A view from Sam Rowlands – Welsh Conservative North Wales Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited the four North Wales Members of the Senedd to write a monthly column with updates on their work. You can find their updates – along with contributions from the Wrexham and Clwyd South MPs and MSs – here. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌‌​​‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌​​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​​ ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌​‌‌‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌​​‌​‌​​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌‌​​‌‌​‌‍‌‌​​‌‌​​ ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌​‌‌‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌​​‌​‌​​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌‌​​‌‌​‌‍‌‌​​‌‌​​

In this month’s column, Welsh Conservative Member of the Senedd Sam Rowlands writes:

It’s getting to that time of year where Councils up and down the country are setting their budgets for the year ahead.

Councils will be announcing their spending priorities for the next 12 months, and releasing their proposals for Council Tax increases.

It’s clear there is a difficult economic picture at the moment. Shockwaves from Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine are still reverberating around the globe, and we are certainly feeling that impact here at home. It’s a difficult situation in many places, and I am pleased that the UK Government has been able to help halve inflation which reduces the financial burden on people in Wrexham and beyond.

That action is much-needed, but there is always more work to be done. The Welsh Government in Cardiff also have a role to play in protecting people from these economic challenges.

The Labour-run Welsh Government is getting record levels of funding from the Conservative-run UK Government, which means they have more money to spend on the priorities that matter most to the people of Wrexham and Wales.

This includes funding for local councils, which is the responsibility of the Welsh Government and has been since the start of devolution in 1999.

Unfortunately, Labour Ministers prefer to pass problems on to local council instead of dealing with them up front. At the same time, Labour in Cardiff will blame the UK Government for their woes, despite getting the best-ever financial settlement from Westminster.

Welsh Government has a funding formula for local government, which they use to distribute funds to Councils across Wales from Caerphilly to Ceredigion to Conwy.

This funding formula is outdated and creates ‘winners and losers’. Those financial losers tend to be councils in North Wales or rural areas that have particular needs which differ from those town and city-based Councils in South Wales. This system needs reform, especially when you consider the fact that council tax in Wales has gone up by over £900 (or 200%) since 1999, the start of devolution.

To give you an example of the discrepancy between Councils, last year Gwynedd and Denbighshire both received 10% and 15% more funding per head than Conwy.

This cannot, and should not, carry on. The Leader of Wrexham Council, Cllr Mark Pritchard, said that the Welsh Government “settlement does not provide enough funding to meet the severe cost and demand pressures”.

Sadly, Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay prefer to spend £120m on creating 36 more well-paid politicians in the Welsh Parliament and giving out ‘free money’ through their Universal Basic Income scheme, among a variety of other pricey pet projects.

There is also the matter of reserves, with some Councils having hundreds of millions held back. It is clearly prudent to have some level of reserves, but these massive amounts sitting there unused during difficult economic times like this is just plain wrong.

Councils should be using more of their reserves in order to protect people and services. Take for example Rhondda Cynon Taf Council down South, who have benefitted from the Welsh Government’s funding formula. At the last count, they had £270m in usable reserves.

That is a serious amount of cash, and they should be making more use of it.

If more people were aware of that, I think they’d be outraged. There needs to be much more accountability in the system.

To that end, Welsh Government should firstly be properly funding councils, then setting a cap on council tax rises, and requiring councils to hold a referendum if they want to raise local rates by more than 5%. This would put power in the hands of local people, and make local authority leaders justify tax hikes to the people that will be hit by them. That will be a good move towards accountability.

As ever, if you have any queries or issues, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can contact me by emailing [email protected] or calling on 0300 200 7267.