A raft of proposed cuts from Wrexham Council’s budget over the next two years look set to be scrapped.

The authority had gone out to consultation on a wide range of proposed cuts as it seeks to save about £13m between 2018-2020.

But, following representations from more than 3,700 members of the public, as well as scrutiny by councillors, a number of the more controversial suggestions have been altered or axed completely.

The authority had been looking to chop its peripatetic school music service – to the tune of a £300,000 saving.

Now it is proposed to continue providing £50,000 in funding for the service on a means-tested basis, allowing children from families struggling financially to continue to access it.

It had also been suggested to withdraw funding for PCSOs over the two-year period.

Instead, the authority now plans to halve the funding it provides to £140,000 between 2018-2020.

Plans to cut £4 per day wage payments to vulnerable people attending day and work opportunities, which would have saved £26,000, were also shelved.

Proposals to implement a standstill budget for schools across the county were scrapped, with the budget due to go before the council’s executive board now suggesting a 1.48 per cent increase.

In real terms, this means the budget pot for all schools in Wrexham will be £80.6m as opposed to £79.4m.

In part, the changes to the budget will be funded by a proposed 3.9 per cent increase in council tax, if approved, which would take the council tax for an average Band D property to £1,093.01.

But the authority intends to press ahead with proposals to cut the number of rangers at the county borough’s 11 country parks, with the Streetscene service helping staff to clean the parks.

Plans to introduce a £30 annual charge for collecting from each additional green bin, with the first free, were also retained.

Council Leader Cllr Mark Pritchard said: “We’ve gone out to consultation and we have listened to what the people have said.

“It was a mixed bag and nothing that really surprised us.

“We’re proposing to set council tax at 3.9 per cent. It came back from the consultation that it was a 50-50 split between three and five per cent.

“There was some pressure to increase it five per cent but we didn’t support that. We work tirelessly to keep it as low as we can.

“The extra money we will generate will be put into service departments.”

Fears had been raised in a scrutiny meeting before Christmas that a standstill budget for schools would mean redundancies for teachers and teaching assistants, as well as a reduction in subject choice at Key Stage 4 (GCSE) for pupils.

Cllr Pritchard added: “I think there’s enough money there now to cater for the needs and requirements of pupils across this county.”

But he warned there were still tough times ahead.

“These are still cuts we have to find within each department. We have found £52m already and we have got to find roughly another £13m.

“We continue to deliver services and protect those that we feel are the most vulnerable across Wrexham.

“In extremely difficult times, we have brought a budget in which we hope can be supported by elected members, that keeps
the council safe in vulnerable areas.”

Lead member for environment, Cllr David A Bithell, added: “It could have been a lot worse.

“A standstill budget for schools would have created a significant issue across all our schools
and the potential for redundancies.

“That is not to say there won’t be any but we have done our best to mitigate.”

The revised budget proposals will go before executive board when it meets at the Guildhall on Tuesday at 10am.

If approved, it will then go before full council for final ratification next month.