Council could be faced with £40m budget gap

THE leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf council says all members need to be aware of financial pressures facing the authority.

Councillor Andrew Morgan, Labour, made the comments as cabinet considered its medium-term financial plan.

The authority is facing what officers say is a “significant budget gap”, which could be more than £40m over the next three years, and is also expecting a 1% reduction in the latest Welsh Government funding settlement.

Cllr Morgan said all councillors needed to understand the severity of the situation with regards to the revenue budget.

Speaking about the settlement from Welsh Government, Cllr Morgan said: “Anything below a two to three per cent rise is really a cut.”

But Cllr Pauline Jarman, the leader of Plaid Cymru on the council, disputed the claim that opposition councillors had been invited to attend cabinet saying: “We were not invited to attend and make a contribution to the debate.”

She said the best contribution the opposition can make in responding to the plan was to move an amendment to the report in light of a decision to give teachers in Wales a 3.5% pay award from September.

The amendment suggested that the council should be writing to Welsh Government insisting that it underwrites the costs, because of no consequential funding coming from UK Government, by varying their budget allocation so that education benefits at least by the sum needed to meet the increases.

She said: “It is important that other levels of government meet their obligations otherwise councils will be facing Armageddon.”

Cllr Jarman said that Rhondda Cynon Taf council will have to find another £1.5m in September to cover the teachers’ pay rise which hasn’t been budgeted for in the current year.

Cllr Morgan told cabinet members earlier in July: “It is important we have a good discussion and members understand about the implications.

“If we continue with austerity we are not going to fund the services we currently fund.”

He said the council had made a commitment to protecting schools from budget cuts with a minimum increase in their budgets of £1m each year and £2m this year.

But he said he realised this was still not enough to cover costs.

Cllr Maureen Webber, the deputy leader of the authority, said: “We always offer the opposition to come forward with alternatives.

“It is getting more difficult. We have succeeded in protecting frontline services and no compulsory redundancies.

“We would welcome any alternatives from the opposition.”