Council tax in Caerphilly County Borough is set to rise by 3.9% after senior councillors approved the authority’s budget for next year.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday February 4, councillors also agreed to that meals on wheels prices would go up by 50p per meal and recycling centres would close for one day each week.
Original plans were for an increase on £1 on the cost of meals on wheels and that civic amenity sites would close for two days, but these were reconsidered after feedback from residents as part of a consultation.
Other budget proposals dropped include a 10p increase at pay and display car parks, the introduction of parking charges on a Sunday, and the removal of an Environmental Health Officer post
The council has to make £12 million in cuts in 2015/16 and said more savings will have to be made over the next three years.
The cabinet is also proposing a small ‘match-funding’ scheme of £25,000 to retain projects such as the Bargoed Ice rink and the popular ‘Bands in the Park’ events programme. This fund will only be used where local partners, such as community councils, are able to contribute to the events.
Cllr Barbara Jones, Deputy Leader of Council, said: “We have listened to the views of local people as a result of our extensive budget consultation and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to get involved.
“We have agreed that some of the proposals are withdrawn completely and some are amended to reflect the views raised by residents. We value the importance of meaningful consultation and it is clear that local people have helped shaped their services in the future.”
The budget proposals will now be considered at a meeting of Full Council on Wednesday February 25, when members will be asked to approve the final budget for 2015/16.
I don’t believe it. Are you really trying to tell me people would rather have an extra 3.9% on their council tax bill than be charged £1 extra for meals on wheels and have the leisure centres close on the two quietest days of the week? How many people, and who, did they ask?
CCBC is like an all star organisation of the Chuckle Brothers, Mr Bean, Captain Blackadder, Frank Spencer, Foggy, Cleggy, and Compo, headed up by Basil Fawlty, with local level councillors being as effective as Dad’s Army.
On a serious note, what the Caerphilly Council should be forced to do is to publish the results of the public consultation, the answers would make very interesting readfing and be very different to the actual decisions made by the Council. But, the decisions made by Caerphilly Council Councillors is a matter for them. They can only be held to account via the bollot box, agree with them or not,
Oops, looks like I have upset the council once more, my comment has been pulled. That does not matter, people who voted for me, and those who did not, can be assured that I will do my best to give my views on the issues that they are concerned about. I welcome debate on these issues but with the honourable exception of Hefin David (Labour), and a few others, there is a reluctance to engage in proper debate.
I suppose they have to fund the on-going senior officer’s pay scandal and this was the best idea they could come up with!
Yet again Welsh council tax payers are hammered with the highest council tax rises in the U.K, and yet again like a broken record they will roll out the same tired old rhetoric that on average council tax bills are lower in Wales than in England – but council tax rates in Caerphilly are higher than some of the wealthiest parts of England so that argument is total rubbish. Heaven help us if the Welsh Assembly ever get powers to raise income tax.
It`s Comimg, Tax Tax and more Tax. Or after 2016 Assembly Elections will things change?
What a joke. How these councillors can show their face in public is beyond me. The results of the consultation are online. They haven’t listened to anything. The fact that every month we as council tax payers are throwing money down the drain to pay for the Chief Officers Pay. This is from a Labour Party that say they will make sure the wealthiest in society pay. In Caerphilly it’s the opposite – tax the poor to pay the rich. But people keep voting in these people. When will people learn their lesson.
The comments and opinions are NOT published, what is published, on line, are the Council`s extrapulations from those comments, selective to the extreem
Absolutely spot on Trefor! Time for a change.
Caerphilly County Borough Council has asked us to point out that all comments received during the various consultation activities are available online http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Have-Your-Say/Budget-Consultation-2014-15 . The documents include various overview reports as well as unedited lists of all feedback received.
My experience of the consultation exercise was that the surveys were pre-loaded in order that the issues discussed were those that the council had already identified for cuts. How about a couple of issues that should be to the fore?
The last Plaid administration put £15 Million into dodgy Icelandic investments. Some money has been returned but we will never see a big chunk of this. The money lost would have plugged the gap in finances, certainly for this financial year.
The pay scandal continues too, for nearly two years we have been paying a chief executive, his deputy and the head of legal services for doing nothing, sitting at home whilst awaiting trail. If they are found guilty the council has already given notice that retrieving this money “would be too expensive.” What if the accused are found innocent? They would presumably want their jobs back or be compensated to the tune of millions of pounds, as all these men are on £100,000 plus salaries, as are their replacements. What a mess.
This statement by Caerphilly Council is probably correct, and it is good to see they are admitting that they published ` various overviews`, I am unable to find the coments and suggestions I made on the line facility the Council set up, and I am certainly not able to reconcile the Council`s extrapulations in respect to the decisions they have made in respect to the budget savings.
Now we know the Council`s sensitivities have been rattled, can someone there explain, how much is planned to be raised in cash terms from the 3.9% rise in Council tax?, and, in cash terms, how much has been `cut` from current expenditure?, and, how much in cash terms, will be raised by the increases to income, other than the Councl Tax increases. Only then can we judge if the budget conciderations are to our `general` advantage, or, the amounts of `cuts` the Council are prepared to make mean anything at all. for instance make a budget cut, and fill it with increases in income via Council Tax and inceased charges for council services, so the overall income from Squeeking Ratepayers outstrips the cuts result `Credit`.
Who suggested discontinueing the support to Town and Community Council`s with help for Christmas Lights, Who the hell thought of that one?
I REALLY THINK THAT ANY COUNCIL WHO CAN SPEND £7 MILLION ON A CINEMA COMPLEX COULD AGREE ALSO TO, SAY, A MUCH MORE REASONABLE 2% INCREASE IN COUNCIL TAX FOR 2015/16. MOST PEOPLE HAVE QUITE SHORT MEMORIES, BUT NOT EVERYONE.
IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT, AS AN UNITED KINGDOM, WE MAY BE OUT OF RECESSION BUT WE ARE NOT, REPEAT, NOT, OUT OF THE ECONOMIC WOODS BY QUITE A LONG WAY, YET.