COUNCILLORS are spending more than £100,000 on a cuts manager to help find £20 million in savings between now and 2023.

Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet approved the £104,747 package to fund a project manager over a two-year period as an “invest to save” measure.

They will be tasked with trying to find savings of up to £20m as part of the 2018-2023 Gwynedd Council plan.

Cabinet member Cllr Nia Jeffreys said: “It’s vital that we squeeze every last penny of efficiency savings that we can by being innovative while providing the best possible services for the people of Gwynedd.

“This is a fine example of a one off cost in order to achieve permanent savings.”

According to the report that was presented to Cabinet members, the post holder will also be responsible for setting-up the authority’s new leisure company.

Gwynedd Council currently runs 12 leisure centres – Bala, Bangor, Arfon Leisure and Tennis Centre, two in Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Tywyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Pwllheli, Dolgellau, Barmouth, Bethesda and Penygroes – at a cost of almost £5m a year.

It currently subsidises the service to the tune of almost £1.9m, with around £3.1m being generated through admission and membership fees. But the authority feels that the new company will allow it to make savings of around £585,000 a year – without having an affect on its leisure provision, or staff.

A council spokesperson said: “Less money for local councils in Wales has meant that since 2015 Gwynedd has had to save £6m.

“This work was led by a team of officers who were responsible for delivering projects to save money across council departments.

“This team will be replaced with a single temporary post for two years who will receive an annual salary of between £36,153 and £39,002.

“This officer will lead the work of delivering further council savings of up to £20m.

“This includes leading the work to establish a new company to run the council’s leisure centres, a project expected to deliver annual savings of £585,000.

“If this post did not exist, the council would need to increase staffing levels in a number of individual departments. This would cost the council significantly more.”