Pembrokeshire County Council faces a cut of 1.7 per cent in its grant for the next financial year, it was revealed this week.

Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant announced on Tuesday that the county council would receive £160 million in core funding from the Welsh Assembly Government in 2011-12 to support local services.

This was equivalent to £1,339 for every man, woman and child living in the area. In addition to this, £7.4 million would be available to support capital projects in Pembrokeshire.

However, in a statement issued in response to the announcement, the council pointed out that the figure actually equated to a reduction of £3m in grant.

Clr. John Davies, leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, said: "This is a very serious challenge and as a council we now face some tough choices ahead.

"The Welsh Assembly Government has partly protected education and social services - and we understand the reasons for this - but it does mean that there will be significant pressure on all the other services we provide.

"The reduction is an actual cut in cash terms on top of which we also have to face inflationary pressures as we pay more for goods and services. We have been prepared for tough times ahead, but there is no doubt that we, as all other local authorities, will have to make some difficult choices.

"While we continue to bear down on costs and seek efficiency savings, our priority will be to protect the most vulnerable in our community, particularly in view of the welfare reforms that will start to be introduced from April next year.

"In terms of council tax, authorities are hugely conscious of the impact of the ongoing struggle that people in our communities have to make to make ends meet in their everyday finances.

"Pembrokeshire has had the lowest Council Tax in Wales for the last six years and we shall be doing all we can to ensure that remains the case."