What assessment has the Minister made of the impact on public wellbeing of councils in Wales choosing to cut their non-statutory services?
The responsibility for determining local services and budgets within the resources available to them lies with elected local representatives. Individual local authorities should assess the equality impacts of their budget and service provision options to inform any final decisions on budget setting. They also need to take account of their duties under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Welsh language standards.
A Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment (SIIA) was completed at the Welsh Government draft budget, which included the local government settlement. The settlement for 2024-2025 increased by £14.4m over the figures announced at draft budget. Changes between draft and final budgets build on existing plans and are modifications to the spending plans set out in draft budget 2024-25. Therefore, an updated SIIA has not been published alongside the final budget.
Whilst the Welsh Government has sought to protect Local Government as far as possible, the failure of the UK Government to provide adequate funding for public services means that councils are having to take some very difficult decisions.