Wales’ Finance Minister writes ‘load of words’ that doesn’t answer why Flintshire Council is poorly funded, says MP

A local MP’s plea to the Welsh Government’s Finance Minister, Rebecca Evans, for equitable funding for Flintshire was met with a response that left more questions than answers.

According to Delyn MP Rob Roberts, Ms Evans’s response was just a “load of words that didn’t answer any of the questions.”

The MP has slammed the Minister’s reply for being filled with content that failed to directly address the concerns raised.

The heart of the dispute lies in the funding formula used by the Welsh Government, which, according to Mr Roberts, unfairly disadvantages Flintshire in favour of other areas like Gower, the Rhondda, and Merthyr Tydfil.

This formula, the MP argues, results in Flintshire residents shouldering a disproportionate burden through higher council tax rates.

In December, the Welsh Government announced its provisional budget settlement, which will see core revenue funding for local government increase by 3.1%. However, Flintshire will receive only 2.2%, the third lowest in Wales.

As a result, council officials said they were facing a £14.5m shortfall in the budget due to an increased demand for services.

As well as a 9% council tax increase effective from April, measures agreed to plug the financial gap include a £3.3m school budget reduction.

Since 2008, Flintshire County Council has been forced to cut spending by £110 million, highlighting a prolonged period of financial austerity for the council.

Per capita, Flintshire ranks 20th out of 22 councils in Wales in terms of funding received to deliver services, receiving £159 less per person than the Welsh average.

This discrepancy has significant implications; if Flintshire were funded at the national average, it would be approximately £24 million better off, dramatically altering the council’s financial landscape.

The letter from Ms. Evans, which Mr Roberts posted on social media can be viewed below; however we asked AI to interpret the letter for the ‘average person on the street,’ and the following is the result:

“Thanks for your letter about the money Flintshire County Council is getting. Basically, the cash we have to support local areas in Wales depends a lot on what the UK Government decides to spend on public services and the overall money situation. Unfortunately, we’re not getting enough to cover everything we’d like to do in Welsh public services. We’re also stuck with rules on how much we can borrow or use from our savings, making it tough to plan or deal with surprises.

For the 2024-2025 budget, we shuffled some money around to give a bit more to local councils, but it’s still going to be a tight year for public services in Wales.

About how we decide who gets what money, we use a formula based on what areas need the most, considering things like how many people live there, if it’s a poor area, and how spread out it is. We try to make sure this formula is fair and doesn’t get messed with, using a bunch of data to figure out where the money is needed most.

Most of the money given out is based on updated info each year, which is different from how England does it. We always check and update our formula to keep it fair, with advice from groups who look into this stuff and make sure there’s no favoritism.

Soon, we’ll be looking at things like changes to council tax and how we figure out funding for spread-out areas. Why some places get more or less money can depend on changes in how many people live there or go to school there. We’ve got detailed tables that show why each council gets the money they do.

We also consider how well each Welsh council can make money through local taxes. We use an estimated number for this to make sure local tax decisions don’t mess with how much money they get from us. Differences in money per person between councils can be because of how spread out an area is, how needy it is, or how well it can raise taxes.

Hope this clears up why there’s different funding for different areas.”

Speaking about the original letter, Mr Roberts told his Facebook followers the funding formula is “none of her fault.” And that “she said she would go into the same level of detail in her response as I did in my questions, but then just wrote a load of words that didn’t answer any of the questions or issues I raised. Then she talked about how it works in England. Irrelevant.”

“The response raises another set of questions, which I will write back with shortly. I will not stop trying to get them to realise the inherent unfairness of their funding formula.”

“The people of Flintshire shouldn’t have to be subsidising the people of Gower, the Rhondda, and Merthyr Tydfil. I will continue to fight this allocation.”