Have your say on budget proposals

Consultation has opened on Swansea Council's budget proposals that will go to full council for a final decision in March.

The council spends £524m - an average of just under £5,000 on every household - in the city every year supporting our communities, providing scores of services ranging from social care and education, to parks, libraries, recycling collections and putting on major events like the Christmas parade and the Wales airshow.

Now the public is being asked for its views on a number of budget proposals that include the introduction of a Residents App, resident discounts for services like car parking and changing fees and charges.

Rob Stewart, Leader of the Council, said: "Although the Welsh Government has listened to our concerns and is providing a welcome 7% increase in funding, it's a real terms cut because inflation is running above 10%.

"We'll have an extra £30m to spend but our energy costs alone are jumping by 300% to £20m a year and that's on top of many other financial pressures we face like rising demand for our help due to the cost of living crisis.

"The council will continue to be there for the people of Swansea next year and we'll continue to deliver on your priorities. No decisions have been made on our budget proposals yet. We want people to have their say and their views will be taken into account ahead of the council making its final decisions in March."

He said: "Our budget proposals this year are based on delivering more with less, alongside prudent financial management and making the most of technology to reduce our costs and support services.

"Part of that approach is the proposed introduction of a Residents App available only to people who live in Swansea that initially will allow people to earn discounts and other advantages in city centre shops.

"The aim over time is that the App will potentially evolve into a service enabling residents to get discounts on council offers and services that won't be available to people living outside the city."

This year's budget proposals also include discount car parking charges for residents in some council-operated car parks. The discounts will form a package of car parking tariff changes that will see the service start paying its way again after 18 months of post-pandemic subsidies.

Cllr Stewart said: "Council-operated car parks in Swansea have been offering among the cheapest prices in Wales. There are very few city centres in Wales or the UK where you can get all day parking from 9.30am for just £2 and a park and ride service for a car and all its occupants for £1.

"Since the pandemic, we've deliberately kept prices down to support businesses, jobs and shoppers and in the last year alone that's cost the council £2.1m.

"We haven't put up car parking charges in Swansea for the best part of a decade and if we had they'd be 22.5% higher by now.

On average, the council spends just under £5,000 a year on every household in Swansea. Council tax generated £135m last year, but that is only just enough to cover the cost of social services. The lion's share of the money the council spends - £386m - comes from Welsh Government grants.

Proposals being consulted on include changes to certain fees and charges based on the idea that they should rise in line with inflation or cover the cost of providing the service.

There are also proposals for a small number of changes in waste, parks and cleansing and highways and transport as well as a review of car parking tariffs which aims to see an overall increase in income for the council of 12.5%.

To have your say on the budget proposals, please go to this link https://swansea.gov.uk/budgetsurvey 

The deadline for comments is midnight on January 31.