More jobs in Cardiff council budget proposals for 2017-18

Cardiff council plans to increase, not cut, the number of staff jobs for the first time in more than a decade.

As the council reveals its proposals to plug a budget gap of £25m over the next year, Councillor Graham Hinchey said 98 new posts - mainly in social work - would be created and about 44 would go.

He said a better-than-expected Welsh Government settlement also meant an extra money for front-line services.

But increases to some fees and charges are still planned.

These include:

• Burial and grave purchase fees to increase by £15 each, and cremations by £10.

• School meal price rise of 10p a day.

Council tax is also proposed to be increased by 3.7% to raise an extra £4.5m, the Labour-run authority said.

Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Howells, shadow cabinet member for finance, said: "At the last election, Labour promised the people of Cardiff they'd keep council tax rises below 2%.

"This year they had one last chance to keep that promise, but instead they plan to break it for the fourth year in a row.

"Band D Cardiff residents will now be paying a shocking £188 more a year than since Labour took office."

The proposals follow a five-week public consultation.

It has been proposed more than £5m of next year's £17m savings will come from the social services budget.

But Mr Hinchey, cabinet member for corporate services and performance, said they proposed taking on 68 new social work staff to cope with increased demand.

"We're the fastest growing city in the UK with the pressure of an ageing population. Looking after the elderly who are living longer is not unique to Cardiff, but it's disproportionately affecting Cardiff as the fastest growing city," he said.

"Many of the savings within social services, an area under extreme demand and price pressure, focus on early intervention and prevention with the aim of reducing cost and improving outcomes."

Protecting street events

He said the way social services staff worked would also change: "We're looking at mobile working for social workers so they're not sat at a desk costing us heating and lighting. It's also better for their work/life balance."

Other workers would become multi-skilled, he said, adding that these would be paid more and provide better value for money.

The council has lost 1,600 full-time employees as part of budget saving over the last five years.

Mr Hinchey said of the extra money for front-line services, £250,000 would be spent on protecting street events in the city centre from terror attacks - an expense they have not previously had - following police advice after vehicles were driven into crowds in Berlin and Nice.

The remaining money will also be used for:

• Removing charges associated with child burials;

• £1.38m on neighbourhood services such as deep cleans, road repairs and waste enforcement;

• £300,000 to refurbish Cardiff market's leaky roof;

• £300,000 to refurbish local sports facilities;

• £218,000 on a new recycling/re-use centre (Wedal Road recycling centre will stay open until this one is ready);

• £125,000 on city centre and public area improvements;

• £40,000 on enforcing taxi drivers to comply with their licence.

But Mr Hinchey added "austerity hasn't gone away".

He said: "It is important that everyone realises that the better-than-expected settlement from Welsh Government is for one year only.

"The council still faces a budget shortfall of £81m over the next three years and we must be mindful of this and the fact that we have lost £213m from our budget over the past decade."

Schools will get an extra £7.2m and receive 100% of the money available for pupil number growth, but they are being asked to manage budgets to find £1.9m to go towards things like pay increases.

New high schools are being built in both the east and west of the city.

Mr Hinchey said: "The budget consultation has shown us that residents want us to prevent any impact on our schools where we are seeing a turnaround in fortunes with much-improved performances and results."

"We've had to change the way we work and the way we think about things," Mr Hinchey added.

"We have done this in three ways; using technology; building partnerships; and by creating a smarter city council."

He said more residents were now dealing with council online for things like paying for parking permits and council tax.

The council has also partnered with others to avoid service cuts in areas like trading standards, environmental health, food safety and licensing.

One-stop-shops providing council and partner services have been created - for example the hubs in Caerau and Splott - to share resources and save on overheads.

And the social enterprise GLL will now run Cardiff's leisure centres.

The council's cabinet will consider the proposals on 16 February before sending them to full council for approval the following Thursday.