Welsh councils urge for an end to cuts

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and Wales Public Services 2025 have called for an end to the ‘relentless cuts to public services’.

Welsh Government Budgetary Trade-offs: Looking Forward to 2021-22 sets out the key changes to the UK fiscal context and to Welsh devolution over the past year outlines a selection of public spending scenarios, demonstrating how current UK spending plans could result in a further and potentially damaging period of cuts in unprotected services.

The WLGA has labelled local government services as the ‘Cinderellas’ of Welsh public services, with transport, protection, culture, libraries, and environmental carrying the weight of budget reductions, within the range of 20-40 per cent.

Debbie Wilcox, WLGA leader, said: “Since becoming Leader of the WLGA I have consistently stated that austerity is a busted flush and its impact on our services, our communities that use them and the workforce that provide them has been devastating. My consistent message is that our services are a force for good, they are the cement which lock communities together. But they are struggling, and it is our duty to campaign for them and protect them.”

“The belief that austerity works has collapsed, to the point where hardly anyone still believes it. In effect, for some services, we have witnessed a prolonged seven-year ‘closing down sale’. The Chartered Institute of Environment Health recently warned that their ability to deal with worsening air pollution and E-coli outbreaks are hugely compromised if further cuts to environmental health services are forced through. It is worth pointing out that it is preventative services like these that keep people out of the NHS.”