Cash strapped Conwy council could have to make more cuts as it grapples with another budget shortfall.

Council officers have revised the shortfall the council was facing for next year’s budget by another £2 million.

In a bid to save money the council has become the first council in Wales to bring in four weekly bin collections and residents have seen a 5% rise in their council tax.

A meeting of the council’s finance scrutiny committee yesterday heard that the authority could face one of its most difficult budgets yet when it comes to setting it in February.

The financial forecast for  2019/2020 to 2020/2021 indicates an overall

shortfall of £25.2m (£13.262m for 2019/2020 and £12m for 2020/2021).

Andrew Kirkham, Finance Director for Conwy, presented a report on the business planning framework which sets out how councillors will go about setting a budget for next year.

He said: “There is a stark warning about the emerging position for 19/20 as a consequence of some significant pressures that have emerged in recent weeks and indeed in the last two months. Our resource shortfall which we thought was likely to be £13 million is now likely to be potentially £15 million so what that means is that the difficult decisions and the way that you will set a balanced budget in February is probably going to be one of the most difficult years that you and we have prepared.”

He added: “At the moment we will putting our hopes in the Welsh Government to relieve some of the significant pressures that are facing not only Conwy but all local authorities in the United Kingdom and particularly those that are responsible for social services.  So it’s a tough year ahead.”

Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, Cllr Sam Rowlands, said: “The business planning framework is an important piece of work which allows us to plan for a challenging financial situation whilst seeking to ensure we support our priority areas. I support this structure and plan for the months ahead.”