Welsh Assembly budget increase criticised by council leaders

A planned £2.3m increase to the budget of the organisation that runs the assembly has been dubbed "galling" and a "joke" by council leaders.

The assembly commission budget rise of 4.3% has prompted criticism from local government, which faces a 0.5% cut.

Welsh Local Governnment Association leader Debbie Wilcox said it appeared AMs had "located the magic money tree".

The commission said its budget amounted to 0.35% of the total funding for devolved services.

Council finance is settled by the Welsh Government which is separate to the assembly commission, a body led by a cross-party group of AMs.

Assembly members agreed the £56.1m budget for 2018-19 in the Senedd on Wednesday, but not without criticism that the body had sought an increase at a time other services face austerity.

Ms Wilcox, who is also Labour leader of Newport City Council as well as WLGA leader, said: "Local authorities are regularly and rightly scrutinised by assembly members on our budgets.

"It appears that the front line services of councils are less valued than the back-office services of the National Assembly who appear to have located the magic money tree," she said.

The consumer prices index rate of inflation currently stands at 3%.

Labour's Huw Thomas, who leads Cardiff council, described the increase as a "joke" and "staggering" on Twitter.

He told BBC Wales: "At a time when most Welsh Government departments are facing a real terms cut, I think it is totally the wrong time for the assembly commission to award itself an inflation-busting increase.

"In rough terms, the extra cash they're getting could cover, for example, the annual running costs of two primary schools, or 15 libraries.

"AMs should reflect carefully on this before they criticise any Welsh local authority on how they manage their budget."

Torfaen council leader Anthony Hunt called the budget increase "a little bit galling".

"They need to have a real, long, hard think about the context in which they operate," he said.

AMs on the assembly's finance committee said that planned increases to the assembly's budget were hard to justify - saying future increases should be reigned in.

It was announced on Wednesday that a request for £700,000 to develop options for a new building had been dropped - with the commission now due to present a separate supplementary budget proposal to make the case if it decides to go ahead.

An assembly spokesman said: "The assembly commission budget continues to remain at around 0.35% of the Welsh block grant and is subject to considerable scrutiny.

"The commission responded positively and comprehensively to the Finance Committee's recommendations regarding next year's budget. For example, a Capacity Review is under way to inform discussions around the appropriate level of staffing required to meet the challenges faced by the assembly.

"The budget will ensure that the commission can address the challenges that face the assembly imminently and in the longer term including further constitutional change, tax-raising powers and managing the exit from the EU.

"Wales needs good government, and good government can only be delivered when it is improved, scrutinised and held to account by an effective parliament."