Here's your Friday update, covering: Cardiff Council's Budget Proposals Revealed; Detailed plans unveiled on Cardiff's ‘Greener, Fairer, Stronger' future; Women from the world of science and technology to help inspire the next generation.

Cardiff Council's Budget Proposals Revealed

A budget which safeguards schools and education, helps create new jobs, builds much-needed council homes, and is designed to help Cardiff become a Stronger, Greener and Fairer city - has been revealed by Cardiff Council.

Earlier in the year the council consulted citywide on how it could bridge a £24m funding shortfall in its budget. Residents were asked for their views on several cost-saving proposals and money-generating ideas which could help safeguard the services they felt were most important to them.

Almost 6,000 people took part in the six-week consultation which asked a wide range of questions, including:

• Whether libraries, hubs, and recycling centres should close on certain days or reduce hours to save money
• Whether they supported allowing an external promoter to run St David's Hall - which could save up to £0.8m a year in annual subsidies
• Turning the Museum of Cardiff into a mobile operation to save £266k
• Raising charges on items like residents' parking, and burials and cremations.

Now, following that consultation, the council is bringing forward proposals which will bridge the £24m funding shortfall in its budget while focussing on what residents say is most important to them.

The proposals include setting any Council Tax rise at 3.95% - well below the rate of inflation and around £1 a week for a Band D household. This would be one of the lowest council tax increases seen in Wales this year.

Schools would receive an extra £25m a year to help deal with rising costs, and Adults and Childrens Social Services an extra £23m. The Museum of Cardiff would remain open in the Old Library on the Hayes for now and opening hours at Hubs and Libraries would also stay the same but plans to investigate a proposal by Academy Music Group to take over St David's Hall, which would safeguard the classical and community calendar of events while also upgrading the hall, would be fully investigated under the budget proposals.  59% of respondents to the consultation supported this option.

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Detailed plans unveiled on Cardiff's ‘Greener, Fairer, Stronger' future

Cardiff Council has published its latest Corporate Plan - a blueprint outlining its vision of how the city will develop over the next three years and beyond.

The plan commits the Council to a wide-ranging programme of work across all areas and sets out in detail how it will improve the lives of all its residents, setting measurable targets by which its performance can be judged.

It will be discussed initially by the Council's Scrutiny committees next week, before being considered by Cabinet on March 2 and debated at the meeting of full Council on March 9.

Council leader Cllr Huw Thomas said: "The report contains seven clear well-being objectives which demonstrate what public services in Cardiff want to achieve and reflect our shared aspirations and the common understanding of the challenges facing the city.

"This plan sets out how we will make Cardiff a stronger, fairer, greener capital city.  We have made good progress since my administration was elected in 2017, and even though we are dealing with the cost-of-living crisis and the legacy of the pandemic which are hitting our services and our communities, we are confident we can deliver on our commitments in the months and years ahead."

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International Women's Day - Women from the world of science and technology to help inspire the next generation

The theme for International Women's Day 2023 is "DigitalALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality" and The Cardiff Commitment is appealing to women from the science and technology industries, to come forward and help inspire the next generation.

Figures published by The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, show that globally, women make up just 19.9% of science and engineering professionals and that females are the minority in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education at 35%. Just 3% are enrolled in Information Communication and Technology studies.

With the aim of raising aspirations and inspiring more schoolgirls in Cardiff to consider future digital careers, The Cardiff Commitment is working with a range of diverse women in roles across the sector, to share their experiences during a series of events for International Women's Day. 

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