"IT'S going to be a tough year" is the message from every corner of the political map.

And it's no different in Swansea.

Darren Price, the only Plaid member of the administration, chairs Swansea Council's finance and performance overview and scrutiny committee.

The cross-party group of councillors is responsible for dissecting the council's financial agenda.

Mr Price said: "When the Conservative and Lib Dem UK Government announced its Comprehensive Spending Review last October, the message that came from it was loud and clear — public services are in for a tough time over the next few years.

"In Swansea, it will mean the council is set to receive less funding over the next few years.

"Added to the fact that we have unavoidable extra spending needs in areas such as child and family services and National Insurance costs, it means that Swansea Council needs to find over £16 million in savings in the next financial year alone, increasing to over £40 million by 2014/15.

"Clearly the council is doing all that it can to reduce management, administration and supervision costs, and finding efficiencies in its 'back-office' functions — with a target of finding over £7 million of savings in these areas next year.

"However, you cannot find the kind of savings that the council is looking for without affecting some services.

"I have called for quite some time for the need for the council to prioritise its services from the most important to the least important, and I was pleased that the Swansea Administration started this journey back in October, when it passed its 'statement of principles' for upcoming budgets — clearly stating that it wanted to prioritise direct pupil services (education), vulnerable people (social services) and street scene."

However, Mr Price said he was disappointed the principles and priorities were voted against by the whole of the council's Labour Party and the majority of the Swansea Conservatives.

Mr Price, who sits on the committee with Labour leader David Phillips, called on the opposition to engage in debate.

He added: "What was regrettable at that juncture was the fact that the Labour and the Conservative Opposition Groups not only failed to support those budget priorities, but more disappointingly failed to engage in the debate.

"Clearly, what is a priority for one person will not be a priority for another but at the very least, I would have expected the opposition groups to put forward alternatives or additions to the Swansea administration's suggestion, and had an open and honest discussion on the council's priorities.

"I personally believe that protecting the most vulnerable is a bedrock of any decent society, educating our children is another, and ensuring a clean and safe environment is expected of all local councils.

"Unfortunately, the reality of the UK Government's spending cuts mean that outside of these three priority areas, services will have to be cut.

"Special events budgets, leisure facilities, arts subsidies, sports and recreation subsidies and publicly funded floral displays are all being put forward as savings options for the next financial year.

"These are not areas that anyone wants to see cut, but in a world of limited resources, difficult choices need to be made.

"If, for example, the leader of the Labour group feels that more money should be spent on floral displays or given to arts organisations, as opposed to educating our children or providing social services care to our elderly, then clearly he needs to make those suggestions in an open forum.

"Over the next few weeks, there will be ample opportunity for opposition members to feed into the budget setting process and it is vital that they take that chance. It is simply not good enough to turn up on budget day with an alternative budget written on the back of a fag packet, without giving all members of Council the opportunity to scrutinise those proposals in detail.

"My plea to the opposition leaders is to bring forward possible changes which they would like to see as part of the council's scrutiny process, so that they have a realistic chance of being investigated and implemented.

"The people of Swansea deserve to see their elected councillors engaging in an honest and open debate, with the interests of taxpayers at the very heart of discussions."

helen.keates@swwmedia.co.uk