COUNCIL tax increases alone cannot replace funding lost to Powys under national economic changes, the county council has said as part of the budget debate.

The council has just ended a consultation exercise which asked the public for views on how it should reduce its spending by £27m over the next three financial years.

Leader of the council, Cllr Barry Thomas said: “During the consultation we received a great deal of very positive feedback, but were also asked by many residents why the council tax increase of four per cent that we approved earlier this year was not enough to balance the four per cent cut in government support and why we are still looking for savings.

“The council receives its funding from three main sources: two controlled by the Welsh Government – the revenue support grant and funding from business rates – and the third the money raised locally through council tax.”

Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Wynne Jones, said: “Although local government finance is complex, the answer is quite straightforward - it is the relative size of the funding pots that makes the difference.

“Since government funding makes up the vast majority of our budget, a four per cent cut in their side is much larger than the four per cent on our side.

“We would have to increase council tax by around 24 per cent to offset national spending changes, something that is not acceptable. As a consequence, the council will have to continue looking for savings reductions across all council budgets for the foreseeable future."

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