A LATE funding boost is likely to secure the future of the county’s libraries and theatres – for the next year at least. Denbighshire’s full council met last Tuesday to discuss budget cuts and agreed to keep any council tax rise to a maximum of 3.32%. However, plans to cut library opening hours and slash contributions to Llangollen and Rhyl’s pavilion theatres look set to be put on hold after news filtered through of a £248,000 funding boost from the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI) scheme. All other proposals for the coming year were agreed, including an additional £1.75 million for the authority’s under-fire education service. However, councillors were warned that the picture will only get bleaker in future years due to poor settlements from the Welsh Assembly Government. In 2009-10, the county will receive a below-inflation increase in its settlement of 2%, compared to a Welsh average of 2.5%. Indicative figures show that the year after, the authority will get a rise of 2.3%, compared to a Welsh average of 3.2%. Councillor Paul Marfleet said: "This is a very difficult situation and it’s not going to get any easier. Every time I think about this I get cross because we have been driven to this by the Welsh Assembly." Proposals had been put forward to close a number of libraries on Wednesday mornings and cut funding to Rhyl Pavilion by £40,000. But with nearly a quarter of a million pounds on the way to the county through the Assembly- run LABGI programme, the plans look set to be scrapped at the full council’s final budget meeting on Tuesday. Cllr Rhiannon Hughes claimed more forward planning was needed in future to safeguard culture across the county. "The easiest thing would be to close our facilities but in Denbighshire tourism is our cultural driver," she said. "It brings in jobs and wealth and I think we need to look at it in the future and do it in a planned way. "I think we need to put investment into moving these organisations forward. We have to be imaginative given we don’t have industry in Denbighshire." Council leader Hugh Evans said that a number of difficult decisions had been taken – but the situation was only going to get more difficult in years to come. "We should be pleased that we have been able to provide a budget that responds to key financial challenges," he said. "There are some efficiencies identified that are very difficult to deal with but we have to deal with them. "We are seen as an authority that is afraid to take tough decisions but tough decisions are coming around. But this year is going to be one of the easier years." | 
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