Powys council's settlement cut by 4% to £168m

POWYS Council will receive more than £168m funding from the Welsh Government in 2016-17 Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews has announced.

In line with local authorities across Wales, the amount represents a decrease of 4.1% from the amount received last year on a like-for-like basis.

Nationally the 22 local authorities in Wales will receive more than £4bn, which includes £35m to continue the Welsh Government’s commitment to prioritise schools funding. An extra £21m is included for social services across Wales.

Mr Andrews said: “I propose to set Local Government revenue funding at £4.099bn, a decrease of 1.4% or £57m compared to 2015-16. This is a considerably better settlement than Local Government was expecting and is good news for local services in Wales.

“We have protected the funding for Local Government in Wales over the course of this Assembly term. As a consequence of UK Government decisions since 2010-11, spending on local services in England has decreased by around 10% in cash terms, while in Wales it has increased by 2.5%.

“In setting council tax levels for 2016-17, I urge local authorities to think seriously about the funding challenges they face and to balance this with a consideration of the financial burden on households.”