Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, has again called for the Welsh Government to change the funding formula which it uses to resource local authorities in Wales because it does not properly factor in the challenges of delivering services in rural areas.
Mr George made the comments during questions to the Local Government Minister, Lesley Griffiths AM. The AM highlighted the fact that Powys County Council again faired badly with its allocation for 2014-15 with a 4.6per cent cut in funding – jointly the largest in Wales and well above the Welsh average cut of 3.5per cent.
He also raised the point that funding cuts disproportionately affected local authorities that were non-Labour councils, with the ten least effected authorities all in areas represented by Labour AMs, including Wrexham, which is held by Mrs Griffiths herself. Mr George said that as the ultimate decision to set the formula lay with the Welsh Government, she had a ministerial duty to step in and do something about it.
The Welsh Government agreed a deal with Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru on 8th October to ensure their budget is passed in the Senedd.
Commenting, Mr George said:
“Artists will know when you mixed Red, Green and Yellow together you get black and that’s exactly the situation that local government in Wales is facing with this settlement.
“A deal concocted by Labour, the Liberals and Plaid, has ensured that Powys is once again on the end of a financial hiding.
“For the seventh year in the row it has received the worst settlement across Welsh local government and with this year’s £9m cut coupled with increased service pressures means that Powys will have a funding deficit of about £20m for 2014-15.
“However, it’s no surprise that of the 10 least affected local authorities, 8 are Labour-run councils in urban and valley areas in South Wales and all of them are represented by Labour AMs.
“The funding formula simply has to change.
“While the formula is agreed by Councils across Wales, in that they collectively agree and submit proposals annually, those proposals have to be signed off by the Welsh Government and the Minister is therefore ultimately responsible.
“Also with over half of the local authorities in Wales being run by the Labour Party, clearly turkeys are not going to vote for Christmas, so I believe she has a ministerial duty to step in to ensure rural areas are properly resourced.”
