THE CURRENT state of both Wrexham and Flintshire Councils has been revealed in a new report.

The report released by the BBC Shared Data Unit this month looks at the state of council finances across the UK.

The BBC has been looking at the growing deficits - often called financial black holes - faced by local authorities.

Together, the 190 town halls surveyed said they would need to find £5.2bn to balance the books by April 2026 - even after making £2.5bn of cuts this year and plundering £1.1bn of reserves.

The average council now faces a £33m predicted deficit by 2025-26 - a rise of 60% from £20m two years ago when the BBC last carried out a study of this kind.

17 out of the 20 Welsh councils in the study plan to make £182.0m worth of savings and use £72.7m worth of reserves in 2023-24.

The 20 authorities predict a combined two-year shortfall of £394.8m by 2025-26.

The report showed that Flintshire Council - which supports a population of around 156,000 people - set its net revenue budget requirement for 23/24 at £252m with a rise in council tax of 4.95%.

It planned to save £9.27m which would put its savings as a proportion of its net budget at 3.7%, equating to savings of £59.74 per person.

Its predicted cumulative shortfall for 25/26 was revealed to be £32.78m making its two-year shortfall as a proportion of net budget 13%, making it a predicted deficit per person in the county of £211.37.

Over the past fourteen years, Flintshire Council has managed to cut back on its spending by £100M, whilst continuing to protect schools and social care. 

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A strategic report from February states that the council is currently continuing to experience 'high and increasing demand' for temporary accommodation to meet its statutory obligations to accommodate families and persons that present themselves as homeless.

The report adds that 'this is expected to continue'.

Meanwhile, a detailed review of current demand and costs for school transport projected through the next financial year has resulted in a significant additional budget requirement of £0.851m, which has been included in the budget.

No data was entered for Wrexham Council in the report, a reason for which was not provided.

But, they have instead issued their own financial update which was sent to the Leader this week.

The council says that, by 'acting quickly', it has avoided a potential shortfall of around £23million by the end of the current financial year, with councillors and officers working hard to identify ways to meet the challenge.

Councillor Mark Pritchard, Leader of Wrexham Council, said: “Each and every department is making a contribution to finding these savings, and we’re working hard to do this with as little disruption to the public as possible.

“We’ve looked at lots of ideas and options, and although we don’t have all the answers yet, we’ve made huge progress.

“So far we’ve identified around half of the savings or efficiencies needed. It’s not a painless process, but we have no choice but to meet this challenge head-on.”

Councillor David A Bithell, Deputy Leader of the Council, said: “It’s sensible to take action sooner rather than later.

“It’s a difficult time for councils across Wales and we will have to make some tough decisions, but our goal is to continue to provide our local communities with the services they need.”

However, Wrexham Council has revealed that - after many years of helping to fund the PCSO (Police Community Safety Officer) provision in Wrexham City Centre, it will now no longer be able to do because of 'the extremely difficult decisions we’re having to make'.

The Leader:

Wrexham Council says it can no longer help to fund the PCSO provision in the city centre.

Meanwhile, recruitment for new or vacant jobs at the council has also been paused, and is only being undertaken for key posts with approval from senior managers and lead members.

A review of the use of agency workers has also started, the council says.

The council says it remains 'fully committed' to the bid for City of Culture 2029. The available budget for this, as agreed at Executive Board in 2022, is £500k in 2023/24.

A programme of events is currently being devised with the Interim Board who will confirm their priorities at the next meeting in September.

Wrexham Council says it has also found a way to save around £19,000 on new library books, but 'will still be spending around £130,000 on new books' for libraries this year.

The council adds that social care charges to the public will be 'largely unaffected' and will 'continue to be implemented in line with the national policy for fees and charges for social care in Wales'.

Parking fees in car parks are still under review and no political decision has been made yet. Discussions are ongoing for this matter.

Commenting on the report, a Welsh Government spokesperson added: “Record inflation and economic mismanagement by successive UK Governments over the last 13 years has led to the most difficult financial situation since the dawn of devolution.

“As part of our efforts to protect public services we are providing increased funding for local authorities in this financial year, with a 7.9% increase across Wales on a like-for-like basis.

"This follows a 9.4% increase in 2022-23. But we recognise that local authorities are facing difficult decisions and we continue to work closely with councils to meet the shared challenges we face.”