Welsh Government passport UK Government cash down to councils

Further cash is coming to hard up local authorities from Welsh Government – with Wrexham’s social care budget set to benefit.

Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government has announced funding consequentials from a UK Government announcement for England will be passed down to councils.

In January, the UK Government announced a £600m support package for local authorities in England, with an additional £500m provided to boost social care budgets.

The money should mean a boost to Wrexham Council’s Social Care budgets – after we asked political leaders last week if it would be ringfenced locally.

The Minister said today, “I am today announcing an additional £25m for local authorities in 2024-25 to support the social care workforce, schools and to help councils respond to other pressures in their local communities. The extra funding will form part of the Welsh Government’s Final Budget proposals, which will be published on 27 February, reflecting our commitment to target investment towards the public services we value the most.

“On 24 January, the UK Government announced it would be increasing its local government settlement by £600m in England, largely to respond to pressures in social care. I have been advised this should result in a consequential allocation of around £25m for Wales in 2024-25. This, together with any other changes to our settlement, will only be confirmed at the UK Government’s Spring Budget on 6 March alongside any other positive and/or negative movements to our budget.”

“Local authorities and Senedd members have raised the difficult decisions local authorities are facing next year in this extraordinary harsh financial climate, even with the 3.1% uplift to the revenue support grant we have provided for 2024-25 in the Draft Budget. To provide local authorities with as much financial stability as possible in these hard times – as early as possible – I am today confirming an additional £25m will be allocated to local government in the 2024-25 Final Budget.

“Part of this funding will be used to restore the social care workforce grant to £45m in 2024-25. The remaining £14.4m will be allocated to the revenue support grant as part of the settlement to support pressures in both social care and education, including teachers’ pay.”

Below is a table of a recent budget snapshot for the social care department at Wrexham Council to show what a possible £1m+ means in the wider context: