Grant increase set to help council target areas in budget

NEATH Port Talbot Council’s cabinet will meet on January 5 to consider its budget strategy for 2022/23.

The council says an 8.8% increase in the Revenue Support Grant and financial support for the pandemic response given by Welsh Government will enable it to adopt a different approach.

Among proposals to be considered by the cabinet is a freeze on council tax for the next 12 months in recognition of the financial hardship being experienced by many households across the county borough.

The proposed budget strategy also sets out a package of investments that will:

Increase support for schools to further improve standards of education and provide more support for pupils with additional learning needs;

Provide additional support for the wellbeing of children and young people to help them deal with the impact of the pandemic; ■■ Support for the social care workforce, including provision to ensure social care workers receive at least the Real Living Wage; ■■ Enable an increase in the council’s neighbourhood teams as part of a drive to ‘catch up, clean up and green up’ towns and villages; ■■ Extend digital services; ■■ Increase capacity to work with inward investors and to help local businesses and local people benefit from the new jobs being created in the county borough; ■■ Enable greater focus to be given to protecting the environment; ■■ Enable more priority to be given to the Welsh language, local heritage and culture.

It is proposed that the budget be consulted on for a four-week period commencing January 5, 2022.