People living in Cardiff will see a number of changes to council services after the local authority voted through plans in a bid to close a financial gap of more than £30.3m.
The meeting on Thursday night lasted for more than four hours, with councillors from all parties discussing the controversial proposals.
The council said that the budget “safeguards schools and education, supports social services, and protects the most vulnerable”.
Council Tax
One of the biggest takeaways from the meeting was the rise in Council Tax. From April, households will see a council tax rise of 6%. This means for those living in the average household – a band D – bills will increase by £85 a year.
During the meeting, one Conservative councillor criticised the plans for “hiking tax beyond the rate of inflation” and accused the Labour-run authority of having their “priorities all wrong”.
The council described some of the decisions as “extremely difficult” but said how it is facing a “public sector funding crisis”.
Bins
Later on in the year, black bins will now be collected every three weeks instead of every two.
The council said this was the Welsh Government’s preferred option to help with recycling rates.
But, the plans have received mixed reviews from both the public and politicians since they were announced.
Councillor Adrian Robson from the Welsh Conservative told CJS News: “In some of the city centre areas, there is a lot of rubbish and people aren’t as diligent with putting out their bins on the right day.
“The rubbish will pile up if not collected”.
One Cardiff resident said that if the council don’t collect them, the rubbish is “blown all over the road and becomes someone else’s problem”.
Street cleansing will continue to be protected and bins in residential areas will be retained.
Libraries
Public library opening hours are also being reduced as well as the number of park rangers in this city.
This is all in an attempt to try save the £30 million shortfall from the council.
Alongside these changes, the council will also:
- Increase the cost to hire a sports pitch by 10%
- Reduce the Community Park Rangers to 2 employees rather than 4
- Increase fees for out-of-hour burials by 10%
- Increase school meals by 10p
People’s reactions
CJS News spoke people in Cardiff who gave very mixed opinions.
One said that: “A council tax rise of 6% is good because it helps to deal with the budget deficit and hopefully will maintain the services that we have come to expect”.
But another said that: “There are always things that people don’t like and you feel like they are a waste of money, and some of these new changes aren’t very fair or balanced”.
Cardiff Council said: “When making our proposal we have to balance the sustainability of the Council and protecting our core services alongside recognising that many families are still struggling.