Article by Richard Bettley and David Millett, National Assembly for Wales Research Service
On 8th October 2014, the Minister for Public Services published proposals for the funding of Local Government in Wales for 2015-16. This note summarises briefly some of the key points, and the infographic shows the breakdown by Local Authority. The Welsh Government has also published further details of how it has allocated funds.
Revenue Settlement Overall
- Total Local Government revenue funding for 2015-16 of £4.124 billion, which is a decrease of £146 million or 3.4% compared with 2014-15.
- Reductions range from a 2.4% fall in Neath Port Talbot to a 4.5% fall in Ceredigion.
Key funding plans in the Settlement:
- Includes protection for schools at 1% above the overall change in the Welsh Government’s Revenue Budget.
- Includes £244 million for the council tax reduction scheme.
- Includes £10 million for local social services.
Transfers into the Settlement
- £13.5 million into the Revenue Support Grant from funding previously provided through ring-fenced grants.
This Includes:
- £8 million to support the costs of financing 21st Century Schools.
- £4.6 million for regional integrated Family Support Services.
- £880,000 for the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder strategies.
Transfers out of the Settlement
- £2.5 million for the centralisation of student finance administrative services and the transfer of Local Authority responsibilities to the Student Loans Company (Wales)
- £490,000 for animal feed control
- £450,000 for training educational psychologists
Damping The damping mechanism ensures that no authority will see a reduction greater than 4.5% in allocations (after adding funding for the Local Authority Borrowing Initiatives and the Private Finance Initiative (PFI)). Capital funding The Provisional Local Government Capital Settlement for 2015-16 is £397 million. This is a reduction of £4.8 million or 1.2% compared with 2014-15. 
