Welsh councils get around £25m in consequentials from £600m English local authority funding boost
As a result of increased support from UK government for councils in England to address their financial challenges, Wales is set to receive an additional £25 million for its public services.
The UK government has introduced a support package for England, allocating an extra £500 million to enhance social care budgets for local councils.
“All councils in England will also see an increase in Core Spending Power of at least 4% through the Funding Guarantee before any local choices on council tax, efficiencies or reserves – an increase from the 3% announced at the provisional settlement.” UK government said.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “We have listened to councils across England about the pressures they’re facing and have always stood ready to help those in need.
“This additional £600 million support package illustrates our commitment to local government. We are in their corner, and we support the incredible and often unsung work they do day-to-day to support people across the country.”
For England UK government added, ” Separately, councils will be asked to produce productivity plans which will set out how they will improve service performance and reduce wasteful spend – including on consultants and HR spending on equality, diversity and inclusion.
The UK government announcement notes “The Barnett formula will apply in the usual way” meaning there is also funding for Wales as a result.
The UK government said around £25m extra would be provided to the Welsh government, with final amounts to be confirmed later, the BBC reports.
It will be up to the Welsh Government on where that ends up.
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.
At the time, Council Leader Cllr Ian Roberts said that the settlement was “very, very disappointing” for Flintshire, as it was 0.9% less than expected.
Flintshire now faces a budget shortfall of approximately £13 million, which will inevitably result in further cuts within the local authority and potentially higher council tax rates
In Wales there has been some political reaction to the increased funding from UK government, Sam Rowlands MS, Conservative Shadow Minister for Local Government, saying, “This new funding will be welcomed by households across Wales.
“Hard-pressed families are staring down the barrel of huge council tax rises because the Labour Welsh Government are shamefully underfunding local authorities.
“It’s imperative that every penny of this funding makes its way to into council budgets and that none of it is pinched by Labour and Plaid Cymru to fund their vanity projects.”
Gareth Davies MS, Shadow Minister for Social Services, said: “This new funding is a huge boost to the provision of social care in Wales.
“With council budgets under intense pressure, this new cash will deliver vital services for those who need them.
“The Welsh Government must ensure that this pot of cash is not raided to fund Labour and Plaid Cymru’s misplaced priorities.”
Mr Rowlands nor Mr Davies gave an exact figure of what they expect to be usable in Wales.
There were no details on if it was expected the ‘productivity plans’, consultants spending, and ‘HR spending on equality, diversity and inclusion’ would also come under the spotlight in Wales.
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