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Council funding: 2.3% increase for Vale

Monday, 24 November 2025 at 17:24

By Gareth Joy X @lookoutwales2

Vale of Glamorgan Council is set to receive a 2.3% increase in Welsh Government funding next year.

The draft local government settlement, set out by ministers on Monday, will see Wales' 22 local authorities receive on average a 2.7% increase for 2026-27.

But the Welsh Local Government Association have warned the provisional settlement does not come close to matching "unprecedented financial pressures" facing local authorities nationwide.

Vale of Glamorgan Council has told Bro Radio News it is considering the implications locally.

Under the proposals, the total core settlement has been confirmed as £6.4bn with the 2.3% increase as the funding floor.

The Vale of Glamorgan will get £235.5 million - an increase of around £5.2 million from the current financial year.

Likewise, Cardiff Council also sees a 2.3% rise with total funding of £704.2 million, while Bridgend receieves a 2.8% increase, taking its funding settlement up to nearly £291.1 million.

Senedd ministers have also announced over £1.3bn in revenue grants and more than £1.08bn in capital investment for local government.

The final budget will be published in January following consultation with both local councils and other stakeholders. 

Local Government Secretary Jayne Bryant said: "We have been listening to local government, and we fully recognise the challenges that they face." 

"This provisional settlement is  the beginning of the budget process. Our priority has been to provide councils with the stability they need to set budgets which protect and deliver core frontline services."

"We will continue to work closely with the Welsh Local Government Association and council leaders to see where we can provide additional flexibility when managing their budgets."

"We are committed to working with all parties to develop a budget which ensures our public services can continue to operate effectively and which can be passed by the Senedd in the final months of this term."

A spokesperson for Vale of Glamorgan Council told Bro Radio News: "The Welsh Government provisional settlement for 2026/27 was published earlier this week and we are now considering what this announcement means for the Vale, with the needs of our residents remaining central to how we respond to Welsh Government on their proposals."

"Despite operating under ever growing and significant financial pressures as well as increased demand for some of our most critical services, we have a track record of continuing to be able to deliver these services."
 
"A full update on the impact of the settlement and the latest position on cost pressures will be presented to Cabinet in early December and a further report setting out savings proposals for consultation will be put forward in the new year."

The WLGA's leader, Cllr Andrew Morgan, who also leaders Rhondda Cynon Taf Council: "While we now need to go through the figures in detail, this draft settlement offers a degree of stability at a time when local services are under sustained pressure."

"The average increase shows that Welsh Government recognises the strain councils are facing."

"But stability doesn’t remove the pressures themselves. Social care, homelessness, education and workforce costs continue to rise faster than resources can keep up. Councils will still need to make tough choices, and that remains a concern."

"We will continue to work constructively with Welsh Government over the coming weeks on budget talks, as we have been clear that additional funding to increase the final settlement will be required to help protect and maintain services."

"Our shared goal is to maintain the essential services people rely on every day, and to do so in a way that is fair and sustainable in the long term."

Opposition parties have called for the review of the funding formula which determines how much each council gets.

Plaid Cymru said the provisional settlement was "hugely concerning for all local authorities in Wales", particularly in the West where Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Anglesey will also receive a 2.3% increase.

Heledd Fychan, Plaid's finance spokesperson, said: "It's clear that a review of the funding formula is urgently needed, so that every local authority receives the funding they need to maintain and strengthen public services for the benefit of our communities."

"For so long, we were promised that Wales would be better off under two Labour governments working together. With our councils facing yet another disastrous settlement, we're yet to see any proof of that."

The Welsh Conservatives described the settlement as "proof of the need for fundamental change".

Shadow local government secretary Joel James said: "Successive Labour Welsh Government budgets, which Plaid Cymru allowed to pass, have prioritised wasteful projects, depriving local government of much-needed funding."

"The Welsh Conservatives are clear: cut the waste, review and replace the woefully out-of-date funding formula to address the fact that some councils are sitting on hundreds of millions in reserves, and introduce local referendums to protect the public against inflation-busting council tax rises."

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