Flintshire Council urges Welsh Government to restore three-year funding plan

Welsh Government must restore its three-year funding estimates if councils like Flintshire are to make longer-term financial plans.

Deputy leader of Flintshire County Council and Cabinet member for Transformation and Assets Cllr Richard Jones raised the issue as a critical Audit Wales report was presented to the authority’s Governance and Audit Committee this week.

It recommended Flintshire County Council set out budget plans for the medium and long term to give assurances it could be financially sustainable in the coming years as it tackles a £37.7m funding gap.

“With the transformation programme in place the committee needs to make sure it is asking those questions,” said Audit Wales’ audit lead Carwyn Rees.

“In three, four, five years time how are officers going to give us those assurances that they will be financially sustainable over the longer term.”

Buckley Bistre East Cllr Jones said that without an indication of medium-term funding from the Welsh Government, such projections were not feasible.

“It’s a very odd situation when Audit Wales are asking us to look into the medium to long-term when Welsh Government can’t even provide us with a three-year estimate of what we are supposed to receive.”

“Most of our money comes from that grant so I find it a bit strange that you’d be pointing that out to local authorites when it’s a Welsh Government issue.

“In the past we’ve had three-year estimates so that we can plan ahead for the medium to long term – our financial plans and strategies were based upon that estimate.

“That’s stopped. We haven’t had that for the last few years. It should be pointed at Welsh Government to put it right.

“Things have changed – there are things like homelessness, out of county placements for children’s services where Welsh Government will change policy but then don’t provide funding to local authorities.

“Those are the pressures we have to try and manage locally. It’s a bit crass to say we are looking at things at the lower end when we get no advice or help from Welsh Government to be able to do that.”

The report – originally compiled in May before Flintshire had begun outlining its transformation programme – found that: “the council’s arrangements do not
provide assurance that it can identify strategic transformation in the short
and medium-term.

“This, combined with its low level of reserves and spiralling costs in some service areas, puts the council’s financial sustainability at serious risk.”

The committee heard that no department or service is being ringfenced or protected as part of the council’s transformation programme.

Committee lay member Allan Rainford asked: “Are all services of the council being included within the transformation process? Is there scope to consider the unthinkable – options or ideas that were previously thought of as taboo?

Chief Executive Neal Cockerton warned that nothing was off the table.

“All portfolios are being reviewed as part of the transformation programme,” said Mr Cockerton. “No stone is going to be left unturned and there will be some difficult things within that programme.

“In Flintshire a consistently low-funded council is a contributary factor in relation to where we are today. That situation is not improving at this point in time.

“What we would like is to understand a three-year settlement position that hasn’t come forward yet.”

By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter