Issue - meetings

The savings and cuts listed in Appendix A (£519k) to be used as contribution towards our financial gap in 2025/26 were approved, and to commission the Departments to move forward to implement the plans taking note of the issues highlighted in the report.

It was approved to delegate the right to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Council Leader and the Cabinet Member for Finance, to make adjustments to this Savings and Cuts Plan within the Departmental totals as the maturity of the plans listed in Appendix A develop, within the financial totals.⁠

The report was submitted by Councillor Nia Jeffreys. ⁠

DECISION

To approve the savings and cuts listed in Appendix A (£519k) to be used as a contribution towards our 2025/26 fiscal gap, and commission the Departments to move forward with implementing the plans while pointing out the issues highlighted in the report. ⁠

It was approved to delegate the right to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Council Leader and the Finance Cabinet Member, to make adjustments to this Savings and Cuts Plan within the Departmental totals as the maturity of the schemes listed in Appendix A develop, within the fiscal totals. ⁠ ⁠

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted stating that the Council now knew what the Revenue Support Grant level from the Welsh Government would be for 2025/26 and that it would be significantly lower than what was needed to maintain our current level of services. As a result of this and other factors e.g. Departmental overspending and increased staffing costs, it was reported that detailed work has been carried out to identify opportunities for savings or cuts.

Reference was made to the financial briefing sessions held for all elected members in January 2025 to prioritise savings cuts for 2025/26. It was added that this report was submitted to the Governance and Audit Committee last week and that the Committee had noted the contents of the report.

It was elaborated that the settlement was better than what had been predicted last year but that the Council's financial position remained very poor with a significant gap to fill. It was noted that the £3.5 million of cuts determined last year were already in the system. It was added that there were no further efficiency savings that could be made and therefore cuts of £519,000 had been identified as listed in Appendix A.

Observations arising from the discussion:

•           Concern was expressed about the negative comments received by the Council, staff and Members in public e.g. on social media, and there was concern about the impact these comments were having on officers. It was added that Cyngor Gwynedd was lucky and better placed than many other Councils and were doing their best to protect services for the people of the County.

•           The opportunity was taken to thank Council staff who were working hard and trying to achieve more but with fewer resources.