Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 2 February 2021.
Well, Llywydd, I think the Member is mixing up two different sorts of calculations for two different purposes, derived in two different ways. The way that the local government settlement is brought about is the way that I described in my first answer: there is a formula, the formula is agreed with local government here in Wales, the formula is independently verified by the distribution sub-group, which has prominent academics on it who certify every year that the formula has been fairly and accurately applied. Every year, there are local authorities that find themselves gaining because of the way in which factors within the formula move, and there will be local authorities that find themselves not gaining in the way that they would want. But while the formula remains as it is, and as I've always said in the time that I've been responsible for it, if there are proposals that local authorities in Wales can agree on that they wish to bring forward that would allow the formula to be reformed, then of course the Welsh Government will engage in this. But while the formula has the support, as it does, of the Welsh Local Government Association, and while it is based on objective data, independently verified, then we all have to learn to live with it in the years that it suits us and the years when it doesn't.