Caerphilly County Borough Council looks set to defer more than £500,000 of planned cuts following a recent public consultation about its budget plans.
The council is faced with making savings in excess of £7.2 million from April this year,although now this figure could be reduced ahead of the final budget.
Cllr Dave Poole, Labour’s leader of the council, said: “We have listened to our residents and we are making a number of adjustments to our plans which reflect the feedback received during the budget consultation.
“We are working hard to protect frontline services and the public have a key role to play in helping us shape the way we deliver these services in the future.
“I would like to thank all those who took part in our consultation and I’m pleased to be able to demonstrate our commitment that we are here to listen and respond to the needs of the community.”
The final budget for 2018/19 will be considered at a meeting of full council today on Thursday, February 22, when the full list of proposed cuts will be presented for approval.
The areas that could be saved from a cut in spending include highway maintenance where £312,000 will be slashed from the budget instead of £524,000.
Plaid Cymru’s leader on Caerphilly Council, Colin Mann, said the proposals did not go far enough.
He said: “Labour was proposing to cut by £524,000 – a massive 11.3% reduction – spending on highway maintenance.
“Now they are proposing to reduce the cut by £212,000,which still means a huge £312,000 cut against the strong wishes of people.
“This will mean a deterioration of road conditions and probably lead to more claims by motorists for damage to their vehicles. The council is being penny wise but pound foolish and we don’t want to end up like Cardiff with pot-holed roads everywhere. Officers have pointed out that £2m is needed to be spent to reduce ongoing maintenance.”
Other areas of the budget which may be reduced include the school improvement initiative,two community safety warden posts,and not introducing charges for rat treatments and bulky waste collections.
Cllr Mann added: “Labour has finally recognised the impact these cuts would have had on the public but they should not be cutting anything from road maintenance.
“As we said before,there are alternatives such as cutting the bill for employing agency staff and consultants which topped £4m in the last financial year.”
It will all bebe futile anyway – as they are only delaying cuts.
With reported further cuts of around £40 million pound over the next 5 years jobs / services will eventually be cut.
The council’s Labour administration are just hoping it will not be on their watch !