The increase in the Draft Local Government Revenue Settlement 2020-21 is welcomed - made possible by the UK Government’s prudent economic management since 2010.
By 2010, the UK budget deficit was the worst in the G20, behind only Ireland and Greece in the EU.
After all if you have a big deficit, someone owns you and sets the terms.
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 cut, 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.
Therefore how does she 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”?
Lo and behold, four of the five authorities to see the largest increase in 2020-21, are Labour-run in South Wales.
The Vale of Glamorgan – previously Conservative-run - has gone from a 0.1-percent decrease this year to a 4.9% 2019-20– 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.
So how does the Minister 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”?
How does the Minister respond to the statement by the Leader of Monmouthshire, that “I am disappointed with this settlement. The UK Government gave sufficient resource to the Welsh Government to do significantly better than this and they have failed local government in Wales again. Furthermore, we yet again see massive distortions in the funding received by some councils in comparison to others. A differential between 3% and 5.4% is ridiculous in current times. Something needs to be done to address this variation.”
How do you respond to the statement by the Leader of Conwy that although better than they hoped for 6 months ago, “I am disappointed that yet again Conwy and North Wales is not receiving its fair share of funding”.
How does she respond to the constituent who wrote asking how Wrexham having the third lowest increase in Wales can be justified, when Wrexham has “three of the four wards with the highest poverty rates in Wales?”
How does she respond 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”?
AND will the Welsh Labour Manifesto for 2021 include the commitment that will be in the Welsh Conservative manifesto to an independent review of the funding formula to ensure that all authorities are provided with a fair settlement which provides the sustainable resources they need.