North Wales Assembly Member and Shadow Local Government Minister Mark Isherwood has this afternoon criticised the Welsh Government for its provisional Local Government Settlement announced on December 16, where North Wales has four of the bottom five authorities in terms of funding increases, with Conwy, Wrexham, Flintshire and Anglesey receiving the second, third, fourth and fifth lowest settlements.
Speaking in today’s Debate in the Welsh Parliament on the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget , Mr Isherwood welcomed the increase in the Draft Local Government Revenue Settlement 2020-21, which he stated “has been made possible by the UK Government’s prudent economic management since 2010 – when the UK Budget deficit was the worst in the G20”, but hit out at the fact that once again it is Labour-run Councils in South Wales that will see the biggest increases and North Wales Councils that will suffer most.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“Last month I again challenged the Local Government Minister here over the Welsh Government’s Local Government Funding Formula, noting that under this nine out of 22 Welsh authorities received an increase in the current financial year, with Cardiff up 0.9 per cent and Swansea up 0.5 per cent, but Wrexham down 0.1 per cent and Flintshire down 0.3 per cent, despite all having equivalent population increases.
“Alongside Flintshire, the Councils with the largest cuts of 0.3 per cent included Conwy and Anglesey, although Conwy and Anglesey are amongst the five local authorities in Wales where 30 per cent or more of workers are paid less than the voluntary Living Wage.
“Prosperity levels per head in Anglesey are the lowest in Wales at just under half those in Cardiff, and Conwy Council has the highest proportion of over 65s in Wales at 25 per cent, compared to Cardiff on 13 per cent, which has the smallest.
“It is great that more of us are living longer, but this adds to cost pressures in those Counties with higher populations of older people.
“In her reply, the Minister again stated ‘the splitting up of that pot is done via the democratic processes of the Welsh Local Government Association’ – WLGA.
“How does she therefore respond to the statement made by the WLGA to Wrexham.com that ‘the WLGA does not play a role in deciding the settlement nor does it have full details of the settlement or authorities allocation until it is published’?
He added: “Lo and behold, four of the five authorities to see the largest increase in 2020-21 are Labour-run Councils in South Wales.
“The Vale of Glamorgan – previously Conservative-run - has gone from a 0.1-percent decrease this year to a 4.9% increase in 2020-21 now it is run by Labour.
“However, four of the five bottom authorities in terms of funding increases are again the same authorities in North Wales. Compared with a top increase of 5.4% in Labour run-Newport, Conwy is 21st out of 22 with a 3.4-percent increase, Wrexham 20th with 3.5 percent, Flintshire 19th with 3.7 percent, and Anglesey 18th with 3.8 percent, while Conservative-led Monmouthshire is bottom with a 3-percent increase.
“This massive distortion in funding will disadvantage the worst funded Councils when seeking to tackle the funding pressures recently identified by the WLGA”.
Mr Isherwood went on to ask the Minister to respond to the letter sent to her in October by Flintshire County Council, signed by its Leader and the Leaders of all Groups, which said, 'Flintshire has engaged with Welsh Government to make our case over a series of budget-setting years. We still contend that as a low-funded council per capita under the Local Government Funding Formula we are more exposed than most” – adding “We would welcome a private discussion with you over our case for support”.
He also asked her to respond to the statement by the Leader of Conwy that “I am disappointed that yet again Conwy and North Wales is not receiving its fair share of funding”, and to the statement by the Leader of Wrexham that “I am furious at the settlement from the Welsh Government, it’s a disgrace the way Wrexham is being treated receiving crumbs from the table once again”?
Mr Isherwood concluded by asking whether “the Welsh Labour Manifesto for 2021 will include the commitment that will be in the Welsh Conservative Manifesto to an independent review of the local government Funding Formula to ensure that all local authorities are provided with a fair settlement which provides the sustainable resources they need from the pot available”.
