Have your say
Budget Consultation 2025-26
About the Consultation
Like other Councils in Wales, Pembrokeshire County Council faces continued budget pressures and we will need to make budget savings. The funding gap for 2025-26 is estimated to be £34.1 million, with potential for it to increase further. This figure is based on the assumption that we receive a 2% (real term) increase in our settlement from Welsh Government.
Over the past decade, we have successfully made significant budget savings of £110.2 million, supported by your savings suggestions. Understanding what services are important to you will help us make the difficult choices to set the Council budget for 2025–26 and beyond.
Your Views
Considering your views is an essential part of the budget setting and medium term financial planning process.
You can give your views on our budget saving options by completing the online response form (opens in a new tab).
Please note that all figures given are initial estimates. These will change as we move through the budget planning process and initial assumptions are clarified.
If you would like a paper copy please call our Customer Contact Centre on 01437 764551 or email enquiries@pembrokeshire.gov.uk so we can make arrangements to send this to you. Please return to budget.suggestions@pembrokeshire.gov.uk or by post to Pembrokeshire County Council, Finance Team, 2F County Hall, Haverfordwest, SA61 1TP.
The closing date for completed responses is 5 January 2025.
Budget Modelling Tool
We have developed a Budget Modelling Tool.
Information on how to use the budget modeller is available on the "Guidance" button on the Modeller itself.
Further budget information will be presented at the 2nd December 2024 Cabinet meeting and can be viewed on the Council and democracy website. You can find papers and view webcasts of these meetings via this link.
The information gathered during the consultation will be used to help Councillors decide what the final budget for 2025–2026 will be. The Budget will be set by Council at its meeting on 20th February 2025.
Budget Context
Funding Gap
For 2025-26, we are facing an estimated shortfall of £34.1 million (net revenue funding). This figure assumes that recent increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions is covered by Government as well as a small increase in Welsh Government funding. Looking further ahead, our current estimate for the Medium Term Financial Plan 2025-26 to 2028-29 is a projected funding gap of over £64 million.
The increase in costs is due to many factors including:
- An increase in the number of people needing our help with associated increased costs particularly within our Schools, Children and Adult Social Care and Homelessness, which have increased significantly during the first half of 2024-25 and is expected to continue into 2025-26 and over the medium term.
- Employment costs have also increased due to above inflation pay awards agreed during 2024-25 for all staff including teachers which was greater than our budgeted assumptions.
- Although we are assuming a 2% increase in our settlement from Welsh Government this will be insufficient to cover the significant increase in costs.
- Pembrokeshire County Council’s budget has been further squeezed because we also have one of the lowest Band D Council Tax in Wales for 2024-25 (£1,510.72). The Cabinet budget papers give further detail on why this is the case.
Looking forward, we expect the budget challenge experienced in recent years to continue across the Medium Term Financial Plan 2025-26 to 2028-29. Prior to 2023-24, we have managed to operate within budget with significant budget savings made over the last decade of £110.2million. However, the increase in pay and continued increase in demand present ongoing budget challenges and present us with difficult decisions to be made.
How we can fill the funding gap
There are limited ways that the funding gap can be met:
1. Increase the rate of Council Tax we charge
- We could increase council tax (each 1% increase generates approximately £820,000 of additional income, and equates to an extra 29p per week on Band D Council Tax).
- We could increase the proportion of Second home premiums to the General Fund.
2. Change the way services are provided
- Reduce our expenditure (efficiency gains, IT improvements, reduce what we do, ensure other organisations pay their share). Some of these changes will not affect how people receive services but many of them will.
3. Increase the amount we charge users for some services
- We could increase user fees to generate more income to offset the savings that need to be made. This increase is likely to be by a relatively small amount. Some of the user fees may apply to businesses rather than households.
Our approach to filling the funding gap
Our approach has included focusing on savings in areas where there is likely to be least impact on the public and the core services that we have a duty to provide.
A long list of proposals for budget savings were put forward by services across the authority. These proposals were grouped so that proposals that have less impact on the public and are easier to make are considered before those that would have a high impact on public services and pose a risk to services we have a duty to deliver.
The impact of some of the proposals for budget savings will be felt internally within the Council. However, there are a number of proposals that will potentially impact on the way that services are received by the public. These are the proposals that are included within this consultation. We have not included any budget proposals where Cabinet or Council is due to have made a decision prior to the closing date of this consultation.