GWYNEDD Council faces a budget cut of nearly £3 million according to figures released by the Welsh Government today.

Gwynedd will receive receive £166.9m from the Welsh Government in 2016-17, nearly 2% less than it received for the current financial term (1.7%).

In an announcement on Wednesday afternoon, Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews laid out his plans for the forthcoming year which saw Gwynedd receive a larger cut than most of the other local authorities in Wales.

Hardest hit will be Ceredigion and Powys Council.Ceredigion will see its budget cut by 3.4% and Powys will have to operate with a 4.1% decrease in funding.

Nationally the 22 local authorities in Wales will receive more than £4billion, which includes £35m to continue the Welsh Government’s commitment to prioritise schools funding.

An extra £21m is included for social services across Wales.

Announcing the provisional Revenue Support Grant (RSG), Leighton Andrews said: “This is a considerably better settlement than Local Government was expecting and is good news for local services in Wales.

“We have protected the funding for Local Government in Wales over the course of this Assembly term.

“In setting council tax levels for 2016-17, I urge Local authorities to think seriously about the funding challenges they face and to balance this with a consideration of the financial burden on households.”