Carmarthenshire Council faces budget shortfall of up to £22m

The rising cost of inflation, food and energy prices, along with increased global demands for goods and services, means that the council may need to find £22million in the budget.

This, together with legacy costs from the Covid-19 pandemic and much higher pay offers than anticipated when this year’s budget was set, is adding even further burden on the council’s budget. 

As a best-case scenario, the council must find savings of £6.2million, which is more than 50 per cent higher than previously expected - but this figure could even reach £22million.

The council’s Cabinet has agreed to draw up proposals that could achieve these significant savings.

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Councillors and officers will now work together to develop proposals but, unless significant funding is provided by the UK and Welsh governments, the council will propose cutting some of its services.

Carmarthenshire Council will soon be engaging with its residents on their opinions and ideas to achieve these savings before an official consultation will be launched ahead of any final decisions.

This situation is not unique to Carmarthenshire, as all local authorities across Wales are facing big shortfalls in their budgets due to the global economic climate.

Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr Alun Lenny said: “It is essential that the public understand why we are facing this daunting financial situation as a council – a situation unprecedented for many years.

"This course of action is being forced upon all local authorities across the country, as the circumstances that have brought about these significant shortfalls in our budgets are out of our hands.

“Trebling of energy costs, due in part to the war in Ukraine, means that it will cost us, the council, an extra £10million to heat our buildings - which include schools, residential homes and leisure centres.   

“There’s also inflation and its impact on wages. These, and other factors, have left this council with a very challenging budget shortfall of between £6.2million and £22million for the coming financial year.

“As local councils, we have suffered over 10 years of cuts to our funding, year after year. In real terms, in Carmarthenshire, we are over £100million worse off than we were a decade ago.”