The next item is the debate on the amendment to the 2021-22 local government settlement, and I call on the Minister for Finance and Local Government to move the motion. Rebecca Evans.

Motion NDM7952 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Section 84H of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, approves the amended Local Government Finance Report (No. 1) 2021-22 (Final Settlement—Councils), which was laid in the Table Office on 8 March 2022.

Motion moved.

Thank you. Today, I'm presenting to the Senedd for its approval an amendment to the current year's local government settlement. Following consultation with local government, through the Welsh Local Government Association, I'm proposing to further increase local government revenue funding this year by £60 million through an increase in the revenue support grant, delivered through an amended 2021-22 local government settlement. The amended local government finance report reflects a £50 million increase in funding, which was announced in the second supplementary budget, as well as a further £10 million that I have made available through careful reprioritisation of Welsh Government funding. This additional funding equates to an increase on a Wales level of 1.3 per cent over that which was announced by my predecessor last March, with every authority gaining at least an additional £1.1 million.

As this funding is non-recurrent, there will be no adjustment to the base for calculation for the 2022-23 settlement in light of it. This funding will support local authorities in managing their budgets more effectively over the period 2021-25 against the context of inflationary and service pressures and the ending of the local government hardship fund. It will also help them to continue to decarbonise services and respond to the climate and nature emergency.

While this funding is unhypothecated, it is intended to also enable local government to respond to their ambitions to increase the capacity of domiciliary support services through funding driving lessons and providing access to electric vehicles, and this is an example of how authorities are working to decarbonise services and to respond to the climate and nature emergency. I therefore ask Members of the Senedd to support this motion today.

Could I once again thank the Minister for this statement? And I would like to state that the Welsh Conservative group will be supporting the motion on the agenda. I generally welcome the announcement that councils will receive an additional £60 million in their RSG for 2021-22. As the Minister stated in her letter to council leaders, councils are facing multiple budgetary pressure, for example, the ending of the local hardship fund, inflationary pressures, and the continuing high demand on public services, as we hopefully come out of the pandemic. This money, therefore, should help to ease some of the burden facing local services.

However, Deputy Llywydd, I would like to ask the Minister for clarification regarding some differences in the figures provided between the amended local government settlement and the second supplementary budget that we just heard about. As the Minister stated, the amended local government settlement outlines an additional £60 million for councils, yet the supplementary budget describes this allocation as an additional £50 million of additional revenue funding. Minister, could I ask why there seems to be, from my reading at least, a difference of £10 million between the figures stated by the Welsh Government? I'm sure it's a simple answer.

I also note from your letter, and as you just mentioned, whilst this funding is unhypothecated, which I welcome, it is suggested that councils may wish to use the additional revenue to fund things like driving lessons for domiciliary care or increasing the access to electric vehicles so that councils can continue working towards the decarbonisation of services. Could I ask what discussions the Minister has had with councils about these suggestions? Are they things that local authorities have highlighted as a priority for investment, or what the Government believes that money should be spent on? In other words, can the Minister provide assurances that councils will have full flexibility to spend the money on their own priorities? Diolch, Deputy Llywydd.

I call on the Minister to reply to the debate.

Thank you very much to Peter Fox for his contribution and also for confirming the Welsh Conservative support for this motion today. So, I'm just happy to respond to those specific questions. So, yes, the amended local government finance report does reflect the £50 million increase in funding, and that was, as Peter Fox says, announced in the publication of the second supplementary budget. And it's an additional £10 million that I am able to make today, reflecting on where we are at the end of the financial year and looking at the resources available to us. The £50 million was at the point of the laying of the second supplementary budget, but I'm able now to provide the additional £10 million, and that's, as I say, reflecting the management of the budget that we have for this financial year.

In terms of how we've arrived at this figure and how we have arrived at what a local authority might want to spend this on, again that's been in discussion with local government. You'll remember recently I announced an additional £70 million in capital; well, that came about following some strong representations that local government had made to me in respect of road repairs locally, for example. So, whilst it is up to local authorities to decide how to spend that funding—they do have full flexibility—there's also an understanding that it is based on what they told me that they need the funding for. They do have that flexibility, but then we have an understanding in that respect as well, and the same applies here, because this is another way, I think, in which local authorities can demonstrate their very clear, I think, and very strong commitment to decarbonisation and also their commitment to social care and trying to recruit and retain social care staff.

These are some examples of the ways in which local government has come up with ideas for ways in which they can deploy this additional funding. Of course, it does give local authorities some flexibility in future years as well, should they decide to stagger the spending of this money, because as we've discussed previously, it will be years 2 and 3 of this spending review that are more difficult for local authorities. They'll need to factor this in to their considerations while they decide how to spend the additional funding announced today.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is objection, therefore I will defer voting under this item until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.