North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has challenged the Welsh Government over its Funding Formula for Local Authorities, raising concern that Flintshire County Council is set to lose out yet again this year.
For years, Mr Isherwood and his Welsh Conservative colleagues have been highlighting the unfair financial impact of the Labour Welsh Government's Local Government Funding Formula on Local Authorities always left near the bottom, including Flintshire, and calling for the Funding Formula to be reviewed.
In today’s Business Statement he raised the matter again, referring to a letter sent to the Welsh Government by the Leader of Flintshire County Council outlining his concerns about the Formula and the impact it will have on the County.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“I call for a Statement from the Local Government Secretary, following the letter sent to her last Thursday by the Leader of Flintshire County Council regarding the Welsh Local Government Provisional Settlement for 2025-26, which states that 'If we were to receive the same amount per capita as one of our neighbouring Councils, we would receive a staggering additional £71 million per annum. This suggests that there are fundamental issues with the current funding formula’ and that ‘our citizens have also told us that they want to see fairer Welsh Government funding for Flintshire’. So, I call for a Statement from the Local Government Secretary accordingly.”
Responding, the Trenydd (Business Manager), Jane Hutt MS said the provisional Local Government Settlement for next year is “highlighting that £6.1 billion would be provided by the Welsh Government in core revenue funding and on-domestic rates to spend on delivering key services, and it equates to an increase of 4.3 per cent of £253 million on a like-for-like basis compared to the current year”.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
“The provisional all-Wales increase may well be 4.3%, but in Flintshire it is a full 1% less.
“As Flintshire Council’s Leader said in his letter, ‘we remain 19th out of 22 Welsh Councils despite being the 6th largest by population’ and as I said in the Welsh Parliament last month, ‘For more than two decades, I’ve been highlighting the unfair financial impact of the Labour Welsh Government’s Local Government Funding Formula on local authorities always left near the bottom, including Flintshire. In March, I raised concern that four North Wales Councils were again among the six receiving the lowest settlements in Wales’.”