MERTHYR TYDFIL Council is facing additional costs of more than £100,000 next year in its home to school transport service because of the dualling of the A465 Heads of the Valleys road.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, November 6, cabinet member for governance and resources, Councillor Anna Williams-Price, Labour, said the additional costs in 2023/2024 were £186,000 and were estimated to be £106,000 in 2024/2025 against an additional budget allocation of £97,000.
She said that income of £51,000 from Future Valleys Construction was expected to be received to offset some of the £106,000 costs.
A more than £3m budget surplus is being reported for Merthyr Tydfil Council in the last financial year (2023/2024).
The budget monitoring report that went before cabinet showed that for 2023-24, the council was provisionally reporting a net revenue budget surplus of £3.092m.
This is subject to audit and it’s being recommended that the council transfers this surplus to the budget reserve.
General reserves at March 31, 2024, stood at £5.723m, which is 3.75% of the council’s budgeted net revenue spend for 2023-24.
Budget savings from the corporate vacancy factor, which are savings resulting from the time between posts becoming vacant and then re-filled, have exceeded the budgeted £1.7m by £145,000.
The report also said a contribution from the budget reserve of £5.5m was drawn down in full in line with the approved budget strategy.
The final audited revenue out turn position will be reported to council when the external audit of the accounts is done by Audit Wales.
As for this financial year, a net revenue budget deficit of £647,000 is being forecast, as at the end of the second quarter of the year, which covers the period between April 1 and September 30.
It includes projected deficits of £780,000 for education, £793,000 for economy and public protection, £785,000 for neighbourhood services and £146,000 for governance and resources but there are projected budget surpluses of £331,000 for social services and £1.061m for corporate.
The council is also forecasting a surplus against the council tax collection fund of £465,000.
The report recommended managers urgently address projected budget deficits, identifying all possible measures to offset projected deficits.
