The leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council has called on the Welsh Government to give greater clarity on the level of future budget cuts to local authorities.
Lesley Griffiths AM, the Minister for Local Government, has written to all Welsh councils indicating that budget settlements for local authorities in 2015/16 and 2016/17 could be much worse than first expected.
She has asked them to plan for budget cuts of up to 4.5%.
Caerphilly Council has been working on a reduction in funding from the Welsh Government of 1.34% for each of the next two financial years.
In the worst-case scenario this could add a further £8.6m of cuts to Caerphilly’s current savings target for 2015/16 and a further £8.1m for 2016/17.
Cllr Keith Reynolds, Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, said: “The potential for this degree of additional cuts means we will need to rethink our current approach and it is clear we will be required to cut harder and deeper in order to deliver these huge savings. I would urge the Welsh Government to provide clarity about the actual budgets reductions as soon as possible so that we can make firm plans for the future.
“The difficulty we face at present is that these are just indications from the Welsh Government and we will not have the true picture about the final budget settlement until later this autumn.
“This uncertainty makes it harder for us to plan ahead, but I’m sure our residents can appreciate that this level of reduction will have a significant impact on our ability to provide services and we will need to reconsider our approach to making savings in light of this worrying announcement.”
Tell us your story
PEOPLE in Wales are being invited to share their experience of the Welsh Ambulance Service – Emergency Medical Services, Patient Care Services and NHS Direct Wales – to make suggestions about how it could improve.
Chief Executive Elwyn Price-Morris said: “We are committed to ensuring that the people of Wales are actively involved in decisions about their care, and that their involvement is at the heart of service planning and delivery.
“Capturing service user experience is important in helping us find out what people think of our service. By including patients and the public in the Trust’s work, it can help to change and improve the way care and services are delivered.”
Patient stories already captured are shared routinely at Board meetings, and organisational learning is shared among colleagues – but the Trust is keen to hear from even more people.
The appeal is being made by the Partners in Healthcare team, whose role it is to engage with service users and stakeholders and educate the public about how to use the service appropriately.
Search for ‘Have Your Say’ at http://www.ambulance.wales.nhs.uk or email Partners in Healthcare at ppi.team@wales.nhs.uk
Alternatively, phone 01792 311773 or write to the Welsh Ambulance Service/NHS Direct Wales, FREEPOST NAT6805, Swansea, SA7 9ZZ.
NHS Direct Wales is a health advice and information service available 24 hours a day, every day, when someone is feeling ill and is unsure what to do.
It became part of the Welsh Ambulance Service in April 2007, and is staffed by nurses who offer confidential advice about health, illness and the NHS.
For more information, visit http://www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk or call NHS Direct Wales 0845 46 47.