Councils in west Wales will receive lower than average settlement next year

Several local authorities are to receive lower than average funding settlements from the Welsh Government next year.

Cyngor Gwynedd will only receive a two per cent increase - the lowest in Wales - with the average being 3.1 percent.

While the average settlement across the 22 local authorities will see a 3.1 per cent increase, Pembrokeshire will receive 2.5 per cent and Ceredigion 2.6 per cent, ranking them 16th and 14th respectively.

Neighbouring local authorities have had a higher percentage increase: Carmarthenshire receives 3.3 per cent, with Powys receiving 2.8 per cent.

In terms of money, Pembrokeshire will receive an extra £5.372m on top of the £212.626m received for the current financial year.

Ceredigion receives an extra £3.373m, on top of this year’s £129.341m.

Gwynedd will receive an extra 4,551,000 taking its total from the Welsh Government for the 2024-25 tax year to 232,092,000.

The public authority receivng the highest rate is Newport, at 4.7 per cent.

Awards are made using a formula intended to take account of need and the ability of councils to raise extra funding from the council tax.

Welsh Government finance minister Rebecca Evans said it is providing £5.7bn to councils through the revenue support grant – the main funding source for local government.

This includes funding to limit increases in business rates to no more than five per cent, though rate relief is also being reduced, meaning some business will still see large rises in the amount they must pay.

Ms Evans said the Welsh Government’s overall budget isn’t “sufficient to meet all pressures” but said: “This has meant taking difficult decisions elsewhere in the budget to honour our commitment to councils last year of a 3.1 per cent rise in their funding for next year.

“I appreciate the pressures local government is facing and recognise that demand for services, along with the recent very high rates of inflation, mean local government will still need to make difficult decisions on services, efficiencies, and council tax in setting their budgets.

“We will continue to work closely together to face these shared challenges and strive to make the best use of the resources we have in order to make the most difference to the communities we serve.”

County councils have been contacted for a response to the announcement.

A six-week consultation on the provisional settlement has opened today, which will end on 31 January.