Blaenau Gwent Council’s Cabinet has welcomed a monitoring report into last year’s Budget (2023/24), which shows the authority ended the year in a much better financial position than predicted.
The report presented today has shown that due to strong financial management right across the Council combined with some cost pressures being lower than expected and the maximisation of grant funding, the amount required from the Council’s reserves to balance the budget has reduced from just over £4million to £820,000.
While this is better than expected news, there remains significant financial challenges ahead in setting Council budgets with current estimates showing the need to save £27m over the next 4 years.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Stephen Thomas, chaired the Cabinet meeting today. He said:
“We welcome this report which shows that overall, we finished the year in a much better position financially than the original agreed budget. Actual spend for the year came in lower than we originally forecast, which means we utilised a lower level of reserves than planned. I would like to acknowledge the work of budget holders right across the Council who have recognised our serious financial position and have managed budgets carefully.
“Whilst this is a pleasing outcome and will support our continued financial resilience, we also know that there are more significant financial challenges to be faced by the public sector in future years that will require us to be innovative with services and make difficult decisions to find savings and balance budgets.”
Cabinet members also welcomed a report into budget monitoring of capital projects with all projects progressing well and on budget.