The Local Government Budget

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:50 pm on 16 September 2020.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:50, 16 September 2020

I had a very good meeting with the chief executive and the chief treasurer of Monmouth, alongside the leader, very recently to discuss the prospects for Monmouthshire. We are very aware that the pandemic has hit councils in a different way, and, absolutely, we are working with those councils to understand what that looks like. So, in the case of Monmouthshire, for example, it has a much heavier reliance on the collection of council tax than other councils elsewhere, and a heavier reliance on fees and income charges. So, in some ways, they do better out of the hardship fund than other authorities. So, we are very much doing that, and that's why it is a claims basis, so that we can work with individual authorities to understand the impact in that authority.

Obviously, the distribution formula is done via the mechanism that involves all councils, and, actually, the treasurer of Monmouth is a very active member of that group.