same way it currently looks at Cardiff city centre to invest and create jobs.
“To get our local economy moving, major improvements to our local highway network will need to be made with a huge emphasis on swifter and more integrated public transport.
“The potential for the City Deal is huge.”
What is the biggest issue facing the council in 2017?
“While we have received a much better financial settlement than we originally anticipated, there are still huge financial challenges ahead.
“The economic uncertainty that Brexit has caused will add to this burden – more than ever we need to invest in infrastructure to stimulate our economy, especially if there were to be another recession in the short to medium term.”
What can residents expect to see the council deliver in 2017?
“In January, the cabinet will work through the detail of our recent consultation on the budget. Almost 1,000 engaged in this process, our largestever response.
“We will need to take on board these views as we develop our budget strategy and key for me will be maintaining the momentum we have created through RCT Invest.
“Construction activity on Taff Vale [Pontypridd] will start in 2017.
“A project which has seen so many false dawns, will begin to take shape. It really does have huge potential.
“Planning will be considered for Cross Valley Link [Mountain Ash], which will move this scheme into the next phase – a project I am passionate about making a reality. We have moved this scheme further forward in my three years as leader than in the lifetime of this council.
“Our Rhondda and Tonyrefail school proposals will begin to take shape as construction moves forward. Residents will begin to see the fantastic facilities which we are creating for young people.
“Work which is going on behind the scenes to kick-start redevelopment of a number of brownfield sites, which offer huge economic potential, I am confident will come to fruition - particularly where we invest and improve transport infrastructure to better connect these locations.”
Will residents see services cut in 2017?
“For these reasons I have already outlined, I believe through our continued commitment to deliver efficiencies, we will not impact on frontline services again this year – £6m in efficiencies is our target again for 2017-18, that is over £20m in efficiencies delivered since I became leader.
“Our approach, in areas such as leisure, is to invest in those services to futureproof from austerity.
“If you look back to 2014, centres such as Bronwydd [in Porth] were under threat.
“Our approach of investing to attract more members to use these facilities has ensured we have been able to protect these facilities and make them sustainable.
“It really is hugely-positive how, when people see the new facilities, the public have really got engaged.”
What increase in council tax can residents expect in 2017?
“This is still to be decided.
“Council tax contributes about 20% of RCT council’s income and goes towards the council’s running expenses in providing services to the community.
“The council gets the other 80% of its funding directly from Welsh Government.
“We recognise that everyone is struggling and we always try to keep each rise as low as possible. This is an area I will look for specifically from the feedback we get from our consultation.
“From the events I attended during the recent consultation exercises, most people accepted that a rise is understandable, but clearly all want it to be kept to a minimum and most cited 3% or less as reasonable.
“As a politician I would naturally want to go for what is the most popular option, but as the person responsible I have to make the right decision.
“I am keen to see this year’s rise kept to no more than 2.5% and hopefully, thanks to the protection afforded to local government funding by the Welsh Government, we can reduce this further.
“It must be remembered on a Band A property this would equate to 42p extra per week, and on a Band D property, 64p.”