So, the Welsh Assembly are theoretically going to give £900k extra to Wrexham council (assuming they fairly spread out the £20m made available to local authorities across Wales) to be used as part of their budget.
Extra cash for Wrexham – AM writes to Council Leader asking him to ‘reassess their proposals’
Lesley Griffiths has written to Pritchard hoping that there will be a reduction in public cuts if extra funding comes in. Now, what are the chances that another hidden overspend turns up in the next budget scrutiny meeting, like their was with the £1m relating to child services recently. This overspend will then end up completely swallowing up any extra cash we receive from the assembly and cuts go ahead regardless.
This may sound overly cynical, but I’ve been following the council’s performance over the past 7 years and I do not have high hopes for good news. The fact that any council tax hikes for the next 2 years (according to the consultation) won’t put a dent in the cuts is a big tell of how much of a financial black hole is developing in the county’s coffers.