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Top officers have warned Caerphilly County Borough Council has “some way to go” to shrink an expected budget gap over the next few years.

Around £15 million in required savings must still be found under the local authority’s ongoing ‘transformation’ programme, despite successive years of cost-cutting.

At a council meeting, on Tuesday July 1, councillors heard the programme has achieved “lots” through restructuring and “difficult decisions”.

“We’re all familiar with austerity… but it goes wider than that,” said Mark Williams, the new executive director of corporate services and regeneration.

He said an ageing population in Caerphilly, combined with a “drop” in working-age residents and an “increase in community expectations” has piled the pressure on the council.

Meanwhile, world events ranging from the war in Ukraine to conflict in the Middle East “ultimately after a while affect us” by pushing up the prices for materials, he added.

The council is seeing “significant price increases in capital projects” due to “inflationary and world economic issues, said Mr Williams, who warned “we can’t carry on as we have been”.

Caerphilly Council launched the ‘transformation’ agenda after forecasting a multimillion-pound budget gap for successive years – brought about because the costs of providing services had risen faster than any increases in central government funding.

Leanne Sykes, the new director of financial services, said Caerphilly Council had made more than £110 million in savings in the past decade, but was still facing a substantial budget gap.

Recent estimates suggest the council will need to find £29 million in savings by April 2028, but Ms Sykes confirmed this could rise by another £7 million if the latest forecasts of budget pressures are realised.

Questions over the size of the council’s reserve funds have proved a regular source of debate in recent years, and Ms Sykes said they currently totalled £177 million.

However, this consists of “£17 million in contingency” and “the rest is either ring-fenced or earmarked for specific purposes”.

“At present there are no uncommitted capital funds, which presents a real challenge,” she added.

Mr Williams reiterated officers’ previous warnings that reserves should be handled carefully.

“If you want, you can use it to top up your budget – but you can only do it once”, he said, adding that continuing with that approach would mean “something has to give in your programme development” for services.