A STRATEGY for how a Gwent council will address an expected minimum £34.7 million budget shortfall over five years will be presented to councillors. 

The document is the first medium term financial strategy that Monmouthshire County Council has produced and it will be outlined to the full council when it meets on Thursday, July 18. 

It already produces a medium term financial plan but Councillor Ben Callard, the Labour cabinet member for finance, said that differs from the strategy as it can change from year to year as budget information is updated. 

The strategy covers the period 2024 through to 2029 and Cllr Callard has already presented it to both the council’s governance and audit and performance and overview scrutiny committees. 

Cllr Callard acknowledged the election of a new UK Labour government is unlikely to provide financial relief to the council. 

The Llanfoist and Govilon member told the governance and audit committee: “While we all want the money taps to be turned on at some point I don’t think the central government is in position to do that just yet.” 

He said the £34.7 million shortfall the council is facing through to 2029 is “front loaded” with it having to save or cut £12.2m from the budget in the upcoming 2025/26 financial year. The intention of the strategy is that budget gap will reduce to £7.9m in 2026/27 and £7.3m annually for the following two financial years. 

The strategy is intended to set out the council’s current financial position, its response and where it would like to be financially. 

It states the council has had to make savings of more than £77m from the annual revenue budget since 2010/11 and has had to deal with rising cost pressures of £30m over the past two years. 

Since 2010/11, core funding from Welsh Government has increased from £99m to £126m but that 26 per cent increase in cash terms has actually been a 15 per cent reduction in real terms. 

The strategy states the council has “so far successfully navigated” financial challenges of government austerity, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, persistently high inflation and the national economic situation. 

At the performance overview scrutiny committee Cllr Callard defended the way that information had been presented. 

Conservative committee chairman, Alistair Neill, said the report failed to recognise the council receives among the lowest funding awards from the Welsh Government. 

It is also recognised the council needs to stabilize its reserves, that are among the lowest in Wales, with recent use of reserves to support the budget and shortfalls having reduced useable reserves to minimum acceptable levels.