THE funding gap facing Flintshire County Council has leapt from £38.4 million to nearly £47.5 million since September – despite the authority making significant efficiency savings.
And there was a warning that the impact could mean a council tax increase similar to last year’s nine percent rise unless the Welsh Government can provide additional funding.
Deputy leader of the council Cllr Richard Jones told a meeting of Flintshire’s cabinet that there was ‘very little left to cut’ after years of below-average settlements from Welsh Government coupled with an aggressive cost-saving programme to reduce council spending.
The single biggest contributor to the deficit increase is employer National Insurance contributions, which have added almost £4.2m to the council’s spending due to the UK Government’s decision to increase employer payments in the budget.
Employers’ teacher pension contributions added just over £3.1m while increased costs for out of county placements for children in care have added £1.2m to the projected overspend. The additional teacher pay award represents a £399,000 increase while support for Hawarden High School’s additional learning needs provision requires £138,000 of funding.
The UK Government has pledged to cover the cost of the National Insurance increase and the council expects the UK or Welsh Government to provide support for the cost of the teacher pension increase.
But this support would be as one-off payments, leaving the council still facing increased costs down the line.
The blow comes after the council had made progress with finding savings in departmental spending to address the initial £38.4m deficit.
It also comes hot on the heels of a disappointing Welsh Government funding settlement for 2025/26. Flintshire County Council’s budget uplift was the fourth lowest in the country and prompted the cabinet to support calls for a ‘funding floor’ to help councils who lose out under the Barnett formula.
Cllr Paul Johnson, Cabinet Member for Finance and Social Value, also warned that increasing council tax may be necessary.
“We have already found cuts and efficiencies of £17.642m and the remaining budget gap as set out in the corporate report is £29.851m,” he said.
“As part of the solution council tax will have an important part to play in the final stage of the process. It is anticipated that a similar increase to the current year will need to be applied if is a need for a greater reliance on local taxation.
“It’s worth noting 30% of our council income comes from council tax. Each increase of one percent would provide an additional £1.1m towards bridging the gap.”
A nine percent council tax rise would only raise an additional £9.9m however, far from enough to deal with the increasing funding gap.
“Flintshire is 19th in funding for Wales,” said Cllr Jones. “That effect over many years means there’s little more to cut without impacting on frontline services.
“It’s unprecedented to have a gap of almost £50m, we’ve never had figures like that before. The effect of things like homelessness, out-of-county placements, pay have squeezed our finances significantly over the years, reducing our reserves in the process and creating an environment that is more challenging every year.
“It just can’t continue. We can’t keep doing this. Something needs to change, we need a fairer system and the very least we can do is support a funding floor for the lower funded councils of which Flintshire is one.”
The cabinet supported the idea of a ‘funding floor’, with council leader Dave Hughes stating initial discussions with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) suggested a recommended base uplift of 5%.
Cllr Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Planning, Public Health and Public Protection, said: “We’ve had a funding floor before – indeed, our settlements in the past have been skimmed to fund that floor for other authorities.
“In our dire circumstances which are ongoing and have been going on for several years, we need that kind of funding floor to enable us to provide the services we’re here to provide and which people need.
“The funding formula is ridiculous. There is no recognition here that our authority has a population 20,000 higher than Wrexham. That means more children, more schools, more elderly people, more roads to fix, greater housing pressures.
“But there’s no recognition of this in the formula. It needs amending quickly, it’s gone on for far too long.”
The authority plans to work with the WLGA to challenge Welsh Government to increase its funding allocation before the budget is finalised on February 25.
