Today’s provisional settlement for local government, published by the Welsh Assembly Government, shows that councils’ core revenue grant funding will reduce on average by 1.4% next year, 3.3% in real terms.
Over the three years revenue funding is set to fall by 6.7% in real terms, despite indicative figures for 2012-13 and 2013-14 show small cash increases. Capital funding is set to fall by 14% in 2011-12 with further cuts expected in years two and three.
Cllr John Davies (Pembrokeshire), WLGA Leader said:
“Last week, I supported the budget approach taken by Welsh Ministers and recognised their clear efforts to protect Welsh communities by prioritising frontline services. While today’s settlement reflects that approach, there is no doubt that councils will struggle to bridge the gap between the budget cut and their rising costs and increasing demands for services. It is important that the priority is now given to protecting the most vulnerable in our society, particularly in view of the welfare reforms that will start to be introduced from April next year. With one third of the Welsh workforce employed within the public sector our communities could be hit again.”
“I welcome the recognition in the settlement of social services pressures as well as the protection of schools’ funding. The demonstrable evidence of the Welsh Assembly Government and local government working together on these tough challenges has led to an approach to revenue funding that seeks to minimise the impact of cuts in these core services where demographic and other pressures are putting huge strains on current budgets. We are grateful for the efforts of all Ministers in this respect. The Minister for Social Justice and Local Government has also put in place a funding floor of -1.7% to protect fourteen councils from cuts that would otherwise have been greater as a result of the funding distribution formula.”
“In terms of council tax, authorities are hugely conscious of the impact of the ongoing struggle that people in our communities have to make ends meet in their everyday finances. While there is no money for a freeze in Wales, Councils will do their upmost to bear down on costs and seek efficiencies, showing the same responsibility which last year led to the lowest average council tax rises since its inception in 1993.”
Cllr Rodney Berman (Cardiff), WLGA Finance Spokesperson said:
“Although this is probably as good an outcome as we could have expected in the current climate, it remains the most difficult settlement for local government in many years. We are still awaiting detail on many of our specific revenue grants, many of which support core services. Councils will be particularly concerned about the impact of capital cuts on infrastructure plans, as well as the potential impact on the private sector just as it begins to emerge slowly from the recession as a result of the extensive contracts we have with them.”
For full details of the Welsh Assembly Government’s provisional local government settlement for 2011-12 visit:
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/localgovernment/finandfunding/settlement/lgsettlement101123/provsettlement1112/?lang=en
