COUNCIL mergers in Wales could cost £269m a report has revealed today.

The study, by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), was undertaken in the wake of the Williams Report which recommended that the number of councils be reduced from 22 to between 10 and 12 by 2017/18.

Earmarked to merge in the review are Newport and Monmouthshire also Torfaen with Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent.

The report found that personnel and redundancy costs could come to £158m, the rationalisation of property, systems and other change management costs of up to £54m, as well as £57m of income that will be lost due to council tax harmonisation.

The authors say these costs may be offset by savings of £65m over three years. Although they warn those savings “will have to be assessed in the context of continuing austerity into the next UK Parliament.”

They said that not all costs could be anticipated at this stage.

Flintshire councillor Aaron Shotton of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) one of bodies who commissioned the report said: “Over the next three years alone, local government will be absorbing budget shortfalls of around £900m and I hope policy-makers and politicians alike will reflect on this piece of work and begin to address the many questions that arise from it.”