Budget constraints have forced Monmouthshire County Council to find new ways to run services as financial reality bites.

Councillors held talks on Wednesday in which leisure, tourism, culture and youth services came under the scope.

A full business case, offering four alternative routes, will now be made in a bid to streamline the services and make them ‘self-reliant and resilient’ whilst pertaining to the budget.

MCC faces a further shortfall of half a million pounds by 2020/21.

Peter Fox, Leader of the council, said providing services to a rural constituency such as Monmouthshire posed greater challenges than an urban constituency, due to the distance between areas.

This factor is not yet considered when Welsh Government draws up council budgets.

"We have to find other ways to do things in this authority, we are so low funded compared with everywhere else in Wales," said Cllr Fox.

"I was at a rural forum last week of authorities in similar positions, and we’re seeing that it is really difficult to provide services in rural communities and make them sustainable.

"That is a massive pressure and that’s why we’re trying to put a lot of pressure on the Welsh Government to realign their funding to address the pressures we have in rural communities.

"That’s really important for the future of the services which we want to sustain in rural communities.

"We don’t want our communities falling apart, we have to find alternatives,” he said.

Anthony Collins Solicitors will now work independently to come up with ways to cut costs whilst maintaining service standards.

Options include: doing nothing; keeping services in-house; outsourcing services, or setting up an Alternative Delivery Model, which can involve a trust or similar setup.

Councillors and officers said the Full Business case is the ‘first rung on the ladder’, with future decisions likely to impact leisure, fitness, and outdoor education services, as well as countryside services.

That cluster currently employs 441 staff and has generated £17m income over the last four years.

A council report says saving opportunities have run dry, after £1.65m being clipped in recent assessments.