GWENT Archives is facing a “financial crisis” if changes to its services are not made, a meeting has heard.

The Ebbw Vale-based archive is facing a “period of continued financial austerity”, a report says.

All five Gwent authorities have a hand in the service, with a joint committee meeting on Friday to receive an update on the service’s future.

And county archivist Tony Hopkins suggested at the meeting that a “hard-nosed” approach was needed to steer it in the right direction.

“We want to be as welcoming as possible, but we do need to start looking at changes. People need to know that we have financial pressures,” he said.

“There is a financial crisis looming unless we do something about it.”

When the archives moved to its new premises from Cwmbran’s County Hall it was faced with business rates more than double what was expected, the meeting heard.

Early discussions have been held with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council to reduce premises costs, which will at present swallow up £486,490 of this year’s budget.

Following a £7,000 overspend last year, the service is also facing a real-terms cut this year and will have to draw £58,000 from its reserves to balance the budget.

One income-generating proposal – to increase fees and charges – was approved by the committee of Newport, Monmouthshire, Torfaen, and Blaenau Gwent councillors this week.

It will be the first time that fees for onsite printouts, postal order photographs, and search services have risen since March 2016.

Other proposals include increasing storage space, paid events, online advertising, a subscription service for records not publicly available and greater grant income.

Despite the strain, the service has enjoyed a busy year having worked with 1,079 young visitors in 2017/18 – exceeding its target of 500.

Much of the success has been credited to the Sharing Private O’Brien project, which shared the letters written by a Newport soldier during the First World War.

While adult learner figures were quiet in the last quarter, the archives still managed to engage with 877 last year – 177 more than its target.

But Gwent Archives’ online presence remains a point of contention due to the quality of service provided by SRS, through Blaenau Gwent council, it was also said.

Staff were left frustrated after they were unable to lodge a bid for historical documents when the website for an online auction was blocked.

“The Learning Network is not fit for purpose and our website is in urgent need of improvement,” the report adds.

An updated report, which will propose more increased fees and charges, will be presented to the committee in June.