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South Wales Argus
17-07-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Monmouthshire council posts £1.4m surplus for 2024/25
Monmouthshire County Council reported its adult social care services finished the last financial year £2.4 million over budget while children's services came in £1.4m above its agreed allocation. Despite those overspends the council still finished the 2024/25 financial year with a £1.2m surplus, which was a 0.6 per cent variance against the budget councillors had agreed in March 2024. That was achieved despite the social services costs and other overspends related to additional learning needs, waste collections, home to school transport and homelessness and housing. The council has taken various measures to address those costs and Councillor Ben Callard, the Labour cabinet member for finance, said the surplus had been achieved through its 'financial discipline' including a recruitment freeze and receipt of additional grants late in the year from the Welsh Government. But he warned the grant funding from the Welsh Government isn't guaranteed in future and said the authority still faces financial pressures. The Llanfoist and Govilon member said: 'It is important to recognise that over £3m of this is due to one-off unbudgeted grant funding received from the Welsh Government during the year.' Performance and overview scrutiny committee chair Alistair Neill, left, and Labour cabinet member Ben Callard. (Image: Monmouthshire County Council.) The latest update to the council's medium term financial plan warns it faces a projected revenue budget shortfall of £13.6 million to fund day to day services in 2026/27 rising to £38m over the medium term by 2029/30. Cllr Callard said the council has powers to address its spending and help manage predicted costs and told its performance and overview scrutiny committee: 'If you are asking me will Monmouthshire County Council still be solvent in 2031? Yes, it will be.' Since 2010 the council has made more than £83m in savings and 'absorbed' more than £31m in cost pressures in the past two years. Committee chair, Conservative Alistair Neill, questioned the overspends in social services and asked if the council had properly funded them, as he described the services going over budget 'as almost a perennial problem'. The Gobion Fawr councillor asked: 'Are we structurally under representing the real cost of social care?' Chief financial officer, and deputy chief executive, Peter Davies said: 'We've faced some very challenging budget rounds, particularly in social care, and have looked to stand up some ambitious levels or reform and have learnt some lessons trying to push the bar too high, too quickly and have suffered from that in in-year overspends.' But Mr Davies said early indications are similar levels of overspend aren't being predicted this year. He also said part of managing the risk of overspending in social services was to have an identified reserve to dip into as the council had done. The council had a savings target of £10.94m in its 2024/25 budget and achieved 81.6 per cent of those meaning the ongoing financial impact will have to be considered as part of budget monitoring throughout the year. The committee was also told uncertainty remains over full funding for the rise in employers' National Insurance contributions, which the council as a large employer must meet, but it had also put a contingency in the budget in case of the costs falling on it.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Mosque set for go-ahead at former Abergavenny library
A former library is set to be used as mosque, after the move was given the go-ahead. Monmouthshire council's cabinet agreed to grant a 30-year lease for the empty Abergavenny Library to the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association. But three backbench councillors forced a review using the council's call-in process, which allows members to scrutinise decisions before they take effect. Two days before a scrutiny committee considered that request, the Grade-II listed building was targeted by Islamophobic vandalism, according the Local Democracy Reporting Service. At a meeting on Wednesday 25 June, leader Mary Ann Brocklesby said the call-in asked the cabinet to review the decision, but it "does not have the authority to overturn the decision." Councillor Ben Callard, who is responsible for resources including leases, addressed seven points made by the scrutiny the Llanfoist and Govilon member, said he reflected on the points but was not convinced on changing the original decision. "I think it was the correct one and Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association will be good tenants for this property," he said. Callard said the council had not set a target rent for the building, and doing so could have "depressed" the price, and defended the four week timeframe for the tender process. He said a number of "competitive" bids were received and he did not agree the council should have got an independent survey of the building as the authority has the capacity to do so also dismissed the suggestion, made by a Conservative councillor, the library built and funded by Scottish-American philanthropists Andrew Carnegie should be sold. Conservative group leader Richard John claimed taxpayers would be "subsidising" the mosque at the agreed rent of £500 a month, or £6,000 a year. Callard replied that tax payers will not be subsiding it. He added the building was put out for a competitive tender and it returned the figures proposed by the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association, which was the highest added the lease is on a "full repair" basis which will pass all maintenance responsibilities to the tenants and he described the building as having "significant liabilities".The lease was also described as a commercial deal and Callard said the Muslim association is not benefiting from a rental agreement, which is a subsidy, that other community groups leasing council buildings also acknowledged it was an "ambition" of the cabinet the local Muslim community should have a from residents over car parking in the area were also acknowledged at the meeting. Callard said the association has committed to using the three nearby public car seven members of the cabinet confirmed their support for the original decision with the lease being offered to the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association.
