Council tax pays for local services like schools, social care services, waste collection, maintenance of roads and structures, street lighting, leisure & culture, emergency services and much more.

Most of the council tax goes to the Local authority, Monmouthshire County Council, to spend on local services but parts also go to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent and Community Councils.

The council also receives income from business rates, government grants, other fees and charges, all of which contribute towards the cost of providing council services.

Council tax also contributes to other costs and services including the management of council buildings, costs associated with policy, strategy and communication, the costs of running the revenue and benefits service, and borrowing costs.

2024/25 Budget

The council spending is split into two categories called revenue and capital.

The council’s budget plan sees an overall revenue budget for 2024/25 of £219.9 million.

The revenue budget will be financed by:

• Revenue support grant from Welsh Government of £91.2m
• Non-Domestic rate redistribution from Welsh Government of £34.9m
• Council Tax to fund Council services of £73.3m
• Council Tax to fund the services of the Police and crime commissioner for Gwent) of £16.9m
• Council Tax to fund the services of the Community Councils of £3.6m

The 2024/25 budget aims to protect and sustain for now and for the future the services which we know are important to the residents of Monmouthshire without compromising the financial stability of the Council.

Whilst hard choices have had to be made to protect services, the services that are available to residents this year will be available in 2024/25. Waste collections will remain the same. Leisure centres, recycling centres, libraries and community hubs are all remaining open.

There will continue to be a focus on tackling inequalities and to protect the most vulnerable in our society. This means our support for additional learning needs provision will increase as will the specialist resource bases for disabled children and young people helping them stay in their local schools. Above all we will work with partners and support our communities, providing advice and practical help for those worst hit by the Cost-of-Living crisis, such as community fridges, mental health support, housing and welfare advice.

The Council’s budget plan also sees a capital budget of £35.2 million for 2024/25.

This capital expenditure will look to support:

• Continuation of the new 3-19 school in Abergavenny
• Further investment of £1.65m in our highways and structures with targeted work to improve the condition of our road infrastructure
• Capital investment of £150,000 to allow for emergency works to be undertaken on bridges across the Council’s extensive public rights of way network
• Capital investment of £100,000 to allow full assessment of potential Decarbonisation measures across the Council’s estate with the aim of reducing carbon emissions, making a positive contribution to addressing the climate and nature emergency.
• Capital investment of £350,000 to address urgent health and safety improvements at our Depots, and a further £150,000 to explore the potential for consolidating depot provision in the South of the County to provide efficiencies in provision and lower our overall Carbon footprint.
• Public spaces protection orders – £45,000 for signage in parks and other open spaces, in readiness for the implementation of the Council’s ‘Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for dog control’.
• Solar Farm Development Costs – £150,000 to develop a business case and planning application to determine the potential revenue stream and viability of further development.

Medium term financial planning

The council’s four-year medium term financial plan (MTFP) is the foundation of our financial planning and outlines the financial challenges and risks we face in the medium term.

The next iteration will focus on the increasing challenges with sustaining and maintaining existing levels of service delivery in an environment of increasing demand and costs, combined with the risk and uncertainty around funding settlements projected over the medium term.

It will look to outline the risks, impacts and implications of addressing a medium term budget deficit, focussing on the strategies available to the Council to enable a sustainable financial model in the future that looks to support efficient and effective public services for Monmouthshire’s communities. This will be in line with the priorities outlined in the Council’s Community and Corporate plan and various enabling plans that feed into it.