Responding to the BBC’s analysis, that Welsh councils will have to find at least £540 million to plug budget shortfalls as Labour ministers in the Senedd prepare for the possibility of one or more of Wales’ 22 local authorities declaring bankruptcy, Peter Fox MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Finance and Local Government said:
“An over half a billion pound shortfall is far from a rounding error. It represents a brewing existential crisis for many councils across Wales.
“The outdated funding formula, coupled with Labour’s pursuit of the wrong priorities, has resulted in a dire situation for local government. We could see bankruptcies.
“Labour ministers should be looking to cut their own cloth, like by putting on hold the creation of more politicians, as opposed to passing the burden on to councils and by extension, Welsh taxpayers.”
