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Provisional settlement and council fund budget

Published: 14/11/2016

Flintshire County Council Cabinet will consider a report on the provisional settlement and council fund budget when it meets on 15 November. Flintshire is an efficient and innovative council but is a low funded council which offers few opportunities to bridge the funding “gap” through local innovation. Despite being a low funded Council, Flintshire has shown itself to be a solid performer in the standards to which it provides local services, with excellence in key services such as education and social care. Flintshire is being recognised nationally as a Council which is being innovative in finding new solutions that are both cost efficient and resilient and are sustainable for the future. These solutions include setting up “NEW Homes”, a company providing homes for local people and SHARP, (Strategic Housing and Regeneration Programme), which has seen the first new council homes in a generation being built (the first in Wales) and securing the future of leisure facilities such as Connah’s Quay swimming pool by establishing a community-based management solution. However, as the opportunity for such innovations diminish, the money the Council has at its disposal also diminishes. Our funding strategy has three parts: 1. Council takes responsibility for continuing to reform and modernise local services – all services, except education and social care, have 30% cost reductions to find over 3 years. 2. Council takes responsibility for the prudent use of corporate finances. 3. Council sets realistic expectations about what we can expect to receive from the Welsh Government, our principal funder Councils in Wales are heavily dependent on government grant to fund what they do. More so in Wales than in England. This is why, within our three part strategy, we are calling for greater freedoms from Welsh Government for the Council to be able to be entrepreneurial. The Council has previously advised of an estimated ‘budget gap’ of £14.4m for the financial year 2017/18 Through a combination of further service reform proposals, continuing effective financial stewardship and a better than anticipated provisional grant settlement this gap has now reduced to in the region of £2m. The Leader of the Council, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said: “These are challenging times for both local councils and the Welsh Government. If we are to find a way through this with our vital local services still intact, councils need to work closely with the government and we plan to do that to find joint solutions.” The Council is currently running a series of public engagement meetings throughout the County. Four successful events have already taken place, there are still three to go and we encourage you to come along. The details are: 14 November: Sandycroft CP School 15 November: Broughton CP School 21 November: Ysgol Caer Nant, Connahs Quay The meetings will run from 6:30-8:30pm. You can register online at www.flintshire.gov.uk/YCYS or by phoning our registration line on 01352 701701 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. A summary of our Medium Term Financial Strategy is also available on our website on the “Our Flintshire, Our Future” page. This strategy inevitably concentrates on 2017/2018 as the next budget year we need to plan for. Equally, we have an eye on 2018/2019 and subsequent budget years in planning ahead in a responsible and sustainable way. The Council will be issuing further statements as the budget is finalised - including the need for improved funding for Flintshire as part of a reform of public sector and local government funding.