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Councils warn on funding figures Councils warn on funding figures
(about 2 hours later)
Councils are due to find out how much funding they will receive from the assembly government for the next year. Local councils in Wales have criticised their £3.8bn budget settlement for next year from the assembly government.
They already know the average rise in next year's revenue support grant will be 2.2%, and have warned of council tax rises and cuts in public services. Ministers admitted funding was "tight", saying local government funding would rise by 2.3% next year and by 2.6% and 2.8% in the following two years.
The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has said the average increase is the "lowest in living memory". Local Government Minister Brian Gibbons called it a "realistic" deal and said councils must make efficiency savings.
Local Government Minister Brian Gibbons will reveal the provisional settlements at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay later. The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) warned of public services cuts, jobs losses and rising council taxes.
The average rise of 2.2% is below the rate of inflation and some local authority leaders have also warned that cuts in core services are likely. Dr Gibbons said local authorities would receive an additional £85m revenue support grant next year, which would rise to £296m 2010-11.
'Fury' He said: "This means that by 2010-11, non-ring fenced funding for local government will top £4bn.
Some councils are expected to get even less, with Powys likely to see an increase closer to 1%. LOCAL COUNCIL GRANT RISES Anglesey 1.1% riseBlaenau Gwent 1.8%Bridgend 3.1%Caerphilly 2.8%Cardiff 2.8%Carmarthenshire 2.8%Ceredigion 2.1%Carmarthenshire 2.8%Conwy 1.1%Denbighshire 2.3%Flintshire 2.5%Gwynedd 1.9%Merthyr T 2.5%Monmouthshire 2.1%Neath P Talbot 2.1%Newport 1.8%Pembrokeshire 2%Powys 1%Rhondda Cynon Taf 2.4%Swansea 2.3%Torfaen 2%Wrexham 2.4%Vale of Glamorgan 3.6%All Wales 2.3%Percentage local council grant settlement rises. Source: Welsh Assembly Government
The WLGA, which represents council leaders, has already warned council taxes could rise by between 8 and 10% next year to meet the shortfall. "This is a realistic provisional settlement for local government in what is a tight three-year budget.
It has already complained about councils' share of the Welsh assembly government's total draft budget of £14.8bn for the year starting next March, calling it the "poor relation" of public services. "The settlement builds on the substantial growth in assembly government support for local government of recent years.
He said the financial settlement from the assembly government had allowed councils to "deliver three successive years" of the lowest council tax increases in Wales.
He said specific grants would also contribute to the cost of services such as foundation phase education, free bus travel and waste management.
Dr Gibbons added that local councillors were best placed to plan councils' budgets according to local needs and called on them to "strike a fair balance between local taxation and local expenditure".
However, the WLGA, which represents council leaders, has called this year's average funding increase for councils the "lowest in living memory", warning that council taxes could rise by between 8 and 10% next year to meet ends meet.
The WLGA warns of cuts in public services and council jobsThe WLGA warns of cuts in public services and council jobs
It has already complained about councils' share of the Welsh assembly government's total draft budget of £14.8bn for the year starting next March, calling it the "poor relation" of public services.
Derek Vaughan, leader of the WLGA, said the planned increase had been "met with fury right across local government".Derek Vaughan, leader of the WLGA, said the planned increase had been "met with fury right across local government".
The WLGA also suggested that two local authorities other than Powys were likely to face a settlement below 1.5%, but has not named them.
Swansea Council leader Chris Holley said: "I'm very fearful that our budgets will be under so much pressure that there's a possibility that jobs could be lost throughout the length and breadth of Wales."Swansea Council leader Chris Holley said: "I'm very fearful that our budgets will be under so much pressure that there's a possibility that jobs could be lost throughout the length and breadth of Wales."
Glenys Rolsten, manager of the Care and Repair agency in Wrexham, which helps to improve the housing and living conditions of older and disabled people, said she was worried.Glenys Rolsten, manager of the Care and Repair agency in Wrexham, which helps to improve the housing and living conditions of older and disabled people, said she was worried.
She said: "We couldn't do without that funding. We would struggle, we would pare down our service an awful lot and we probably wouldn't have the handy person service locally, or at least it wouldn't be free of charge to the public."She said: "We couldn't do without that funding. We would struggle, we would pare down our service an awful lot and we probably wouldn't have the handy person service locally, or at least it wouldn't be free of charge to the public."
Scaremongering 'Election year'
Cardiff Central AM Jenny Randerson, the Lib Dem's Welsh spokesman on finance, told BBC Wales: "The assembly government is faced with a very tight budget, we all acknowledge that, and so what they've done is the worse settlement of all.Cardiff Central AM Jenny Randerson, the Lib Dem's Welsh spokesman on finance, told BBC Wales: "The assembly government is faced with a very tight budget, we all acknowledge that, and so what they've done is the worse settlement of all.
"They've passed [it] on to local authorities, knowing that with local elections next year, people are going to blame their local council, not blame the assembly government."They've passed [it] on to local authorities, knowing that with local elections next year, people are going to blame their local council, not blame the assembly government.
"I can assure you, they [AMs] wouldn't have been doing this to themselves if it had been an election year in the assembly.""I can assure you, they [AMs] wouldn't have been doing this to themselves if it had been an election year in the assembly."
But Plaid Cymru AM Mohammad Asghar accused the WLGA of scaremongering and called on local authorities to start making real efficiency savings.
The assembly government, which receives its funding from the UK government and Europe, last week set out its spending plans, which includes £3.64bn in new public service investment over the next three years.The assembly government, which receives its funding from the UK government and Europe, last week set out its spending plans, which includes £3.64bn in new public service investment over the next three years.
It insists Welsh local councils have been funded "generously" over the years.
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones admitted it was a tough settlement but said council tax increases should be "not unreasonable".
However, he refused to say whether the coalition government would cap council tax levels or not.