7. Will the Minister commit to an independent review of the current formula for funding local authorities in Wales? OQ56642

Yes. The funding formula is developed and maintained jointly with local government. If local government, through the collective voice of the Welsh Local Government Association, has proposals for different approaches or wants a formal review of the formula, then it is open for it to propose this. 

Thank you, Minister. I appreciate the response. I raise this with you as I have some grave concerns that the current funding formula is no longer fit for purpose. It was put in place many years ago—we know the history of that—and it may have been right for that time, but I don't believe that it's right for the situation that we're in now. 

As a past long-standing council leader, I have seen the growing disparity between funding and reserves of various councils and have argued that the system is out of date and requires review. We currently see variations in funding per capita from £1,000 to over £1,700 per person, with an expectation for lower funded councils to just keep turning to increases in council tax to block the shortfalls and this isn't sustainable. Minister, do you believe that recognising rurality, sparsity and the increased unit cost of delivering services in large rural authorities will be fundamental in any revised formula or method of funding local authorities?

Well, this funding formula is developed in consultation with local government to ensure that there is fair treatment of different factors, and, of course, the independent members of the distribution sub-group are there to ensure that there is no bias in favour of or against the interests of any particular authority, and they also, of course, identify technical issues. But it is the case that the formula seeks to take on board a range of things. So, you'll know from Monmouthshire that one of the reasons that Monmouthshire receives a lower settlement grant than others is due to the higher relative ability that you have to raise council tax compared to other councils, and that data used in the settlement reflects that Monmouthshire has a relatively smaller amount of deprivation than other Welsh areas, and I think that considering deprivation in areas and our need to provide services is absolutely key to the formula. But it does mean also that, in 2021-22, Monmouthshire's settlement increased by 3.9 per cent, and that was actually above the Welsh average. So, when you pull lots of factors together, you do get these different responses. But I think tackling deprivation is absolutely key and I wouldn't want any change to a formula to be moving away from that.

Finally, question 8, Janet Finch-Saunders.