Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance – in the Senedd at 2:15 pm on 20 June 2018.
Given the cuts to Denbighshire County Council’s budget last year, Denbighshire will have to increase its council tax by 20 per cent, it seems, just to catch up with where they are at the moment. Now, whilst we know that budgets are shrinking, costs are increasing, and many of us will welcome the fact that a number of staff in the council are going to receive a pay rise, particularly those on the lower bands. But the questions I’d like to ask you is: for how long do you, as Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for finance, believe that it will be sustainable for councils to continue to deliver not only non-statutory services, but statutory services too in such an unsustainable financial context?