Powys Council announce job cuts amid £14m funding gap
At least 50 jobs will be lost and cuts will be made to schools and services as Powys County Council attempts to plug a £14 million budget gap.
The authority is set to make a raft of cuts, after it received the joint worst funding deal from the Welsh Government for the ninth time in the last ten years.
Finance cabinet member Aled Davies has announced at least 50 jobs will go, and some teachers and non-teaching staff will be made redundant.
He has also warned that services will need to be cut back, the state of the roads will deteriorate, and there will be a reduction in grant funding to organisations.
Council tax will also rise to help the authority tackle the financial situation, according to the deputy leader.
He said: "Residents will understandably be dismayed that the council is facing another round of service cuts despite cutting its spending by £100 million in that time.
“After a decade of poor budgets we are having to work increasingly hard to identify areas where savings can be made.
"Officers are going through the same process hunting for more ways to raise income, change the way we deliver services to make savings and unfortunately in some areas reduce or close operations.
“We have to look at everything, the buildings we occupy, back office costs and staffing.
"We have been streamlining services where we can to combat sustained severe cuts to our funding. But, after a decade of cuts we have reached a point where something has to give, we can no longer fund the council of the past.
“We must continue to deliver important statutory services such as education and social care however they absorb more than 70% of our £247m annual net budget but we must realise that these services will not be immune from reductions.
“As a consequence of high level of spending on statutory services, discretionary services, which include areas such as arts, culture and libraries, which only have a partial statutory element, face the brunt of service cuts.
"In some parts of the UK some councils are only funding statutory services.”
School budgets, which are already stretched will 'continue to experience financial pressures as a result of the teacher’s pay award and increased superannuation costs'.
Planning, building control, and environmental services will see cut backs, leading to delays in approvals and reduced frequency of inspections.
Car parking charges may be increased and the authority will continue to dispose of its assets.
