Local Public Services in South Wales Central

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 3 February 2021.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:22, 3 February 2021

Yes, Vikki. I'm very happy indeed, of course, to confirm that councils in Wales have been making excellent planning assumptions all the way through. We have worked extremely closely together across party lines this year in Wales in reacting to the pandemic. We have worked extremely closely together as a family of local authority and wider public services. We've been very pleased to be able to have provided, as I said in response to Andrew R.T. Davies, to have protected council budgets this year by providing the overall increase of 3.8 per cent. Actually, RCT, which you particularly mentioned, is actually on the average at 3.8 per cent. We've been able to provide additional costs and lost income funding to make up for that, and we would not expect councils anywhere in Wales to have to make cuts to services or to rely heavily on reserves in order to make up their exposure to the pandemic, because that has been covered off by the Welsh Government and I am extremely happy to have been able to do that. As I said in answer to a previous questioner, we're very keen that local democratic accountability pertains here, and that local councillors representing their local areas should make the best decisions about local services, including on council tax increases. But as you've rightly pointed out, a well-run authority, well-planned and well-catered for, should not be having to make excessive council tax increases in the light of the very generous settlement that we have proposed in the provisional local government settlement.