A senior councillor has apologised for falling far short of a £10 million target set to raise funds for Powys County Council through the sale of land and assets.

At a meeting of the council's cabinet on Tuesday, April 8, members reviewed a report on the forecast capital budget for 2024/2025, based on figures available at the end of February.

With one month remaining, the report revealed that only £1.02 million had been raised - a sum that includes £280,000 allocated to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which oversees the council's housing stock.

The report said: “It will not be possible to achieve (the) annual target of £10 million capital receipts this financial year due to sales falling through and delays with other sales.”

A further £1.34 million in sales had been agreed but the report explained these are at the “legal stage of the process” and are expected to be completed in the future.

This contrasts sharply with last summer’s capital budget reports, which predicted at least £9.89 million in capital receipts.

Planning and property portfolio holder, Liberal Democrat Cllr Jake Berriman said: “I apologise for not delivering the anticipated capital receipts that we had hoped for.

“I know this has a strain on revenue (budget) and I do wish to double down efforts to ensure that I improve the flow of capital receipts into the organisation.”

Cllr Berriman explained that he had discussed the situation with finance portfolio holder Cllr David Thomas (Labour) to bring forward “monthly rather than quarterly” reports on sales as they “progress” through the system.

Council leader, Cllr James Gibson-Watt thanked him for his comments and the virements approved by cabinet.

Capital receipts can be used to fund council building schemes, but not the day-to-day running of the council.

The issue with the 2024/2025 capital receipts target arose when a major and controversial land deal, worth £5 million, fell through just before Christmas. In September 2023, a decision was made in secret by the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet to sell 218 acres of the council’s farm estate, known as Gwyn’s Barns, located in the village of Leighton, near Welshpool.

The buyers were believed to be Potters, a Welshpool-based waste and recycling firm, who were reportedly willing to offer £5 million for the land. The decision sparked outrage among opposition councillors.

The deal was called in for scrutiny by the Economy, Residents and Communities committee back in October – and despite calls for the meeting to be held in public, the probe took place in secret.

Originally, the council's capital budget for 2024/2025, allocated for building and maintenance projects, was set at £102.5 million.

However, this figure was later revised down to £75.76 million. By the end of February, actual spending stood at £56.288 million.

The report also highlighted that 30 percent of this budget - equivalent to £22.37 million - is funded through borrowing, with the interest payments covered by the council's main revenue budget.