MONEY being spent dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is all being recorded as Powys County Council looks to claw back as much as possible from the Welsh Government.

At the Audit committee meeting, on Thursday, June 4, head of finance Jane Thomas said the authority is submitting claims each month to the Welsh Government’s Covid-19 Hardship Fund.

In May, the council said that it expected to lose £3.35 million a month because of the pandemic.

By the end of this month they estimate that figure could reach £10 million, but the Welsh Government's supplementary budget, passed on May 27, included money to help local authorities deal with their loss of income.

Ms Thomas, said: “The review right at the outset was looking very bleak.

“We now know we’ll get more support for additional costs and are starting to have discussions about how we can claim for loss of income.”

The council had estimated that the loss of income from car parking, licensing, planning fees, cultural venues, leisure centres, sports facilities, bus revenue, and property rents would be  £6.4million by the end of June.

Ms Thomas said: “We are still waiting for details, but being able to get support for our lost income is vital for that revenue budget risk.”

The council’s response to the storms and floods in February had also cost it £1.5milliion, and it is also claiming money back to cover that.

Ms Thomas added: “It is subject to a threshold of £517,000 that we have to meet for the response.

“But we have claimed everything above that for the last financial year.

“We are continuing to make claims for further costs to for the response and the corrective work since then.”

She added that one of the risks to this years budget was not meeting the “cost reductions” or cuts target of £10.7 million for the current financial year.

It had been expected that by the end of June the savings target will be £2.35 million behind schedule.

Any shortfall would need to be funded PCC’s reserves which stand at just over £13million.