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

Consultation ends soon on Carmarthenshire’s budget plans for the next three years. People are being urged to have their say in decisions which affect their future, with a number of proposals for changes being put forward for discussion. They include suggestions from a range of areas including day care services, leisure, street cleaning, special educational needs, music service, school meals and educational psychology. The council needs to save £8.8million for the next financial year – 2017-18 – and a total of £24.6million over the next three years. All views gathered from the consultation will be included in the budget report which will go before county councillors for decision in February. In the meantime, extensive consultation has taken place with seminars for county councillors, town and community councils, a public forum, scrutiny committees, schools budget forum, school sixth forms and trade unions meetings. The survey is available online at i-Local , and hard copies are availa...

Leisure centres and theatres in Carmarthenshire could be managed through a partnership with another organisation in a bid to protect vital public services. The county council is exploring innovative options for the facilities and associated services as part of a wide-ranging review aimed at saving money as central government funding reduces year on year, whilst continuing the provision of the services. One of the options being considered is to explore whether there are other organisations, such as charities or trusts, which could deliver these services at less cost. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of pounds could be saved through such a partnership, whilst continuing to provide the services for the public and protecting many of the benefits of working for the authority that current employees value. A full report is now due to go before members of the Community Scrutiny Committee for discussion when they meet on September 14. Their recommendations will go to the Executive B...

Carmarthenshire Council is facing massive budget cuts of around £45million over the next three years. The figure was revealed following the announcement of the Welsh Government’s provisional funding settlement. Carmarthenshire is looking at a reduction in its funding settlement from Welsh Government of 3.3% which is less than recently anticipated, although still considerably more than was originally planned. It was thought that the county was looking at savings of around £30million over the next three years, now it is likely to be £45million. Bosses have warned that hundreds of jobs could go, and some services will be lost as the authority tries to balance its books. Leader Cllr Kevin Madge said: “Although this is a better settlement than we recently anticipated, the situation overall is still very bad news for Welsh local authorities, including Carmarthenshire. “There is no doubt it will have a grave effect on the services we deliver, on the people who work for us and on the county ...