BLEAK FUTURE FOR FINANCES
Promise to protect social services and education as another £8m set to be wiped off council budget
THE LEADER of Anglesey Council has admitted that the financial outlook “looks bleak” with the authority facing savings of around £8m over the next three years.
Highlighting the authority’s huge financial challenges, Cllr Llinos Medi warns that Anglesey may have to find further savings on top of the £18m over the past five years, warning that further council tax rises and rises in fees look likely.
Next Monday will see the council’s Executive consider its Medium Term Financial Plan 2018/19 – 2020/21, with a formal public consultation on the 2018/19 Budget later this year.
The Welsh Government will give councils an idea of how much they have to spend during 2018/19 when its provisional settlement is unveiled in October. The UK Government’s main budget statement will be announced in November, including the budget that the Welsh Government will receive.
Cllr Medi said: “We’re expecting the bleak financial outlook for local government to continue and less funding for 2018/19.
“We expect less funding from Welsh Government, whilst costs will continue to rise as a result of inflation and increasing demands for our services, which will mean a significant financial gap. We’ll have to change the way in which some services are delivered; and there could also be an increase to fees and another above inflation Council Tax increase.
“These are not messages that we want to hear, but this is the stark position Anglesey and every other local authority in Wales is in.
“We will continue to prioritise ser- vices we have a legal duty to provide, like social services and education, but cuts of this scale will, undoubtedly, have an impact on all services we provide to the people of Anglesey.”
According to Cllr Medi, the authority is already working to protect services by exploring different ways of delivering them, either through outsourcing or working in partnership with town and community councils, social enterprises, third sector and local communities.
The Welsh Government’s budget for 2017/18 was £14.6bn with around £7bn (48%) allocated to Health and £4.3bn (30%) being allocated to Local Government. Since 2009/10 funding on the Health Service in Wales has increased by 16% whilst funding for local government has fallen by 18%. Finance portfolio holder, Cllr John Griffith, added: “We’ll push hard for the best deal possible for council services through the Welsh Local Government Association but, in all honesty, we’re expecting a further cut to the funding we get from Welsh Government. “We’ll have to make the best possible use out of the funding we do get; and there will be an important role for the people of Anglesey to play in deciding what we prioritise. It’s vital that they have their say on our 2018/19 Budget proposals when the public consultation is held later this year.”