PROPOSALS to start charging for pre-school breakfast clubs have been described as “outrageous” by the leader of the opposition.

Budget proposals to go before Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) this week include a charge of £1 per pupil to attend the before schools clubs held in the county’s schools, which should generate an income of £125,000 for the authority.

Last November a budget shortfall of £482,000 was announced despite another planned council tax increase.

Council tax is set to rise 4.95 per cent again this year.

Also affected by the proposals are the county’s council-run car parks, while the cost of school meals is also set to increase.

The final budget proposals will be discussed by Monmouthshire councillors tomorrow (1st March).

One point of contention in this year’s budget proposals is the cost of school meals, which will increase by an extra 25p per meal in addition to an already-agreed 2.5 per cent annual increase, which will raise £100,000 for the council.

There is also a proposal for a new charge for breakfast clubs, which is hoped will raise £125,000.

According to the report, this proposal is to charge £1 per pupil to attend the before schools clubs held in the county’s schools. These clubs usually run for one hour, the first 30 minutes are childcare and the remaining 30 minutes are for breakfast. The proposal is that if a child attends for the full hour, they will pay £1 for the childcare element. If they attend only for the second 30 minutes there will be no charge.

The report states all children who are entitled to free school meals can attend the whole session with no charge, and highlights that while this will be a cost to the parents, it is still cheaper than other childcare providers.

However, the budget proposals have been criticised by the leader of the Labour Group at MCC, Councillor Dimitri Batrouni.

“We can see a continuing theme in this Tory administration’s budgets for Monmouthshire: cuts or extra charges to services for our children, especially in schools,” said Cllr Batrouni, Councillor for St Christophers in Chepstow.

“Nearly 50 per cent of the new or amended proposals focus on this area.  They have cut millions from our schools to the extent we are predicting 12 schools going into deficit with a combined debt of over £600,000 this year.

“Labelling part of ‘free’ school breakfast clubs and charging parents for childcare is outrageous and goes against the spirit of the policy. They are hammering hard-pressed families in Monmouthshire, while wasting taxpayer’s money on pet projects.

“We know that Monmouthshire has the worst gap in Wales for its poorest pupils getting good GCSEs in comparison to better off pupils.

“We need to support our schools, the teachers and parents, not make their life more difficult.”

The budget proposals also include an increase in charges at Mounton House in Chepstow, which will raise a further £68,000.

This would mean charges for the facility’s residential element would be increased by 25 per cent: increasing from £58,271 to £72,839. The report states the current charges do not cover the costs of running the provision, and explains the new charges would cover the running costs. These charges would be introduced from 1st September.

£100,000 will be raised by the 10 per cent increase of car parking charges - a 7.5 per cent increase in charges above the 2.5 per cent RPI - while the increase of residential permits from £40 to £60 will raise £30,000. Car parks penalties will also increase to £70, discounted to £35 if paid within two weeks, and will raise £9,000.

The budget proposals also suggest reduced opening hours at all civic amenity sites, which will raise £13,000 and a general five per cent reduction on supplies and services which will raise £132,000.