Powys balances the books - nearly

Powys County Council delivered a near balanced budget for the last financial year despite huge financial pressure, the Cabinet has been told.

The council had a £561k overspend for the financial year 2016/17 which ended on March 31. The deficit, which followed savings during the year, represents less than 0.5 per cent of the council’s net spend for the year.

The £0.56 million deficit is an improvement from the £3.7m overspend projected in February. There has been tighter financial control, which has helped reduce Adult Social Care’s over expenditure to £3.4 million.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Aled Davies said: “I am pleased that the end of year financial position statement shows an improvement on the position predicted just three months ago.

“This is thanks to the hard work of officers and council members working together across the council, and the corrective action of the Chief Executive’s Budget Recovery Plan which is starting to take effect.

“I am also pleased that the council ended the financial year using less of its financial reserves than was forecasted in the autumn. The council had a general financial reserve of £8.7m at the end of March which is above the three per cent level for the authority but within recommended acceptable levels.

“However, there remains much to do, the council did not deliver all of the planned savings for 2016/17, and the remaining £2.5 million planned savings must be delivered this year. 

“While the overall budget position is almost on target, concerns remain over schools delegated budgets and, despite recent improvement, our main area of concern remains Adult Social Care within the People Directorate. This is one of the council’s biggest spending areas, and shows a significant £3.1m overspend on a £73m annual budget.

“The other directorates showed balanced budgets or small surpluses,” he added.