North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has today challenged the Finance Minister over the poor funding allocation for Flintshire County Council, and other Councils in North Wales, and called for an independent review into the 22-year-old Local Government Funding Formula.
Speaking in the Chamber during this afternoon’s hybrid meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood, who has long been calling for a fairer system, said the current system penalises Local Authorities in North Wales and has “reached its sell-by-date”.
Raising the issue with the Minister for Finance and Local Government, he said:
“Ever since the current Welsh Local Government Formula was introduced over 20 years ago, Flintshire has received one of the lowest settlements in Wales.
“Speaking here two years ago, I pointed out that four of the five bottom Local Authorities in terms of funding increases were again the same authorities in North Wales, including Flintshire. I pointed out then that Council Tax payers in Flintshire faced an 8.1 per cent Council Tax increase, despite Flintshire Councillors having launched a campaign, #BackTheAsk, highlighting cross-party frustration about the funding they received from the Welsh Government, which led to a large delegation of Cross-party Councillors coming here to lobby Welsh Government Ministers, calling for the funding formula to be reviewed.
“Following your announcement of the provisional settlement for 2022-23 in December, Flintshire's Labour Leader criticised the formula used to calculate how much money it receives to provide services as it struggled to balance its books.
“It's receiving a 9.2 per cent increase, but that still places the County third from bottom out of 22 Welsh Local Authorities in terms of the amount it receives per person in the area, leaving the Council's reserves at one of the lowest levels in Wales and without the cushion other local authorities have.
“So, when will you stop hiding behind the Welsh Local Government Association, when a fairer formula will mean losers as well as winners, and Turkeys don't vote for Christmas - and recognise that a 22-year-old funding formula has reached its sell-by date and needs independent review desperately?”
In her response, the Minister said “the average increase across Wales for the Local Government Settlement next year is 9.4 per cent and Flintshire has a 9.2 per cent increase, so it's not very far off the average.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
“Flintshire is still 14th out of 22 Welsh Local Authorities overall and near bottom per head of population yet again, despite the County having dangerously low levels of reserves after decades spent near the rear of the Welsh Government funding pack. It seems that the Welsh Government is continuing to take the people of Flintshire for granted.”