Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

BBC News - Welsh councils borrow £256m due to budget cuts, WLGA estimates Councils across Wales are estimated to have increased borrowing levels by nearly 80% to £256m over the past year. Some of the loans are being used by local authorities to cover shortfalls caused by big cuts in the money they receive from central government. The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) said borrowing is still at a historically low level.

Carmarthenshire is through to the finals of a national competition for providing good affordable housing. The county is on the shortlist of finalists for the Welsh local public services’ award scheme announced at the Welsh Local Government Association Conference for Our Homes - delivering good quality affordable housing. The Awards will be presented at an Efficiency and Innovation Conference in the autumn. The Excellence Wales scheme describes good quality, affordable housing as the bedrock of Carmarthenshire County Council’s communities. The council through its direct intervention and working with the voluntary and private sector, can demonstrate significant improvements including: reducing housing unfitness and disrepair, empty properties, unemployment and long term sickness while economic prospects have improved in renewal areas. There has also been a reduction of domestic CO2 emissions by 11,000 tonnes, saving residents in excess of £1.9m a year on domestic energy costs and the cou...

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 l...