What is being done to try to secure a better Welsh Government funding settlement for Powys County Council, a senior councillor has asked.

At a meeting of the council’s Health and Care Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, January 28, councillors reviewed draft budget proposals for Social Services in 2026/2027.

Next year, Social Services in Powys could potentially receive £146 million out of a total council budget of £390.5 million, which comes from Welsh Government funding and income from council tax. This represents an 11.2 per cent increase on this year.

Further breakdown shows that Adult Services will receive an uplift of 8.2 per cent, taking their departmental budget up from £103.974 million this year to £112.458 million. Meanwhile, Children’s Services is set to rise from this year’s allocation of £32.597 million to £33.580 million.

The budget papers show that Adult Services are expecting financial pressures next year to the tune of £8.563 million, due to factors including contract provider uplifts, real living wage increases, and the risk of Welsh Government grant funding not materialising. Children’s Services are predicting £1.561 million worth of pressures, mainly due to uncertainty over how many new cases of youngsters needing care will emerge during 2026/2027.

Committee Chairwoman Cllr Amanda Jenner (Conservative – Trewern and Trelystan) said: “It would be interesting to hear about the political work that is going on and how you are trying to fight for more money for Powys. Has the Welsh Government justified their settlement?”

Cllr Ange Williams (Knighton and Beguildy), joint leader of the Powys Independents group, asked whether the Welsh Government really understands the financial pressure Powys and other local authorities are under to deliver legal obligations in areas such as Social Services.

Cllr Williams said: “I’d like to see what they think our budgetary pressures are. They don’t seem to look into how we’re going to pay for it.” She believed that local authority chiefs were being “too nice and polite” in discussions with Welsh Government officials on budgets.

Council Leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod North) said: “We were actually reasonably pleased with the settlement that was achieved. I was doing a lot of work behind the scenes to try and find somebody who would come forward and secure an improved offer for local government, particularly around social care. With my WLGA (Welsh Local Government Association) hat on, we are constantly lobbying to have full funding in this area. Because if we funded this properly from a governmental level, it would mean less pressure on all the other services.”

He added that there was a “huge amount of collaboration” from councils all across Wales and the political spectrum on these issues. “We’re working really hard to get all of the resources we possibly can,” stressed Cllr Berriman.

Director of Corporate Services and s151 officer Jane Thomas added that the chief finance officers (s151) from all across Wales “routinely” send a message to the Welsh Government setting out all the funding issues councils face.

Ms Thomas said: “We are quite clear in setting out challenges. Settlements are not helping us meet those, and very often that is based on the legislative requirements put upon us.”

This year’s Welsh Government budget settlement will see Powys receive an uplift of 4.2 per cent, taking its funding up to £267.568 million, up from £256.751 million, and ranking it 14th of the 22 councils. Settlements ranged from 4.1 per cent to 6.1 per cent, with Newport, Swansea, and Blaenau Gwent councils receiving the biggest percentage increases, while Carmarthen, Ceredigion, and Gwynedd councils came bottom of the pile.