Council must save millions, says member

Powys County Council is facing one of its most difficult budgets ever, with millions of pounds in savings having to be made rather than thousands, councillors have been warned.

Councillor Gwilym Vaughan told the council's Montgomeryshire Committee the news yesterday.

He said: "We are starting on the budget process now and this year it won't be just a matter of tinkering around the edges, it will mean substantial savings. It could be one of the most difficult budgets we have ever had."

Councillor Vaughan said even though the budget settlement from the Assembly this year had been "quite good" it had been difficult enough to find savings of a few thousands pounds, but, he warned, it would be much more difficult next year.

"Next year we are talking about savings of millions of pounds and we won't solve anything by saving a few thousand pounds from here and there," he said.

Councillor Beryl Vaughan said the first thing that should be looked at was council staffing.

"Staffing is where the big budget is and I think we have to look at staffing levels in each section," she said.

A suggestion was also put forward that with the increase in recycling in the county, the weekly refuse collection could be changed to once a fortnight.

Councillors also discussed whether planned efficiency savings had been carried through this year and plans to close public toilets measure that had been in the pipeline since 2001.

Councillor Joy Shearer said it was not just a case of closing toilets, they had to be brought up to EU standards.

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