Pembrokeshire Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance Efficiencies has stated that the Local Authority will be appealing against a provisional settlement from the Welsh Government, with Pembrokeshireonly set to receive a 2.3 per cent increase - placing it at 13th of the 22 local authorities in Wales.

Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion are set to receive a lower-than-average funding settlement from the Welsh Government, placing them both at 13th out of the 22 local authorities.

While council tax makes up a proportion of the council’s annual revenue, a crucial area of funding is the Aggregate External Finance (AEF) rate from Welsh Government.

Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, has announced that local authorities will next year receive £6.4bn from the Welsh Government to spend on delivering key services.

The investment, which comes from the Revenue Support Grant and non-domestic rates, means that Welsh councils will receive an average 2.7 per cent funding increase, with a fully funded floor will ensure that no council receives less than a 2.3 per cent increase.

In addition to the core settlement, there will also be grants for local government amounting to over £1.3bn for revenue purposes and over £1.08bn for capital investment.

Pembrokeshire is to receive a 2.3 per cent increase on its settlement, a total of £244,318,000, amounting to an extra £5,493,000, placing it at 13th of the 22 local authorities in Wales.

Neighbouring Ceredigion, also jointly on 13th place, also receives a 2.3 per cent increase, some £3,388,000 for a total of £150,670,000.

2024 saw Pembrokeshire receive a higher-than-expected settlement increase of 3.6 per cent from Welsh Government – amounting to just over £8.1m – against a predicted two per cent.

Of the 22 authorities in Wales, in 2024 Pembrokeshire ranked 15th in its rate of settlement, neighbouring Ceredigion also receiving 3.6 per cent, to rank 17th, and Carmarthenshire receiving 4.1 per cent, ranking 12th.

Of the latest settlement, 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.”

The final budget will be published in January following consultation with local authorities and stakeholders.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance Efficiencies Cllr Alistair Cameron said: “This is very disappointing for Pembrokeshire as it is well below the current UK inflation rate of 3.6 percent.

“It also fails to take account of the needs of providing services in a rural authority and the need to provide social services for an ageing population in the county. I will be appealing against this provisional settlement.

“I see that some of the urban councils such as Newport and Swansea have had a more generous provisional settlement. We therefore need to appeal for a better and more realistic settlement which takes account of our demographics and geography.”