A Presentation by the Chief Executive
Minutes:
Councillor Peredur
Jenkins, Cabinet Member for Finance stated that the Council still faced
challenging times. He reminded the Council that the Gwynedd Challenge savings
were nearing completion and that the scheme had been successful in finding the
necessary savings. However, it had become apparent that Gwynedd needed a new
savings scheme for the future
A presentation was
given by the Chief Executive. He stated that the Council had been finding
savings since 2006 in order to address the impact of inflation and pressures on
services. With the impact of UK Government cuts continuing, as well as the
uncertainty of Brexit, it had become increasingly clear that it was necessary
to start planning savings to be implemented from 2019/20 onward.
The Finance
Department had made projections for a number of financial scenarios, and the
Cabinet would decide on differential savings targets for the departments in
order to address the most likely situations. The Heads of Department would then
present the possible savings to meet those targets to the Scrutiny Committees
to challenge the plans on behalf of the people of Gwynedd. After the Members
had had the opportunity to express their opinions, a public consultation would
be held, before going ahead with deciding and implementing the final savings
schemes.
After the
presentation, members were given an opportunity to ask questions and make
observations:
It was stated that the picture appeared to be very serious and that it
was a collective responsibility to make the most of the situation and take
part.
It was stated that it appeared that the Assembly had capped the increase
in Council Tax at 5%. An enquiry was
made as to whether such a cap would continue, and what would an increase of 5%
in Council Tax mean. If the Council were to adopt a Scandinavian model, how
much would the tax need to be raised to improve services?
In response, the
Head of Finance Department stated that he had not scrutinised Scandinavian models,
and whilst a 5% increase would result in an increase of approximately £3.5
million to the Council's coffers, it would not meet inflation. The Chief
Executive stated that a formal cap had never been imposed, and he suspected
that there would be a local authority somewhere facing pressure to cross the 5%
threshold before Gwynedd had to do so, as the situation had become especially
precarious in several places.
It was noted that
some services were already under enormous pressure and the question was asked
as to where the line was, beyond which no further cuts could be made.
In response, the
Chief Executive stated that it was not yet clear where that line was, but it
that it was necessary to ensure that every waste and every other option had
been explored before reaching a decision.
It was noted that
discussions had taken place in order to collaborate with Town and Community
councils in order to maintain services, but that the resources available to
Community Councils were scarce and that taking the burden off the Council would
result in further increase in their precepts.
In discussing collaboration, the Chief Executive stated that financial
planning and prioritising was a matter for the Councils themselves, but that
the Council would encourage collaboration and would consider every option to
protect services.