Council urged to fix school overspending

CARMARTHENSHIRE

- RICHARD YOULE

Council is well-run but needs to address overspending by schools and its children’s services department, a panel of experts said.The panel comprised current and former council chief executives from outside Carmarthenshire, plus a councillor and former cabinet member from Denbighshire.

They spent around 240 hours talking to Carmarthenshire councillors, senior council officers, headteachers, and business and voluntary groups to assess how efficiently and effectively the council was spending its money, how effectively it was carrying out its responsibilities, and whether effective governance was in place.

The council's net budget this financial year for day-to-day services like social care and bin collection is £524.6m, with the majority of it coming from central government. The Plaid-Independent-led authority hiked council tax by 8.9% - the sixth-highest of Wales's 22 local authorities - to help balance the books as well as approving savings and income-generating measures of £8.1m.