Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:29 pm on 25 October 2022.
Llywydd, we've rehearsed many times here the calls that come from different parts of Wales to reform the funding formula, and we have always said, as a Government, that when local authorities come forward with a proposal for reform, of course we will be prepared to discuss it with them. What we cannot possibly do, as the Member will understand, is negotiate a separate formula for each of the 22 local authorities. There is a single formula, as there is in England, as there is in Scotland. It's unavoidable that you have a single system. The system can be reformed, but it can only be reformed with the agreement of local authorities themselves. And, as to the point that she makes about guaranteeing an in-line-with-inflation rise in the funding of those services, I hope she is relaying that point to the new Government at Westminster, because if they will give us that uplift, we will definitely give it to the services that she has spoken about this afternoon.