Powys County Council still needs to cut spending by £7m
Powys County Council still needs to make £7 million of savings this year, members have been warned.
In March £17.56m of savings was agreed by councillors to deal with a 4.6 per cent reduction in funding from the Welsh Government. At the end of the first quarter, they have achieved £10.7m savings – or 61 per cent of the target.
Adult services has only achieved £266,000 of its £2.659m target, highways, transport and recycling and housing have saved half of their totals and regeneration and property has saved £309,000 of the £847,000 needed.
Chief Executive Jeremy Paterson said in a meeting on Tuesday that further savings will be harder to find. He said: "Perhaps for the next budget we need to compare our expenditure patterns with other similar authorities elsewhere and see if we are out of kilter and if we are look to see if our patterns need to be adjusted."
As part of the savings, the face-to-face counter service at the council's Neuadd Maldwyn building on Severn Road, Welshpool, will move to the town's library in Brook Street.
A meeting to scrutinise the council's recent decisions was today being shown live on the internet.
The webcast is part of a pilot project being run by the council to test the public's appetite to see its meetings.
Councillors are to roll out an Additional Licensing Scheme for houses of multiple occupation (HMO). The aim of the scheme is to help ensure that the properties were properly managed, in good repair and meet minimum regulatory standards concerning amenities and fire safety.
