Council budget settlement question ‘not gone away’ as Chief Exec calls on Welsh Government for ‘real increase’

Wrexham Council’s Chief Executive has said a ‘difficult situation’ could emerge if local authorities do not get a real terms increase in budgets.

With Covid-19 responses taking the immediate focus of the local authority from March onwards, more familiar discussions have surfaced during the return to some kind of normality.

The topic of local government settlements is a regular yearly issue, with the settlement figures and budget decisions often emerging towards the end of the calendar year, with calls for multi year settlements.

The most recent Local Government final settlement was published on 25 February 2020 which indicated an increase in the Council’s grant support of 3.5% compared to the Wales average increase of 4.3%, as we reported that was the third lowest settlement in Wales.

That announcement also saw requests fail for the ‘funding floor’ to b  reinstated (more here on that and the budget process).

The Chief Finance Officer for Wrexham Council described that settlement as “much improved” however still meant a council tax increase of 6.95%, although the council found room to increase ‘ring fenced’ spending increases.

Speaking to Wrexham.com earlier this week Council Chief Executive Ian Bancroft said: “The budgetary issues for us as a council haven’t gone away.

“We are in exactly the same position that we said we were in last year, that unless we get a real increase from Welsh Government, which allows us to invest in services that are struggling, then we will be in a very difficult financial situation.”

Mr Bancroft was talking after taking questions around future working models for the local authority, and added: “I think it’s worth mentioning because you obviously asked what is the vision for the future.

“So we have a clear vision for what we want to achieve but also we are aware that given COVID-19, there will be pressures on public budgets moving forward.

“That becomes a real issue for local government if local government doesn’t get an actual real terms increase. We will be in a difficult situation in terms of being able to continue to deliver resilient services.”