THE Vale council cabinet has agreed its final budget proposals for the next financial year which include a 3.9 per cent council tax increase.

The proposals were endorsed at a meeting of cabinet on Monday (February 19).

The report presented to cabinet stated that the council tax rise represents a "reasonable compromise" between the pressure on services and the financial pressures facing council taxpayers.

The total budget for the 2018/2019 has been set at £222,053,000 which includes £84,458,000 for schools, £46,719,000 for adult services and £26,966,000 for neighbourhood and transport services.

It also includes a provision of £200,000 for discretionary rate relief to rural shops and post offices and charitable organisations.

The mid term financial plan assumed a reduction in Welsh Government (WG) funding of three per cent for the years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.

This meant the council needed to find savings of £20.941m over this period, with £9.326m currently being identified meaning further savings to be identified of £11.615m over the three year period.

The proposed annual Band D council tax has been set a £1,186.92.

Council leader Cllr John Thomas said the proposals were being made in a "climate of ongoing austerity."

He said there would be additional pressure on staffing budgets with an expected 4.4 per cent rise due to the introduction of the living wage.

Some of the savings have had to be reviewed and Cllr Thomas said it was not possible to implement some of them in full over the financial year.

He said achieving savings will "continue to be a challenge for all services."

A total underspend of £4,000,000 has been calculated for the 2017/2018 financial year with reserves being used to cover the £861,000 overspend in learning and skills, £1.4m in social services and £725,000 in environment and housing.

Cllr Thomas said:"Balancing the budget has been difficult due to increasing pressures but I believe it is achievable."

“With both the demand for our services and the cost of delivering them continuing to rise, the challenges of supporting those residents that rely on the council are more acute than ever.

“The Vale of Glamorgan Council has always received one of the lowest funding settlements in Wales from the Welsh Government and we have seen a real terms cut yet again in 2018.

"This means that many of our important local services, including schools and education are grossly underfunded compared to the rest of Wales. 

"Although we aim to make savings in excess of £6.2m over the course of the next financial year, this cut still leaves us with no alternative but to look to raise revenue locally.

“This is not a decision that has been taken lightly and I am sure it will be the subject of healthy debate at next week’s meeting of full council.

"Given the inequality in the way Welsh Government funds different local authorities, with the Vale of Glamorgan having suffered from year after year of underfunding, it is, I believe the best way of balancing the need to support vital local services, such as education and social care, with our desire to keep any increase as low as possible."

Cllr Ian Johnson of Plaid Cymru said: “In their first budget, the Conservative/Independent coalition is proposing an above inflation council tax increase of 3.9 per cent, while making cuts to core services such as black bin bag collections.

"Who knows where council tax and services will be after another four years of this Tory-run council?"

The final budget proposals will now go before full council on Wednesday, February 28 for final ratification.