A programme which aims to create a stronger, fairer, and greener Cardiff has made good progress but there are warnings of significant challenges ahead.
Cardiff Council’s programme for the capital city is evaluated in the authority’s latest Wellbeing Report, and while the assessment shows good progress has been made, it also identifies future risks and areas in need of improvement.
The council’s annual Wellbeing Report looks to provide an honest assessment of the authority’s work over the past year and uses feedback from residents, government auditors, and the political scrutiny function.
Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Huw Thomas said:
“Our ambition is to make Cardiff a stronger, fairer, and greener capital city – a city of opportunity, a great place to raise a family with great schools, great jobs, and a great cultural life.
“We have high ambitions for Cardiff, and despite the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing squeeze on public sector funding, we are determined to do our best to ensure Wales’ capital continues to grow and prosper.
“Everyone will know that council finances across the UK continue to be exceedingly difficult. The post-pandemic recovery has been long and tough, with less and less money being made available for the public services people have come to expect. The demand for our services – especially in social care, both children’s and adults, and the costs of delivering better schools and new council homes – all which are badly needed, are placing enormous strain on the finances we have available.
“Despite these financial pressures we must not get trapped into a standstill mindset. We need to ensure we look after the elderly, the young and the most vulnerable, while at the same time seeking to build a city that will grow economically, a city which will have a high quality of life, alongside a great cultural scene, one which will attract investors, and business, opening new employment opportunities, delivering better paid jobs, helping everyone here, and everyone who comes here to live, progress.”
Areas highlighted in the Wellbeing Report include:
- Ensuring that pupil attainment remains above the Welsh average for A-Level A* to C grades, and for GCSE grade A* to C grades
- Delivering 1,200 new homes as part of the council home building programme
- Delivering £68 million to the Cardiff economy since 2012 through the Real Living Wage
- Instigating £5.4 million in external funding to invest in local communities over the past 12 months
- Taking an active role to create and safeguard 2,400 jobs in 2023/24
- Successfully securing funding for phase 1 of the Cardiff Crossrail
- Ensuring that more children are being placed into local authority foster carers and in-house residential housing
- Increasing the number of social care staff, with the staff vacancy rate reducing from 38.7% in June 2020 to 15.8%
- Improving efficiency in the process for people leaving hospital, ensuring that occupational therapists can prescribe care, freeing up time for social care staff
- Reducing the number of rough sleepers in the city centre from 50 in November 2023 to 19 in March 2024. This figure is now 47 in August 2024.
- Reducing direct carbon emissions by 11.7% between 2019/20 & 2022/23 and indirect carbon emissions in procurement by 25.5% between 2021/22 & 2022/23
- Achieving the accolade of being the highest performing council in Wales in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
Cllr Thomas added:
“The findings this year are very encouraging. We are building more council homes, the biggest project of its kind in Wales. We are reducing our carbon emissions as we strive towards the environmental targets set out in our One Planet Strategy. And we are securing much-needed funding from government which is benefiting our local communities and aiding our public transport system.
“I am really pleased to see that our housing development programme is on track, despite some very challenging market conditions with the rate of inflation and interest rates. It is also encouraging to see the work we are doing in social care, to ensure that we have more staff to deliver these vital services, even though this area of council business faces unprecedented challenges which are projected to see increase in demand in the years ahead.
“Job creation in any capital city is a vital part of a growing a local economy, so again, it is reassuring to see that 2,400 jobs have either been created or safeguarded through the work of the council in 2023/24.
“All that said, we recognise areas which need improvement and there are some major challenges ahead of us, brought about by the ongoing recovery from the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis which has had a major impact on the council’s budget.
“The council does and will continue to manage new risks and issues as they arise, delivering cross-service, area working, and collaboration with our private sector partners, and the third sector to get things done.
“I am clear that the mark of a superior performance system is one that allows us to recognise where progress is being made and identify areas where intervention is needed to address areas of challenge. That’s exactly what this report does by providing a fair and balanced assessment on which future planning can be based.”
The report highlights a series of risks faced by the council moving forward, including:
- Increase in demand for services for children and young people
- Attendance levels in schools and delayed pupil development due to the pandemic
- Pressures on social care provision for both children and adults
- Demand for emergency and temporary accommodation increasing significantly due to the Housing Emergency
- A £49.726 million shortfall in the budget for 2025/26.
Cllr Thomas said:
“This report covers the 2023/24 financial year and shows the ongoing challenges that the council faces due to the recovery from the pandemic, and the significant rise in inflation and interest rates which affects a range of council services. Through these fiscal changes to the UK economy, local authorities have suffered, with rising costs to deliver council services.
“With all this in mind, in May 2024, the Cabinet instigated the first stage of a review and design of council services, with a savings target set for £100 million over the next four years. A series of principles have been set out by my Cabinet, with the citizens of Cardiff at the forefront, so we can continue to deliver vital services to all those that need them. We must build on the progress that has been made since the pandemic ended and this report shows that progress and the challenges that we have ahead of us.”
The Council’s assessment of its performance is considered by the authority’s Performance Panel, which brings together all the Scrutiny Committee Chairs, the Policy Review and Performance Scrutiny Committee, the Governance and Audit Committee, and Full Council. Resident surveys are used to ensure a balanced assessment of performance is delivered.
