People in Swansea can have their say on how hundreds of millions of pounds are spent by the council after cabinet members approved a broad set of spending plans for 2025-26 which now go out for public consultation. The public can also give feedback on proposed changes to social care charges.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on January 10, leader Rob Stewart expressed gratitude for the higher level of central government funding coming the way of councils for 2025-26 than he said had been expected, but he added it still wasn’t enough to “fix all the problems”. Swansea Council is due to receive £33.4 million more next year from central government, which will mean extra investment in key departments like social care and education.
The Swansea Labour leader said the proposed budget was “remarkably different” following last summer’s general election to the one the council had been planning for. Cllr Stewart said the authority had been envisaging a “real-terms cut” prior to July 4. “That position changed dramatically when the new Labour Government came in,” he said, although in his view a lot more funding was still needed.
The council plans to make savings of £13.9 million in 2025-26 and raise council tax – although it’s not clear how much by – to deal with rising costs and demographic pressures like growing demand for temporary accommodation. In addition schools, despite getting more funding, will be asked to save £4.5 million.
Not for the first time Cllr Stewart voiced frustration about the fact that councils fund fire services in Wales. He said Mid and West Wales Fire Service’s planned budget rise of 6.3% next year equated to a hike in council tax of at least 1%. “That simply can’t be right,” he said.
Council finance director Ben Smith said cabinet would need to closely monitor the council’s current in-year expenditure, and pointed out that the Welsh Government’s 2025-26 budget – from which local government funding will flow – had not been approved yet. Mr Smith also said councils faced a headache when higher employer National Insurance contributions come into force from April. Although councils are due to be compensated by central government for their own employees, Mr Smith said this wasn’t the case for private and independent organisations which they commission for things like social care, catering and building services.
Mr Smith also warned that new borrowing over 30 to 50-year periods would not be affordable for public sector bodies due to high interest rates. Referring to Charles Dickens’ fictional Oliver Twist, Mr Smith said it was a case of “thanks very much” to central government for additional funding, but he added: “It’s half or a third of what we would like – please, we have been well-behaved, can we have some more?”
Opposition parties will be scrutinising the budget proposals, and opposition group leader, Cllr Chris Holley, has already questioned the need for so many savings given the additional funding. He also said any rise in council tax – which went up 5.99% in April 2024 – should be minimal as residents were struggling financially.
Later in the cabinet meeting alterations to social care charges were approved and will now go out for consultation before final decisions are made. The council’s proposals would mean people in short-term residential care provided by the authority having to pay more than currently if they’re there over six weeks, although means-testing can result in varying contribution levels depending on a person’s assets.
It would also mean people having to contribute to the cost of an initial two-week assessment for “step up beds” – short-term care beds that help people avoid unnecessary hospital stays – instead of this fortnight being free. The changes would also introduce a charge for “reablement beds” – a service which helps people regain independence after an illness or hospital stay – but only after six weeks. In addition, the hourly charge for residents receiving council domiciliary care would increase from £23.18p per hour to £25.33 per hour.
Cllr Louise Gibbard, pictured here in 2022, presented the report about social care charges
(Image: Swansea Council)
If confirmed in due course, all these changes will come into force from April but only affect new clients – charges for existing clients would remain, plus an inflationary increase which averaged 6% this financial year. In Wales the maximum amount that people pay for non-residential adult social care is £100 per week.
Another proposed change in Swansea concerns longer-term residential care. The plan is to raise the maximum weekly charge for council-run residential care homes to £848 per week from £750.50p per week, bringing it in line with private sector rates. Two additional changes which weren’t listed in the report were also approved, including a £46 charge for community alarm equipment for people who choose to have it, although Cllr Louise Gibbard, cabinet member for care services, said this wouldn’t affect existing clients. Cllr Gibbard said the “uplift in fees” reflected the specialist nature of care provided by the council.
The report said income from care charges was critical for the council. “Without that income, it would not be possible to provide social care, so Swansea Council has no practical option other than to charge for social care services,” it said. “The income raised helps to protect, maintain, develop, and extend care and support services in the right form to meet the needs of vulnerable adults in our area.”
Michael Phillips, communications manager for the charity Age Cymru, said older people were facing “a cocktail of financial challenges” on top of a spell of very cold weather, and that the charity was concerned that some of them might forego social care to the detriment of their health and well-being.