Merthyr Tydfil Council is currently facing a budget gap of more than £11m for next year. A report set to go before cabinet and full council on Wednesday, January 11 shows that after the provisional Welsh Government settlement in December, the authority is looking at a gap in its funding of £11.035m.
The provisional local government settlement saw a funding increase of 7% (from £110.7 million to £118.5 million) announced for Merthyr Tydfil for the 2023/24 financial year ranking it as 18th out of all 22 Welsh councils and below the Welsh average increase of 7.9%. The final local government settlement is due to be announced on March 7 or 8, the report said.
The Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) covering 2022/23 to 2025/26 was approved in March last year and indicated a projected budget deficit of £5.462m for 2023/24 and a cumulative budget deficit of £16.408 million over the period of the plan. But the revised budget deficit for 2023/24, taking into account additional funding through the settlement and increased costs arising from the pay award, high inflation, real living wage for care workers, spiralling energy costs, increasing interest rates and unavoidable additional demands, comes to £11.035 million.
