Concerns £6m funding increase not included in Newport draft budget proposals

An extra £6 million for Newport City Council has not been included in the draft budget proposals for next year.

Welsh local authorities will receive a share of further funding after the Welsh Government struck a budget deal with Plaid Cymru in early December.

At a council scrutiny committee meeting, officers were asked why the draft budget proposals for 2026/27 failed to include the expected income boost.

Head of finance Meirion Rushworth said reports were prepared in advance, so “there was no time to consider the impact of that £6 million and then get all the papers ready for the cabinet meeting, with Christmas in between”.

“It was simply a time issue,” he added.

But the committee chairman, Cllr Mark Howells, said there was a month between the government’s budget deal being announced – on December 9 – and the council publishing its draft budget proposals.

He said the Welsh Government’s announcement that day meant it was “pretty much guaranteed that we would have got at least £5 million, if it was split across 22 local authorities”.

The government’s final local government settlement figures were confirmed earlier this week.

“It just seems disingenuous to be consulting the public and members on a budget which we know isn’t a true and accurate picture of the money we’re getting,” he added.

Cllr Howells said the ongoing public consultation should have stated that “we’ve got an additional £6 million – how would you want to see it spent?”.

“It just seems bonkers to me that we haven’t asked the question to the public”, he said, adding residents should have been asked whether they wanted the extra money “spent on reducing your council tax, or investing in potholes, schools or education”.

Committee member Cllr Janet Cleverly, from the Bettws ward, said “I know what most of my residents would be saying – fix the potholes”.

“To actually not give people the opportunity to say… just seems like the process is flawed,” added Cllr Howells.

Senior officer Rhys Cornwall said “I totally get” the committee chairman’s point, but added “we just have to remember what we’re consulting on, when we have the settlement – it’s all draft”.

“There was some time between that announcement and getting the final settlement, so we [were] all reasonably confident we’re going to get some more money,” said Mr Cornwall. “It would have been impossible to say here are some concrete plans, in that period of time.”

Committee member Cllr Alex Pimm asked whether the public consultation included “any questions which ask if we do have any additional money, what would you want it spent on?”

Mr Cornwall said he would speak about the funding uplift during upcoming ward meetings on the budget proposals.

“We do engagement on a general basis and ask people what’s important, we know what sort of things [will come up],” he added. “It’s not perfect science, we do listen to what people say and we do feed that information in.”

Following the committee meeting, a Newport City Council spokesperson said: “We were very pleased when the Welsh Government announced their intention to increase Newport’s budget allocation.

“However, this was a draft settlement figure, only formally confirmed earlier this week.

“In anticipation of additional funding, our live public consultation asks where residents would like to see further investment. Responses to this question, the consultation survey in its entirety, and the regular feedback members receive from residents will be considered by cabinet before they put forward their final recommendations at their February meeting.”