Money for homes and schools in Vale as council tax rises

RESURFACED roads, expanded and refurbished schools and improved council homes are being planned as millions of pounds will be invested in the infrastructure of the Vale of Glamorgan.

Vale of Glamorgan council has agreed details on how £257m will be spent in the county from April 2018 to 2023.

The money, from the council’s own budget and grants from the Welsh Government, will be used to fund significant infrastructure improvements in the Vale over the next five years.

But it’s not all good news as more than £6m will be cut from the council’s budget this year.

Among the council’s plans, £130m will be spent on education.

This includes an improvement programme for schools across the Vale, including Barry Comprehensive, Bryn Hafren Comprehensive and Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg over the next five years.

And £83.8m from the Welsh Government will go towards a £142m investment in the Vale’s schools starting in 2019/20.

Schemes that could be included in the 21st Century Schools Programme are new, modern buildings for St David’s Primary School in Colwinston and Llancarfan Primary School, an extended and remodelled school building for St Nicholas, new and remodelled school buildings in Cowbridge, a new school on Barry Waterfront and a new Catholic school for pupils aged three to 16.

The business cases for all schemes will need to be approved by Welsh Government.

A spend of £2.2m in social services includes more than £1.3m being spent on older persons accommodation in 2019/20.

And £92m spending in environment and housing will see more than £72m spent on an improvement programme for the Vale’s social housing.

The plans come as residents will have to pay 3.9% more on council tax. Residents in a Band D property will be paying £1,186.92 towards the council’s coffers in the next financial year.

Meanwhile, the council is looking to save £6,298,000 from its budget in 2018/19.

This includes £1.1m from the education budget (including £824,000 from schools), £839,000 from environment and housing, £419,000 from social services, and £3.9m from council functions such as human resources, IT, legal services, finance and democratic services.

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesman said: “As an authority, we are operating in the context of yearon-year reductions in our funding from Welsh Government. Whilst all local authorities face challenging times, the situation is increasingly difficult for this Council given that we are one of the lowest funded councils in Wales.

“We have already had to save approximately £50m over the last seven years and, excluding Schools, savings of £16.909m needs to be achieved over the next three years. We are also being asked by Welsh Government to deliver more services, at a time when specific Welsh Government grants are being cut.

“Given this situation, it is unsurprising that there is pressure on our budgets. But the Vale of Glamorgan Council has an excellent track record of delivering high-quality services in an efficient manner and we will continue to strive to make savings as efficiently as possible.”