Closing Cae Glas care home will save £1.16m. This helps reduce a budget shortfall, despite a funding increase from Welsh Government.
They got a 4.8% funding increase from the Welsh Government. Factoring this in, the gap was still £6.82m. They had already cut £10.28m from the budget.
They might raise council tax by 4.5%. Band A properties would pay 98p more weekly, while Band D properties would pay £1.47 more. Many RCT properties are Band A.
Raising council tax reduces the gap and will bring in £549,000. Schools will get money to cover costs. The schools budget will increase by £2m.
The schools budget will rise by 5.6%, an extra £11.2m overall. It will be fully funded next year too. Resources will cover teacher pensions, and they lowered energy budget needs in the plan.
The council used one-off funds this year, supporting school budgets with £500,000. This covered learning needs cost increases. The schools budget will rise by 7%, going from about £198m to £212m.
They found £5.75m in efficiency savings. General efficiencies saved £3.75m, capital charges saved £1m, and service changes and less hiring saved £1m. Officers say these plans work and should not hurt frontline services.
They propose a 5% rise in fees, with some areas seeing special rises too. That should bring in £633,000. This leaves a budget gap of £727,000, and they plan to use reserve funds for that.
About £3.99m will remain in the reserve. They have plans to ensure savings and these actions should refill the reserve yearly. They want to protect future budgets because the next budget may be very difficult.
They advise using the reserve sparingly. This protects the next year’s budget. The total 2025-26 budget is £668.12m. The cabinet can recommend these plans, but they need full council approval for them.