SWANSEA is to see the biggest-ever investment in key services touching the lives of residents every day.

In a budget for the pandemic recovery there will be hundreds of millions of pounds of investment over the coming years in council homes, new schools, play areas and other essential community services like tackling littering and free bus services.

Hard-pressed families will see the cost of school meals frozen until at least 2025 and the council tax rise will be just 20p a week for those on a Band B council tax rating – significantly below inflation.

Rob Stewart, Council Leader, said:

“It’s been a tough two years for everyone because of the pandemic. But the budget agreed is one for the recovery, a boost for our communities and helps build a better Swansea.”

Among the headlines:

An extra £13.6m for education overall, so schools will have more than £179m to spend on educating our young people;

£16m more for social care, taking overall spending to £144.7m for child and family services and caring for the vulnerable and elderly;

Economic Recovery Fund could be boosted to £45m;

£570,000 for new community cleaning teams for every area of Swansea plus £100,000 more for a new generation of ‘smart’ litter bins and replacement bins;

Larger PATCH road repair teams to carry out more improvements in all wards across the city;

Biggest-ever events offer, including new attractions, to boost tourism and business;

£5m to upgrade every council-owned children’s play area in Swansea;

£1m for skate parks and youth support;

Free bus offer will continue on selected dates until at least Christmas;

Funding for a network of life-saving defibrillators across the city; and

Spending power of £1.8m a day on vital services.

Cllr Stewart said:

“Over the past two years, Swansea Council transformed itself to be there for the people of Swansea throughout the pandemic.

“This budget means we will still be there, side-by-side with our communities as we emerge together from the pandemic.”

The current capital programme (including 2021/22) has around £413m of capital spending, including £153m on a new generation of schools, following on from four opened in the last six months.

The council will also be spending millions of pounds building new homes, refurbishing existing council homes and supporting the homeless.

Cllr Stewart added:

“As we emerge from the pandemic our children and young people need our support as much as ever. That’s why school meal prices have been frozen, education spending is growing and investment in child and family services will rise.

“We’re going to create a new in-house residential service for our most vulnerable children. It’ll be named Ty John Davies in memory of Cllr John Davies, who served as Cabinet Member for social services for a number of years.

“He was an amazing advocate for children and, although he has now passed, a dedicated venue for children that bears his name will be an inspiration to us all.”

There will also be free parking permits for commissioned domiciliary care staff alongside a commitment to a minimum wage of £10 per hour for all council staff.

Cllr Stewart said:

“We can never truly repay council staff who have been on the frontline against the pandemic for two difficult, challenging years.

“These commitments are a practical thank-you to them and also means domiciliary teams will be able to do their jobs more easily when visiting the homes of people they care for.”

Over the past year the council has supported businesses with £190m of grant funding channelled from the Welsh Government. It has also supported communities through the £20m Economic Recovery Fund. The fund is now set to be boosted to as much as £45m and will be targeted to meet community needs.

In recognition of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee there will be no road closure fees for communities having street parties and to secure Swansea’s legacy as a Queen’s Green Canopy Champion City, thousands of trees and whip trees will be planted during the year.

Cllr Stewart said it’s anticipated that the council tax rise next year will be less than average compared to other Welsh local authorities and he added: “The total amount raised by council tax is significantly less than we spend on Education and about £9m less than we spend on social services – caring for our vulnerable children and the elderly.

Cllr Stewart added:

“Thanks to a very positive Budget settlement from the Welsh Government, we will invest millions of pounds more on the priorities of the people of Swansea next year.”