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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
There were no disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.
None.
There were no public questions received.
The Leader and Ben Smith attended to present the draft budget. · The Welsh Government settlement for Swansea is 5.2%, significantly above the previous assumption of a headline average of 2.7%, driven by mainly population growth. The remaining Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) remains stable. Overall, this will see record investment in education, social care, and community priorities. · £5m has been added to contingency to cover anticipated items and risks, including equal pay and other emerging commitments on future capital borrowing. · The MTFP assumes 2.5% for pay and inflation, which remains the basis for planning despite higher actual awards this year (teachers 4%, local government 3.2%). · Additional funding has been allocated to support social services contractors, ensure compliance with national and real living wage requirements, provide a top up for National Insurance costs, and compensate schools for pay award shortfalls in current year. · Schools are receiving an additional £12m, which includes £3m additional top up funding. · The pension fund revaluation will reduce employer contributions by approximately £17m per year for three years, creating substantial headroom for reinvestment in services and to a lesser extent schools. · Risks highlighted include equal pay claims and uncertainty over specific grants, especially for social care. · The capital financing strategy continues to defer borrowing to avoid Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) rates above 6%, using reserves and contingency instead. · Savings proposals are minimal and were largely pre agreed in previous MTFPs, with very few posts affected. · Cabinet and Council will come forward with Council Tax proposals in due course. · There is uncertainty of funding continuity and levels of social care grant, which remains a big risk. Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) lobbying seeks to roll these grants into the Revenue Support Grant base in future years, but this is dependent on the next Welsh Government. · It was clarified that income increases count as savings to the core budget because the budget is net of fees and charges. · Burial and cremation fees remain competitive regionally and represent a small proportion of overall funeral costs.
The Leader and Ben Smith presented the most recent quarterly report. · The overall revenue position shows a £1.3m forecast overspend, mainly due to social care and pay pressures, but this is expected to be mitigated by contingency and inflation provisions. This is expected to improve further. · This was considered to be an extremely positive position at this point in the year. · The Contingency Fund remains strong, with significant sums carried forward and a balance still unspent despite allocations for known risks. · The Inflation provision of around £3.6m remains available to offset pay and price pressures. · Capital financing charges show a forecast £6.5m underspend due to deferred borrowing and treasury gains, which will flow into the Capital Equalisation Reserve. · Capital spend is currently low at 21%, which improves cash flow and interest income. The need for timely delivery of major schemes was emphasised with assurance that spend will accelerate in Quarters 3 and 4. · The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) faces a projected overspend of £8m on repairs and voids; mitigation plans include scaling back capital funded by revenue. · Legal risks related to the HRA have been resolved and reserves can now be released, but only once and subject to balancing the ongoing revenue overspend. Reinstating environmental improvements remains a shared priority. · All directors hold monthly performance and financial management meetings, attended by senior finance officers, Formal quarterly reports go to Cabinet, but monitoring is continuous. Political oversight includes regular meetings with directors and cabinet members. · The planning fee shortfall of £1.16m reflects both reduced volume and a historic freeze on fees, which Welsh Government addressed with a recent material increase, with future indexation planned. The Panel reflected that a large fee increase adds further to the cost of development and that fees help to fund staffing in the planning department. Current information on the Welsh Government increase were requested. · Additional Voluntary Contribution Pension savings are windfall savings from staff opting into salary sacrifice arrangements, not guaranteed income, and will lkely materially cease in future years (after 2029) due to national changes announced in the UK Budget.
Cllr Andrew Williams and Lee Wenham presented the most recent quarterly report. · The Quarter 2 report covers progress to the end of September 2025. · Swansea Council remains broadly on track to deliver all six corporate well-being objectives. · The majority of delivery steps, success measures, and performance indicators are on target despite financial and operational pressures. · The percentage of Council staff who have completed mandatory safeguarding training currently stands at 69.06% against a target of 100%. More information will be provided.
The work plan was noted with the next meeting for pre decision scrutiny on the budget being highlighted as a 2pm start.
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