Carmarthenshire gets recession boost
Carmarthenshire is one of the best placed counties in Wales to weather the recession – according to the Welsh Local Government Association.
Steve Thomas, chief executive of the WLGA, gave a hard-hitting presentation on tackling the crisis for local government funding to this week’s meeting of the full county council.
Mr Thomas said: “We are in this mess for a number of reasons, not least because of our friends in the banking industry. You know what the issues are. You have budgets to set and the blame game is not going to help you. Difficult choices, whoever is to blame, are still there.”
He warned of a possible reduction of £2.2 billion by 2014 to the Assembly’s budget, with capital spending decimated.
The Assembly would have to take some strategic decisions and if areas such as health were protected, more of the cuts would fall on local government. If schools and the police were protected, there would be a greater impact on other council services. Councils would have to consider no longer providing some services.
Mr Thomas also pointed out that there were increasing pressures coming in adult social care as by 2026 one in five people will be 65 or over and the number over-85 will have increased by two-thirds.
There was no pay offer for the workforce this year and might not be one next year. There was a bearing down on public sector pay.
WLGA director of resources Vanessa Phillips said that local authorities would have to work more closely with other organisations such as health trusts to avoid duplication where each sent a member of staff separately to do work which could have been done by just one member of staff.
Carmarthenshire Chief Executive Mark James said the county council was already making £7m efficiency savings this year with £4m of it being put back into social care for the elderly and children’s services primarily.
“We have looked three years hence, and are looking at between £25-28m in savings at the moment.”
Mr Thomas said that Carmarthenshire was in a better position than many other councils.
“Carmarthenshire is tightly financially managed. There will be other local authorities in a much more difficult position,” he said.
Steve Thomas, chief executive of the WLGA, gave a hard-hitting presentation on tackling the crisis for local government funding to this week’s meeting of the full county council.
Mr Thomas said: “We are in this mess for a number of reasons, not least because of our friends in the banking industry. You know what the issues are. You have budgets to set and the blame game is not going to help you. Difficult choices, whoever is to blame, are still there.”
He warned of a possible reduction of £2.2 billion by 2014 to the Assembly’s budget, with capital spending decimated.
The Assembly would have to take some strategic decisions and if areas such as health were protected, more of the cuts would fall on local government. If schools and the police were protected, there would be a greater impact on other council services. Councils would have to consider no longer providing some services.
Mr Thomas also pointed out that there were increasing pressures coming in adult social care as by 2026 one in five people will be 65 or over and the number over-85 will have increased by two-thirds.
There was no pay offer for the workforce this year and might not be one next year. There was a bearing down on public sector pay.
WLGA director of resources Vanessa Phillips said that local authorities would have to work more closely with other organisations such as health trusts to avoid duplication where each sent a member of staff separately to do work which could have been done by just one member of staff.
Carmarthenshire Chief Executive Mark James said the county council was already making £7m efficiency savings this year with £4m of it being put back into social care for the elderly and children’s services primarily.
“We have looked three years hence, and are looking at between £25-28m in savings at the moment.”
Mr Thomas said that Carmarthenshire was in a better position than many other councils.
“Carmarthenshire is tightly financially managed. There will be other local authorities in a much more difficult position,” he said.
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