Council leader asks if funding cut is punishment for speaking out

Alec Doyle, local democracy reporter

A council leader has questioned whether a minor cut in the local authority’s funding settlement is a punishment from the Welsh Government for speaking out.

Cllr Mark Pritchard was surprised to find that the final settlement for Wrexham from the Welsh Government was £3,000 less than the draft figure published in December.

Following a consultation process councils across Wales – including Gwynedd, Anglesey, Flintshire and Conwy – have benefitted from the Welsh Government introducing a funding floor to ensure that no local authority in Wales received less than a 3.8% funding increase.

Reduced

But Wrexham – which initially received a slightly above average 4.4% increase – was one of only two authorities that saw their funding settlement reduced after the consultation – with Bridgend being the other.

Cllr Pritchard was a high-profile figure in Welsh local authorities’ campaign for a better settlement from Cardiff Bay.

Now he has questioned why Wrexham’s funding was reduced by £3,000 – a tiny amount in the context of the local authority’s £239 million budget.

“I can’t fathom it,” he said. “We fared better than a number of North Wales councils in the draft budget but we still did not receive a settlement figure that was enough to meet the demands we are facing next year.

“I’ve said before that I am concerned about the unknown costs of social care coming down the line and we are already taking tough decisions, increasing council tax by 9.5%.

“So taking any money off us is difficult to swallow. No matter how small the amount, that money could have been used to benefit the people of Wrexham.”

As the Welsh Local Government Association’s Independent group leader, Cllr Pritchard was a leading figure in calling out the Welsh Government’s draft settlement.

He criticised the Senedd for not passing on more of the additional £1.7 billion provided by Westminster for local authorities, warning that Welsh councils would face a total budget shortfall of £559m next year, equal to a council tax hike of 26% or the loss of around 14,000 jobs.

‘Send a message’

Now he says: “It feels like the Welsh Government have taken something off us they feel will not cause too much pain, but will send a message that we should not have spoken out.

” I am elected by the people of Wrexham. They tell me what I need to be fighting for and I am answerable to them. I’ve said it before these settlements are not enough.

“This is what matters to people and I will continue to speak out on their behalf when I see things that are not right.”

The Welsh Government was asked to clarify why Wrexham had its funding settlement reduced.

While no comment was offered on Cllr Pritchard’s views, it did provide some explanation.

“The distribution of funding between authorities is done through an agreed formula,” it wrote.

“Wrexham County Borough Council and Bridgend County Borough Council have seen small decreases in their funding between the draft and final settlements.

“This is because, as set out in the letter to local authorities with the final settlement, there have been some small changes between the draft and final settlements which have slightly affected the distribution of funding.

“There is a £145k increase to national park levies, a very small change in the tax setting base and an update to the general capital fund model data to 2025-26 which feeds into the main settlement formula.”