Early concerns over new Powys health board budget

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Just a month into the 2026/2027 financial year and alarm bells are ringing over Powys Teaching Health Board’s (PTHB) budget position.

At a PTHB board meeting yesterday (Wednesday), members were provided with an update from the first month of the new financial year which shows that, at the end of April, the health board had a £5.42 million deficit which is £1.703m over the planned £3.72m.

The health board agreed a budget annual plan back in March for a £44.64m deficit which has been submitted to the Welsh Government.

Finance Director, Pete Hopgood, told members that it was just a summary position at the moment and that the plan was “unsupported” as it hasn’t been signed off by the Welsh Government yet.

Mr Hopgood said: “We will be monitoring our financial performance against that plan which includes a savings target of £22.9m.

“Our latest savings forecast is that we are circa 70% to delivering our target which is circa £16 million of the £22.9m. That means that there’s plans and actions in place.

“But we need to ensure there is ongoing focus around delivery of those plans to close that gap and how it underpins the overall financial plan.

He added that the underlying financial deficit would be included in future reports as the year progressed.

A Financial Recovery Board has been set up to help PTHB’s work towards balancing their budget and Mr Hopgood said this board was helping “strengthen attention and focus on delivering savings”.

Independent Member for Finance, Steve Elliot, said: “It is a concern to be £1.7m above our forecast deficit position at this point. I appreciate it’s early in the year.”

He explained that a “straight line extrapolation” of the £1.7m could see the figure rise to £20m above the planned deficit position by the end of the year.

Mr Elliot said: “Which is of significant concern. Presumably there are other operational costs that are feeding into that position – are they also being considered by the Finance Recovery Board?’

Mr Hopgood replied that the focus would be on “areas of uncertainty” which would lead to taking “remedial action” where needed.

“More detail and information will be provided as we report future months,” said Mr Hopgood.

The report was unanimously approved by board members.