Wales: Councils warn on funding figures

Local councils in Wales have criticised their £3.8bn budget settlement for next year from the assembly government.

The assembly, which receives its funding from the UK government and Europe, last week set out its spending plans.

Ministers admitted funding was "tight", saying local government funding would rise by 2.3% next year and by 2.6% and 2.8% in the following two years.

Local Government Minister Brian Gibbons called it a "realistic" deal and said councils must make efficiency savings.

But the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), which represents council leaders, called this year's settlement "appalling" and warned of public services cuts, jobs losses and rising council taxes.

Derek Vaughan, leader of the WLGA, said: "The assembly government seems to think that council tax payers are the solution to their budgetary problems - they can't balance the books, so the people of Wales are expected to cough up."

WLGA education spokesman John Davies, a Pembrokeshire councillor, said education authorities faced "cuts in service, redundancies and school closures" without extra cash or council tax rises.

Liberal Democrat Jenny Randerson said AMs had passed on a "very tight budget" to local authorities "knowing that with local elections next year, people are going to blame their local council, not blame the assembly government".

"I can assure you, they [AMs] wouldn't have been doing this to themselves if it had been an election year in the assembly."