Council Fund Revenue Budget

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet will consider the final stages of setting its 2017/18 revenue budget when it meets on Tuesday 17 January. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Throughout the budget process, the Council has sought to protect ‘front line’ services, community facilities and funding for schools and Social Care. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Flintshire County Council Leader, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

‘We are pleased to announce that as a result of innovative and effective financial planning, there will be no further threats to council services in 2017/18. This is despite having to meet the impact of increasing pressures both from growing demand on services, particularly social care, and restraints upon public sector spending across the UK.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Despite, a funding ‘gap’ of £1.9m still to be found, the Cabinet is resolute in its aims of shielding frontline services, particularly our ambition to increase school funding by £1.2m next year. However there are limited options available to us to achieve this other than through local taxation, temporary use of our remaining reserves and calculated risk taking on managing cost pressures such as pay and price inflation. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Councillor Shotton added: “We will continue to stress that the funding formula for local government needs to be reformed. Flintshire can no longer go on, as a low funded council, receiving £17.5m less per year than the average grant for Welsh councils based on a comparative population size.’ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​