No Cuts to School Music Lessons as Budget Goes to Council

Bridgend Council’s cabinet has said there will be no cuts to local school music services as they approved a final version of their annual budget to go before full council next week.

The budget which will cover the 2025-26 financial year was discussed at a cabinet meeting held on February 18 and will include a council tax increase of 4.5% along with a range of other saving measures.

At the meeting members heard how a final version of the plans had been drawn up after a consultation with more than 1,600 residents as well as a number of scrutiny sessions which were held by councillors.

If approved it could see a proposed net revenue budget worth a total of £383.3m taken forward later this year. This would include funding of more than £123m for schools, £115m for social services, £24.8m for services within the chief executive’s directorate, and £33.7m for communities.

A council spokesman added that the budget would also include greater investment into services for vulnerable adults and children with extra money for road maintenance and pothole repairs and funding for disabled facility grants to support people at home.

They also highlighted that proposals to remove 100% of the allocated funding for music in schools had been removed from the plans after what was said to have been the biggest public response many in the council had ever seen.

However the report said because of “significant service pressure” the council currently faces savings would still need to be made with the only way to achieve this being through “service reductions or higher increases in council tax”.

As a result measures that are still within the proposals now include ending the current meals-at-home service and reviewing the local CCTV service, potentially reducing it to night-time or weekend cover only.

It could also see increased bulky waste charges rising from £30 for three items to £35 along with a 20% increase to fees for bereavement services such as burial charges.

There are also proposals for efficiency savings of 1% to be made against school delegated budgets which the report said had the potential to result in “some teacher and other staff redundancies”.

Speaking at the meeting councillor Melanie Evans of Pencoed and Penprysg said the responses to the public consultation had been listened to and encouraged more people to take part in future years.

Council leader John Spanswick of Brackla West Central added: “We are listening to people out there in the public and we are doing the best we can in challenging times.”

The budget will now be discussed by full council on Wednesday, February 26, where it will seek final approval from all members along with a capital strategy for its long-term assets.