Powys County Council's budget black hole value queried

HOW big a funding gap Powys County Council is expected to fill with cuts and savings over the next four to fove years varies by over £20 million – a councllor has pointed out.
Calls were made to clarify the figures that the council is using to explain their predicted financial black hole during a joint meeting of all of the council's scrutiny committee's on Wednesday, June 11.
At the meeting, councillors looked at the council's draft Corporate and Equalities Strategic Plan which has been updated from the version that was agreed earlier this year.
The plan sets out the council's well-being objectives, and what action they need to take to deliver them up the next local election in 2027.
All the departmental strategies, action and business plans are linked by a 'golden thread' into this document which encompasses them all.
This plan is supposed to keep track of how the council is performing against the three objectives of the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet's Stronger Fairer, Greener agenda.
Cllr Gareth E Jones (Powys Independents) highlighted the problem and said: 'If you go to the leader and deputy leader's introduction (to the document) there's a statement there that the funding gap is £60 million but on the MTFS (Medium Term Financial Strategy) the funding gap on those assumptions is shown as £39.1 million.
'I think they two figures need to be the same for consistency.'
Director of corporate services and section 151 officer, Jane Thomas replied: 'We can and will amend that to the latest figure, it should reflect what was approved in council back in February.
'We will see the gap change quite often now as we go through the years and we develop our five year plans.'
Making sure that the figure changes forms one of the recommendations made by councillors at the meeting – which will be added to the report when it goes before cabinet at a later date.
Another recommendation by councillors is that members of the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet should attend the joint scrutiny meeting to explain and if needed defend the council's performance.
Cllr Jones said: 'It was very disappointing about the number of cabinet members that were present today, we should have a recommendation at future meetings that they have more presence.
'This is the council's performance document ,officers develop the plan but cabinet member sign it off.'
Learning and skills committee chairman who chaired the joint-scrutiny meeting, Cllr Gwynfor Thomas (Conservative) said: 'I'm happy to do that as they (cabinet members) are the line holders and are responsible for the different measures and things.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The National

31 minutes ago

• The National

Scottish Labour MSPs missing more Holyrood votes than Tories and SNP

In recent weeks, the number of Labour MSPs failing to vote on motions in the Scottish Parliament has increased, leading to concerns that their absence could be "changing the result of the votes". Last Wednesday for example – the most recent day of voting at the time of writing – 39% of Labour MSPs (nine members) did not vote in the chamber, compared with 6.7% of Tory MSPs (two members) and 1.6% of SNP (one member). The National analysed all the main votes which have taken place so far in June, excluding amendments, and found that among the three main parties, Labour consistently had the highest percentage of absent MSPs, with the Tories following not far behind, while the SNP had the highest turnout. READ MORE: Labour blasted as 'deeply authoritarian' over plans to proscribe Palestine Action Between June 1 and 19, an average of 20.1% of Labour MSPs failed to vote in motions, compared to 14% Tory and 6.6% SNP. Of the 10 votes that took place in that time, there were only four instances where turnout for both Labour and the Tories was higher than 90%. Meanwhile, the SNP turnout was above 90% in all of these votes. Scottish Labour had a higher turnout when it came to their own motions, such as their Planning motion on June 11, which was missed by one MSP, and their motion on Scotland's medical and nursing workforce crisis also on June 11, which all Labour MSPs voted on. More Labour MSPs tended to turn up when it came to voting on bills. At the Scottish Languages Bill debate on June 17, 17.4% of Labour MSPs did not vote, compared with 20% Tory and 8.2% SNP. And at the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill on June 10, 8.7% of Labour MSPs were absent, while the Tories had double, at 16.67%, and the SNP had 6.6%. But when these figures are compared with the start of the year, it shows a significant drop in attendance from Labour MSPs. READ MORE: Presiding Officer to step down at Holyrood election The National found that in January, an average of 7.9% of Labour MSPs failed to vote, compared with 9.1% Tory and 6.6% SNP. And in February, the average number of MSPs missing votes stood at 15% Labour, 10.1% Tory and 6.2% SNP. When looking at the smaller parties, the Greens and LibDems – which have seven and five MSPs respectively – were much more likely to show up to votes. In fact, since the beginning of this year, the Scottish Greens have had a full turnout at 86.9% of votes (53 out of 61 votes), while the LibDems had 65.6% (40 votes). In the instances where full turnout was not recorded, this was down to a maximum of two MSPs not voting. READ MORE: Scottish civil service reaches 'record' size, figures show There is one Alba MSP (Ash Regan) and one Independent MSP (John Mason), who turned up to 75.4% (46 votes) and 100% of votes respectively. For parties with higher numbers of MSPs, it is more difficult to achieve a full turnout. The SNP, which have 60 MSPs, recorded a full turnout at just two votes (3.3%) – the Assisted Dying Bill on May 13 and an SNP motion on Scotland's Hydrogen Future on May 1. The only instance where every single Tory MSP (of which there are 30) took part in a vote was for the Assisted Dying Bill (1.6% of the total number of votes), while Labour (which have 23 MSPs) saw a full turnout at four votes (6.6%) – but three of those were motions submitted by Labour, while the fourth was for the Assisted Dying Bill. While it is expected that MSPs will not be able to make every single vote, such as due to illness or maternity leave, there are proxy voting arrangements in place which mean that the absence would not affect the overall result of a vote. Commenting on the figures, Greens MSP Ross Greer – who has voted in every motion analysed by The National – said that "if Labour MSPs don't want to do the jobs they were elected to, they should resign". He added that the proxy voting arrangements mean "there is no excuse for almost half of the Labour group casting no vote at all" in some cases. Ross Greer MSP"That is bad enough on ordinary motions, but it is totally unacceptable when we are deciding on the laws of this country," he said. Greer added that "it is a privilege to serve Scotland in Parliament", and that turning up to vote is "the bare minimum" that voters expect of those they elect. READ MORE: SNP the only pro-indy party not to sign pledge condemning Gaza genocide He continued: "This isn't a one off. The attendance of Labour and Tory MSPs has been shocking for years. "It has absolutely changed the result of votes and therefore meant that Scotland's laws are different than they otherwise would have been if everyone elected by the public had actually turned up to do their job." Commenting, SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson said: "The fact Labour and Tory MSPs are increasingly failing to turn up to Parliament shows that Scotland is always an afterthought for the unionist parties. "SNP MSPs have the best attendance rate of any party – we are in Parliament every day, standing up for our constituents – while Labour and the Tories are nowhere to be seen when it matters most." Scottish Labour did not respond when approached for comment.

South Wales Argus

an hour ago

• South Wales Argus

Monmouthshire Council considers sports and play facilities

Monmouthshire County Council has produced an action plan and assessment of playgrounds, parks and public areas known as a 'play sufficiency assessment' to give an overview of opportunities to play outdoors. The council also has £182,619 available this financial year, from a £5 million funding pot agreed between the Welsh Government and local authorities, to improve the quality of play spaces, refurbish playgrounds and support the creation of accessible play spaces and opportunities for children. How the funding is spent in Monmouthshire is due to be determined by the council's Labour-led cabinet while members of the people scrutiny committee discussed the play report at their June meeting. Llanelly Hill independent Simon Howarth said more sporting facilities are needed in the north of the county such as a 'three G, four G or whatever five G pitch'. He said: 'In the winter a lot of children can't do sport and do not have the facilities up here. 'It's virtually impossible in this part of the county. Hockey, football, rugby you name any sport in the winter, in rural locations, it becomes virtually impossible.' Cllr Howarth said he was also concerned some children prefer to 'go up to their bedroom and go on the telephone or computer' but said that is expensive and not all are able to afford such items. READ MORE: ALN sessions at Newport splash park face offensive comments Conservative councillor for Goytre, Jan Butler, asked if the council's play service could run some play sessions in its park, which has been revamped with funding from the community council. Cllr Butler said when the park was upgraded, using money as a result of a housing development, the local council had also been mindful to include older children which she called in the 'awkward' ages of 10 through to 12. She said: 'A survey was done and it showed we were missing out on the 10-12 age group, the equipment we've got in now is suitable and they've come back in.' Play manager Becky Hall said holiday activity days are dependent on funding, with staffing a significant cost, but said she could contact the council in Goytre for further discussion. It was also noted the quality of play areas are about more than equipment and could also include access to nature and open space with accessibility also an important factor.

Daily Record

an hour ago

• Daily Record

Banning strangling in porn will help tackle violence against women, says Scots MP

EXCLUSIVE: Joani Reid said online videos are "influencing real-world behaviour" and hailed the UK Government's decision as "a step in the right direction." Banning strangling in pornography will help tackle violence against women, a Scots MP has said. Joani Reid said online videos are "influencing real-world behaviour" and hailed the UK Government's decision as "a step in the right direction." ‌ Last week the Labour Government announced it would outlaw "the depiction of strangulation in pornography" as part of its Crime and Policing Bill. ‌ East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Reid said the ban would "stop the normalisation of violence through pornography." violence against women should never be entertainment. "We now have clear evidence that violent and degrading pornography is influencing real-world behaviour. "Non-fatal strangulation is a serious and dangerous offence yet, until now, online platforms have been free to promote and profit from its depiction as a form of sexual gratification. That's indefensible. "This isn't about being prudish or anti-sex. It's about protecting women and girls from harm and stopping the normalisation of violence through pornography. For too long online platforms have operated without scrutiny, spreading extreme content with no accountability. "If we are serious about tackling violence against women we can't ignore the role the online world plays in shaping attitudes and behaviour. The decision is a big step in the right direction but there's much more to do.' ‌ It is already a criminal offence to possess porn depicting life-threatening acts, such as graphic strangulation. But the Government will tighten up the law to now criminalise the depiction of strangulation completely. A ban had been campaigned for by group of Labour MPs who had backed an amendment to the Crime and Policing bill. These included seven Scots MPs: Reid, Katrina Murray, Tracy Gilbert, Patricia Ferguson, Johanna Baxter, Kirsteen Sullivan and Richard Baker. ‌ The UK Government announcement follows the Independent Porn Review, which was conducted by Tory peer Gabby Bertin. The review found that pornography has effectively established strangulation during sex as a 'sexual norm'. ‌ It also found that pornography has helped cause a belief that strangling a partner during sex is 'safe' because it is believed to be non-fatal. This is despite overwhelming evidence that is is believed there is no safe way to strangle a person. UK Minister for Victims and tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Alex Davies-Jones said: "Depicting strangulation during sex is not only dangerous, but also degrading, with real life consequences for women. "Cracking down on the appalling rise of strangulation pornography will protect women and send a clear signal to men and boys that misogyny will not be tolerated." This pledge by the Labour Government is part of its vow to halve violence against women and girls during its time in office.