Swansea council 'facing £18m funding shortfall'

Swansea council needs to plug an £18m hole in the city's budget for next year

Council tax payers in Swansea are being warned the city faces a £18.3m funding shortfall next year.

Council leaders said almost 40 jobs face the axe - while "substantial additional investment" is needed in education and social services.

The funding gap is despite an extra £17m proposed in next year's Welsh Government settlement.

The council cabinet will meet on 9 January to discuss its draft budget plans for 2020-21.

Council leader Rob Stewart said he welcomed the commitment to additional funding in the block grant it receives from the Welsh Government.

But he added it was not enough to offset "years of UK government austerity".

"It will take a few more years of better funding to undo the damage of austerity cuts," he said.

The UK Treasury announced an additional £600m in funding for Wales in September, with the then Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns describing it as the "biggest ever day-to-day funding settlement for Wales".

The responsibility for how the settlement is spent remains with the Welsh Government, but ministers were urged by Mr Cairns to "focus on delivering public priorities".

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The mounting funding gap facing the council has been blamed on a rise in the demand for council-run services, increases in pay and pension costs, and shortcomings on a previously agreed savings plan.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the draft budget report has suggested 38 council posts are under threat - down from 161 in this financial year.

The authority said it would try to redeploy staff rather than impose compulsory redundancies.

The draft budget report puts forward about 50 proposals aimed at reducing the £18m budget hole, including asking social services departments to find £4m, with a review of mental health and learning disability packages, and changes to senior staff structures.

Fees for bereavement services, building control, trading standards and licensing could also rise.

But Mr Stewart said his team were looking at "setting a council tax level lower this year" - depending on the final funding block grant it received from the government.

Opposition leader Chris Holley said he felt any council tax rise above inflation - currently just below 2% - would "be difficult for the public to absorb this time round".