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Council warns of 'difficult decisions' in setting budget


January 19, 2022 - 677 views

Councillors in Conwy county will discuss the provisional settlement in detail next week when Scrutiny Committee members meet to discuss the 2022/23 budget.
 
Speaking ahead of Monday’s Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Brian Cossey, Conwy’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said:

“Since Welsh Government published their funding for local government on 21 December, our Finance Team have been working on the provisional figures to produce a detailed report for councillors to discuss.”
 
“As it currently stands, Conwy will receive a 9.5% increase in funding from Welsh Government. This is certainly a good settlement in comparison with previous years.”
 
Council Leader, Cllr Charlie McCoubrey, said: “This settlement is welcome given the significant pressures we face, particularly in the care sector and supporting our more vulnerable residents.
 
“Nonetheless, we’re currently looking at a resource shortfall of £7.4million, and with the continuing pandemic and its impact on our communities, inflation and interest rate increases, we’ll still need to make some difficult and challenging decisions when setting the 2022/2023 budget.”
 
Conwy’s final settlement is expected to be announced by Welsh Government on 1 March.
 
The Council will meet on 3 March to finalise and agree the budget for 2022/23.