Savings and new income worth £7.7 million will need to be made if Powys Council is to balance its budget by the end of March 2023.

It forms part of a potential package of over £41 million that the authority needs to save by the end of 2026/27, a meeting of the council's cabinet heard on Tuesday.

Finance portfolio holder Cllr Aled Davies said: “These (cost reductions) will be essential to deliver a balanced budget.

“Assurance must be provided to the council that the budget is robust and the reductions included are deliverable.”

Head of finance Jane Thomas added: “The level of cost reduction required in 2022-23 is again a significant challenge.

“When this is coupled with the ongoing need for improvement and the identification of further potential pressure in some services, a prudent approach must continue to be adopted to support financial stability.”

The report explains that removing “unachievable savings” rolled over from previous years from the budget “adds resilience and robustness” to it.

A total of 62 proposals for savings, cuts and creating income are proposed from across the council departments for next year.

Among them are 22 proposals intended to save more than £5.5million from social services.

That could include £1.5million by bring child placements “closer to home”, which could in turn save £10,000 on staff travelling expenses.

“Converting” five agency staff into council social workers would save £150,000.

Arts and culture services will see its budget cut by £63,000.

An impact assessment looking at the cut explains this means that less people are likely to work in this sector and more young people likely to leave Powys.

In the highways transport and recycling service a review of council car parking fees will take place, with the hope of raising income from car parks by £50,000 in 2022/23 and the same again £50,000 in 2023/24.

The impact assessment says that increasing car parking costs could “reduce” visitor numbers and “deter” Powys residents from going into towns.

But it could help tackle climate change by encouraging people to walk or use other forms of transport.

An extra £75,000 could be made from recycling.

The impact assessment explains that material it collects is eventually sold to re processed.

The assessment says: “The market for materials is relatively strong at present and hence there is confidence that this income can be maintained through best value contracts.”

The budget will be debated at a council meeting on February 24 before being set on March 3.