Service cuts or council tax hike as Assembly funding for MCC is called ‘bad news’
Abergavenny Chronicle - 6 November 2003

LAURA PIKE REPORTS

MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council has been awarded the lowest funding increase in the country in the Welsh Assembly provisional revenue settlement for 2004-05. Indicative figures published by the Assembly show Monmouthshire will receive a total of £73.6 million in Assembly support, an increase of just 3.6 per cent.

The settlement has been described as ‘bad news’ by Monmouthshire County Council’s director of resources and customer services, Steve Greenslade, who fears it will have ‘major consequences’ for local services and council tax.

He said, “The provisional details of the financial settlement were slightly less bad than the council’s worst fears but must still be considered to be very bad news for services and council taxes in 2004/2005.

“The settlement of 3.6 per cent, the lowest in Wales, compares unfavorably with recent years where increases of around eight to nine per cent have been received. “Like other councils in Wales, we must be concerned that this settlement will have major consequences for local service delivery and could lead to cuts or higher council tax.

“Monmouthshire, along with other councils and the Welsh Local Government Allocation, will be pressing the Assembly Government to allocate additional resources”. Chairman of MCC County Councillor Colin White, said he was ‘disgusted’ with the settlement.

“This will hit us very hard in Monmouthshire. I just don’t understand why we have been awarded the lowest settlement in the country. It’s disgusting,” he said.

“This is going to have a terrific effect on the services we provide to our constituents. Something is going to have to be affected, either services or council tax, which is very unfair on them. I’m very disappointed indeed”.

Monmouth AM David Davies also voiced his opinions over the settlement, blasting it as ‘fundamentally wrong’. “It is absolutely disgraceful,” he said.

“Monmouthshire needed an increase of at least eight per cent to stop council tax rising above the rate of inflation, so this is going to have massive effects. “I have voted against the budget and will continue to do so. It is fundamentally wrong”.

A total of nearly £3.2 billion in revenue support has been awarded to local authorities in Wales to spend on local budgets such as schools, roads and social services. The highest funding increase was 5.9 per cent in Ceredigion. Blaenau Gwent will receive £82.4 million, an increase of 5.1 per cent, while Torfaen will receive £101.1 million, an increase of 4.7 per cent. The average increase was five per cent.

“At one point they were talking about an average settlement of 2.4 per cent so to have an average settlement of five per cent is at least something positive but even with this average we are still bottom of the pile,” said Councillor David Waring, leader of MCC.

“I’m very disappointed. This settlement is going to cause us serious problems when it comes to setting the budget and we will have to be very, very careful when we deal with council tax.

“A 3.6 per cent increase is not a great deal of money to play around with. It is either going to result in severe cuts or very high council tax. “Even though these are indicative figures, it is still a very worrying situation,” he said.

In addition to the overall total of £3.2 million, the Assembly will provide a wide range of special grants providing additional funding to address key areas of provision including carers, supporting people with disabilities, schools, waste management and transport.

The Assembly has already decided Monmouthshire County Council will receive approximately £3.3 million through these specific grants and £800,000 in Performance Incentive Grant. Further specific grants will be announced in the near future.

“This is a reasonable settlement for Monmouthshire County Council,” said Sue Essex, Minister for Finance and Local Government.

“It will fund continued growth in council services and build on the substantial growth of recent years.

“Since over three quarters of the Assembly’s funding is not ring fenced for specific purposes, the council will be able to judge local needs and plan its budgets according to those needs.

“We respect local democracy and we are striking the right balance between the need for local choices and the strategic aims of the Welsh Assembly Government”.

Related articles:

* MCC’s council tax bills set to rise by 14 per cent
* Service cuts or council tax hike as Assembly funding for MCC is called ‘bad news’
* Monmouthshire council tax payers set to be clobbered again

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