Flintshire councillors in budget cash plea to ministers

Flintshire councillors set off to make a last-ditch bid for extra cash from the Welsh Government

The boss of a county council says it will not be able to run services safely if it faces more big funding cuts.

The warning from Flintshire chief executive Colin Everett came as a cross-party group from the authority travelled to Cardiff to lobby assembly members and ministers for more cash.

Council tax in the Labour-run county may have to rise by 8%, they say.

The Welsh Government said it had given councils "the best settlement possible in this ninth year of austerity".

Flintshire faces a 0.3% funding cut by the Welsh Government this year, amounting to more than £500,000.

'Act of desperation'

Councillors say that after saving £85m over 11 years "there simply isn't anything else left to cut".

Mr Everett admitted that the deputation to the Senedd on Tuesday "might come across as an act of desperation".

"For the last three years the council has set out to Welsh Government the risks to local services of cutting budgets further," he said.

"More cuts of any big scale would take us below the line of being able to run services safely."

He added: "Our councillors have decided to stand up on principle.

"We all hope the Welsh Government will work with the council constructively to find a solution."

• Council tax rise on hold pending cash bid

• Flintshire's 15% council tax hike threat

• Welsh councils facing real-terms cuts

Flintshire's Labour leader Aaron Shotton said councillors across the political spectrum were "deeply concerned that council tax payers are being asked to make a bigger financial contribution to protect local services and compensate for the reductions in government funding".

A Welsh Government spokesman said it had offered local government "the best settlement possible in this ninth year of austerity, mitigating the reduction councils had been expecting".

"No local authority faces a reduction of more than 0.3% in its core funding over 2018-19," the spokesperson added.