AN agreement is in place between two Gwent councils to cover the salary of the chief executive who they are sharing on a trial basis, it has been confirmed.
It was announced in April that Torfaen Borough Council chief executive Stephen Vickers would work on a full-time basis as the chief executive of it and Blaenau Gwent with a salary of £156,235 agreed in June.
The appointment has been on a nine-month trial basis and Labour councillor Steven Evans asked at a Torfaen scrutiny meeting, considering its likely budget costs for next year, what allowance had been made for a contribution from Blaenau Gwent towards the salary.
Chief financial officer Nigel Aurelius said there is an agreement with Blaenau Gwent reimbursing Torfaen.
The cost is included in the council’s resources budget which it’s estimated will need to increase from £17.1 million this year to £18.4m in 2025/26.
The council is working on estimate its costs will increase by £20m in the new financial year, to £252m but various funding promises, to cover increases such as teachers’ pay and pensions and fire service pensions will reduce that by £2.7m.
That will leave it with an £18m gap in funding which it estimates through planned savings, an increase in funding from the Welsh Government, some use of reserves and 4.95 per cent council tax rise it has based its calculations on, that can be reduced to £5.7m.
The committee was reminded the financial estimates the council has produced are a draft and it will have more information on the money available to it in December when the Welsh Government publishes its budget and lets councils know what funding they will be awarded on December 11.