Annual budget 2025/26

Work is underway to set a balanced budget for the council in 2025/26.

A report featuring initial saving proposals will be presented to cabinet on Wednesday 13 November 2024. 

Following that meeting the first round of public consultation will go live at ‘Have your say’. 

Cabinet and full council considered the future financial position in February 2024 when it was estimated the gap for 2025/26 could be as much as £20 million. 

The UK Autumn Statement, announced late October, confirmed additional funding for Wales. However, the impact on Newport and our full financial position will not be known until we have details of the Welsh government grant settlement which is expected in December.

A further report and additional savings proposals will be considered by cabinet in January 2025 when there is more certainty around Newport’s full financial position.

Read the latest press release.

Facts and figures 

  • The council provides over 800 services for 160,000 people living in more than 65,000 households. 
  • More than three-quarters of the council’s budget is funded by a grant from the Welsh Government. 
  • The money raised through council tax accounts for less than one quarter of the council’s budget. 
  • Two thirds of the council’s budget is spent on schools, education and social care. 
  • Newport has a growing population. Of the Welsh local authorities, Newport saw the highest rate of population growth since 2011 (9.5%). This is higher than the population growth rates for both Wales and England. This growth is across all age groups. 
  • Newport also saw the highest increase in the number of households compared with 2011 (8.1%). 

Key issues affecting the budget include: 

  • Increasing inflationary costs – although inflation rates have recently fallen, they are still high by historical levels. This affects the cost of delivering all services.
  • Cost-of-living crisis – the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on our residents has led to more requests for government support and increased demand for local services. 
  • Labour market – labour shortages are increasing the cost of commissioned services in areas such as social care and technical/professional roles. 
  • Increasing demand for council services – the impact of the Covid pandemic as well as population and societal changes have resulted in a increased demand for services, there for increasing delivery costs.  These are most notable in the areas of social services and housing.

Budget and spending

Newport City Council's expenditure, income and budgets are split between:

Revenue account 

This covers the day-to-day running costs of providing services. 

This includes:

  • salaries 
  • rates
  • insurance
  • telephones
  • electricity
  • gas
  • basic repairs

Capital account  

This includes spending on new facilities and major repairs and maintenance.  

Documents