READERS may be aware that we’ll be finalising the council’s 2018/19 budget at a meeting of full council tomorrow, Thursday.

We’re faced with having to make savings in excess of £7.2 million in the next financial year, and in order to achieve this we’ve had to agree a list of draft savings proposals, which were then subject to a period of widespread public consultation over recent months.

Despite the need to make these savings, we’ve listened to the feedback from our residents, and have proposed that over half a million pounds worth of planned cuts are deferred from next year’s budget.

I would like to thank all those who took the time to take part in our consultation; our residents have a key role to play in helping us shape the way we deliver our services in the future, and I hope we are demonstrating that we are listening and responding to the needs of our communities accordingly.

That said, we at Caerphilly like all other councils right across the UK have not escaped the impact of austerity.

We continue to do a good job of protecting and maintaining our key services, but it is clear that we do still have some very difficult times ahead.

Our budget proposals, which councillors will consider tomorrow, include a proposed increase in council tax of 4.52 per cent.

This equates to a weekly increase of 88 pence based on a Band D property.

Nobody wants to see any increase in council tax, but unfortunately we are in the position where we must choose between agreeing a reasonable increase in council tax or finding even more savings to add to the list.

Despite these tough financial times however, it is important to emphasise that we remain fully committed to delivering quality services to the best of our ability for our residents into the future.

On the subject of listening to feedback from the community, it would be remiss of me not to mention our decision to defer plans to close Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre recently.

It was clear from the feedback we received during the public consultation on this that there is widespread opposition to the closure of this facility.

We’re about to undertake a review of our leisure strategy so have agreed that we’ll defer any decision regarding the future of Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre as part of a wider discussion around leisure service provision across the whole of Caerphilly county borough in the future.

Hopefully our residents will see that we are listening to their concerns and are responding accordingly wherever we are able.

Finally, I had the great honour of visiting the Jamia Mosque in Newport last weekend for an open day event.

It was wonderful to see how people from different faiths are learning from each other and working together for the common good.