Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 3:03 pm on 17 July 2019.
I do entirely agree with your analysis. The Member Mike Hedges is very aware that the Welsh Government has done its very best to protect local government in Wales from the worst of the budget cuts imposed by the UK Government. I'd just reiterate again, in case Members of the opposite benches are too bored with this, that the Welsh Government's resource budget this year is almost £1 billion lower in real terms than it was in 2010-11, and so trying to maintain vital public services in the teeth of cuts such as that has been a very large challenge. My Cabinet colleagues and I continue to engage with local government through our well-established channels to deliver the best settlement that we can for the people of Wales. However, with Brexit and the lack of clarity around any potential spending review, the levels of uncertainty around our plans for the future are even more pronounced now than they have been in the past, and I would urge the UK Government to sort itself out and tell us, at the very least, what it's going to do with next year's budget.